Safeguarding

Discovery College is committed to Safeguarding, which is “the process of protecting children from abuse or neglect, preventing impairment of their health and development, and ensuring they are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care that enables children to have optimum life chances and enter adulthood successfully.” (UK Government)

Discovery College has four Child Protection Officers (two Primary, two Secondary) who work to ensure the wellbeing of students by monitoring incidences of suspected abuse or neglect, convening teams of relevant colleagues to make decisions about student welfare and making referrals, internally and externally, to specialist colleagues in order to support students who are in need.

The Child Protection officers are:

Primary Secondary

Emma-Louise Cathrae, Head of Primary

emma-louise.cathrae@dc.edu.hk


Kris Stanhope – Deputy Head of Primary

kris.stanhope@dc.edu.hk

Brian McCann, Director of Student Support and Wellbeing (Lead)

brian.mccann@dc.edu.hk


Annette Garnett, Deputy Head of Secondary

annette.garnett@dc.edu.hk

Any member of the school community with a Safeguarding / Child Protection concern should contact the above colleagues.

Through our College-wide approach to Safeguarding, we adhere to the guidance and recommendations of the International Task Force for Child Protection:

Schools have a duty of care to protect children and prevent them from harm, and act with a sense of urgency if a child is at risk of harm.” (ITFCP)

Discovery College’s Safeguarding provision is accredited through the Council of International Schools (CIS) International Accreditation Framework, ensuring a very high standard of practice in protecting children from harm. A number of these areas of practice are described in the ESF Child Protection Policy, available here.