Mandatory reporting

What is mandatory reporting?

As a teacher or reception class educator at an independent school, you are subject to a strict duty to report. This means that you must report to the municipality if, in connection with your work, you become concerned for the well-being of a student at your school.

The strict duty to report is a personal responsibility. This means that if you have a concern that you think could or should trigger a report, it is your duty to report – you may not just assume that others will do it.

If you agree with a colleague or your school administrator that they will submit a report, you must follow up and obtain written documentation that a report has been submitted. If they do not submit a report, you must do so.

When do you have to report?

When should you be so concerned that you must report to the municipality? There is no clear-cut answer to this question. It is your responsibility as a professional teacher to answer this question as conscientiously as possible.

However, the law and pamphlets published by the ministry offer some guiding principles that can help in your decision-making process.

Guiding principles for when you must report:

• If you suspect that a student has been sexually abused.
• If you suspect that a student has been subjected to physical or psychological violence. Psychological violence includes, but is not limited to, emotional rejection, threats of abandonment, threats of punishment, degrading treatment, lack of stimulation, or preventing the student from going to school or participating in leisure interests.
• If you suspect that a student has been subjected to neglect (if, for example, the student consistently comes to school without a packed lunch, if the student’s personal hygiene threatens their relations with the rest of the class, or if you suspect that the parents are not meeting the student’s basic physical, psychological and developmental needs).
• If the student has a high rate of absence from school.
• If the student exhibits a lack of well-being (if, for example, the student isolates themself socially in class, if there are mood swings and the student becomes aggressive, expresses extremist views, exhibits self-hatred, etc).