With the school year now underway and new routines established, it’s an ideal time to consider how your school can enhance the safety and wellbeing of its students. Here are a few essential steps to guide your child protection efforts:

1. Establish Your Child Protection Team

Creating a child protection team to support the Child Protection Officer (CPO) or Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is vital for every school, regardless of its size. A team-based approach offers several advantages:

• Comprehensive and diverse expertise: A team that includes staff from different divisions, roles, genders, and cultural backgrounds provides a range of perspectives and insights, fostering a more holistic approach to child protection.
• Collaborative and consistent decision-making: A team promotes shared responsibility and transparency, reducing the burden on a single individual.
• Timely identification and intervention: With staff trained to recognize signs of abuse across the school, timely intervention and care can be provided to at-risk and vulnerable children.

2. Develop a Mission Statement

Crafting a mission statement for your child protection and safeguarding program can help focus efforts, inspire your team, and communicate your commitment to child safety across the school community. A strong mission statement reinforces the importance of vigilance and accountability.

3. Set Goals for the Year

Setting clear goals is essential for any program’s success. Goals provide direction, motivation, and measurable outcomes. To develop meaningful goals for your child protection program, consider using tools such as the AISA Safe Schools Audit, conducting a risk assessment, organizing listening circles with students, or surveying staff and parents. These activities can help identify gaps and needs you may not be aware of.

4. Create a Program Calendar

An annual program calendar is a critical tool for ensuring structure and accountability. It helps the child protection team stay on track and work systematically toward achieving the goals set for the year.

5. Meet with Your Head of School

Early in the school year, meet with your head of school to align your child protection goals with the broader objectives of the school. This ensures that your program has the necessary resources and leadership support. Establish regular meeting schedules and reporting procedures to maintain a clear understanding of child safety challenges and progress throughout the year.

Final Thought:

Leading child protection initiatives can be emotionally taxing due to the nature of the work and the weight of the responsibilities involved. It’s crucial for child protection leaders and their teams to acknowledge the emotional demands of the role and prioritize mental health and wellbeing through supportive strategies and resources.

Register for the AISA/ICMEC Level 1 Child Protection Training:

Join us from 17 September – 1 October 2024 as Debbie Downs, Director of Global School Initiatives for The International Centre of Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), will facilitate the upcoming virtual workshop AISA/ICMEC Level 1 Child Protection Training. This course offers everything you need to set up a strong safeguarding programme in your school, including staff training and recommended policies and procedures. Register now.

By Chanel Worsteling, AISA Wellbeing for All Senior Program Coordinator