St Caimin's
Community
School

The Children First Act, 2015 has placed  statutory obligations on all registered teachers, who are referred to as mandated persons in the Act. It has also placed certain statutory obligations on certain organisations that provide services to children, including all schools.

The Children First National Guidance 2017 outlines the new statutory obligations that apply to mandated persons and schools under the Act. It also sets out the best practice (non-statutory) obligations which are in place for all individuals (including teachers) and for all sectors of society. The Children First Act, 2015 operates side-by-side with the Children First National Guidance 2017. A copy of the document can be found by clicking on the link provided. 

 

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Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2025

The Child Protection Procedures for Schools 2025 procedures build on the previous Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools (updated 2023) and take account of the statutory obligations under the Children First Act, 2015 and the Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2017.

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Following engagement between the Department of Education and the Education partners the Child Protection Procedures for Schools have been updated. The updated procedures replace the procedures which were published in 2017 and revised in 2023.

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As in the earlier procedures, these procedures set out requirements to ensure that reporting procedures in line with Children First are in place and that school personnel know how to recognise and report alleged child protection concerns, and that parents/guardians and all school personnel are aware of the school’s child protection and safeguarding procedures. The procedures provide for the development of a child safeguarding statement (which includes a risk assessment), and appointment of a designated liaison person and deputy designated liaison person.

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In addition, these procedures outline new requirements set out in the Addendum to Children First Guidelines (2025) around requirements to report retrospective abuse, take account of new legislation in place since the last update of the procedures, and provide guidance on communicating with parents and on record keeping.

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These updated procedures apply to all recognised primary and post-primary schools and to centres for education (as defined in the Education Act 1998), including boarding facilities associated with recognised schools, which are attended by children and young people under the age of 18 years.