All children have a right to:

  •  be treated with respect and to be protected from harm
  • feel and be safe in their interactions with adults and other children and young people
  •  understand as early as possible, what is meant by ‘feeling and being safe’
  •  support of school based counsellors or designated staff in their education or care environment whose role includes being an advocate for their safety and wellbeing

At Craigburn, we integrate the Child Protection Curriculum into our learning activities to assist students’ in their sense of wellbeing. The Child Protection Curriculum teaches all children and young people they have the right to be safe and they can help themselves to be safe by talking to people they trust. The topics include:

 

This year, the students will be separated by gender to participate in some Health lessons. These lessons will incorporate the Child Protection Curriculum and will be covering protective strategies, relationships, the right to be safe and recognising and reporting abuse. We will also be discussing how to keep physically and mentally healthy and students will have the opportunity to discuss things that are important to them such as self esteem, brain development, what it means to be a girl and a boy, the opposite sex, how to deal with friendships and relationships and how to be successful and navigate their way through this next chapter of their lives called puberty.

We know that boys and girls develop differently and they have gender specific issues and interests in this age group. We hope these can be addressed in a safe and comfortable environment where the embarrassment and reluctance to talk about things will be lessened with the absence of the opposite sex.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this innovative way of supporting our year 5 to 7s, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher. We will be posting updates and information about single gender teaching and learning so keep an eye on our blog and Facebook page.