Recent local sexual abuse allegations have raised everyone’s awareness of the need to safeguard children against possible sexual abuse. The International School of Macao has a well developed and comprehensive Child Protection Policy that increases the security of all students at school, educates students on appropriate boundaries and safeguards; provides a clear reporting and investigation process of any allegations. The Child Protection Policy has been a focus this past year and continues to be developed.

The Importance of Child Protection
Child Protection is a hot topic at the moment in all educational institutions. Child Protection is the responsibility of everyone, it is not just the teachers and staff who work at the school, it is also the students, parents and the community. For this reason, we are undergoing rigorous child protection training within the school and we intend to also offer this to our parent community. We also intend to make it clear that we are transparent in our Child Protection practices.

There are a number of priorities related to Child Protection that TIS has been very proactive in initiating this year.

This past year, a special committee has refined and improved our policies and procedures. These will soon be publicly posted on our school sites. We also have systems in place so that any individual can report suspected or reported incidences of harm. The objective is to be forthright about our school being a safe place for children with appropriate preventative measures in place. We will not tolerate harm caused to any individual in our TIS community.

In addition to safeguarding against sexual abuse, practices are in place to prevent physical and emotional abuse, address gender and sexuality questions, and those of neglect.

Online safety is a significantly important aspect of our policy as we learn more and look to improve this particular aspect of child safety.

Safety and Security

• Teacher Recruitment – All vacancies clearly articulate the school’s commitment to child protection.
• Candidates must self-declare any previous employment issues. All staff have references checked and references must answer Child Protection questions. All staff are also briefed to ensure they know the rules of working with children.
• Campus Security – All visitors to the school must have present their parent badge or show proper ID and register with the security team.
• Monitoring the Campus – CCTV surveillance is installed in corridors and public areas.
• Staff have separate washrooms from student washrooms.
• All staff must sign the Adult Code of Conduct which is part of the Child Protection Policy at TIS.
• All students must sign the Student Code of Conduct which is part of the Child Protection Policy.
• All contractors and workers must sign the Adult Code of Conduct which is part of Child Protection Policy.

Education and Prevention

• Students in Kindergarten have begun The PANTS program which is a child-friendly initiative for them to understand that their bodies are private and belong to them.
• Through our Social and Emotional Programs (TAP in Secondary and MACE in Elementary) all students receive information on how to protect themselves and to report incidences.
• Child Protection relates to student behavior online and this is also being addressed throughout social media policy and the technology agreements that all students and staff follow.

Reporting and Investigations

• Systems for reporting are well established and allow for any individual, student, staff member or parent to report suspicious behavior.
• We have a dedicated Child Protection Officer who can then liaise with administration and the authorities as required. Confidentiality is maintained throughout this process.
• We also provide counselling and education to parents and students as needed with trained school psychologists and social workers.
• Investigations are coordinated through the senior administrative team in collaboration with the local Macau authorities.
• As a school we intend to uphold our transparency and fairness as conducted through our reporting systems.

Future Developments & Further Improvements

• Beginning next year all new teachers and staff hired by the school undergo training in child protection.
• Signage at TIS will reflect that as a community we take Child Protection seriously and is a place where students feel safe, protected and heard.
• Further review of the campus to identify additional areas for CCTV.
• Identify washrooms that are for students only. We wish to minimize the potential of students and adults using the same washroom spaces.

澳門國際學校「保護兒童政策」

近日本澳發生的性侵犯指控提升了社會對保護兒童免受性虐待的意識。澳門國際學校有一套完善的「兒童保護政策」，除了保護校內學生的安全之外，還教育學生如何正確進行社交及保障自身安全，並對任何指控進行詳細的調查和清晰的報告。「兒童保護政策」在過去一年一直是學校的重點關注項目，並將繼續優化完善。

兒童保護政策的重要性
保護兒童是目前教育界的重點話題。而保護兒童不僅是教師及學校員工的責任，也是學生、家長以及社會的責任。基於上述原因，學校不但安排員工接受嚴格的培訓，而且有計劃向家長提供相關教育。學校對兒童保護一直是公開透明的。

在本學年開始之時，學校重點推行了多項與兒童保護相關的工作。

去年，我校特別委員會對「兒童保護政策」及相關程序進行了一些更新及優化，內容稍後會於校網公佈。 除此之外，學校亦有機制供任何人表達疑慮或舉報事件。學校的目的旨在為學生提供安全的學習環境及適當的預防措施，絕不容忍在校園內發生任何傷害事件。

除了防範性侵之外，學校還對暴力、精神虐待、兩性間問題等採取了一系列教育措施。

網絡安全是相關政策的重要一環，隨著對有關方面的了解，我們期望進一步優化政策以保障同學的 安全。

安保

• 教師招聘–每個職位空缺說明均載明承諾遵守保護兒童的要求。申請人必須自行申報過往就業狀況。學校對所有職員進行背景調查，而職員必須回應關於保護兒童的問題。全體教職員均知悉與孩子相處的守則。
• 校園保安 – 出入學校之訪客必須向保安人員出示家長證或以身份證明文件並簽署出入登記。
• 校園閉路電視監控系統 – 學校的走廊及公共區域均安裝了閉路電視。
• 學生與職員使用不同的洗手間。
• 全體職員均須簽署「成人行為守則」作為履行「兒童保護政策」的一部份。
• 全體學生均須簽署「學生行為守則」作為履行「兒童保護政策」的一部份。
• 所有承包商及工人必須簽署「成人行為守則」作為履行「兒童保護政策」的一部份。

教育及預防

• 幼稚園學生已開展了「The PANTS」計劃，讓他們認識到自身的身體屬私人部份。
• 通過社會及情感計劃（中學部的TAP以及小學部的MACE），讓全校學生學習如何保護自己及舉報事件。
• 兒童保護與學生網絡行為有直接關係，有關行為受學校現行的社交網絡政策及科技協議監管。全體學生及員工都應遵守。

報告及調查

• 作為一所學校，我們透過通報機制來鞏固我校的透明度及公平性。
• 學校有完善的機制供學生、職員或家長舉報任何疑似傷害事件。
• 學校設有一名專責處理兒童保護的職員，負責與校長及政府部門聯絡。整個過程絕對保密。
• 學校會根據需要向家長及學生提供由駐校心理學家及社工負責的咨詢及教育服務。
  調查工作由學校行政管理團隊與澳門政府部門合作進行 。

未來的發展／進一步的改善

• 明年開始，所有新入職教師及職員均須接受兒童保護方面的培訓。
• 學校特樹立告示公告澳門國際學校極度重視兒童保護，並且表明學校是一個讓學生感到安全、有保障及願意聆聽的地方。
• 我們會進一步評估和增設閉路電視系統。
• 設立學生專用的洗手間，盡量減少學生與成年人共用洗手間。