E-scéal 278 - Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools
- Published: 03 October 2011
The revised ‘Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools’ have now been published and are available to download from ippn.ie. Circular 0065/2011 - Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post Primary Schools has also been published. Hardcopies of the circular will be sent to schools next week.
Main changes for Principals
• As Designated Liaison Person (DLP), Principals and Deputy Principals will need to be familiar with the new publications as soon as possible – they become effective immediately
• Ensure that all staff members, Board of Management and Parents’ Association have a copy of the new circular
• Ensure that strict records are kept in relation to child protection concerns. Discuss with staff what you require from them in terms of recording, tracking and reporting
• The Principal’s Report to each Board of Management meeting must now contain the number of child protection cases where advice was sought from the HSE (even if no further action was advised) and where formal referrals were made to the HSE
• An annual review of your schools Child Protection Policy must be undertaken by the BoM and completion of this annual review must be communicated to the Parent Association in writing
• Enquire about all available training for staff in the area of child protection and welfare.
• Contact the Child Abuse Prevention Programme team for advice on Stay Safe and child protection training
• Ensure that you have all important contact details for key child protection personnel to hand
• Acquaint yourself with legislation which is relevant in relation to your role as DLP See Legal Diary in the forthcoming issue of Leadership+ (issue 65).
On your behalf, we would like to express sincere thanks to Maria Doyle for her work on the revision of the Child Protection Guidelines. Maria is a full-time Principal of a DEIS primary school in Waterford city and also serves on IPPN’s National Executive. Her commitment to supporting Principals throughout the country is remarkable and illustrated most clearly in the time and energy that she spent representing Principals in the revision of the child protection guidelines.
Is sinne le meas,
Seán Cottrell & Virginia O’Mahony
