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?

Interview him for what offence? Use what powers to look up his search history? He has not committed a crime.

Is she aware of stranger danger?

Well we don’t actually know that yet do we.

No adult should ever ask a child to keep anything just between them. Ever.
Even surprises that might be a secret - a birthday present or party for instance, would be between several people.

That said, this isn't a police matter. It's a safeguarding concern for sure, but it's not actually a crime to give a child a gift and tell them not to tell anyone. It simply isn't at that stage yet and it's a bit silly to suggest it is.

OP, you can report to the bishop in charge of his diocese or you can wait until the school reopens.

What crime has been committed?

Safeguarding actually is when a child has been approached by an adult unknown, given money and told to keep quiet! Its a massive red flag and I would to make them aware.

Why do people keep calling the vicar "he"? OP seems to be deliberately sticking to "their name", "this person", "the Vicar". Can you clarify, OP? Because I think it changes the risk profile if it is a male vs female.

Because they posted they were a he

Why would she call the police? Nothing has happened to the child. This is a school matter without further information.

I never said that I thought she should if you see my other posts

Well yes, we do.

Great that she’s asking the school to investigate, rather than making assumptions 😊

Actually they have always said 'this person' or the vicar.
It is a safeguarding concern either way.
As the school aren't responding (and they should respond immediately to acknowledge a safeguarding concern) it could be raised to the diocesan safeguarding team. Their contact details will definitely be available on the Durham diocese website. They would investigate and liaise with school and involve other bodies as/if necessary.

Someone said a few pages ago it was a he - and the OP said it herself

Good move.

The OP has clearly said she does not want to call the police so why not respect her choice and stop going on about it.
Personally OP I agree there is no need whatsoever to involve the police at this stage.

the OP said it herself

The OP hasn't said either way.

She is trying to gather the facts before she calls the police (if the facts show it is a police matter). Calling the police, people will find out, and if it is totally innocent, that won’t matter to a lot of people. The accusations will follow him around for years. It isn’t like he will have access to her child before she gets to talk to the school.
If it is dodgy, then of course she should take it as far as she can

People should not find out if someone is reported to police.

Someone quoted a post saying it was a he - from the OPs words

You are mistaken. You can view all of the OP's posts if you click 'See all' in the original post.

Cheers

I'd be contacting the diocese at the very least.

News gets around, and bad news travels faster than good. People end up with ends of a tail and make the bits up in the middle.

The child isn't in danger. Nothing is going to change in the next week. It can wait until schools go back.

No. People have the right to be questioned by police or arrested and not be gossiped about all over the place. No. Just no.