Supporting vulnerable children
At Presbyterian Support Otago we want Aotearoa New Zealand to be, truly, the best place in the world to grow up – a place where children, teens, families and whanau flourish.
That means we place children are at the heart of everything we do. We take our role in protecting and supporting vulnerable children seriously.
Child Protection Policy
The safety and wellbeing of children and young people is the primary concern in all work undertaken by Presbyterian Support Otago.
The Child Protection Policy outlines our commitment to child safety, protection, principles and our legal responsibilities.
The policy also provides protocols for recognising and responding to actual and suspected cases of abuse and neglect.
Download Presbyterian Support Otago’s Child Protection Policy. [PDF]
A focus on family and whanau
Our primary consideration is always the welfare, safety and wellbeing of children.
In doing so we recognise the important role of family and whanau in caring for and protecting their children.
Our services focus on children and their family and whanau because we know it’s only when the adults in a child’s life are struggling, that the children are hurt or neglected. When families, whanau and communities are strong and resilient, our children will be safe.
Safe communities. Safe families. Safe children.
Our focus on the wellbeing of children and families is demonstrated through our services and reflected in our logo.
The main visual element of our logo – the harakeke, or flax, symbolises the wellbeing of family and whanau. The new leaf at its centre is the child, and larger leaves on the outside are older relatives.
The seven leaves represent the seven Family Works regions and the seven waka that came to Aotearoa.
The blue of the logo represents the sky father, Ranginui, while the green represents the earth mother, Papatuanuku.
The white in between is the area where the growth takes place. When the children of Ranginui and Papatuanuku separated their parents so they could create space in which to be free and express themselves as individuals.
Unuhia te rito o te harakeke kei whea te kōmako e kō? Whakatairangitia – rere ki uta, rere ki tai; Ui mai koe ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao, Māku e kī atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata!
“Tear out the heart of the flax, where will the bellbird sit? Ask me what the most important thing in the world is, I will tell you – it is people, it is people, it is people.”