Professional Standards and Safeguarding Office - Diocese of Cairns have requested to share the attached flyer and links providing information regarding Sadistic Online Exploitation, which is a growing global threat, targeting children and young people. As such, the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) is warning the Australian community about the trend and providing advice on how to take action.

If you wish to seek more information you can access the ACCCE website page at the link below.

Commitment to Student Safety and Wellbeing

Holy Cross School is committed to being a safe and nurturing community of care, where the rights and dignity of all children and young people are upheld and protected, and where all students have a right to expect that our school will always act to protect them from any kind of harm.

At Holy Cross, concerns or reasonable suspicions we have about a student’s safety and wellbeing, or the behaviour of a staff member or volunteer which a student considers to be inappropriate, will continue to be managed in accordance with our Student Protection processes.

All adults have a responsibility to care for children and young people, to positively promote their welfare, and to protect them from any kind of harm. The interactions of Catholic Education staff with students take place in the context of the employee being in a position of trust arising from the nature of their role.

All of our staff receive annual and ongoing training in the area of child protection. Our Student Protection Processes and Guidelines document can be found by accessing the Cairns Catholic Education Website (www.cns.catholic.edu.au), Safeguarding Children page.

Parents and students should talk to the Student Protection Contacts (Sarah Hamilton, Stephanie Travers and Jo Cordwell) or the class teacher if there are any concerns about the safety and wellbeing of any student, or concerns about the behaviour of a staff member or volunteer which they feel is inappropriate. We take all reports seriously.