CSPV recently met with the Commissioner for Children and Young People to discuss parent engagement in child safety. Many parents would now be aware of the Child Safe Standards and the changes related to compliance implemented by schools. There is much work going on behind the scenes to ensure the safety of children in Catholic organisations, schools and Churches as well as in the broader community.

CSPV is exploring opportunities to broaden awareness amongst parents of their important role as 'protective participants' and advocates for child safety in their schools and the community. The old saying, "it takes a village to raise children" applies now more than ever and parents have a shared role in creating cultures of child safety in their school and community. 

A research report and resource provided in 2018 to every Catholic school in Melbourne explores how parent engagement can support child safety and protective participation. The resource, developed by Catholic Education Melbourne and Australian Catholic University, explores the role of parents.

"Connected, inclusive school communities recognise the interdependence of educators, families, and students in children's learning, wellbeing and safety. They facilitate a school-wide culture where all members of the school community are invited as partners, enriching the growth and wellbeing of their children.

These schools invest time and effort in building positive relationships with families to better support children's engagement, learning and wellbeing. Partnership implies more than 'communicating information from school to home.' It necessitates authentic dialogue and exchange; listening with openness to parents' perspectives, realities and responses through respectful conversations. 

What does this mean for child safety?

Parental engagement for child safety means that schools take deliberate steps to identify multiple ways to meaningfully build trust and work with parents in their community to:

• actively share information and consult about the schools child safety strategies

• invite families into conversations about child safety and the prevention of abuse to gain an insight into their perspectives, concerns and hopes

• shape ongoing improvements to policies and practices.

Creating a shared Child Safety narrative and understanding with parents, supports consistent messaging between home and school as they are better placed to reinforce key protective messages, concepts and behaviours. 

Equipping parents with tools, strategies and resources to confidently have age and developmentally appropriate conversations with their children about safety enables them to respond more effectively when concerns arise or issues are identified or disclosed. 

Questions for schools to reflect and discuss:

• Is there a shared understanding and language for promoting child safety?

• How is student knowlege being utilised as a resource for child safety at school and home?

• Are parents comfortable discussing protective and safety strategies with their children? What resources would support them further?

• How can we explore observations of families related to child safety in our school?

• Has cultural diversity been considered? How does this impact the strategies used to engage in conversations/development of resources for parents?

CSPV will continue to explore these questions and welcome your feedback on these discussion points and further resources your school would find helpful for families to enable engagement in child safety.

(Source: Protective Participation: The Voices of Young People on Safety, Catholic Education Melbourne and Australian Catholic University)