Surfside Primary school is fully committed to protecting the safety and wellbeing of children. This will be the primary focus of our care and decision making. The school’s approach to creating and maintaining a child safe school environment is guided by our school philosophy and values. Our school vision is to inspire our students to be creative, innovative and emotionally equipped to thrive and our school values of Respect, Teamwork, Honesty and Achievement underpin our expectations for staff, students, parents and carers and volunteers. Every person involved in Surfside School has a responsibility to understand the important and specific role they play individually and collectively to ensure that the wellbeing and safety of all children and young people is at the forefront of all they do and every decision they make.
Our commitment to child safety:
- We take a zero tolerance approach to all forms of child abuse.
- Surfside Primary School has policies and procedures in place to protect children from abuse.
- We are fully committed to preventing child abuse, identifying risks early, and will take every reasonable action to eliminate the risk of child abuse.
- Any allegations, safety concerns or suspected child abuse will be responded to promptly and in line with our organizational policies and procedures.
- We are committed to providing a child safe environment where children and young people are safe and feel safe, and their voices are heard about decisions that affect their lives. Our child safe policies, procedures, strategies and practices will be inclusive of the needs of all children, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, children with disabilities, children who are vulnerable, children in out of home care and children who identify as LGBTI.
- We actively listen to, and empower children through a comprehensive curriculum, the provision of a Wellbeing Coordinator and ongoing professional learning for all staff.
- We have rigorous human resources and recruitment practices for all staff and volunteers.
- Our organisation is committed to regularly training and educating our staff and volunteers on child abuse risks.
- We will support, encourage and enable school staff, parents and students to understand, identify, discuss and report child safety matters.
- We will support and assist children who disclose child abuse or who are linked to suspected child abuse.
- We have specific policies, procedures and training in place that support our leadership team, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments and to monitor the school’s adherence to this statement.
Upon enrolment of a child, all parents will be informed of the Statement of Commitment to Child Safety for Surfside Primary School
