At BCE one of our highest priorities is the safety of our students. As we embed the 10 National Catholic Safeguarding Standards in all we do at BCE we are highlighting a safeguarding standard each month and spotlighting how this contributes to a safe environment for our students and personnel.
This month we highlight Standard 7 – Ongoing education and training. At BCE we ensure our personnel are equipped with knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and adults safe through information, ongoing education and training.
The inaugural Student Protection Conference held on May 4 for Student Protection Contacts, reaffirmed our commitment to safeguarding our students and Standard 7.
Conference keynote speaker Robert Fitzgerald AM, Commissioner on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, described child protection as a sacred duty.
“It is about the dignity that we treat all people with," he said.
“Student protection needs to be normalised, it is now the way we conduct business at schools."
See the highlights from the conference and what our attendees had to say about it:
Standard 7 recognises the importance of ongoing education and training in helping to create safe environments for children, including specialist training for Student Protection Contacts.
BCE Safeguarding Specialist Claire Pirola said education was critical in equipping staff to develop the knowledge, skills and tools they need to actively prevent, identify and effectively respond to child abuse and support those affected by abuse in our BCE community of schools.
“Our commitment to Standard 7 is evidenced in our suite of training provided to all staff, as well as specialist training for people in identified roles across our BCE schools and offices," she said.
“As a community of learners, we strive to continuously develop our capability and the space of safeguarding students is no different.
“We need to remain vigilant to new risks that emerge in our community and learn new strategies to support best practice in this space."