At the International School of Uganda providing opportunities for growth and success are integral to our vision, our mission and our core beliefs. Our Child Safeguarding Guidelines serves to foster an environment in which all our students can grow and succeed.
Child abuse and neglect are violations of a child’s basic human rights and as such present obstacles to the child’s education as well as to their physical, emotional and intellectual development. Schools fill an institutional role in society as protectors of children.
Educators, having the opportunity to observe and interact with children over time, are in a unique position to identify children who are in need of help and protection. As such, educators have a professional and ethical obligation to identify child abuse and neglect and to take steps to ensure that the child and family avail themselves of the services needed to remedy the situation.
All staff employed at the International School of Uganda must report to the Head of School, Junior or Senior School Principal all suspected incidences of child abuse or neglect whenever the staff member has reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered, or is at significant risk of suffering, abuse or neglect. Reporting and follow up of all suspected incidences of child abuse or neglect will proceed in accordance with the procedures outlined in the ISU Child Safeguarding Guidelines. Furthermore, cases of suspected child abuse or neglect may be reported to the appropriate employer, to the respective embassy in Uganda, to the appropriate child protection agency in the home country and/or to local authorities.
This policy will be distributed to all staff annually and be included in the application packets to families. Training, guided by the contents of the Crisis Counselling Manual, will be provided on an annual basis to ensure the ISU staff is informed and educated about child protection issues, indicators of abuse or neglect, and how to respond to a disclosure of abuse or neglect. Every effort will be made to implement hiring practices to ensure the safety of children. In the case of a staff member reported as an alleged offender, the Head of School will conduct a full investigation, keeping the safety of the child as the highest priority.
As part of our recruitment practices at our school, employees are required to possess and validate appropriate qualifications for all positions. For all potential hires, we communicate directly with previous references to ensure due diligence within the recruitment process. Once at school, ISU has a professional code of conduct, including Child Protection training that is reviewed with employees and signed annually.