Safeguarding

Safeguarding Statement

The whole school community is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for each child and establishing a culture of safeguarding. The Governors and the Headteacher fully recognise their responsibilities for child protection and safeguarding, with the well-being and safety of each child paramount.

The school will seek to act in a child’s best interests at all times and will intervene wherever a child’s wellbeing could be compromised. Staff know the benefit of Early Help as a way of supporting families and young people before their needs become acute and Social Care or other specialist intervention may be necessary. We advocate a positive, open working relationship with parents to help ensure that your child receives the very best care they can.

Safeguarding Personnel

The Designated Safeguarding Lead is: Gareth Dutton

The Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads are: Lin Felicien & Dan Bates

The nominated Child Protection Governor is: Liz Ormonde

Safeguarding Team

What can you do if you have a safeguarding concern?

If you have a safeguarding concern regarding a child / family in school, please speak to one of the designated safeguarding leads above by phone (0208 546 0902), email (click here) or in person.

If you have an immediate safeguarding concern outside of school hours, or would like to make an anonymous referral, please contact the Single Point of Access (SPA):

020 8547 5008 — available Monday to Thursday, 8.00am to 5.15pm, and Friday, 8.00am to 5.00pm.
For urgent concerns during evenings or weekends, please call the Out of Hours Duty Team on 020 8770 5000.
In an emergency or serious safeguarding situation, always dial 999. If you are unable to speak, dial 55 when prompted and the authorities will be dispatched to help.

You will be asked for your name, address, details of the child and the concerns you have. These are to help them to make further enquiries and to contact you again if necessary. Your details will be treated confidentially and will not be disclosed to members of the family in question without your consent.

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policies

Our Policy sets out how the Governing Body discharges its statutory responsibilities relating to safeguarding and child protection and promoting the welfare of children who are pupils at our schools.

The child-friendly policy is designed for children. The policy shows children where to get help and support. There may be times when they want to talk to someone in school about a problem that might be upsetting.

At St Luke's we record all safeguarding, bullying, racist and child on child abuse on CPOMs. This forms a safe online digital store for all records for pupils disclosures and any events which a member of staff feels needs to be logged.

The Worry Button:

You will find a worry button on your child's Google Classroom and Google HomePage. The worry button serves as a tool for your child to let their teacher know any concerns they are having. This may be friendship issues, concerns at home, uncertainties surrounding work ... etc. Most children find they can discuss these problems in person, however, the worry button is there for those who can't find the words to express their worry out loud and need to put it in writing. This way no worry is left unaddressed.

Useful Links:

Childline - A free, confidential service where children can talk about anything that’s worrying them and get support from trained counsellors.

Prevent Duty - Information about how schools and communities work together to safeguard children from the risk of radicalisation or extremism.

NSPCC - The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children offers expert advice and guidance to help keep children safe from abuse and neglect.

Child Sexual Exploitation - Advice on recognising, preventing and responding to situations where children or young people may be at risk of exploitation.

Keeping Children Safe in Education - The statutory government guidance outlining the responsibilities schools have to protect and promote the welfare of all pupils.

Kingston Children and Families (Single Point of Access - SPA) - The local service for reporting safeguarding concerns about a child or seeking support and advice for families.

National Crime Agency (CEOP) - A national service where anyone can report concerns about online behaviour, exploitation or inappropriate contact with children.