Child Protection Officer: Fiona Lee

The identification of Child Safety Officers (CSO) or Child Protection Officers (CPO) is to provide children, volunteers and parents with a clearly identifiable support network in the event of a suspected child safety issue.   Child Safety Officers will be able to act as a source of support, advice and expertise to the Centre on matters of child safety,  liaise with the Committee and other volunteers to maintain visibility of child safety and lead the development of the Centre’s child safety culture, including being a child safety champion and provide coordination in communicating, implementing, monitoring, enhancing and reporting on strategies to embed a culture of child safety.

They will encourage amongst adults a culture of listening to children and taking into account their wishes and feelings in any measures to protect them and ensure that the Volunteers and parents are aware of and understand the Child Safe Code of Conduct. They will guide Child Safety incident management and reporting  and will respond appropriately to a child who makes or is affected by a Child Safety incident taking, securing and retaining records of the allegations of child safety issues or abuse.