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As 2009 draws to a close, let’s reflect for a moment on CSA’s second year of operation and our many wonderful supporters who have assisted us in achieving some pretty remarkable milestones…
Grant applications:
If at first you don’t succeed… Throughout the year CSA has submitted a number of grant applications to implement a range of innovative children’s safety projects. So far, we have been successful with one application, to fund our Children’s Safety Kits for Queensland Primary Schools.
We are very grateful to all of the wonderful people who have supported our grant applications. Of particular note, we acknowledge the amazing efforts of Jan Gillies who assisted with the most arduous of applications, for funding under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which sadly wasn’t successful this time!
Fundraising:
Our most successful fundraising initiative to date has been the sale of Entertainment Books, with $1770 raised this year. A huge thank you to all who purchased a book in support of CSA, with particular thanks to Danielle Rooney for her administrative assistance.
New resources:
This year we have seen the development of a broad range of quality resources including the Safe Start for Teens posters and stickers and the various components of the Children’s Safety Kit, including posters, stickers, postcards, worksheets and the instruction guide. It is our great privilege to work with the very talented Michaela Wright, Wright Side of the Brain, on all of these projects. Thank you Michaela!!
Children’s Safety Kits:
Our highlight of the year has been the development and distribution of the 1500 funded Children’s Safety Kits, thanks to a Gambling Community Benefit Fund grant. We would also like to acknowledge the special people who supported this grant application: Dr Kerryann Walsh, QUT, Mr Paul Friedman, QPS, Julie Attwood MP, Bev Patterson, Xavier Support Centre, Dave Boldy, Childsafe, Gary Burdett, Catholic Education and Pam Betts, Edmund Rice Education Australia.
A BIG thank you to our wonderful team of teacher and university lecturer reactors who provided valuable feedback during the development process, including: Kerryann Walsh, Kristin Baigrie, Sonia Thorpe, Kim Murray and Lee-Anne Riemann. For undertaking the mammoth task of assembling the kits and assisting with the launch, our team of CSA volunteers, Milly, Bill, Sharyn, Sheree, Steven and Holly, deserve accolades.
The launch event would not have been a success without the support of our special guests mentioned in the below article. Local businesses, Smitten Image Design and AMB Embroidery, very kindly assisted by providing the CSA volunteers with polo shirts and baseballs caps. We would also like to acknowledge the generosity of the Queensland Police Service in providing the launch venue and to The Body Shop for donating gifts for our special guests.
Patron:
A very special thanks to comedian and television and radio personality, Meshel Laurie for becoming our first official patron. Meshel did an outstanding job as MC of the Children’s Safety Kit launch (Oct 09) and, when family commitments allow, we look forward to her involvement in future projects.
Partnerships:
In September we teamed up with the Daniel Morcombe Foundation (DMF) to provide a number of presentations in Bowen and Townsville to celebrate Child Protection Week 2009. Bruce and Denise Morcombe are to be admired for their incredible commitment to children’s safety. We look forward to working with the DMF in the future to achieve our common purpose.
Raising awareness:
We have been fortunate in gaining media coverage to raise the awareness of children’s safety issues and strategies to maximise children’s safety and wellbeing. During Child Protection Week in September, CSA Director Kim Jackson appeared on Sunrise with Mel and Kochie. We have also made a number of appearances on the Brisbane and Townsville evening news, You Tube and in local newspapers.
We have delivered presentations at a number of local, national and international conferences including: the Queensland Children’s Activity Network Conference (Gold Coast), the Protect All Children Today Conference (Brisbane), and the Asia Pacific Region Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect (Perth). We have also attended deputations with the Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh and a number of Members of Parliament to lobby for children's safety.
Ongoing support:
Last, but certainly not least, we would like to acknowledge the very special members of our Management Committee, our Advisory Committee and our Accountant and Auditor, Holly Hancock and Clint Mundt from BACH Accountants.
We would also like to acknowledge three special supporters, Dr Kerryann Walsh, QUT, Bev Patterson (CSA Advisory Committee Member) and Jennifer Sanderson, Griffith University, who have provided ongoing support throughout the year.
Thank you everyone for your support. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy holiday season!!
Jo and Andrew Hewes, Smitten Image Design
with shirts donated to our team of CSA volunteers.
CSA had the opportunity to lobby Premier Anna Bligh, a number of Ministers and other key stakeholders at the Community Cabinet Meeting at Forest Lake on 29 November 2009.
CSA Director, Kim Jackson and CSA Advisory Committee Member, Bev Patterson met with Premier Anna Bligh, Minister Neil Roberts, Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services, Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson, and Carolyn Male MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education to lobby for children's safety, including:
- The provision of best practice preventive child protection information to the Queensland community by the Queensland Police Service.
- Child protection curriculum in Queensland schools including training for teachers.
- Whole of Government strategies to address child protection through the provision of best practice preventive information for parents, teachers and other professionals and volunteers working with children.
The recommendations made by CSA were very positively received with commitments made for further consideration and feedback in the near the future. We'll keep you posted!
Kim Jackson (CSA Director), Premier Anna Bligh, Bev Patterson
(CSA Advisory Committee Member) and Carolyln Male MP
A double congratulations to our official patron, comedian, television and radio personality, the wonderful Meshel Laurie and her husband Adrian on the birth of their twins, a boy Louis and a girl Dali, born on Friday 20th November 2009.
CSA Patron Meshel Laurie
CSA proudly launched our Children's Safety Kits for Queensland Primary Schools on 7 October 2009 at the Queensland Police Academy, Oxley. CSA patron, comedian and radio personality, Meshel Laurie did a magnificent job as MC with special guests including the Acting Queensland Police Commissioner, Ian Stewart, Denise and Bruce Morcombe, Daniel Morcombe Foundation and Julie Attwood MP, Member for Mount Ommaney.
Guests, including teachers, students, parents, community organisation representatives and police, were entertained by the very talented 2008 Australian Idol Finalist, Chrislyn Hamilton and her guitarist, Alex. We were fortunate to gain media coverage of the launch via Channel 7’s and the ABC’s evening news and on You Tube, thanks to QUT News.
The Children’s Safety Kit Project, funded solely by the Queensland Government’s Gambling Community Benefit Fund, was undertaken in response to concerning levels of personal violence against children and the lack of effective children’s safety information provided to children by parents and teachers. The kits contain a range of resources for teachers, parents and students including lesson plans, worksheets, posters, stickers and postcards.
The Children’s Safety Kits aim to raise the awareness of four key children’s safety messages:
- I am special, so are you!: to build a healthy self esteem and encourage respect and empathy for others.
- Safety is my right: to identify and effectively respond to potentially unsafe situations, including bullying.
- My body belongs to me: to identify, prevent and stop all forms of abuse.
- I can get help: access help from trusted adults and relevant organisations.
Since the launch, all 1500 funded Children’s Safety Kits have been distributed free to Queensland Primary Schools. The feedback received to date has been overwhelmingly positive, with many requests for additional kits.
As funded kits are no longer available, schools and other interested organisations/individuals may purchase additional kits for $30 each (including postage and handling) via the CSA Resource Order Form.
Julie Attwood MP, Kim Jackson (CSA DIrector), Chrislyn Hamilton, Meshel Laurie.
Julie Attwood MP, Kim Jackson, Meshel Laurie, Denise & Bruce Morcombe, A/Commissioner Ian Stewart
Media interview with Darra State School students
Click here to view additional photos of the launch.
We are thrilled to announce the launch of our Safe Start Posters for Teens. These posters complement the popular Safe Start Stickers for Teens launched earlier this year. The posters reflect the four key safety messages of the Safe Start: Protective Behaviours for Children and Young People (Safe Start) program, as they apply to secondary school students:
- Be yourself, everyone else is taken: to build a healthy self esteem and encourage respect and empathy for others.
- Safety is my right: to identify and effectively respond to potentially unsafe situations, including bullying.
- My body, my say: to identify, prevent and stop all forms of abuse.
- I can get help: to access help from trusted adults and relevant organisations.
 
 
The posters are available via our Resource Order Form for $10 for a set of 4 including postage and handling (no GST is payable).
Safe Start training for protective adults (including teachers, professionals working with young people, parents and carers) is currently available exclusively from our sister organisation, Personal Safety Australia.
With the success of the recently released Children’s Safety Kits for Queensland Primary Schools, we have been inundated with requests for a similar kit for secondary students. Given the prevalence of personal violence committed against, and by, Queensland teenagers* and the scarcity of effective teen safety programs, CSA has committed to developing a Teen Safety Kit which will be released in 2010.
The kit will follow a similar framework to the Children’s Safety Kit, with a series of structured lesson plans for teachers to relay the key safety messages. The lessons will include a broad range of issues facing teens including cyber safety, social networking, relationships, bullying, partying, drugs and alcohol. The lessons will be complemented by worksheets and the recently released Safe Start for Teens posters and stickers, to reinforce the key messages. Parents and carers will be provided with a postcard to inform them of key teen safety messages and strategies.
CSA has recently applied to the Gambling Community Benefit Fund for funding to make these kits available free to 1500 Queensland Secondary School classes. We hope to receive a decision regarding our application in early 2010.
We welcome feedback from secondary school teachers, guidance officers, school chaplains, parents and carers of teenagers and any other interested parties, to ensure our resources meet the needs of our primary stakeholders: students, teachers and parents/carers. Please contact us if you would like to submit a suggestion for inclusion or would like to be one of the program reactors.
| *The Queensland Police Service Statistical Review 2008/9, released in November 2009, highlights the risks of personal violence facing teenagers. |
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You may recall previous editions of 'Safe Start' advising of an interactive children's safety book being developed by CSA for lower to middle primary school students. This book has been in development for over 2 years due to competing priorities. We are pleased to provide an update on some recent progress...
St Francis Xavier Primary School at Goodna and Yeronga State School have provided valuable assistance to CSA over the past few weeks by taking part in pilot readings. The book has received very positive feedback from teachers and students alike and is undergoing a final fine-tuning process before it is illustrated and ready for printing.
The book relays the four children’s safety messages of the Safe Start: Protective Behaviours for Children and Young People program through four chapters to be read by a protective adult, such as a teacher, parent or carer. It includes a range of scenarios, activities, worksheets and quizzes to encourage the practical application and reinforcement of the safety messages. A final section provides further information for protective adults including children’s safety risks, methods used by offenders, indicators of abuse, cyber safety strategies and supportive strategies to maximise children’s safety.
CSA has recently applied to the Jupiters Casino Community Benefit Fund to finance the illustration, printing and distribution of 2000 books to Southern and Central Queensland primary schools. We look forward to a decision regarding our application in early 2010.
The Daniel Morcombe Foundation are holding their annual Dance for Daniel on Saturday, 6 March 2010 at the Sunshine Coast Function Centre, Caloundra. Tickets cost $195 per person or $1750 for a table of 10, and include a three course meal, beer, wine and limited spirits. Entertainment includes the hit musical 'Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story' with support act 'The Band of Blue'.
For further information or to book your tickets visit the DMF website or tel: 0400 299 150.
CSA has recently started a Twitter account to keep you informed of our news in between enewsletters. Look out for our updates on Twitter or www.twitter/childsafetyaust. |
