March 08,2019

Child Protection: Support Staff Training

Mercedes-Benz International School is committed to putting stringent processes and procedures in place to support our mission of safeguarding every child and providing the safest possible environment to students to support learning and their individual personalities.

On the 25th February 2019, to further our training and skills, our support staff  and administration underwent  professional development training aimed at Child Protection, led by our Child Protection Officer and School Counsellor, Ms. Shambhavi Singh.

The training covered three essential components:

  1. Understanding the Indian Law for Child Safeguarding – Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO)
  2. Code of Conduct for support staff, given their individual job roles
  3. Communicating swiftly and responsibly in a time of crisis.

The support staff came in batches, based on their job roles. There were specific sessions aimed at maids, drivers, cleaning team (supreme staff), security personnel, gardeners, electricians, bathroom cleaners, lab assistants, life guard and a final round for the Admin staff as heads of the aforementioned departments. Each training, through the day, lasted from 30 mins to 1hour, with content specific to their job roles based on their necessary interaction with students. The trainings were done primarily in Hindi with input from a Marathi speaker for translations whenever required.

ALL support staff had the following training points covered in their training:

  1. POCSO overview and consequences
  2. Zones of Appropriate Touch – Ok, Not ok and Circumstantial Ok
  3. Interpersonal Spaces
  4. Positioning if need for restraint [Safety Crisis]
  5. Prohibition of Photography
  6. Who to contact in case of an alleged/suspected Child Protection Situation

The sessions were conducted through a presentation for content, situational scenario role plays for practice, followed by question and answers to ensure understanding and awareness of all present.

The rationale behind having such training is to extend the awareness of our support staff; ensuring they are equal stakeholders in committing to ongoing student safeguarding practices. This type of training has already taken place at the start of the school year for our whole teaching faculty and parents.  The school ensures it conducts such trainings on a regular ongoing basis to ensure our whole community are aware of the roles and responsibilities they hold in the area of child safeguarding. If you would like any further information, please feel free to contact Ms. Shambhavi at shambhavi.singh@mbis.org.