Psalm 127:3 Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.
In 2018 the College commenced the implementation of Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum (KS:CPC). The KS:CPC is a child safety curriculum for children and young people between the ages of 3 to 18. It provides developmentally appropriate content and activities which are evidence based and were developed by child protection experts, leaders and teachers.
Apart from the legislative requirements of providing our children with access to a child protection curriculum that provides them with the knowledge and skills to keep safe, it is all our responsibility to keep our children safe. The curriculum provides us with the opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive by teaching children in an age appropriate way to recognise abuse and tell a trusted adult about it, understand what is appropriate and inappropriate touching and understand ways of keeping themselves safe.
KS:CPC’s two main themes (we all have a right to be safe and we can help ourselves to be safe by talking to people we trust) are presented through topics and activities. The themes are then explored through four focus areas:
- The right to be safe
- Relationships
- Recognising and reporting abuse
- Proactive strategies
By way of example, in the Early Learning years for Kindergarten to Year 2, students cover topics such as feelings, safe and unsafe, personal emergencies, needs and wants, relationship circles, bullying, language of safety, privacy, and personal space and trust. In the Middle School from Year 7-9 students cover adolescent and safety, online warning signs, grooming, healthy and unhealthy relationships, bullying and cyber bulling, dating violence, sharing personal information, problem solving and persistence.
In the Middle and Senior School from Year 7 to Year 10, the program is delivered by Health Teachers as part of the Health curriculum. In Year 11 and 12 the content is delivered through the Living Well program. In the Junior School the content is primarily delivered by the classroom teacher. All Health and Physical Education Teachers have received KS:CPC training as have many of the Junior School teachers. This gives them access to the curriculum materials and enables them to effectively deliver the curriculum. The point of difference with KS:CPC being taught at Swan is that it is delivered using a Christian World view.
We look forward to continuing to partner with our parents and guardians in keeping our children safe.
God bless.
Terry Eason
Acting Principal