National Child Protection week 1 - 7 September 2024

Conversations between

…children and their caregivers matter (from the very earliest days)

…children and their peers matter

…families with teachers, doctors, and other professionals matter

…friends or neighbours matter

…decision-makers and the communities they serve matter.

And, of course, conversations in the public realm and media matter…

So this National Child Protection Week we invite you to speak up – and speak together – about what needs to change for every child in every community to have a fair go.

This theme provides a platform to:

• engage in important conversations,
• promote the value of conversations, and
• equip us to have conversations that keep kids safe.

In Health lessons, held during Library, Mrs Spackman has begun the Healthy Body curriculum with information from the Biggest Child Safety lesson.  Children have discussed the importance of feeling safe, enthusiastic consent and have used their hands to identify the safe people they can talk to when they need help (upper grades have been encouraged to let their safe people know they have been chosen and talk to families bout how to contact these people if needed).   I encourage you to download the Parent and Carer Guide for more details.

A separate note will go home with more information, links and advice to continue the conversations about child safety and body changes.  We acknowledge and understand that conversations about body changes and safety can be challenging, however research suggests children who know the correct names and functions of their body parts from a young age, are less vulnerable to being targeted and more likely to tell an adult if they have been harmed. Open and honest conversations can assist in ensuring 'secrets' are not part of children's safety.