Worried about a child? Safeguarding and Child Protection
BackMost children enjoy generally happy childhood experiences within their own family. Unfortunately for some, this is not always the case, especially during difficult family times.
As a school, we have a duty to ensure that arrangements are in place for safeguarding.
Safeguarding means ensuring the safety and welfare of all children and, in addition to child protection, covers aspects of school life such as attendance, behaviour, first aid, health and safety, the curriculum and equality, to name but a few.
Child protection means protecting children from physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse or neglect. It also means helping children to grow up into confident, healthy and happy adults.
Our policy on Safeguarding and Child Protection (which lists signs of potential abuse and what to do if you have a concern) can be found in this section. We can provide paper copies if you prefer – please do come and ask at our office.
Please note that we have included in this section a COVID-19 Addendum to the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.
Safeguarding is incredibly important to us at Knollmead. If there are concerns about the pupils, we will liaise with the local authority as required and have a duty to do so.
If you have any concerns
If you have any concerns, relating to safeguarding, about a child at our school who you feel needs additional help and support, please do come and speak to one of the members of staff listed below. Alternatively, you can email [email protected].
Key Personnel:
- The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Dave Tan, Headteacher.
- The Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads are:
- Becky Kearns (Deputy Headteacher)
- Rhianwen Dean (Assistant Headteacher - EYFS and KS1)
- Adele Standish (SLT Support)
- The designated Safeguarding Governor who acts as a link between the DSL and the Governing Body is Mark Ellis.
- The designated governor responsible for liaising with the Local Authority and/or partner agencies, as appropriate, in the event of allegations being made against the Headteacher is the Chair of Governors, Rosa Steeds.
Posters with photos of our DSL and deputies are displayed at the front entrance to the school and in our main reception area.
You can also contact RBK’s Single Point of Access (SPA) team between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday (please see below).
The Single Point of Access is a multi agency team, managed by Achieving for Children, who work closely with a wide range of teams and partner agencies and facilitates different levels of support depending on the needs of the child, young person and their family.
This support includes:
- Providing professional with consultation and support
- Making referrals to partner agencies
- Access to Early Help Services within AfC
- Making referrals to Children’s Social Care Services.
Please see the contact details below for Single Point of Access, as well as contact details for safegaurding services in neighbouring boroughs:
Kingston: Single Point of Access (SPA)
0208 547 5008
Kingston Out of Hours Service
0208 770 5000
Merton: Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
0208 545 4226/4227
Merton Out of Hours Service
0208 770 5000
Sutton: Children’s First Contact Service (CFCS)
0208 770 6001/6072
Sutton Out of Hours Service
0208 770 5000
Wandsworth: Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)
0208 871 6622
Wandsworth Out of Hours Service
0208 871 6000
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
Every local authority has a legal responsibility to have a LADO who is responsible for organising the response to concerns/allegations that an adult who works with children may have caused them or could cause them harm.
The LADO can be contacted by:
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 07774 332675
Safeguarding links
Find our Child Protection Policy on our policies page
Keeping Children Safe in Education
Childline - Free and confidential: 0800 1111
Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre
Safer Internet - Parental Control
Getting help for domestic violence and abuse
In an emergency
RBK has a duty team that can be contacted out of office hours (evenings and weekends) – please see below. If you think a child is in immediate danger, you should contact emergency services.
How to contact RBK children’s safeguarding team:
Private Fostering
Private fostering is when a child or young person under the age of 16 (or under 18 if disabled) is cared for, and provided with accommodation for 28 days or more, by an adult who is not a close relative.
Close relatives include aunts, uncles, step-parents, grandparents, siblings and step-siblings. The school has a responsibility to notify the local authority of any private fostering arrangement.
Please click on this link for further information
Rail Safety
Given that we have a railway line so close to our school, each year we do an assembly and/or some classwork with the children around rail safety. Please see the links below for your information and to follow up on these important safety messages with your children.
We have recently been awarded the Rail Safe Friendly Bronze Award