Policies and Procedures

All School Boards are required to have policies that broadly govern how the school is run. From these policies, procedures are created to add more specific detail and and guidance around day-to-day practices in the school. If you would like to read our school policies you can access them through SchoolDocs – an online document hosting portal. Kaurilands School SchoolDocs is tailored specifically for us and allows access to all our policy documents in one easy to find place. Policies and procedures are reviewed regularly and comply with New Zealand legislation and Ministry of Education guidelines.

Although the policies are public documents, SchoolDocs requires some authentication to access them.

To access Kaurilands School policies, go to SchoolDocs and enter in our school username which is kaurilands and password kauri.

Copyright: Except where stated, the content on this site is the copyright of SchoolDocs Ltd. It may not be reproduced without written permission from SchoolDocs Ltd.

Child Protection

Our Child Protection policy, along with supporting policies and procedures, applies to any student at Kaurilands School who is defined as a child under the Children's Act 2014 (Part 1, s. 5). Where this policy refers to "students" to maintain consistency with other school documentation, child protection requirements apply, with the exception of those outside the Children's Act definition.

Child protection framework

As required by the Children's Act 2014 (s. 14), we have adopted this Child Protection policy as our framework for student safety at Kaurilands School. This policy contains provisions for identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect, with further detail provided in Abuse Recognition and Reporting.

Guidance provided by Kaurilands School for the safety and wellbeing of students aligns with the principles of partnership/mahi tahi, protection/kaitiakitanga, and participation/whai wāhi; and the rights and responsibilities of all members of our school community as outlined by te Tiriti o Waitangi. We recognise the importance of involving family/whānau in decision-making, and we involve students in decision-making about themselves in age-appropriate ways.

Our child protection policy, along with supporting documentation, ensures we maintain student welfare as our primary concern, and keep the student at the centre of decision-making. We aim to safeguard our students from abuse and neglect by encouraging concerns to be recognised and shared, and having systems to respond when concerns are raised.

See Student Wellbeing and Safety for a list of policies and procedures supporting child protection at Kaurilands School.

Supporting student safety and responding to concerns

We support the wellbeing/hauora of our students by establishing positive learning environments, and promoting respectful relationships between students and staff. We have a designated child protection person, who is the primary point of contact for concerns about students, including concerns about abuse or neglect. At Kaurilands School, this person is the principal. In situations of concern, we aim to work together and intervene early to support student safety and wellbeing.

We foster a safe atmosphere for our students to speak up if they feel that something is wrong or that they are being mistreated. We may use programmes to help students identify healthy and unhealthy relationships. Our school uses the Keeping Ourselves Safe programme.

For further information about our whole-school approach to wellbeing, see Supporting Student Wellbeing.
If a wellbeing concern is raised, or staff think that a student may require extra support, we follow procedures for Responding to Student Wellbeing Concerns.
If there is a concern or disclosure of abuse or neglect, we follow procedures for Abuse Recognition and Reporting.

Concern response overview

For information specific to the situations listed above, see the corresponding policy. Our response overview is provided here.

If there is immediate danger:

Phone the police on 111.
If possible, protect the immediate safety of the student.
Following the incident, inform the designated child protection person.
Record any actions taken.

If there is no immediate danger:

Record a factual account of any concerns that have come up, or any disclosures that are made.
For any concerns, consult the designated child protection person, who works with relevant school staff and external agencies as necessary.
The designated child protection person may consult with the principal and board to decide whether to share information externally.
Where a concern does not warrant notifying Oranga Tamariki, the school may partner with social service providers to identify and address the needs of the student.
If necessary, Oranga Tamariki investigates and advises relevant staff about any action that should be taken to support students.
Decisions about informing parents or caregivers about suspected or actual child abuse or neglect are made after consultation between the school and Oranga Tamariki.
All decisions are recorded in writing and kept in a secure child protection file, with any decision-making processes explained.

Child protection roles and responsibilities

The board is responsible for ensuring all children's workers (core and non-core) employed or engaged by the school are safety checked before their appointment. Existing children’s workers are safety checked every three years after the last safety check was completed.

If the school employs a staff member that is not considered a children's worker, they are police vetted if their role includes unsupervised access to students.

Staff have a professional responsibility to report any concerns about student wellbeing and safety, particularly in regard to abuse, neglect, or professional misconduct of other staff to the designated child protection person. For more information about staff training, responsibilities, and conduct expectations, see Staff Responsibilities for Child Protection.

At Kaurilands School, our designated child protection person is the principal, who is the primary point of contact for concerns about students, including concerns about abuse or neglect. The designated child protection person is available and accessible to all other staff, and has experience and training in responding to child protection concerns.

Child protection partnerships

Staff members work with relevant contacts within the school to best support students, and seek guidance from external agencies as appropriate. Unless there is immediate danger, staff members do not act alone on their concerns.

Kaurilands School works with Oranga Tamariki and the New Zealand Police where appropriate, and liaises with partner agencies and community organisations to support early interventions with the goal of safe and effective abuse response. We share information if it is in the best interests of a student, as per information sharing provisions. In all circumstances, Kaurilands School is carefully guided by these provisions as well as privacy considerations.

For further detail about information sharing processes, see Sharing Student Personal Information with External Agencies.

External agency interviews

If an external agency such as the police or Oranga Tamariki asks to interview a student on school grounds, the school ensures the rights of the student are upheld. If Oranga Tamariki contacts the school to interview a student, that student has the right to a support person if they wish. This support person (e.g. member of support staff, teacher, or principal) focuses on the safety and wellbeing of the student.

The police may contact the school to question a student. Students in this situation have the right to remain silent, and the right to a lawyer. If a student who is under 18 is interviewed by police, a nominated adult can support them. See Youth Law: Rights with the Police.

Child protection review

We acknowledge that child protection is everyone’s responsibility and we share and review our Child Protection policy and procedures with our wider school community.

Child protection topics are reviewed at least once every three years as part of the SchoolDocs review cycle. Our designated child protection person and any other relevant staff are involved in reviewing policies and procedures related to child protection.

Privacy Policy

Kaurilands School complies with the requirements of the Privacy Act 2020. We look after the privacy of everyone associated with our school. In particular, we acknowledge that children and young people are vulnerable and are given particular emphasis in the Act (Principle 4).

We ensure that staff understand our school privacy processes, especially in relation to how we manage personal information, and our process for reporting breaches. Staff are made aware of these processes as needed (e.g. through staff induction and professional development, during staff meetings, and after incidents).

Privacy principles

Kaurilands School follows the information privacy principles of the Privacy Act 2020. See Privacy Act 2020 and the Privacy Principles (Privacy Commissioner).

We collect, protect, access, and correct personal information according to the information privacy principles of the Privacy Act. See Personal Information.
We only use information for the purposes it was collected, except in certain circumstances (e.g. for statistical purposes where the person's identity is not disclosed).
We are guided by the following policies when we share information:
We only keep information for as long as it is needed and destroy any documents that contain personal information in accordance with the Public Records Act 2005. See School Records Retention and Disposal.

Privacy officer

Under the Privacy Act, we are required to have a privacy officer. Our privacy officer is the principal. Their responsibilities include:

responding to general questions about privacy at our school
managing requests for personal information
managing complaints about privacy
liaising with the Privacy Commissioner in investigations, if required
informing our school community of serious privacy breaches or risks to the security of personal information the school holds.

Privacy breaches

We follow the Privacy Commissioner's steps for responding to privacy breaches:

Contain The school acts to contain the breach. We inform our privacy officer as soon as possible if our school (or an individual at our school) intentionally or accidentally provides unauthorised access to personal information, or discloses, alters, loses, or destroys someone's personal information.
Assess We consider each incident on a case-by-case basis to assess the impact and seriousness of the breach.
Notify
- We decide whether to notify any affected people, and if the breach needs to be reported to the board. If there is no risk of harm, it may not be necessary to notify affected people of a breach.
- If the privacy breach has caused or is likely to cause serious harm (e.g. physical, psychological, emotional, or financial), our privacy officer notifies the Office of the Privacy Commissioner within 72 hours of being made aware of the breach. We also notify the person or people involved and the board.
- We notify CERT NZ if the breach is due to a cyberattack, or a flaw in a product or online service that our school uses.
- We may notify other third parties (e.g. police, insurers) if necessary.
Prevent We investigate the incident and take steps to prevent it from happening again.

Concerns and Complaints

At Kaurilands School we promote a school culture where it is safe to raise concerns and complaints and where we assess and respond to these with due care. This is in keeping with our responsibility to provide a safe environment for students, staff, and the school community (Education and Training Act 2020; Health and Safety at Work Act 2015). This also enables us to monitor our policies and processes and ensure that the school is operating effectively.

Anyone can raise a concern or complaint with the school, including staff members, parents, caregivers, students, the wider school community, and members of the public. The response to any concern or complaint is determined by the nature and seriousness of the matter, and who is involved. Concerns or complaints may relate to a specific or general matter associated with the school, or involve a staff member, board member, parent or caregiver, student, or someone else within the responsibility of the school.

This policy includes the following procedures:

For an overview, see Concerns and Complaints Process.

When responding to concerns and complaints, we meet legal obligations, including employment, health and safety, and privacy requirements, and follow the principles of natural justice.

At Kaurilands School, we:

treat people fairly and seek to protect their mana and dignity in line with our inclusive school culture
ensure those involved have the opportunity to be heard
ensure decision-makers are unbiased and outcomes are not predetermined (e.g. ensure there are no conflicts of interest)
take cultural considerations (e.g. tikanga and kawa) into account
maintain privacy and confidentiality
aim to prevent victimisation
communicate with all people involved in a timely manner
take steps to resolve the matter
implement measures to prevent further concerns or complaints of the same nature
keep good documentation
may consult with NZSBA or seek legal advice at any time.

Privacy

At Kaurilands School, we expect all parties involved with a concern or complaint to respect privacy and confidentiality. This includes not publicly sharing information about the matter (e.g. on social media). See Privacy Policy.

We follow our privacy policies at all times when managing concerns and complaints. This includes:

limiting access to information about concerns and complaints to those who need to know
maintaining confidentiality
informing all participants in advance if a school meeting (in person, online, or by phone) is to be recorded, and telling everyone how the recording will be used and how long it will be kept for
ensuring all participants in a meeting are aware of who is present (i.e. on speaker phone or online).

Record-keeping

Kaurilands School keeps a register of concerns and complaints. This includes employment-related matters. Generally, only concerns and complaints that come to the attention of the principal or board are recorded. This includes documenting the concern or complaint, conversations, steps for resolution, dates of contact with anyone involved (including any external agencies), actions taken (including reasons), and any follow-ups needed.

Any recorded information is stored securely and confidentially and only staff who need to access the register as part of their role are permitted access. The register is monitored and updated by the principal or their delegate. The board reviews the register annually to analyse any patterns or identify measures that could be taken to ensure the school is a safe environment and is operating effectively.

We acknowledge that individuals may wish to access personal information held about themselves in relation to a concern or complaint. See Personal Information.

Information is held securely for the appropriate length of time in accordance with our records retention policies. See School Records Retention and Disposal.

Raising Concerns and Complaints

At Kaurilands School, anyone who wants to raise a concern or complaint should follow this procedure. For an overview, see Concerns and Complaints Process.

Concerns or complaints should be raised with the school in the first instance. Serious matters may also be raised with external agencies directly (e.g. police, Oranga Tamariki).
If a member of the school community has a concern or complaint about a student who is not their child, they should contact the school. They should not contact the student or their parents/caregivers directly.
Anyone with a concern or complaint may seek advice or support (e.g. a friend, relative, lawyer, union, employee assistance programme, counselling or mediation services). A support person and/or a representative may help raise a concern or make a complaint and may attend arranged meetings. A support person and/or representative is expected to respect privacy and confidentiality, as with other people involved in the process.
We expect all concerns and complaints to be raised in a respectful way, in accordance with our conduct expectations and inclusive school culture. The school will assess and respond to all concerns and complaints in a timely, fair, and respectful manner.
Concerns and complaints should be raised as soon as possible to allow the school to respond effectively. There is no time limit on when a concern or complaint may be raised with the school. A concern or complaint relating to an historic event may require a more complex investigation and response. This includes historic sensitive claims.

How to raise a concern or complaint

Concerns and complaints can be raised verbally or in writing. If a concern or complaint raised verbally cannot be resolved through discussion, the person who receives the information may make a written record of the discussion or ask that the concern or complaint be received in writing.

Anyone who has a concern or complaint should raise it as soon as possible with an appropriate person at the school. This is usually with a staff member who is directly involved (e.g. classroom teacher, teacher in charge of a programme). The person who receives the concern or complaint may refer the matter to a more appropriate staff member, which may include senior staff, the principal, or the board.
Serious matters can be raised directly with the principal, who may escalate the matter to the board as required.
A concern or complaint about the principal should be raised with the board chair.
A concern or complaint about the board chair should be raised with another board member.

If a person feels their concern or complaint has not been resolved after receiving a response, they may escalate the matter to the principal or board.

We encourage staff to raise employment-related concerns with senior staff in the first instance. Staff may raise a personal grievance if the matter meets the requirements of the Employment Relations Act 2000. See Personal Grievance.

If a person has a concern about certain types of serious wrongdoing and fits the definition of a discloser they may choose to instead make a protected disclosure. See Making a Protected Disclosure.

Anyone who wants to raise a sensitive claim at the school should raise this with the board. The board may need to refer the matter to other agencies, as appropriate (e.g. police).

Providing information

Information provided as part of a concern or complaint should be as complete as possible, including the names of people involved and dates of events, if appropriate, and any steps taken to resolve the matter. Contact details should also be provided.

In circumstances where a person does not want to disclose their identity, they should indicate this and explain their reasoning but should be aware that it may not be possible for the school to maintain their anonymity, or to effectively investigate and respond to anonymous concerns or complaints. The school is likely to be restricted in the actions and responses we can take in relation to matters that are raised anonymously, and may consult with NZSBA or seek legal advice.

What happens next

The school aims to acknowledge and respond to concerns and complaints promptly. For information about how the school will respond to a concern or complaint, see Assessing and Responding to Concerns and Complaints.

If a complaint is raised about a specific person, we inform that person at an early stage to ensure fairness and meet the requirements of natural justice, unless there are exceptional circumstances (e.g. safety concerns).

It is likely that a school representative will meet with the person who raised a concern or complaint and any person who is the subject of their concern or complaint.

We expect parties involved to:

respect privacy and confidentiality
allow the school to follow our procedures
not communicate with each other until next steps are agreed and/or notified (this applies both in and out of school).

If a person who has raised a concern or complaint decides to withdraw it, the school may need to consult with NZSBA or seek legal advice, as the matter raised may still require consideration and response.

Assessing and Responding to Concerns and Complaints

At Kaurilands School, we act to understand and resolve concerns and complaints in a timely, respectful, and fair manner. We use the procedures below to assess matters brought to our attention and decide what response is appropriate according to the nature and seriousness of the concern or complaint, and who is involved. For serious concerns (e.g. physical or sexual violence), we may need to involve external agencies such as the Ministry of Education, police, or Oranga Tamariki. Our decision-making complies with legislation, regulations, employment agreements, and school policies.

Receiving a concern or complaint

As anyone at the school may receive a concern or complaint, all staff are informed about our Concerns and Complaints Policy and associated procedures.

The person who receives a verbal or written concern or complaint may refer it to another staff member and/or escalate it to a more senior staff member, the principal, and/or the board. Serious and sensitive matters (e.g. misconduct, safety concerns) are immediately escalated to the principal and/or board as appropriate.
If a concern or complaint is raised verbally, the person who receives the information may make a written record. We may also request that the matter be put in writing if it cannot be resolved at the time through discussion.
If a concern or complaint is received in writing, the school acknowledges that it has been received.

When we receive a concern or complaint we:

determine roles and responsibilities, including:
- who will oversee the school response
- who will contact those involved
- who the decision-makers will be and the level of board involvement
- how to manage a conflict of interest (including identifying anyone with a conflict and excluding them from any investigation or decision-making process)
- if external agencies need to be consulted or informed (e.g. legal advisors, insurance provider, NZSBA, WorkSafe, Employment Mediation Services, Oranga Tamariki, police)
seek information from the person who raised the concern or complaint
seek information from others, including any person who is the subject of a concern or complaint
consider if the matter needs to be managed alongside other school policies (e.g. finance, health and safety, employment, behaviour)
take cultural considerations into account (e.g. tikanga and kawa).

The school notifies the person who raised the concern or complaint about how we plan to manage it and takes steps to resolve the matter. Due to privacy and confidentiality requirements, there are likely to be restrictions on the information the school can share.

Kaurilands School considers all reasonable and legitimate concerns and complaints in good faith. However, in some circumstances the principal and/or board may determine that it is inappropriate to take any further action. In these circumstances, this is communicated to the person who raised the concern or complaint. If required, the school may seek legal advice or involve an external agency or mediator to help resolve the matter.

Managing the concern or complaint

We manage the matter according to the nature and seriousness of the concern or complaint. For how we manage the matter according to who is involved, click on the headings in the bullet points below.

Matters involving students

To manage a concern or complaint involving students, we may:

meet with students to discuss the matter
mediate between students
contact and meet with parents/guardians and caregivers
manage the matter through other appropriate policies, such as:
take another action that is appropriate in the circumstances
decide to take no further action.

If it is necessary and there are reasonable grounds, we follow our policy for Stand-down, Suspension, and Exclusion.

Matters involving staff

We observe relevant employment agreement provisions for dealing with concerns or complaints about staff members (including the principal), including protecting their dignity and mana, advising them of their right to seek support and representation, advising them in writing of the specific matter(s) causing concern, and giving them a reasonable opportunity to provide an explanation.

If our initial assessment of a concern or complaint involving a staff member determines that a formal investigation is necessary (or likely to be necessary), we may consult with NZSBA and/or seek legal advice. We investigate the matter according to New Zealand employment guidelines – for example, see Investigations (Employment New Zealand).

To manage a concern or complaint involving staff (including the principal), we may:

meet informally with the staff member involved
arrange meetings with those involved to seek to resolve the matter (e.g. facilitated meetings, mediation)
initiate a formal employment process and/or an appropriate level of investigation for a potential disciplinary or competency-based process
manage the concern through other appropriate policies, such as:
take another action that is appropriate in the circumstances
decide to take no further action.

We comply with any reporting requirements, including mandatory Teaching Council reporting. See Conduct concerns (Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand).

Matters involving board members

To manage a concern or complaint involving board members, the person managing the concern or complaint may:

discuss the concern with the board member
reinforce mandatory code of conduct requirements – see Board Responsibilities
apply sanctions, including:
- censuring a board member by board resolution and recording this in the board minutes
- requesting in writing that the Minister of Education remove them from the board for significant or persistent breaches of the code
take another action that is appropriate in the circumstances
decide not to take any further action.

See If a board member fails to comply with the code (Ministry of Education).

These sanctions don't apply to the principal. Matters involving the principal are managed through our procedures for matters involving staff.

Matters involving other members of the school community

To manage a concern or complaint involving members of the school community, we may:

meet with the person who raised the matter
arrange a meeting or mediation (this may be facilitated by a third party)
reinforce community conduct expectations – see School Community Conduct Expectations
notify the person who is the subject of the concern or complaint of any actions required to resolve the matter, and the possible outcomes of not completing these
manage the concern through other appropriate policies (e.g. Smokefree and Vapefree)
issue a trespass notice – see Trespasser on School Grounds
seek a restraining order
take another action that is appropriate in the circumstances
decide not to take any further action.

In some instances, it may be appropriate to refer behaviour to a third party for resolution (e.g. if unacceptable behaviour occurs at a sports event or sports venue, then it may be appropriate to involve the governing body of that sport, event, or venue).

Sensitive claims

Sensitive claims relate to mistreatment, neglect, or physical, sexual, or psychological abuse.

All sensitive claims raised with the school are managed by the board, who may need to refer the matter to the police or other agencies, consult NZSBA, and/or seek legal advice as needed.

We seek to minimise further harm to those raising sensitive claims, and encourage claimants to involve a support person.

To manage a sensitive claim, the board (or its delegated committee) may:

refer the person who raised the claim to the Ministry of Education if it meets the sensitive claim criteria for lodging with the Ministry (i.e. the abuse occurred in a primary or specialist school prior to 1989 and has harmed them in some way)
request further information from the person who raised the claim (e.g. names of people involved, dates and location of events)
refer the person to the police or another appropriate agency
review and collate relevant information held at the school and request information from Ministry records (if relevant)
engage an independent assessor (e.g. to conduct interviews or an investigation)
consider whether a mandatory report to the Teaching Council is required
take another action that is appropriate in the circumstances.

The school establishes how the person who raised the claim would like it to be addressed by the school. We ask for consent before sharing information with external agencies if required as part of any investigation. At the conclusion of any investigation, the board decides on any actions in consultation with the person who made the claim (e.g. an apology). As part of any investigation into a sensitive claim, we consider how we can prevent further harm from occurring at our school.

Other matters

To resolve matters that do not fit into the above categories (e.g. a concern about our school procedures or someone who is not part of our school community), we may:

meet with the person who raised the concern or complaint
notify the person/organisation that is the subject of a concern or complaint (e.g. another school, a contractor or external provider)
investigate the matter
take any other appropriate action relevant to the circumstances, at the sole discretion of the school
decide to take no further action.

Closing the concern or complaint

After assessing and responding to the matter, we consider the concern or complaint closed. Subject to privacy, confidentiality, and other considerations, it may or may not be possible or appropriate for the school to advise the person who raised a concern or complaint of the actions taken to address the matter, but they will be notified when the matter is closed. The school implements any follow-up actions, including updating policies and procedures to prevent further matters of the same kind. If a person feels their concern or complaint has not been resolved after receiving a response, they may escalate the matter to the principal or board. After the board has dealt with a matter there is no further avenue for consideration of the matter at the school. Individuals can consider contacting an external agency (e.g. Ministry of Education, Teaching Council, Privacy Commissioner, Ombudsman, or Human Rights Commission). Staff may also wish to consider whether they have grounds to raise a personal grievance. See Personal Grievance.