Responsibility for everyone
What is safeguarding? Safeguarding is an umbrella term used in schools to describe the process of protecting children from abuse or neglect, preventing any impairment of their health and development, and ensuring they are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.
At Marymount, we take the safety and security of our campus seriously. We want our young people to flourish in a safe environment. All staff undergo annual safeguarding training.
In alignment with the Council of International Schools' International Taskforce on Child Protection (CIS/ITFCP), we hold ourselves to high standards of effective security practices and child protection.
Safer recruitment
Candidates for employment are required to undergo rigorous background checks for every country they have worked and resided in. We also verify references and qualifications before contracts are signed.
Our Designated Leader for Safeguarding is Mrs. Arnoult. Her contact details are posted in the entrance of the school. Please report any concerns about a child directly to Mrs. Arnoult: dsl@marymount.fr
Safeguarding training for volunteers
Adults who wish to volunteer in school are invited to complete security checks and training beforehand.
Security
Marymount is located in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a leafy, quiet, residential town immediately adjacent to the west of Paris’ 16th and 17th arrondissements. Bordered by both the Seine River and the “Bois de Boulogne” forest, (the Paris equivalent of New York’s Central Park), Neuilly benefits from an exceptional geographic location and has become a prime choice for Parisians in search of a safe, protected neighborhood.
Our top priority is the safety of the children in our care and the safety of our community and visitors.
We ask all community members to show their Marymount ID card upon entering the campus and a staff member must accompany guests.
Staff members are outside each morning to greet arriving students, parents, and children arriving on school buses as they enter campus. Over 35 teachers and support staff supervise arrivals and dismissals every day.
Our security guards and the staff know all our students and parents, mostly by name, which adds to our safety as unfamiliar faces are easily spotted.
Security Measures
- Regularly reviewed, board-approved, serious incident and crisis management policy
- Secured perimeter and controlled access: school gates are only opened for 15 minutes at 8:30 am and 3:20 pm
- A team of full-time security agents
- Regular security consultation with the Neuilly-sur-Seine mayor and local and national police chiefs
- Daily police patrol of the perimeter and 24-hour police CCTV surveillance
- Collaboration with international surveillance and security experts including radio contact with Embassy regional security offices
- CCTV technology on campus, alarm, and access-control hardware and software
- Regular lockdown and fire drills
- All on-campus visits must be planned and approved in advance
- Annually reviewed Visitor’s Guide and staff, student, and parent security training
- Strict compliance with French law
- Membership with international security groups STEP and OSAC
