MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

21 May 2012

Childcare Organisation Well Equipped to Protect Children.

Child Matters’ Academic Services Manager, Amanda Meynell, is delighted to have awarded the first certificate qualifying an early childhood education organisation to train their own staff in child protection, this week.

footsteps poutama, the only organisation to have achieved this level of training and certification, have been part of a pilot programme through Child Matters for 2 years.

“From our very early discussions with footsteps poutama, they could see the huge value of having their staff all trained in child protection. Their obvious commitment to protecting children, coupled with their enthusiasm to be a part of developing a new programme, made them an ideal organisation to do a pilot project with.” Says Mrs Meynell.

Whilst Child Matters have been training professionals working with children in recognising and responding to child abuse for over 18 years, this programme took the training one step further.

Firstly footsteps poutama worked through training all their staff throughout the country at a level appropriate to their position. Staff were all trained in a ½ -day workshop, and all staff are also working through completing the 5-day comprehensive programme. One staff member has completed the 1-year Diploma in Child Protection Studies, with more to follow this year.

“This level of training within their staff was an achievement in itself” Says Mrs Meynell. “But the pilot programme has seen footsteps poutama take things one step further by achieving a certificate qualifying one of their staff, Marina Jury, to train future staff in child protection at the ½ day workshop level.”

Kevin Christie, Director footsteps Education, says “At the heart of the footsteps philosophy is an attitude of care. This is not merely about saying ‘we care’ but actually doing something about it. That’s why, in conjunction with Child Matters, we have put a robust plan into place to train every staff member in child abuse prevention. We believe there should be zero tolerance when it comes to child abuse. We congratulate Marina Jury in her attainment of this qualification and value her input to all our programmes and in particular those of this nature.”

By going through this comprehensive process, footsteps poutama gained the necessary training to ensure they are able to provide a safe environment for children, as well as creating a self sustaining ecosystem within their organisation that allows them to be more proactive and responsive with their training.

To find out more about your Child Matters education programmes, visit www.childmatters.org.nz.

About Child Matters:

Child Matters is the only organisation in New Zealand solely focused on child abuse prevention.

It works to prevent child abuse by 1) speaking up for New Zealand children; and 2) educating adults to identify child abuse and take the appropriate action.

Child Matters is a catalyst in communities, working to connect organisations and build leaders who are making positive impacts on child abuse prevention.

Child Matters is an independent charitable trust with a cross sector view and influence around child abuse in New Zealand.  It has links to all organisations who work with children and enables them to tackle the issue of child abuse in their local communities.

Every adult in New Zealand is affected in some way by child abuse and, therefore, Child Matters believes every adult has a role to play in protecting children.  Its child abuse prevention educational programmes are a powerful solution.

Child Matters believes child abuse prevention education must be made compulsory for all key organisations working with children. 

Child Matters works with a range of organisations to educate their staff to identify child abuse and take the appropriate action.  It encourages organisations to adopt a child abuse prevention education and staff wellness programme to demonstrate they take child abuse prevention seriously.

Child Matters operates nationally.

For more information, visit: www.childmatters.org.nz

ENDS

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