Safeguarding

[RitaSueanBob2]

I work with children and am fully trained and aware of any safeguarding protocols.

My daughter has told me something about a child in her class and what they said to her. Made me raise an eyebrow.

I shouldn't question this but I report to the DSL at his school right?

Report to her teacher, they will pass it on to the appropriate person/people.

Yes. It sounds like you have a duty of care to do so. Always better to report and nothing come of it than to ignore and live to regret it.

Yes, absolutely you can. I've done this about a friend of my DD's. I emailed the school as it was a secondary, keeping the facts and identifying the child by her initials and tutor group rather than her name.

@akaoqjal

No, go straight to the DSL, no need to go through the teacher

I'm a safeguarding officer in a large secondary. I get absolutely tons of emails / phonecards from other parents reporting safeguarding concerns about other people's kids.

So you wouldn't be unusual in reporting thus through.

Every bit of information is useful when looking for patterns of behaviour in the bigger picture. So no matter how minor, still report it to school.

You might make one comment. I might have had three separate, similar comments about the same child last week. One on its own would just be "noted by safeguarding". Several become reason to refer to family services or, or social care for extra support.

Thank you all.

DSL I will call tomorrow. I've written it down. Purely what I was told.

It has raised an eyebrow so I do feel a duty of care to report .

It's definitely the right decision to report. Writing it all down, exactly what was said ,to the point and factual will massively help. It's always best to go straight to the DSL , as telling someone else it becomes 3rd/4th/5th hand, you're relying on them to remember and pass everything on correctly,in a timely manner etc.

It's not always best to go to DSL, they are often very busy people with a lot of things to deal with. A class teacher can pass it on using the appropriate methods and the DSL can contact you for more details if necessary.

Always report to DSL or DSD.

Reporting to other members of staff can cause delay, and can breach confidentiality.

@akaoqjal

This is just wrong advice, said twice now.

Onceuponarainbow18
That’s a really patronising response!

The class teacher will pass on anything that meets the threshold and knows the child better than any other staff member.

The only time passing to the teacher would be bad would be if the teacher failed in their duty to do their job properly. Parents already have an existing relationship with the class teacher too.

Just because telling the DSL is good, that doesn’t make telling the teacher bad - the info will still get to where it needs to go!

@akaoqjal

Report to her teacher, they will pass it on to the appropriate person/people.

No, report to safeguarding lead.

@akaoqjal

It's not always best to go to DSL, they are often very busy people with a lot of things to deal with. A class teacher can pass it on using the appropriate methods and the DSL can contact you for more details if necessary.

this is 100% against safeguarding guidelines.

the guidelines say that if you have a condern you go to the DSL.
When training volunteers helpers etc one of the hardest things ot get across is that you don't share with the class teacher or your supervisor, you bypass them and go straight to the DSL.

The reaosn is simple. It prevents gossip rumours etc circulating, and instead gets appropriate help when needed. The class teacher is not in a position to judge, they have to pass it straight to the DSL anyway, so one more person in the loop = possible distortion

The class teacher will pass on anything that meets the threshold and knows the child better than any other staff member.

no. The class teacher is not supposed to make judgements about if it meets the threshold. Any concern is passed on to the DSL. They then make the judgement. So going through the class teacher simply wastes time and cuases possible mistakes in communication.

As an ex DSL, you absolutely do not report to the class teacher. You always report to the DSL. Can't believe people still don't know this!

@Macaroni46

I know, it’s scary

Very busy DSL here. Please do pass on to the DSL- it is what we are here for, despite being very busy teachers also! We can always get the class teacher to deal with it if it isn't as serious as you think but at least the safeguarding lead can therefore make an informed decision on that point

Yes report to DSL.

Because you're a teacher yourself I'm pretty sure it's your legal duty to report any concern even if it is not something you encounter in a professional capacity.

Attendance officer here who is on safeguarding team. Report to dsl to avoid Chinese whispers going on and the facts getting mixed up