Our Standards
Our Commitment to Child Safe Standards
Children learn best when they feel safe and are safe. Children's safety and wellbeing is central everything we do here at Poets Grove.
We’re committed to:
Providing and promoting safe environments for all children (including vulnerable children) where they feel safe.
Protecting children from abuse and neglect.
Maintaining children’s wellbeing by identifying, removing, and reducing risks early.
Our Commitment to Children
We are committed to ensuring children feel safe, empowered and are taken seriously if they raise concerns in relation to their safety and wellbeing
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality
We value and support diversity, inclusion and equality, and acknowledge vulnerable groups of children
Providing Cultural Safety
To Indigenous Australian children and children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
Respecting Children With a Disability
Through participation and empowerment of all children
Our Commitment to Staff and Volunteers
We are committed to ensuring staff, volunteers and contractors understand that child safety is everyone’s responsibility
Ongoing Support
We will ensure our people are provided with the necessary support to fulfil their obligations in relation to child safety
Education & Professional Development
We will ensure our educators understand child safety, including abuse risks and how to interact and behave with children
Codes of Conduct
All people at Poets Grove—including professional staff, educators, work experience students,, volunteers, and independent contractors—must abide by our Code of Conduct.
Our Commitment To Ensuring a Child Safe Organisation
We are committed to ensuring Poets Grove is safe for all children
Recruitment
All staff and volunteers who work with children must have a current Working With Children Check (WWCC). We demonstrate our commitment to child safety through appropriate screening processes for staff and volunteers (i.e. interview guides, advertisements and selection criteria).
Training and Supervision
All new and existing employees must understand the importance of protecting children from harm. We support them through induction, training and professional development.
Scope
This Statement of Commitment applies to all staff, including any person directly employed by Poets Grove, or employed through an agency or on a contract basis, and volunteers and work experience students, irrespective of their specific involvement in child related duties.
Reporting
All allegations and concerns in relation to children’s safety will be taken seriously and will be investigated fairly and appropriately.
Staff must understand the process for reporting any child safety issues and are supported by Centre Management.
We support and encourage our employees to proactively report any behaviour deemed to be endangering the safety of children.
Our designated Child Safety Officer is available to support staff with any child safety concerns and to safely disclose risks of harm to children.
Reportable incidents and complaints are notified to the relevant authority (Child First, Child Protection or police).
Review
This statement will be reviewed every two years, and following any changes to legislation or policy.
The Poets Grove Family and Children’s Centre Commitment
We are committed to implementing and abiding by our Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy based on Child Safe Standards in Victoria (2022), which accentuates our zero tolerance for child abuse and raising awareness about the importance of child safety in our service and the community
The safety and wellbeing of children will always be our priority; it is fundamental to their ability to learn and develop.
We are committed to the participation and empowerment of all children, by listening and empowering children to act on any concerns they have or others may raise.
We work in collaboration with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and have confidence in educating children about their right to be safe. We believe in teaching children what to do if they feel unsafe and encouraging them to express their views and thoughts on matters that directly affect them. All allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently with our robust policies and procedures.
We follow our duty of care and legal obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about child's safety.
Our organisation is committed to protecting children from abuse and neglect and to promote a child safe environment, whilst maintaining children’s wellbeing by identifying risks early and removing and reducing these risks. • We adhere to our Child Protection Policy, standing by our mandatory reporting responsibilities to protect children from physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse and neglect.
We will ensure that there is an appropriate screening process for all committee members, staff, contractors and volunteers and that they have a current Working With Children Check (WWCC) or that they have a current registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching.
Our organisation is committed to regularly training and educating committee members, staff, contractors and volunteers on child abuse risks, maintain their ability to distinguish and respond to situations of abuse and neglect, ensuring employees are responsive to their responsibilities in keeping children safe and how to interact and behave with children.
We are committed to providing and promoting safe environments for all children, including vulnerable children, where they feel safe.
We will ensure that Committee members, staff, contractors, and volunteers understand the process for reporting any child safety issues and are supported by the Poets Grove Family and Children’s Centre appointed Child Safety Officer
We are committed to ensuring that committee members, staff, contractors, and volunteers understand that child safety is everyone's responsibility and there are clear precincts between children and employees, volunteers and the community to maintain children’s safety.
We are committed to actively supporting and facilitating participation and inclusion of Aboriginal children, young people and their families within our service, by providing and promoting the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, with an educational program’s that strengthen Aboriginal children’s culture and identity.• We are dedicated to provide and promote the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe environment for children with a disability.• We value diversity and do not tolerate any discriminatory practices
We promote our commitment to the Child Safe Standards and support our members to maintain the standards.
Victorian Government Child Safe Standards protect children and young people from harm and abuse
