Walshestown National School

Child protection policy

CONTENTS

Introductory Statement
Aims
Prevention
Procedures
Practice
Parental Status and Access
Links to other Policy/ Planning Areas
Review and Monitoring

Introductory Statement

The staff, parents and Board of Management of St. Paul’s National School, Walshestown have developed and agreed this policy in line with the current recommendations and guidelines relating to child abuse prevention and child protection guidelines.

This policy addresses the responsibilities of the school in the following areas:

Prevention – curricular provision
Procedures – procedures for dealing with concerns/disclosures
Practice – best practice in child protection

An individual copy of this policy document and a copy of the Department of Education and Science ‘ Child Protection Guidelines and Procedures’ will be made available to all the staff.

It is incumbent on all staff to familiarise themselves with ‘Children First’ and the DES child protection guidelines and procedures.

Aims

This policy aims to:
Create a safe, trusting, responsive and caring environment
Provide a personal safety skills education which specifically addresses abuse prevention for all children in the school
Develop awareness and responsibility in the area of child protection amongst the whole school community
Put in place procedures for good practice to protect all children and staff
Ensure that all staff member are aware of and familiar with the ‘Children First’ and the DES guidelines and procedures in relation to reporting concerns and/or disclosures of child abuse.
Provide for ongoing training in this and related areas for all school staff.




Prevention
The Stay Safe programme is the primary resource used in this school to provide education for children on abuse prevention. The programme is taught as part of the schools’ Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum under the strand unit Safety and Protection.
On enrolment of their children parents will be informed that the Stay Safe programme is in use in the school and a copy of ‘Stay Safe: A Parent’s Guide is provided.
The formal lessons of this programme will be taught in their entirety every two years in accordance with the SPHE two-year cycle plan.
Staff will make every effort to ensure that the messages of the programme are reinforced whenever possible.

Procedures

All staff (Teachers, SNAs, ancillary, secretarial, caretaking etc) in this school will follow the recommendations for reporting concerns or disclosures as outlined in ‘Children First’ and the Department of Education & Science document, ‘Child Protection Guidelines and Procedures’.


The Board of Management of this school has appointed Mr. Declan Breathnach (Principal) as the Designated Liaison Person (DLP) and Ms. Nora Molloy as the deputy DLP.

The staff and management of this school have agreed that:

All concerns/disclosures involving child protection / child welfare issues will be reported in the first instance to the DLP (deputy DLP where appropriate)
Each report to the DLP will be dated and signed by the person making that report
A Strict adherence to maintaining confidentiality – information regarding concerns or disclosures of abuse should only be given on a ‘need to know’ basis.

Practice

The staff and the Board of Management of this school have identified the following as areas of specific concern in relation to child protection. Following discussion and consultation the staff and Board of Management have agreed the following practices to be adopted:

Recruitment and Selection of Staff.

In the recruitment of staff and volunteers to ensure that those working with the children in the school are safe adults insofar as this can be determined, the procedures outlined by the Department of Education will always be followed in relation to the advertising, interviewing and selection of staff. This will apply to such areas as

Appropriate personal details
A résumé of past and current work / volunteering experience, indicating relevant qualifications or skills acquired.
References
Garda vetting
Background checks
The Board of Management and In-School Management will ensure that all personnel are properly supervised and supported in the work they are doing.

General Conduct
It is imperative that all dealings with the children in our care a balance is struck between the rights of the child and the need for intervention.
As a general rule any physical contact between school personnel and the child will be in response to the needs of the child and not the needs of the adult. While physical contact can be used to comfort, reassure or assist a child the following will be factors in assessing its appropriateness.
It is acceptable to the child concerned
It is open and not secretive
It is appropriate to the age and developmental stage of the child.
School personnel should not do things of a personal nature for a child which the child can do for him/herself. Inappropriate physical contact also includes rough physical play and horseplay (tickling, wrestling, etc). All children will be treated with equal respect – favouritism will not be acceptable.
School personnel will never engage in or allow:
The use of inappropriate language or behaviour
Physical punishment of any kind
Sexually provocative game or sexually suggestive comments about or to a child.
ALL MEDIA products CDs, DVDs, computer software etc will be checked for their appropriateness with regard to age and suitability.

The Board of Management will ensure that all school personnel are familiar with the DES guidelines on child protection and that these guidelines are adhered to in the event of concerns or disclosures around child protection. The Designated Liaison Person (DLP) will be notified promptly of any concern with regard to the behaviour of a staff member or any allegation of abuse made by a child or an adult. In the event that the concern involves the DLP, the Chairperson of the Board of Management will be notified.

A disclosure of abuse will never be ignored.

c. Toileting / Intimate Care
Children with specific toilet / intimate care needs

Normally a child who has specific toileting needs will have a Special Needs Assistant assigned to him/her. Before the child is enrolled in the school, a meeting will be held at which all school personnel involved with the child will attend, along with the child’s parents/guardians. At that meeting the needs of the child will be addressed and agreement reached as to how the school can meet those needs. It is important that those involved with the intimate care of the child agree practices which will be acceptable to the staff, the child and the parents.
Toileting accidents are not uncommon, particularly at Junior level. Parents may not be in position to come to the school immediately should their child have a toileting accident and consideration has to be given to the implications of leaving a child unattended to in this situation. Unless there are very specific reasons why school staff should not attend to the child, procedures with which staff members are comfortable and which have due regard to minimising upset to the child have been agreed. These are: A child will be given suitable clothes to change into. The teacher and another adult will stand outside the toilet with the door closed while the child gets changed. A note will be kept of such incidents and parents will be informed.

D. First Aid
Simple First Aid will be administered by the class teacher or the teacher on yard duty from previous day or an Special Needs Assistant as appropriate.
It is recognised that female teachers will attend to the simple first aid requirements of female pupils unless it is not inappropriate for male teachers to do so.
If a teacher is asked to deal with a first aid requirement involving more personal bodily areas - e.g. upper leg area or stomach – a second teacher will be asked to attend.
In situations where the teacher feels that simple first aid is not sufficient to deal with more serious requirements, the following procedures will be followed:
The primary consideration is the health and safety of the child. If a teacher is of the opinion that immediate intervention is necessary then he/she will act accordingly in the best interests of the child.
If the injury is serious but not requiring immediate intervention, the parents/guardians will be informed as soon as possible.
All instances of intervention by school staff will be recorded in the Incident Book which is stored in the First Aid cupboard.
There is a recognised First Aid cupboard in the school where simple First Aid resources are located.
Certain children may have on-going more serious health requirements. Medicines, etc, for such children will be kept in a separate secure area.
Teachers will not administer medicine to children unless clear written directions have been agreed with parents and a medical professional.

Note : Currently our Special Needs Assistant, Ms. Margaret Stewart has a
First Aid qualification from the Order of Malta.
Two teachers, Ms. Nora Molloy and Ms. Edel Sherman are in the
process of attending courses in First Aid.

E. Travelling with children

It is the policy of the school that no staff member will allow a situation to arise where he/she is alone in a car with a child

F. One-to-one teaching

One-to-one teaching may be provided if deemed appropriate. For some children this may be more beneficial than working as part of a small group. Every effort will be made to ensure the protection of children and staff. Clear boundaries are put in place regarding physical environment (e.g. vision panel in door), seating arrangements and proper timetabling. If a child needs learning support or one-to-one teaching, parents will be advised of arrangements in place.

G. Visitor /Guest Speaker

Visitors/ Guest speakers will not be left alone with children. The school (Board of Management/ Principal/teacher as appropriate) will have the responsibility of checking out the credentials of the visitor/guest speaker and ensuring that the content/material in use is appropriate.

H. Internet Safety

Child Protection concerns are addressed in the school’s Acceptable Use Policy as part of its Information and Communications Technology policy. These policies deal with issues relating to use of the Internet at school, such as access or use of children’s photos or names on the school web site.

Parental Status and Access:
Rights of access by parents and other guardians to children are governed by best practice and by legal directives. The most up-to-date advice to Primary Schools was given in a Newsletter issued by the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association in November 2010 (See Appendix 1)

Links to other policy/planning areas
SPHE curriculum – Strand Unit on ‘Safety and Protection’
The School Code of Discipline
The Anti-Bullying Policy
The Health and Safety Statement
The Information and Communications Technology. Acceptable Use Policy
The Special Needs and Learning Support Policy

Review and Monitoring

This policy will be monitored and reviewed by the Board of Management on an annual basis and when the need arises. The Board of Management will ensure that adequate training / information and support is provided for all staff, parents and board of Management members.
Ratification and Review
This policy was ratified by the Board of Management on
Date: ___________________________

Signed: _____________________________________ Chairperson, BOM

The policy will be reviewed by : _______________________