Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum
The Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum provides the framework to teach children and young people to understand ways to keep themselves safe. It is mandated in all Catholic schools in South Australia and teachers undertake professional learning to implement this important area of the curriculum.
"The philosophy and practice of restorative justice in schools is to promote resilience in both the one who is harmed and the one who causes harm. It is about helping young people become aware of the impact of their behaviour on others through personal accountability and being open to learning from conflict situations." Marist Youth Care, Sydney (2004).
It is hoped that consistent use of restorative practices in a school setting will change attitudes and represent a philosophical shift in thinking about students and problem behaviours away from the use of punishment, to the management of situations using a restorative approach.
Restorative Practices is a whole school approach to promoting resilience and aims to contribute to the building of positive relationships in school communities. It is focused on helping young people become aware of the impact of their behaviour on others through personal accountability and learning from a conflict situation. An important component of restorative practices is the focus on restoring relationships after harm has been done.
Our restorative plan for working with individual children provides logical and appropriate stages of intervention that engage all parties (students, families, staff) in developing and maintaining healthy relationships and quality engagement in learning
We are a technology-rich school and cyber citizenship is an important feature of our programs. With this technology comes the responsibility for teaching children about cybersafety, which has become one of the major issues for families in schools around the world.
We approach cyberstafety through education - teaching children, parents and carers about how they can keep safe in digital world. We teach children about their rights and responsibilities online. Keeping children safe online is a joint responsibility of our school and your family. We can also provide advice for parents and caregivers so they can ensure their children are safe when online at home.
As a school we work with Cybersafe Families to help educate children and parents as we believe that children need the skills and understandings to safely and effectively navigate their way around their digital environment with confidence. Cybersafe Families provide education sessions for students and their families that are in line with major Australian Education and Safety frameworks.
At St Catherine’s we have a buddy system program in place where the older children mentor and support the younger children. Each child has a buddy in which they can go to if they are in need of assistance or if it is just to say hello and see a familiar face.
We take pride in our buddy system and the teachers work with their buddy classes throughout the year to build relationships of trust and respect.
At St Catherine’s student wellbeing is integral to our work, we are a place to develop the wellbeing of all our students. We strongly believe that we are in partnership with you in the care and wellbeing of your child. Our aim is to build a Catholic school where all in the community work and learn together in a safe and caring environment.
