Creating a safe culture fosters an environment where our students can truly flourish.
Children can only realise their full potential when surrounded by a secure environment that nurtures constructive and positive learning encounters. This belief is an underlying foundation steering the paramount importance of child safety at Holy Cross and all Catholic schools across Australia.
Launched in 2018, the Catholic Education Western Australian Child Safe Framework lays a cornerstone for all Catholic schools, furnishing guidance to every member of the Catholic school community. It steers us in the collective endeavour to safeguard our students, placing their wellbeing at the forefront of our concerns.
The Child-Safe Framework encompasses nine fundamental components, built upon contemporary, evidence-based research in child safety within institutions. It aligns with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
- Support and Healing
- Culture
- Voice of the Child
- Governance and Leadership
- Policies and Procedures
- Human Resources
- Risk Management
- Investigation and Reporting
- Quality Assurance
At Holy Cross College, we are committed to modelling a positive mindset that champions healthy and respectful relationships while proactively preventing problem behaviours and abuse. Our framework centres on two core principles: situational prevention and extended guardianship.
Situational Prevention
This approach revolves around implementing strategies that foster positive behaviours and enhance proactive measures to mitigate the likelihood of problem behaviours within our school community. We systematically oversee this foundational approach by establishing unequivocal expectations within the College Code of Conduct, which applies to all staff, students, parents and visitors on campus. Additionally, our College features are intentionally structured to deter abuse. These features encompass:
- Staffing
- Governance
- Leaderships
- Physical and Online environments
- Behaviours
- Culture
Extended Guardianship
To instil a unified perspective throughout the College, comprehensive awareness is extended to all College leaders, staff members and the broader community. This collective approach entails assuming a proactive role in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of students. We’re actively cultivating a culture that embraces open dialogue and feedback as the norm, regardless of the individuals involved, and we’re engaging in discussions on situations that might be ambiguous in nature.
The Child Safe Framework has been seamlessly integrated into our curriculum, providing comprehensive education to students from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12. Our curriculum features the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Framework, a program rooted in evidence-based best practices. This program is a result of collaboration among child protection experts, educators, educational leaders and industry professionals.
Our foremost objective is to empower students with the inherent knowledge that they possess the right to safety. Additionally, we equip them with lifelong skills enabling them to ensure their safety through open communication with trusted members of their community.
You can find more information on the Child Safe Framework on the Catholic Education Western Australia website – https://childsafe.cewa.edu.au/
