Statement of Commitment to the Victorian Child Safe Standards

DSCMK is committed to the rights of all children to feel safe, and be safe, at all times. The teaching staff and preschool community values, respects and cares for all children and takes all reasonable steps to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of children, whilst also promoting their learning and development.

We involve children in discussions about child safety and incorporate their views about how to provide a safe environment. There are opportunities for each child to participate, express their views and to learn and develop.

We have zero tolerance for child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently with our policies and procedures. DSCMK is committed to preventing child abuse and identifying risks early and removing and reducing these risks.

DSCMK is committed to regularly training and educating our staff on child abuse risks. We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety.

We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds and providing a safe environment for children with special or additional needs.

We have specific policies and procedures relating to Child Safety that support our educators, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments and are updated regularly. These include (but are not limited to) policies on: Child Safe Environment, Code of Conduct, Participation of Volunteers and Students, Delivery and Collection of Children, Emergency and Evacuation, Incident Injury Trauma and Illness, Interactions with children, Inclusion and Equity, and Supervision of Children. All policies are available to view by request, and are also available in the Policy Folder in the preschool entrance. We warmly welcome any comments or feedback on our policies from our attending families and wider preschool community. Please see the teaching staff or members of the Committee of Management to discuss any issues or concerns.