Focus on Child Protection at YCIS

Written by Damien Hehir, Co-Principal, YCIS Pudong

Applying a culture and set of procedures built around Child Protection and Safeguarding has been one of our major focuses at YCIS Pudong over the past few years. We now have a foundation-wide Child Protection Policy for all Yew Chung and Yew Wah schools, and we have implemented numerous safeguarding proceedings to ensure we create the safest environment possible for our students.

The principle guiding all of this can be seen in our Child Protection Policy:

Yew Chung and Yew Wah Schools and Kindergartens recognise their responsibilities regarding child protection. We aim to create a safe, secure and supportive learning environment for our students, free from any form of harm. The welfare of all students is of paramount importance to each YCIS, YWIES and YWIEK school community. Members of each school community are required, ethically and legally, to act promptly and professionally to ensure the protection of our students in instances of suspected child abuse. All suspected cases of child abuse should be reported to the child protection officer immediately.

The impetus for developing our Child Protection procedures came initially when we employed new School Counsellors a few years ago, and tasked them with this important work. However, we also knew that the school leaders also must take a major role in supporting and leading this process. Our Accreditation agency, Council of International Schools (CIS) has been driving this process of educating international schools on Child Protection practices and what schools need to do to make their campuses as safe as possible. We have invested in professional development for staff in this area, ensuring our Counsellors and Principals are well trained. We have also ensured we have had professional guidance along the way; seeking out consultants including the Jane Group and Susie March.

YCIS Pudong formed a Child Protection committee consisting of School Leaders and Child Protection Officers / Counsellors across all sections, and we meet regularly to review and improve our procedures. We are proud to share some of the achievements of this team:

Putting in place the Child Protection Policy and Procedures document
Creating a Code of Conduct for all adults who work at YCIS including outsourced staff, service providers (CCAs, LearningAssistants, Therapists etc..) and visitors.
Implementation of rigorous visitor procedures
Implementation of Safer Recruitment practices
Training provided for all YCIS staff and outsourced workers
Development of an Anti-Bullying policy and procedures document
Appointment of Child Protection Officers and Deputies (including documentation and procedures to support them)
Development of a Wellbeing Curriculum to teach students about Child Protection matters which impact on them
Providing resources and trainings for other schools within our organization
Providing training and workshops for parents

Parents may be interested in reading our Child Protection policies and procedures. We encourage you to go to each section blog, using the following links: