Under the Children First Act 2015 registered teachers as mandated persons are required to report to Tusla any knowledge, belief or reasonable grounds to suspect that a child has been harmed, is being harmed or is at risk of being harmed. The Act defines harm as assault, ill-treatment, neglect or sexual abuse and covers single and multiple instances.
The four types of harm are neglect, emotional abuse/ill-treatment, physical abuse and sexual abuse. The threshold of harm for each category of abuse at which registered teachers as mandated persons have a statutory obligation to report concerns is reached when he or she knows, believes or has reasonable grounds to suspect that a child’s needs have been neglected, are being neglected, or are at risk of being neglected to the point where the child’s health, development or welfare have been or are being seriously affected, or are likely to be seriously affected.
The school is obliged to prepare a risk assessment each year and review it’s Child Protection Statement. This review and risk assessment was completed on March 2024.