Child given money by "Vicar" at school

[TakeALookAtTheseSwatches]

So my 10 year old daughter (year 5) came home from school on Thursday and told us the Vicar (possibly just a trainee, I'm not entirely sure) who was taking their collective worship at school gave her £5 to "get herself an Easter treat" and that it was "just between me and you" I asked her if she told the teacher and she said no. I feel quite uneasy about this, should I say something to the school?

As others have said, all school have designated safeguarding leads (DSL) who are contactable. If you can't find that information easily now, you have made contact with the school but it might be worth following it up with checking the procedure for reporting safeguarding is clear on their website and known to all parents for future reference. You could also contact local police on a non emergency online form. If they deem a follow up necessary they will contact you. You can explain you have contacted school but due to holidays there is obviously an understandable delay. Police might do nothing; they might reassure you; they might want to speak with your daughter; they might/likely know the DSL for the area. If it was me,I'd want peace of mind that I'd done all I could.

@TakeALookAtTheseSwatches As a matter of interest, is this person a man or a woman?

Bristol schools have the same Easter hols too- they only broke up from Good Friday (means we’ve got a good deal on a Mexico holiday as most of the rest of the country seems to have broken up the week before

Fing out the other side of this story before you go diving in

No, she doesn't, because there is no "other side" to a safeguarding concern. She's reported it, so that's that for the time being.

Not true I’m afraid. We are a small school. One DSL one deputy - both currently overseas as is their right. Then me - also overseas.

That's poor. Usually there is someone to pick up on issues, supposing something critical occurs?
A designated person is standard.

Which member of SLT should skip the Easter holiday then? We have two SLT, one in South America, one skiiing somewhere I think.

I do take safeguarding seriously but I don’t get paid for the holidays. My hourly rate is so low that I am only overseas because my husband earns a realistic salary. I’ve never worked in a primary school where members of staff were “expected” to work during the holidays.

You rotate it. That's the deal.
I've never heard of a state school that is remiss on this issue. There is always an emergency contact number on the website.
It's rarely "working" it's like emergency on call. In 15 years I've only had to deal with a few issues over the holidays.
It has to be done, though.

SLT contracts actually state reasonable work!and being contactable in holidays and safeguarding failures can result in Ofsted failure. I have never known a school to have zero safeguarding in the holidays at all!

I’ve just checked the websites of each primary in our trust. They all give the office phone number and general email address, no DSL contact details. I can get into the inbox remotely with a school laptop with stringent security. That laptop is an huge old brick and would exceed my luggge allowance. It is possible to access the inbox via a mobile but it is not easy and we are told NOT to work during holidays (although I often do when in the UK).

And who pays the roaming charges? I never pay for roaming (on free WiFi at the moment)

I honestly do understand the importance if safeguarding and this is why I said the OP should contact the LADO.

Right 👍

Same here. It's in our SLT contracts and, as you say, critical for Ofsted.

Does this person come to her school often ? If so have they shown a particular interest in her ? I would be watching the situation very closely. I would definitely tell the school and the other parents.

Not sure if you are aware Op, but this post has been picked up and is posted on Facebook.

Well ofsted would have a field day with your school and trust! I have just checked my youngest’s primary school and on the homepage it has the specific safeguarding email underneath the general admin one.

And why an old brick of a laptop?! It sounds like your school needs serious updating all round.

If it’s an emergency then the police should be contacted.

Neither was the nonce who sexually assaulted me while wearing his flowy robes and cross. Fucking pervs, liars and hypocrites.

If it's not, the designated safeguard lead or their deputy.

I know that very well but there are still two sides and safeguarding will acknowledge that too.

So you report to safeguarding and the process begins.
You don't fail to report!

What other side ? OP has questioned her DD and she’s adamant that she’s telling the truth. It’s not down to OP to investigate the other side of it - that’s down to the appropriate authorities.

Email for most school headteachers is [email protected].sch.uk look at the office email you send if unsure. I would send an email to it with headteacher in place of office and see it if bounces. All headteachers I know are monitoring email over holidays to some degree. Unlike teachers, senior lead ship are exempt from the directed time and formally work during the holiday at times.

Definitely chase though. This is a major safeguarding issue- this should be immediately logged and dealt with by the safeguarding leads for fact finding. Ask them to report back your findings and if not satisfied by their answers then escalate to governors and then Ofsted. If this has happened as she has said, then in finding it out you could well have stopped a groomer or worse.

And she said her daughter has lied before. More than once.

I genuinely can't find any information on the website (happy to send you a link to the website through private messages in case I'm being thick) I sent an email to the general school email address on Saturday, I've yet to hear anything back but it has been bank holiday today so I wouldn't expect anyone to be checking it.