Child protection is a part of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of students. This refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific students who are suffering, or are at risk of suffering, significant harm. Crescent International School through the Board of Governors, Principal and staff, is responsible for providing a safe environment for all students. 

The most important key to child safety is prevention. It is widely recognized that organizational awareness and good practice can promote positive staff action and behavior, eliminate opportunities for offending, and enable early detection and quick response. Our school is committed to doing everything possible to provide an environment and human interactions that offer no allowance of any form of child abuse: physical, emotional, verbal, or sexual, as well as that of neglect.

Abuse can take place in many forms and anywhere, including within the family, in the wider community, or on the Internet. Abuse is even manifesting itself in digital and other technologies, such as smart phones. This can be virtual or real and can take many forms. It should be remembered that although we commonly think of adults as those who abuse children, children could also be the perpetrators, particularly by bullying others. (Refer to Anti-Bullying policy).

Safe working practice ensures that students are safe and that all staff:

• Are responsible for their own actions and behavior and should avoid any conduct which would lead any reasonable person to question their motivation and intentions;
• Work in an open and transparent way;
•  Discuss and/or take advice from school leadership over any incident which may give rise to concern;
• Record any incidents or decisions made.

Principal and Senior Leadership Team (SLT)

The Principal and SLT will

• Ensure that all employees and volunteers have completed a recent Criminal Record Check, as required, with copies kept on file;
•  Ensure that where staff work directly with children, additional care is taken to ensure that they are suitable, including checking identification and qualifications, and obtaining references from previous employers;
• Implement the school’s Child Protection, Health and Safety and Security Policies, including enforcement of the strict policy of no tolerance of any form of corporal punishment, nor any threat thereof;
•  Ensure that all staff know the Child Protection Policy, and given the opportunity to discuss its implications for them;
• Ensure that no child is left unsupervised with an outside visitor

Teachers and Support Staff

Teacher and Support staff will

• Adhere to a signed Crescent International School’s Professional Code of Conduct
• Agree to work under the terms of the Child Protection Policy as a condition of employment with the school
• Comply with provisions regarding acceptable behaviour in the workplace – for example, not to intentionally embarrass a student or use physical punishment or chastisement, not to use language intended to belittle or humiliate students
• Report any concerns they may have about the protection of students, in accordance with this policy;
•  Observe confidentiality and not talk about any situations of actual or suspected abuse that occur, except in accordance with this policy, to protect the privacy of those involved.

Trainig for all employed staff will include

• Identification methods of possible abuse and appropriate responses required for all forms of child protection issues: physical, emotional, verbal, sexual, neglect, negligence, and all types of bullying including cyber bullying
• How to produce required records related to incidents and inquiries, which must be stored according to the strict policies and guidelines of the school and local regulatory bodies, including issues of privacy and confidentiality, where indicated
• Internet safety and avoidance of its forms of abuse such as gaming addiction, harmful sites and social networking dangers
• The strict guidelines for CCTV usage and review will be enforced, and subject to monitoring and the direction of the Principal
• The designated Child Protection Officer will work with a relevant team of educators to screen all school materials, photographs, and outgoing or incoming media for their possible censorship in line with UAE moral and cultural norms, and for the protection of the students.
• The designated Child Protection Officer will inform the Principal of all actions related to a child protection issue, or the Chair of the Board of Governors, if the Principal is the subject of a child protection complaint.