Two given awards for playing it safe

TWO Cranbourne institutions have been recognised for their efforts in providing a safe and friendly environment for children.
Cranbourne Park Primary School and Cranbourne Library this week received a Child Friendly Community Award from the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN).
NAPCAN has as its vision statement “every Australian community is child friendly” and the awards recognised that this was particularly true of Cranbourne Park Primary School and Cranbourne Library.
Pru Menzies, customer services manager with Casey-Cardinia Library Corporation (CCLC), said they were delighted with the award.
“All public libraries strive to provide a child-friendly community and a safe place for all members of our communities, from babies to the elderly. This award is a testament to the staff of Cranbourne Library who make it such a warm and welcoming place to be,” Ms Menzies said.
Assistant principal at Cranbourne Park Primary School Steve Condon said the school’s primary focus has been very much on the development of the welfare side and he was justifiably proud on behalf of all staff to receive NAPCAN’s award.
“For the past two years we have employed a PWO whose primary function has been to work on social skills.
“Together with teaching cooperative skills at recess and lunchtimes, all teachers are required to host lunchtime clubs as a way of getting to know a wide range of children from across the school,” he said.
Mr Condon said he was already clearing a space on the wall for NAPCAN’s award plaque.
“The award is great recognition of the range of programs implemented in the school in recent years and the efforts of staff and children in making them work,” he said.
“Cranbourne Park Primary School is also proud to be a partner with Windermere in the federally-funded Communities for Children – Cranbourne committee initiative ‘School as a Hub’.”
The school has also introduced an art program, a gardening element for disengaged boys, a peer mediation service for grade sixes, and volunteers located around the playground to help children negotiate any differences of opinion.
Another funding initiative through Windermere Child and Family Services will enable the CCLC to employ an early years outreach worker to improve reading development for children up to the age of five.