At Mother Duck Childcare and Kindergarten, we believe safeguarding children is not a single policy or training session. Rather, it is a culture built through relationships, reflection, accountability and continuous improvement.

Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing a six-part blog series with our families and community to provide insight into the important work currently underway across our organisation in relation to the Queensland Child Safe Standards, our Policy to Practice Framework and the ongoing review of our Code of Conduct.

Across Australia, the Early Childhood Education and Care sector is under increasing scrutiny regarding child safety and safeguarding practices — and rightly so. At Mother Duck, we welcome this focus and see it as an important opportunity to continue strengthening our practices, systems and culture.

One of the unique aspects of Mother Duck is our governance structure. Our franchisees are not only Approved Providers, but also owners and operators working directly within our services. Decisions are informed by those walking alongside children, families and educators every day. We believe this “bottom-up” approach is safeguarding in action.

At the Committee level, we regularly reflect on the current context of the sector, emerging reforms and our responsibilities as Approved Providers, including:

• The Queensland Child Safe Standards
• The upcoming Reportable Conduct Scheme commencing 1 July
• Strengthening professional boundaries and reporting pathways
• Supporting educators to deeply understand expectations through our Code of Conduct

However, we also know that child safety does not come from a document alone.

Safety is strengthened when educators, employees, students, volunteers and visitors deeply understand their responsibilities as adults working within an ECEC setting and the importance of every interaction with children.

This is why our current Code of Conduct Review is focused not simply on updating a document, but on walking alongside our teams to strengthen understanding, reflective practice and accountability. This reflective work is grounded in the paramountcy principle that the safety and well-being of children come first.

Over the next five blogs, we will explore:

• Inappropriate Discipline and Interactions with Children
• Duty of Care and Active Supervision
• Professional Boundaries
• Reporting Pathways and the Reportable Conduct Scheme
• Positive Duty and Safe Workplace Cultures

We look forward to bringing families along this journey as we continue strengthening child safe cultures across our organisation and being transparent about our legislative responsibilities in relation to these areas, to help families better understand some of the “why” behind our practices, expectations and decision making.