As the Child Protection Officer, I am here to listen to any concerns about abuse– physical, emotional, sexual and neglect from any member of the school community. If needed, I communicate with other members of the Child Protection Team, which includes the principal and the counselors. The counselors are always available to help the student. We then collectively decide how we need to respond in order to support the student.

There is also a second aspect of my role, which is called safeguarding. We work on policies and programs to try to prevent child abuse from happening. We write these policies in a team because it’s too much for one person, nor should it be done by just one person. 

The idea of a Child Protection Officer was thought of by the Leadership Team, so they offered me the position and I agreed. I think it works very well with my role as the Student Health Officer. My background in nursing and the fact that I see a lot of students every day helps me think about all aspects of the issues associated with abuse, including physical signs like malnutrition and bruises. I also took on the role because I want to support students as much as possible.

As the Child Protection Officer, I think being able to connect with students–especially as a faculty or staff member– is probably the most important aspect of our jobs. And as the Child Protection Officer and Student Health Officer, being caring and trying to understand what’s going on, is how I connect with students.  

 My role is still very new, so there are a lot of things that I’m still learning. I remember that Sister Wachter once said, “We can learn ‘into’ our role, and we can learn new things”. We just need to see how my position develops. I feel like I need to give it time and learn exactly what this role requires, so I can grow and be fully effective in it.​