I work for a local authority but not as a SW. Im concerned by the amount of posts that when a posterhas concern about child they should rong the child's school. Thos is incorrect if a child is in immediate danger ring 999 not 101. If you are concerned about a child ring your local child safeguarding unit. I know its hard but we cannot side step our joint responsibility for safeguarding children through fear of being found out by the alleged perpetrator. In the harsh light of day SW will not take a 2nd hand report as seriously as they would a first hand.
I have these uncomfortable conversations with parents directly and tell them that I concerns and while I agree we shouldn't be confronting people directly we need to ask ourselves are we happy to carry on placing that powerless child in harms way above our adult welfare? We all need to take ownership and contact directly rather thsn by proxy. No sidestepping. No excuses, you can report anonymously.