Child Safety Code of Conduct

AE’s Board has endorsed this Child Safety Code of Conduct.

• Behave as a positive role model to students.
• Promote the safety, welfare and wellbeing of students.
• Be vigilant and proactive with regard to student safety and child protection issues.
• Provide age appropriate supervision for students.
• Comply with guidelines published by Acknowledge Education with respect to child protection.
• Treat all students with respect.
• Promote the safety, participation and empowerment of students with a disability.
• Promote the cultural safety, participation and empowerment of linguistically and culturally diverse students.
• Use positive and affirming language towards students.
• Encourage students to ‘have a say’ and then listen to them with respect.
• Respect cultural, religious and political differences.
• Help provide an open, safe and supportive environment for all students to interact, and socialise.
• Intervene when students are engaging in inappropriate bullying behaviour towards others or acting in a humiliating or vilifying way.
• Report any breaches of this Child Safety Code of Conduct.
• Report concerns about child safety to one of the college’s Child Protection Officers and ensure that your legal obligations to report allegations externally are met.
• Where an allegation of child abuse is made, ensure as quickly as possible that the student involved is safe.
• Call the Police on 000 if you have immediate concerns for a student’s safety.
• Respect the privacy of students and their families and only disclose information to people who have a need to know.

Engage in any form of inappropriate behaviour towards students or expose students to such behaviour.

• Use prejudice, oppressive behaviour or inappropriate language with students.
• Express personal views on cultures, race or sexuality in the presence of students or discriminate against any student based on culture, race, ethnicity or disability.
• Engage in open discussions of an adult nature in the presence of students.
• Engage in any form of sexual conduct with a student including making sexually suggestive comments and sharing sexually suggestive material.
• Engage in inappropriate or unnecessary physical conduct or behaviours including doing things of a personal nature that a student can do for themselves, such as toileting or changing clothes.
• Engage in any form of physical violence towards a student including inappropriately rough physical play.
• Use physical means or corporal punishment to discipline or control a student.
• Engage in any form of behaviour that has the potential to cause a student serious emotional or psychological harm.
• Develop ‘special’ relationships with students that could be seen as favouritism (for example, the offering or receipt of gifts or special treatment for specific students).
• Engage in undisclosed private meetings with a student that is not your own child.
• Engage in meetings with a child that is not your own, outside of school hours and without permission from AE and the child’s parent.
• Engage in inappropriate personal communications with a student through any medium, including any online contact or interactions with a student.
• Take or publish (including online) photos, movies or recordings of a student without parental/carer consent.
• Post online any information about a student that may identify them such as their: full name; age; e-mail address; telephone number; residence; school; or details of a club or group they may attend.
• Ignore or disregard any suspected or disclosed child abuse.

Our Child Protection Program includes a Staff and Student Professional Boundaries Policy that provides detailed guidance for all staff and Volunteers on how to maintain professional boundaries between students and adults at AE.