Child Protection

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St Patrick's School aims to ensure the safety and security of all children by practising open and accountable child-centred decision-making. We recognise the importance of involving family/whānau in decision-making about their children, and will involve children in decision-making about themselves in age-appropriate ways. We acknowledge that child protection is everyone’s responsibility and we promote our child protection policies to our school community.

"Child", in the context of our school's child protection policies, means a child or young person aged under 18 years (who is not married or in a civil union) - Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

We take concerns about the safety of students seriously, and respond to them quickly. Prevention and early intervention is important, and we support the principle of applying the least intrusive intervention possible to protect vulnerable children.

We share information with appropriate agencies if sharing that information will protect or improve the safety, health, or well-being of a child. By law, we can share information with Child, Youth and Family, and the police.

Schools are subject to the Vulnerable Children Act 2014, and must have child protection policies which are readily available. As required by the Act, child protection practices are incorporated into our policies and procedures. St Patrick's School has a designated person responsible for child protection policies. Our designated person is the principal, and is the primary point of contact for concerns about a child, including concerns about abuse or neglect. Our child protection policies apply to school staff, contractors, and volunteers.

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Key child protection related policies and procedures can be found on our SchoolDocs site and include:

 

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