Child Protection Policy & Guidance

RATIONALE

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This policy outlines ASPIRE’s commitment to child protection and safeguarding all children within the scope of this organisation. We adhere to the Ministry of Education regulations as stated below with guidelines incorporated in this policy.

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HS28

 

• There is a written child protection policy that meets the requirements of The Children’s Act 2014. 

• The policy contains provisions for the identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect, and information about how the service will keep children safe from abuse and neglect, and how it will respond to suspected child abuse and neglect.

• The policy must be reviewed every three years.

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Reg 46/HS29 - All practicable steps are taken to protect children from exposure to inappropriate material (for example, of an explicitly sexual or violent nature).

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Reg 46/HS30 - Coordinators and educators must not use, or be under the influence of, alcohol or any other substance that has a detrimental effect on their functioning or behaviour while responsible for children attending the service.

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Reg 46/HS31 - All practicable steps are taken to ensure that children do not come into contact with any person on the premises who is under the influence of alcohol or any other substance that has a detrimental effect on their functioning or behaviour.

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Reg 46/HS32 - No person on the premises smokes in any area which is available for use by children or for food preparation while children are attending the service.

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Conventions on the Rights of the child 1989 in accordance with article 49: Article 19 states:

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1. Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.

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*This policy will be part of the initial staff induction programme.

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POLICY SUMMARY

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This policy outlines our commitment to child protection. It includes our protocols when child abuse is reported to us or suspected by us. It also includes practice notes on measures to be taken to prevent child abuse. Staff are expected to be familiar with this policy and to abide by it. 

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PURPOSE STATEMENT
We have an obligation to ensure the wellbeing of children in our care and are committed to the prevention of child abuse and neglect and to the protection of all children. The safety and wellbeing of the child is our top priority when investigating suspected or alleged abuse.

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We support the roles of the New Zealand Police and Oranga Tamariki (formerly Child, Youth and Family) in their investigation of suspected abuse. Our role is to advocate and escalate concerns about a child’s safety, and we will report suspected/alleged abuse to these agencies and the Ministry of Education.

 

We will work to support families/whānau to protect their children, and we will always work to provide a safe environment, free from neglect, physical, emotional, verbal or sexual abuse.

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POLICY PRINCIPLES

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• The interest and protection of the child is paramount in all actions.

• We recognise the rights of family/whānau to participate in the decision-making about their children.

• We have a commitment to ensure that all staff are able to identify the signs and symptoms of potential abuse and neglect and are able to respond appropriately.

• We are committed to supporting all staff to work in accordance with this policy, to work with partner agencies and organisations to ensure our approach to child protection is consistent and high quality.

• We will always comply with relevant legislative responsibilities.

• We are committed to share information in a timely way and to discuss any concerns about an individual child with colleagues or the Person in Charge.

• We are committed to promote a culture where staff feel confident that they can constructively challenge poor practice or raise issues of concern without fear of reprisal. 

• This policy will be reviewed at least every three years.

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IDENTIFYING POSSIBLE ABUSE OR NEGLECT

 

Child Abuse is defined in the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 as “the harming (whether physically, emotionally, or sexually), ill-treatment, abuse, neglect or deprivation of any child . . .”

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EMOTIONAL ABUSE

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Emotional abuse occurs when a child’s emotional, psychological, or social well-being and sense of worth is continually battered. This includes confinement, isolation, verbal assault, humiliation, intimidation, infantilisation, or any other treatment that may diminish the sense of identity, dignity, and self-worth. We also include exposure to Family Violence in this category.

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NEGLECT

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Neglect is a pattern of behaviour that occurs over a period of time and results in impaired functioning/development of a child or young person. It is the failure to provide for a child’s basic needs.

 
Neglect may include the following.

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• Physical – failure to provide basic needs of food, shelter or warmth

• Medical – failure to seek, obtain or follow through with medical care for a child or young person

• Abandonment – leaving a child or young person in any situation without arranging necessary care and with no intention of returning

• Neglectful supervision – failure to provide developmentally appropriate or legally required supervisio

• Refusal to assume parental responsibility – unwillingness or inability to provide appropriate care for a child or young person

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PHYSICAL ABUSE

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Physical abuse can be caused from smacking, punching, beating, kicking, shaking, biting, burning, or throwing the child. Physical abuse may also result from excessive or inappropriate discipline or violence within the family and is considered abuse regardless of whether it was intended to hurt the child. Physical abuse may be the result of a single episode or a series of episodes.

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SEXUAL ABUSE

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Sexual abuse includes acts or behaviours where an adult, older, or more powerful person uses a child for a sexual purpose. There are 2 different types of child sexual abuse. These are called contact abuse and non-contact abuse.

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Contact sexual abuse involves touching activities where an abuser makes physical contact with a child, including penetration. It includes sexual touching of any part of the body whether the child is wearing clothes or not; rape or penetration by putting an object or body part inside a child's mouth, vagina or anus; forcing or encouraging a child to take part in sexual activity; making a child take their clothes off, touch someone else's genitals or masturbate.

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Non-contact sexual abuse involves non-touching activities, such as grooming, exploitation, persuading children to perform sexual acts over the internet and flashing. It includes encouraging a child to watch or hear sexual acts; not taking proper measures to prevent a child being exposed to sexual activities by others; meeting a child following sexual grooming with the intent of abusing them; online abuse including making, viewing or distributing child abuse images; allowing someone else to make, view or distribute child abuse images; showing pornography to a child; child exploitation.

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Staff should become familiar with the possible physical and behaviour clues to child abuse listed on pages 13 and 14. Additional details of ‘Signs and symptoms’ can be found on page 18 of this document along with a list of further training resources on page 11 and 12.

RESPONDING TO/REPORTING SUSPECTED ABUSE OR NEGLECT

Staff members will discuss suspicions with a senior staff member.

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All suspicions, observed incidents or reports of incidents should be reported directly to the Person Responsible as soon as possible, who will immediately take steps to protect the child(ren) and record the report.

A record of issue or concern template is provided on page 19 of this document.

The process for responding to child abuse is given in the ‘Reporting Process Flowchart’ on page 15 of this document.

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ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS

 

• Is the child's behaviour a sign of abuse or neglect, or are there other things going on in the family that could affect them?

• How is the child's behaviour?

• How is the child's development?

• Has the child or family hinted at, or said that something is wrong?

• Are there signs of family violence?

• Do I sense the family is struggling, or the child is at risk in some way?

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If there is clear evidence or reasonable cause to believe an instance of child abuse has taken place, the Person Responsible shall notify Oranga Tamariki: 0508 326 459. Where evidence is less clear but there is cause for suspicion of abuse, the Person Responsible shall consult Oranga Tamariki ADASSIST: Phone 0508 EDASSIST (0508 332 774); Email: edassist@ot.govt.nz.

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It is essential to maintain a confidential record, including observations of the child’s behaviour, continually for some months following an allegation or incident. 

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In addition to guiding staff to make referrals of suspected child abuse and neglect to the statutory agencies (i.e. Oranga Tamariki or the Police), this child protection policy will also help staff to identify and respond to the needs of the many vulnerable children whose wellbeing is of concern. Throughout New Zealand statutory and non-statutory agencies provide a network of mutually supportive services, and it is important for our organisation to work with these agencies to respond to the needs of vulnerable children and families/whānau in a manner proportionate to the level of need and risk.

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A TEACHER’S ‘IN THE MOMENT’ RESPONSE TO SUSPICION OF CHILD ABUSE

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This strategy is designed as an ‘in the moment guide’ to support teachers who come face-to-face with a disclosure or have a suspicion arising from their interaction with children. All staff must comply with the detail of the reporting flowchart on Pg. 14 of this policy.

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THE BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR RESPONDING TO SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE

 

• Believe what children tell you and what you see.

• Always take action in the short term to ensure the immediate safety of the child.

• We recommend that you do not make decisions alone. Consult with someone experienced. If there is no short-term risk, take time to consult thoroughly in order to make a well-informed decision.

• Act on your concerns. Don’t leave it to someone else or hope it won’t happen again. If you have told the person you believe is responsible for taking action and they do not act, take further action yourself.

• Always follow the steps set out in the reporting flowchart on Pg. 14, sharing your concern with the Person Responsible. Contact the Police if there is immediate risk. 

• Record clear concerns and observations, factual statements with dates.

• Where abuse may have been perpetrated by a family member or someone close to the family, do not initially inform the family, but ensure that the appropriate person informs them at the appropriate time under guidance from Oranga tamariki.

• Seek support for yourself. The tasks and situation will be stressful.

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ONGOING CARE FOR VULNERABLE CHILDREN

Ensure the child's immediate safety - do not alert the suspected abuser.

 

• If a child tells of abuse: Listen. Have a conversation but don't interview them. 

• Say you're glad they told you and you're sorry it happened.

• Let them know it's not their fault and that you'll do your best to help.

• Do not ask further questions. 

• Do not put words in the child's mouth. 

• Allow them to tell only as much as they want. 

• Continue to support the child.

• Ignore negative behaviour.

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If a child's behaviour poses a significant danger to other children's health and well-being at ASPIRE, a parent meeting will be called by the Person Responsible to discuss the situation. The final decision of future action will be made by the Person Responsible (and the Child Safety Team if appropriate), with consideration to the fact that the Person Responsible has the right to exclude any child if his/her behaviour poses a significant danger to others. This decision will need to be consulted with Ministry of Education (MoE) Learning Support and every effort taken to support the child’s developing social competence and understanding of appropriate behaviour (Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education and Care Services 2008: C10).

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ALLEGATIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT STAFF

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When there are suspicions or allegations of abuse by a staff member or volunteer, the Service Provider will take immediate steps to exclude the staff member (or volunteer) and remove them from the licensed premises to ensure that children and the staff member (or volunteer) are kept safe. The suspected individual will be excluded from all access to children pending the outcome of a full investigation. We recognise added stress to staff in such situations and will ensure support is available. A template for conducting and reporting the investigation to the Ministry of Education can be found at https://sexualabuse.org.nz/forms/.

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The investigation will seek to establish if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person has physically ill-treated or abused a child or committed a crime against children; or in guiding or controlling a child, has subjected the child to solitary confinement, immobilisation, or deprivation of food, drink, warmth, shelter, or protection (Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 Reg. 56). Where the investigation concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe the allegation, the staff member (or volunteer) concerned will continue to be excluded from licensed premises and prevented from having any further access to children pending implementation of appropriate Human Resources processes for serious misconduct and/or dismissal. It is vital to follow ordinary disciplinary policies, guided by the employment contract/collective employment contract and relevant statutory obligations.

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If there is insufficient evidence to pursue a criminal prosecution, then a disciplinary investigation may still be undertaken if there is "reasonable cause to suspect" that abuse may have occurred. The allegation may represent inappropriate behaviour or poor practice by a member of staff, which needs to be considered under internal disciplinary procedures.

We commit not to use ‘settlement agreements,’ where these are contrary to a strong culture of child protection. Some settlement agreements allow a member of staff to agree to resign provided that no disciplinary action is taken, and ASPIRE agrees to provide a future employment reference. Where the conduct at issue concerns the safety or wellbeing of a child, use of such agreements is contrary to a culture of child protection.

 

PROTECTED DISCLOSURE

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The Protected Disclosures Act 2022 encourages employees to disclose and report information about serious wrongdoing in the workplace. This Act provides protection for these employees from criminal and legal retribution and outlines the internal procedure to be followed when investigating the matter.

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WHEN TO MAKE A MANDATORY REPORT

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Under the Education and Training Act 2020, employers must make a mandatory report to the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand (Teaching Council) in certain circumstances. It is the expectation of the Teaching Council that an employer will bring an allegation of serious misconduct to their attention early in the process and that a conclusive assessment of the circumstances is not required by the employer prior to doing this. Failing to make a report is an offence, which carries a fine of up to $25,000 unless there is reasonable justification.

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Employers must IMMEDIATELY report to the Teaching Council when:

 

• a teacher is dismissed for any reason;

• a teacher resigns from a teaching position, if within the 12 months preceding the resignation the employer advised the teacher it was dissatisfied with, or intended to investigate, any aspect of the teacher’s conduct or competence, or on the expiry of the teacher's fixed-term contract; 

• a teacher ceases to be employed by the employer, and within the following 12 months the employer receives a complaint about the teacher's conduct or competence while he or she was an employee;

• an allegation has been made that the teacher has engaged in serious misconduct.

• the employer is satisfied that, despite completing competence procedures with the teacher, the teacher has not reached the required competence level..

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Download a Mandatory Report Form from the Teaching Council’s website .

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CONFIDENTIALITY AND INFORMATION SHARING

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The Privacy Act 2020 and the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 allow information to be shared to keep children safe when abuse or suspected abuse is reported or investigated. Note that under sections 15 and 16 of the CYPF Act, any person who believes that a child has been, or is likely to be, harmed physically, emotionally, or sexually or ill-treated, abused, neglected or deprived may report the matter to Oranga Tamariki or the Police and, provided the report is made in good faith, no civil, criminal or disciplinary proceedings may be brought against them. Child protection information must be shared as soon as possible with the tamaiti’s (child’s) new school or Early Childhood Education centre (ECE). 

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Best Practice: Inform parents of your intention if it is safe to do so. However, parental consent is not required to transfer this information as it will be used to prevent harm to a tamaiti. Where parents object, the facts should be recorded and note the reasons for your decision to transfer information.

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RECRUITMENT AND EMPLOYMENT (SAFETY CHECKING)

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Our prime consideration in selecting staff is to ensure that they have essential skills and attributes that contribute to children’s well-being. Safety checking is a central part of this and will be carried out in accordance with the Children’s Regulations 2015 (Requirements for Safety Checks of Children’s Workers). For new staff, this will include: identity verification; a Police vet/Professional membership search; work history; references and an interview as outlined in our Staff Safety Checking Policy. A risk assessment consisting of a detailed evaluation of the information gathered will be undertaken. If there is any suspicion that an applicant might pose a risk to a child, that applicant will not be employed. Existing staff will be safety checked every three years. Detailed records of all safety checks will be maintained, including copies of all original documents sighted, for as long as the person is employed by the organisation.

 

Safety checking is a detailed and complex process and is fully explained in our Safety Checking Policy and Procedure: https://sexualabuse.org.nz/forms/ 

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TRAINING, SUPERVISION, AND SUPPORT

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ASPIRE staff require guidelines and opportunities for training to further develop their knowledge and understanding of:

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• the detail of this policy;

• the signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect;

• roles and responsibilities around record keeping and reporting;

• responsibilities to children;

• limitations of their role.

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We commit to bi-annual staff training and consistent review of our child protection policy and reporting processes to ensure they are effective and fully understood by all staff.

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The Person Responsible will ensure that all staff (core and non-core) have access to necessary training, resources and/or advice to ensure they can carry out their roles in terms of this policy, particularly the following: 

 

• Understanding child abuse and indicators of child abuse; 

• How to reduce the risk of child abuse;

• Understanding and complying with legal obligations regarding child abuse; 

• Working with outside agencies on child abuse issues; 

• Planning of environment and supervision to minimise risk; 

• Conducting conversations appropriately with a child/parent/carer/whānau

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Understanding this policy will form part of our induction programme for new staff. 

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VOLUNTEERS AND PRACTICUM STUDENTS
Volunteers/students will be welcome into ASPIRE subject to safety checking.

 

• At no time will a volunteer or student be left alone with a child but will always be supervised by the Person Responsible or a registered teacher.

• Volunteers/students will not be placed on nappy changing duty.

• Where we rely on a Tertiary Education Organisation (TEO) to carry out the safety check for students on our behalf, we will obtain a letter from the TEO confirming this. If any components of the safety check have not been completed by the TEO, we are responsible for completing these. We always complete the identity check and risk assessment, even if these have already been completed by the TEO. A separate letter should be obtained for each named student teacher. 

 

PROTECTION OF STAFF AND SUPERVISION GUIDELINES

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ASPIRE is committed to providing a safe working environment for all our staff and to ensuring that employee privacy is protected. We take all reasonable steps to ensure staff safety. ASPIRE will not disclose personal information (including personal address, phone numbers and personal circumstances) of any employee to any child, parent or member of the public. Information will be kept secure in a locked filing cabinet in the office and only employees with specific authority will be permitted access to confidential employee information.

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Staff working in ASPIRE are well supervised and visible in the activities they perform with children. We maintain a supervision plan that ensures an awareness of our learning environment and clear lines of sight. 

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We require staff to be observant. If you have a concern regarding a child (i.e. observation of an unusual behaviour, evidence of injury, etc.) then you must document this concern and pass it onto your Person Responsible. We recommend that staff report any such observations immediately to the Person Responsible who will help them determine the appropriate course of action. We recommend that you do not act alone. Your written observation/statement will be retained by ASPIRE as confidential information and kept on file for our records.

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Physical contact of children during changing or cleansing must be for the purpose of that task only and no more than is necessary. Encourage children to take care of themselves if possible. In making physical contact with children, staff should be guided by the principal that they do so only to meet the child’s physical or emotional needs. Touching should never be initiated to gratify an adult’s needs. Children should not be asked to take care of adult needs, physical or otherwise. Except in an emergency, children are not taken from the service without parental approval, which must be in writing and noted on their enrolment card.

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For the protection of staff who, through the course of their work, are caring for children's bodily needs the following should be noted: 

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• Children will be accorded dignity and respect in relation to personal care. 

• All details of care given in respect to children's genital areas must be recorded with date, time and action taken, as soon as possible after the event. This includes washing genitals (toileting record), applying medication to genitals (medicine book), inspection of genital areas if soreness, itching or injury is suspected (accident book). Children under two years old have this information recorded on their daily record sheet. 

• Teachers are not to be left alone with children where a situation could arise where allegations of sexual abuse could be made.

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Never photograph a child’s ano-genital area, even as a record of your concern.

Parents should perform care-taking tasks only with their own children. Visitors to ASPIRE will not perform care-taking tasks with children or be alone with them. There is an open door policy for private spaces where intimate care-taking of children is required, e.g. toileting, nappy changing and sleeping.

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VISITORS TO ASPIRE

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The Person Responsible will ensure that all visitors to ASPIRE know what adult behaviour is deemed appropriate. Visitors may include contractors, whānau, prospective whānau, older children or any other person that is not staff or an enrolled child. Visitors will always be supervised by a member of the teaching staff.

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ASPIRE has established rules about acceptable touching of children, which are discussed regularly with staff and other adults (Positive Guidance Policy). If a child initiates physical contact in the seeking of affection, reassurance, or comfort it is appropriate to respond. It is not appropriate to force unwanted affection or touching on a child.

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Inappropriate touching for visitors is: Hugs, kisses, tickling, stroking, sitting child on knee, carrying children, changing children's clothes.

Appropriate touching is: Holding hands (e.g. taking children inside), helping children in or out of a swing, physical removal from potentially dangerous situations.

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The Person Responsible arranges with teachers to inform visiting students of our policy and speaks personally to the students where possible before any students arrive. Visitors, trainees etc. never toilet or change nappies. 

 

ALCOHOL/DRUGS

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ASPIRE has a zero tolerance for staff use of drugs, and staff will be excluded from the licensed premises while any suspicion is investigated.  Suspicions involving a registered teacher will be reported to the Teaching Council. Our policies are in place to ensure that no staff member is under the influence of drugs or alcohol whilst working in ASPIRE. If any parent arrives to pick up their child whilst suspected to be under the influence of drugs of alcohol, staff will use their discretion to decide whether the child is safe to be driven by the parent. Staff can offer to call another family member, but where drivers are non-cooperative, staff should call the police (111).

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CHILD SAFETY TEAM 

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A Child Safety Team of two staff members is responsible for reviewing and implementing the policy of the ASPIRE. These staff members are given initial training in child abuse and are to attend refresher meetings as they become available or organised by the Person Responsible. The team reports to the Person Responsible and is to ensure that policy and implementation of policy is determined by NZ law and influenced by cultural sensitivity. Any member of the team can call a meeting at any time. Any member of the Child Safety Team may talk unofficially to any appropriate health professional or agency in confidence before the referral procedures are implemented. 

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PREVENTION OF ABUSE IN ASPIRE

The supervision plan will ensure effective deployment of staff to keep children safe.

 

• No closed doors on children’s toilets 

• Toilet/baby change door to be always open when children are in the room 

• Sleeping room and office to have glass windows 

• Office door to be kept open if a child is present

• No child is to be in the garden shed.

• No child is to accompany a solitary staff member on any trip outside ASPIRE.

• Trips to any private home or building are only to be undertaken with more than one staff member and/or adult present. 

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CURRICULUM

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Safety from abuse is part of our education programme. We ensure that children develop respect for their own and others' bodies, minds and spirits. We encourage good self-esteem, awareness of body health, and such concepts as "My body belongs to me" and "I have the right to say no." Our educational programme is based on the Amazing ME and Keeping Ourselves Safe and a range of books including the following:

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Briggs, F. & Hawkins, R. (1997). Child Protection: a guide for teachers and childcare professionals.    
Australia, NSW: Allen & Unwin
Frederico J. (2008). Some parts are not for sharing. USA, OK: Tate Publishing
Hansen D. (2007). Those are my private parts. USA, CA: Empowerment Productions
King Z. & King K. (2010). I said No! USA, CA: Boulden Publishing
Barden, P. (2013). I’m the boss of my body. ISBN: 9780646931968
Sanders, J. (2015). Body Safety Education: A parents’ guide to protecting kids from sexual abuse. Australia, Victoria: E2E Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9871860-8-9
Sanders J. & Zamazing C. (2015). No Means No. Australia, Victoria: Upload Publishing. ISBN: 978-1-925089-22-6

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There is an additional book list available here: https://sexualabuse.org.nz/resources/books/

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RESOURCES

 

• Booklet: Sexual Abuse SAY NO! Published by Sexual Abuse Education (Rotorua)

• Booklet: Working Together: An inter-agency guide. Oranga Tamariki (2018)

• Booklet: How can I tell? Published by Child Matters (Hamilton) 07 838 3370

• Booklet: Sexual Behaviours in Children, Published by Sexual Abuse Education

• Parent Leaflet: What can you do about child sexual abuse? Sexual Abuse Education

• Leaflet: When a child tells. Sexual Abuse Education (Rotorua)

• Website: www.sexualabuse.org.nz

• Website: www.safeguardingchildren.org.nz

• Website: www.childmatters.org.nz

• Website: www.orangatamariki.govt.nz

• Website: www.safenetwork.org.nz

• Website: https://womensrefuge.org.nz

 

Child Protection e-learning Module: https://training.education.govt.nz

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This is a free resource and accessible for all staff employed in the early childhood education sector through the Ministry of Education’s Learning Management System. You will need to login using your Education Sector login, then look for Area of Interest – Early Learning.
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