. Student Welfare and Leadership Programs

Kindergarten Buddy Program

Each year students in Year 6 (and sometimes in Year 5) have the opportunity to be a buddy to new Kindergarten children to help them become familiar with school routines and procedures and support them in their first year at school. Buddies are trained in Term 4 and participate in the Kindergarten Orientation program.

Peer Support Program

A Peer Support program is implemented across the school from Kindergarten to Year 6. In Term 1, Year 5/6 leaders and co-leaders are trained in various aspects of leadership, group dynamics and responsibility. They then become leaders of small groups of eight students from each grade level. This forms a structured, cooperative, multi-aged social group which meets on a weekly basis in Term 2. The group is involved in personal development and cooperative learning activities aimed at developing a sense of belonging and tolerance, building identity and self esteem and celebrating differences. Leaders are prepared each week and debriefed after each lesson. The program provides opportunities for students to establish positive relationships with peers, helps develop leadership skills in senior students and provides a social support network for younger students.

Child Protection Program

Child protection is a sensitive and challenging area for school communities. Because children and young people are relatively powerless in abuse relationships, they rely upon responsible adults to intervene and assist them. The NSW Department of Education and Training (DET), as an agency responsible for the care and welfare of students, has a character to protect young people in its care from sexual, physical and emotional abuse and neglect, and from improper conduct of a sexual nature. The school is bound by legislation to report any suspected abuse or neglect of children in cases where the school has reasonable grounds for such suspicions.

Through its schools, it is the role of the DET to:

• provide educational programs in child protection
• protect students from abuse and neglect and assist in the recognition of suspected child abuse and neglect
• provide ongoing support for students within the normal duties of school staff.

Child protection education aims to assist students to develop skills in:

• recognising and responding to unsafe situations
• seeking assistance effectively
• establishing and maintaining non-coercive relationships and strengthening attitudes and values related to equality, respect and responsibility.

Through child protection education, children will learn:

• about feeling safe and their right to feel safe
• to recognise appropriate touching and inappropriate touching
• that appropriate touching is an important part of positive relationships
• that they have a right to say no to a person who touches them inappropriately or who threatens their safety
• that it is important to tell trusted adults about such situations
• that they may have to keep on telling people until they are believed
• that help is available to them in their communities.

Research supports the idea that effective child protection education:

• commences at the point of entry to school
• deals directly with relevant aspects of sexuality
• includes practice scenarios which deal appropriately and specifically with child abuse

There is a need to use correct anatomical names to label specific parts of the body and to this end we seek your permission for your child to take part in the program.

Mandatory units of work may be viewed by parents at any time. The material is presented by class teachers in one half hour lesson per week for a period of eight weeks.

Child Protection
Prohibited employment declaration
The Child Protection Act 1998 aims to reduce the risk of abuse to children by preventing a “prohibited person” from gaining or remaining in child related employment in any private or public capacity in NSW.

Under the Act it is mandatory for schools to require its employees and volunteers to disclose that they are not a prohibited person by completing a Prohibited Employment Declaration (a prohibited person is a person convicted of a serious sex offence). It is an offence for a prohibited person to apply for, undertake or remain in child related employment.

All teachers and staff at Dudley Primary School have completed a declaration and all parents (who have not already done so) are asked to sign a Prohibited Employment Declaration before they,

• assist in the classroom
• join a school excursion
• work in the school canteen, etc

It is only necessary to fill a Prohibited Employment Declaration in once. Declarations are securely retained in the school and a list of signatories is generated and updated for the convenience of parents & staff.

Prohibited Employment Declarations are available at the school office. They take only a minute to complete and I would urge parents who are new to the school or have not already done so (at this school) to assist us by filling one in now.