Child Protection Procedures
for identifying and dealing with signs of abuse or neglect

West Eyreton’s Safe School Vision

West Eyreton School aims to be a nurturing place where all people are respected, appreciated and understood.
 

Some possible signs of abuse or neglect:

Physical:
- Failure to thrive
- Child will flinch away from on oncoming adult
- Child seems too passive, frightened to move
- Loss of self-esteem.

Emotional:
- Failure to thrive
- Unhappy
- Volatile
- Erratic behaviour
- Loss of self esteem

Sexual:
- Play reflects inappropriate sexual behaviour
- Loss of self esteem
- Bed wetting
- Nightmares
- Inappropriate knowledge
- Torn / stained clothing
- Strong smell
- Aggressive behaviour
- Change in behaviour
- Avoidance of a particular place

Signs of Distress

There are no indications of distress specific to any of these types of abuse.
You would expect a change in behaviour such as:

- Hostility
- Depression
- Poor concentration
- Deterioration in relationships with others
- Low self-image
- Running away

Note:
Children and adolescents find it extremely difficult to tell adults that they are being abused. Most young children particularly, do not have the appropriate language to describe what has happened.
 

Guidelines:

1. The school will provide staff development at least every two years to ensure staff are aware of the signs and indicators of abuse and neglect, and procedures for reporting. Community liaison social workers from the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services [CYFS] will be asked to assist in the area of staff development. All staff members have access to a copy of “Breaking The Cycle; An Interagency Guide To Child Abuse”, [a companion document to the protocols issued by CYFS and referred to below in Procedures].

2. Through curriculum delivery the school will provide programmes to develop skills in the children that may assist them in identifying and protecting themselves from abusive situations. Programmes will be planned at the start of each new school year. Help in delivering these may be sought from outside agencies e.g. CYFs

3. Any staff member has the right to report suspicion of abuse to CYFS and/or to the Police. [section 15 of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989.] . If no advice is received from CYFS within 24 hours, advice should then be sought from the police. The situation should be discussed with the principal first, unless it is the principal who is suspected, in which case the report should be made to the chairperson.

4. Only CYFS and /or the Police have the statutory authority to investigate allegations of abuse. In an emergency situation where a child’s safety is threatened, the police should be contacted first and CYFS second.

5. Providing the report is made in good faith, section 16 of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 protects the person who reports from civil, criminal, or disciplinary proceedings regarding reporting suspected abuse. This only applies to reports made to CYFS and the Police.

Access by social worker or police to a child in school:

6. While the law does not require a CYFS social worker or the police to have consent from a parent or guardian to interview a child as part of an investigation into possible abuse or neglect, they generally try to obtain consent before a child is interviewed. On occasion it may not be possible or appropriate to obtain parental consent before a child is interviewed. This may be the case, for example, where a parent is the alleged abuser. In such circumstances the best interests of the child will determine the most appropriate approach.

7. Consent of the principal is required before a child can be interviewed at the school. Under normal circumstances the school principal allows this access as the paramountcy principle i.e. “best interests of the child” applies. The school does, however, have the right to deny the social worker or police access to the child if parental consent has not first been obtained. In such an instance the social worker and/or police has the option of either obtaining parental consent or [if they believe this is not in the child’s best interests] seeking a warrant from the Family Court. A warrant gives the social worker and/or police the authority to proceed with the interview and, if necessary, to take the child out of the school for the interview.

8. Where a child is interviewed at school the normal procedure is for a staff member the child has confidence in, to be present. Ideally, that staff member will be briefed by the social worker or the police officer prior to the interview, regarding the level of support to provide.

9. Section 66 of the Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989 requires government departments and crown entities [including schools] to provide information, on request, to the Police, CYFS social workers, and care and protection coordinators, where the information is needed to determine whether a child or young person is in need of care or protection. Where the Board of Trustees or a staff member receives such a request they are required to supply it. They should require a reference to the authority under which the information is being requested [i.e. reference to section 66].

10. Where parents or others involved in a complaint use the Privacy Act 1993 to request information provided by the child to the school, the school, through the Principal, must give due consideration to the safety of the child if the information is disclosed. The request can be refused if the school, through the Principal, believes that in providing that information the child may be put at risk [section 29 [d] of the Privacy Act 1993 ].

11. Where a third party approaches the school with concerns about a child, they should be directed to CYFS or the Police.

12. Once CYFS is involved with a child the responsibility for the welfare of that child lies with CYFS. While the school may from time to time disagree with the decisions made by CYFS, the school’s primary responsibility is for the child’s education.

Procedures:

In cases of suspected or alleged child abuse West Eyreton School will follow the procedures detailed in the flowchart and relevant pages of ‘Breaking The Cycle; Interagency Protocols for Child Abuse Management’ as provided by the New Zealand Children and Young Persons Service issued1996.