Child Safety Ambassadors Programme

A Best Practice Model for Being a
Child-Safe Organisation

With extensive experience in organisational safeguarding, we recognised that most organisations need and will benefit the most from a practical, sustainable, and proportionate best practice framework. One that bridges the spectrum gap between basic compliance and pursuing high-cost, complex formal accreditation.

Holistic Safeguarding's Child Safety Ambassadors Programme is a child safety best practice model that helps organisations of all sizes and from all sectors of Aotearoa’s children’s workforce become Child Safe Organisations. It also provides a solid foundation for establishments going on to seek external accreditation. Establishments are guided through the implementation of 10 Child Safe Organisation Principles in a manner tailored to the organisation, and the model’s unique framework integrates critical child safety influencers.

Read more about the Programme and the 10 Child Safe Organisation Principles, or Contact Us to learn how the Ambassador’s Programme can support your organisation in becoming a Child Safe Organisation.

Child Rights

The model upholds, advocates for, and integrates child rights, ensuring children’s voices are central to safeguarding practices.

Royal Commission Recommendations

The model incorporates key national and international child safety Royal Commission recommendations.

Child-Centred Practice

The model promotes and drives child-centred practices, ensuring the child’s needs remain the priority.

Victim-Survivor Insights and Influences

The model ensures victim-survivor insights and, where applicable, participation influence current safeguards.

Values-Based Approaches

Each Principle aligns with a values-based approach, ensuring the safeguarding culture is reflective of moral, ethical and legislated child safety expectations.

Child Safety Ambassador kitemark symbolising commitment to embedding the 10 Child Safe Organisation Principles and creating a values-based safeguarding culture

The Child Safety Ambassadors Programme takes an integrated approach to embedding 10 Child Safe Organisation Principles across every aspect of an organisation. By focusing on both qualitative outcomes and long-term cultural transformation, the model prevents a “tick-box” mentality through its values-based and tailored application.

What makes this child safe organisation model truly unique is its comprehensive framework that integrates critical elements of child safety best practices and valuable case learnings while providing tailored pathways for organisations. For those with historical concerns, these pathways ensure that the participation, insights, and lived experiences of victim-survivors actively inform, influence and strengthen current safeguarding practices.

The Child Safety Ambassadors Programme delivers on its promise and more. Safeguarding and child protection measures are meaningfully embedded, becoming a core part of the organisation’s identity and culture. This approach reflects a deep, sustainable commitment to child safety, creating protective environments for all stakeholders, including children, workforce personnel, and the organisation.

Explore the 10 Principles below or contact us to learn how the Child Safety Ambassadors Programme can help you become a Child Safe Organisation.

The 10 Child Safe Organisation Principles

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Principle 1: A Safeguarding Culture

Principle 1 guides governance and leadership in their responsibilities to embed child safety best practices and create a safeguarding culture.

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Principle 2: Child Safety Policies

Principle 2 integrates tailored child safety policies and procedures into the organisation’s policy framework.

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Principle 3: A Child Safe Workforce

Principle 3 embeds safeguarding in the organisation's HR framework, ensuring child safety is a shared, supported, monitored, and accountable workforce responsibility.

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Principle 4: Inclusive Safeguarding

Principle 4 integrates safeguarding into the organisation’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices and enabling cultural safeguarding to be demonstrated.

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Principle 5: Induction and Training

Principle 5 develops personnel’s child safety knowledge and skills, ensuring safeguarding and child protection expectations are applied and don’t remain theoretical.

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Principle 6: Safe Services and Environments

Principle 6 helps identify, reduce, and monitor child safety risks across physical and digital environments.

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Principle 7: Child-Focused Complaints

Principle 7 applies a child rights lens to complaints processes, ensuring they are child-focused and foster a positive reporting culture.

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Principle 8: Child/Young Person Participation

Principle 8 empowers children with the knowledge and means to recognise and report safety concerns for themselves and their peers.

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Principle 9: Family and Stakeholder Collaboration

Principle 9 strengthens collaboration with families and stakeholders, ensuring their insights inform effective safeguarding measures.

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Principle 10: Continuous Improvement

Principle 10 ensures safeguarding measures continuously improve and remain effective and adaptable to emerging child safety needs.

Students at College engaging in educational activities, reflecting the school’s commitment to embedding child safety best practices and creating a safeguarding culture for lasting positive change.

Embedding Child Safety Best Practices at Wesley College

As part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Royal Commission, Wesley College deeply understands the need for and importance of child safety best practices, an awareness often shaped by difficult learned experiences. Like many institutions addressing historical concerns, the College faced justified accountability for past failings but struggled to find the right support and guidance to establish essential child-safeguarding solutions.

Following a recommendation, we partnered with Wesley College to support them on their journey, guiding them through applying tailored child safeguarding and protection best practices while fostering a strong safeguarding culture. Now in the final stages of embedding a child-safe framework that fully aligns with Child Safe Organisation Principles, Wesley College has made significant advancements in its safeguarding structures, policies, procedures, training, and student voice initiatives. By fully integrating these changes, the College is developing a safeguarding culture that protects everyone, drives lasting positive change, and ensures continuous improvement.

“As an institution that prioritises the safety and well-being of all children, we believe that adhering to this model is crucial in providing a nurturing and protective environment for every person in our college community.

We understand that a child-safe culture requires a committed, comprehensive, and continuous approach. Our college has fully embraced the principles outlined in this model, which include fostering transparency, establishing clear child protection policies, and ensuring that all staff, volunteers, and students are well-trained to recognise and respond to any child safeguarding or protection concerns.

Working with Kim from Holistic Safeguarding has significantly strengthened our existing efforts by ensuring that safeguarding measures are not only maintained but consistently reviewed and improved. We are proud of the progress we have made and are dedicated to sustaining a robust framework that empowers both children and staff to confidently engage in a safe, respectful, and supportive educational setting.

Our partnership with Holistic Safeguarding reflects our shared commitment to meeting the highest standards of child protection, and we believe it sets a valuable example for other institutions to follow."

Brian Evans,

Principal, Wesley College

Child Safety Ambassadors Programme

A Best Practice Model for Being a
Child-Safe Organisation