Policies

Child Safety and Wellbeing at Horsham Special School
Information for families and the school community

Horsham Special School is committed to providing a child safe and child friendly environment, where students are safe and feel safe.

Our child safety and wellbeing policies outline the measures and strategies we have in place to support, promote and maintain the safety and wellbeing of our students (these can be found on our School Policies page on the website (https://www.hsds.vic.edu.au/about-us/our-policies):

Child Safety and Policy
Child Safety Code of Conduct
Child Safety Responding and Reporting Obligations Policy and Procedure
Complaints Policy
Student Wellbeing and Engagement Policy
Bullying Prevention Policy
Volunteers Policy
Visitors Policy
Digital Learning Policy

As valuable partners in promoting and maintaining child safety and wellbeing at Horsham Special School, we welcome and encourage your feedback.

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions in relation to our child safe policies and practices, please contact Ben Tait (Principal) or Nickie Peters (Assistant Principal).

Privacy Policy

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools' Privacy Policy.

For more privacy information, see: Schools’ Privacy Policy – information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages.

Racism in Schools Policy

Racism is not tolerated in Horsham Special School

Horsham Special School is committed to fostering a welcoming, inclusive environment where racism is not tolerated. Racism harms students’ mental health, learning and sense of belonging. We celebrate the diversity of cultures, ethnicities and faiths of all our students. It is up to all of us at Horsham Special School to make our school a place that is free of racism and where everyone feels respected and can learn in a safe and inclusive environment.

What Horsham Special School is doing to prevent racism

Horsham Special School follows the Department of Education’s Preventing and Addressing Racism in Schools Policy. We are building a culturally safe school with inclusive learning for everyone by working with staff, students, families, carers and communities. We will:

· provide programs that teach about and celebrate diversity, inclusion and the impact of racism to build understanding and empathy

· use practices that support all students to thrive

· implement anti-racism efforts to prevent and address racism effectively

· make sure everyone feels safe, with clear and accessible pathways to report racism

What to do if your child experiences or witnesses racism at school

If your child experiences or witnesses racism or religious discrimination at school, please let us know. You can tell your child’s teacher or any of the following school staff members: Ben Tait (Principal), Nickie Peters (Assistant Principal) or any member of the Wellbeing Team by contacting the school on 5381 1475 and asking to speak with the relevant staff member.

Report Racism hotline

If you don’t feel comfortable reporting racism to school, or you are not happy with the school’s response, you can report racism to:

· the Department of Education’s Report Racism hotline via email report.racism@education.vic.gov.au or phone 1800 722 476 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)

· Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI) via email vaeai@vaeai.org.au or phone 03 9481 0800 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)

· Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) online, via email complaints@veohrc.vic.gov.au or phone 1300 292 153 (Monday to Friday 10am to 2pm).

For additional support following an incident of racism:

First Nations students, staff or families can contact Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI)

Jewish students, staff or families can contact the Jewish Community Council of Victoria
Muslim students, staff or families can contact the Islamic Council of Victoria

For more information about how to report racism to the school, and to get information in community languages, visit this website: Report racism or religious discrimination in schools.

If you need an interpreter to call the school, please use the details available at: Guide for Families: How to use an interpreter to contact your school.

How Horsham Special School will respond to racism

When you report a racist incident, Horsham Special School will:

· take your report seriously and act quickly

· give you ongoing support

· investigate and respond safely and appropriately

· keep you informed, while respecting privacy

· review the incident to help avoid it from happening again.

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