Executive Director’s Update to Principals #8 - 29 February 2024
Announcement of Resignation - Simon O'Brien
Simon O’Brien has resigned from his position as Assurance and Compliance Advisor with DOBCEL, effective immediately. We are sorry to be farewelling Simon, but we are supportive of his wish to follow his passions and explore further opportunities. We acknowledge Simon’s collegiality and contribution through the Catholic Education Office since 2017, and he goes with our thanks and best wishes for his next adventure.
For assurance and compliance matters, please contact Manager: Assurance and Risk, Andrea Warr on 0498 490 749.
Child Safety - Actions Required
There are three significant pieces of work progressing in the Child Safe area which Child Safety Manager, Jacinta Cook wishes to keep you informed of.
1. CHILD LINK
The current Mandated Child Safety Reforms which you are familiar with began with the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) and the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS). Both schemes enable the sharing of information between authorised organizations e.g. schools and allow a more robust assessment to be made when children, young people and their families are at risk.
The document developed to guide and hold this information is the MARAM Framework (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management). Authorities who have collected information from your schools will record it in the MARAM to inform their decisions and ongoing risk analysis.
The next phase of the reforms which ties the above pieces together is CHILD LINK. You may recall CHILD LINK being referred to in Executive Updates in Term 4, 2023.
CHILD LINK will be implemented in all DOBCEL schools during Term two. There is an expectation that the roll out will be completed by 28 June 2024.
CHILD LINK is a Victorian digital tool which displays information about a child or young person to authorised professionals who have responsibility for child wellbeing and safety. It will show critical information e.g. a child’s attendance at Maternal and Child Health Services, Early Childhood Services, kindergarten and schools. It will also include information pertaining to Out of Home Care Orders (OOHC) made by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH). Any changes in parental responsibility will also be recorded. The information is a snapshot in time, aimed to support early identification and informed planning for children and young people.
An entry is created in CHILD LINK for every child (From birth to 18 years of age), who was born in Victoria, based on receipt of a copy of a birth notice for the child. If this has not been actioned, an entry is created when the first contact with an authorised service occurs.
There is preparation taking place currently to ensure DOBCEL schools are recorded correctly in CHILD LINK and that all technical requirements are meet.
Principals will be the authorisers in their schools and are required to nominate at least one other authoriser in the school. For larger schools, up to 7 members of staff can be authorised to have access to CHILD LINK.
Please refer here for further detail.
ACTION:
- Nominate your school’s Child link Users.
Principals can nominate up to 7 school staff as Child Link Users. We recommend nominating individuals in your school who have responsibility for child wellbeing and safety, such as Deputy Principal, Pastoral Wellbeing Leader, Learning Diversity Leader, or Wellbeing Worker.
Email Jacinta Cook (jcook@dobcel.catholic.edu.au) your nominated staff members name by 15 March 2024. - Principals and their nominated staff self-enrol into one of the on-line sessions as listed below:
Friday April 19 (9am – 11.30am) or Wednesday April 24 (9am – 11.30 am)
Please note: The above sessions are designed for DOBCEL staff only. There is the option of attending a session in the first week of May however, we strongly recommend the April sessions.
Register here
Following the training there are subsequent steps which will ensure principals are set up as the CHILD LINK authoriser for their school. Once the nominated staff complete the training principals are required to authorise the staff member’s access.
2. EMBEDDING CHILD SAFE STANDARD WORKSHOP 2024
Following on from the introduction of the Child Safe Standards and consultation with staff, Sarah Morgante – Director of One Red Apple – will be delivering a Child Safe Standards Workshop in Term 2 in the following locations:
Workshop One – Southern Zone
| Workshop Two – Central Zone
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Workshop Three – Mid Northern Zone
| Workshop Four – Northern Zone
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Please note: Sarah does not limit attendee numbers, and we support staff attending in a zone other than on their own where feasible.
- Cost - $80 per person. Subsidised by CEB for 2024.
- Please see attached agenda for the workshop
ACTION:
Registrations are open on Trybooking for principals and your nominated staff to register.
3. DIOCESAN SCHOOLS CHILD SAFETY NETWORK (DSCSN) MEETINGS
The DSCSN will recommence for 2024, with our first online meetings to be held on March 12 2024. Jacinta Cook will convene a network meeting each term which all Child Safety Officers currently recorded on DOBCELS CSO’s list will be sent an invite to attend.
Jacinta will facilitate separate meetings for primary and secondary CSO’s given issues discussed are often different. There will be the option for your CSO’s to attend a network meeting the morning of March 12th or in the afternoon. This decision was made to provide greater opportunity for CSOs to attend. This will mean 4 meetings will be facilitated on the 12th of March – two for primary CSO’s and two for Secondary CSO’s.
Where an item of interest is relevant to all meetings, this information is shared.
ACTION:
Email jcook@dobcel.catholic.edu.au the name of your Child Safety Officer by 8 March, 2024.
Insight SRC Survey
All schools that are not on the scheduled list for 2024 Insight SRC Organisational Health/School Improvement Surveys, are invited to participate in the survey which will be open July 29 - August 9 2024.
Participation in these surveys on an annual basis, gives schools relatively current and important information in a number of areas on the organizational health of the school from the viewpoint of staff, students and parents, to inform school improvement. Your Education Consultant is well-positioned to discuss the opportunity of annual surveys if you have questions.
"The School Improvement Surveys are highly reliable and valid tools for assessing the strengths, challenges and opportunities for improvement in your school. The ongoing challenge is to use the survey results to drive sustained improvements in your school and link these to outcomes for students.”
There is no additional cost to undertaking the survey annually. If you want your school to undertake the survey, please contact Susan Crowe (scrowe@dobcel.catholic.edu.au) before the end of term one and she will be in further communication with you requesting necessary information to set up the survey for your school.
Structured Literacy - School Newsletter Resource
With structured approaches to literacy prominent in the media in recent days, some schools may wish to take the opportunity to update families on their work in this area.
A resource that might assist you is available here.
Principal Induction Webinars + invitation to all Principals
As part of the Principal Induction program, Years 1 – 3 Principals attend six one-hour webinars to build Principal knowledge and provide an introduction to Catholic Education Ballarat staff members who will work with Principals in various ways throughout their Principalship.
The interactive webinars are held via MS Teams, where participants are encouraged to ask questions and participate in discussions.
If you are not a Years 1-3 Principal but would be interested in attending a specific webinar, please contact your Education Consultant for the link to the meeting.
The webinars are scheduled to take place on the following dates and times.
Thursday 29 February 4:00pm – 5:00pm People & Development |
Thursday 14 March 4:00pm – 5:00pm Child Safety & Safeguarding |
Wednesday 20 March 4:00pm – 5:00pm OH&S/Risk & Assurance |
Thursday 2 May 4:00pm – 5:00pm Finance |
Thursday 16 May 4:00pm – 5:00pm SIMON |
Thursday 13 June 4:00pm – 5:00pm Facilities |
The sessions will be recorded and placed in the Diocesan Principals Google folder for you to view if you cannot attend at the specified time or would like to revisit them later.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your Education Consultant.