Report a safeguarding concern

If you have a safeguarding concern and you are worried about a child – it is important that you report your concern immediately to a relevant professional so that action can be taken to safeguard that young person. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and it is important that all concerns are followed up.  The school recommends that parent/carers should always consider referring a concern, no matter how minor it may seem, as this often can help identify an issue for a vulnerable young person before it becomes more serious.

We understand that reporting a safeguarding concern can sometimes be a stressful or difficult process for parent/carers and whatever route is chosen the safeguarding professional you speak to will guide you through the process and support you through any disclosure. Please note that whilst all safeguarding staff are respectful of privacy, it is not possible to guarantee confidentiality when dealing with safeguarding, as information disclosed may need to be acted on – especially if it involves significant harm to a young person – and this will involve this information being passed to other services, such as the police or the local authority.

There are many reasons you may choose to report a safeguarding concern.  You may be aware of a child who is potentially at risk of harm and you may have particular concerns around child abuse, specifically:

• Physical Abuse – causing physical harm to a child or failing to protect a child from that harm.
• Emotional Abuse –  the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe adverse effects on the child’s health and emotional development.
• Neglect – the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs
• Sexual Abuse –  forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities.

You may also have concerns about ‘peer-on-peer abuse’ such as bullying or sexual harassment – or worries about criminal exploitation, extremist radicalisation or online safety.

If you believe a child is at imminent risk of harm, please contact the police.

Reporting a concern to our in-school team

The school has one DSL (Designated Safeguarding Lead) and a team of DDSL’s (Deputy Safeguarding Leads) who you can report any concerns to.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead for the school is Mr Matthew Hope.  He can be contacted directly if you wish to report a safeguarding concern:

[email protected]

You can also contact our school office directly on 0191 917 6667 or at [email protected] and they will put you in touch with the most appropriate member of staff to deal with your concern.

Report a concern directly to the North Tyneside Child Protection team

If you wish to report a concern directly to North Tyneside children’s services, the facility to do this is outlined below.  Their ‘Front Door’ service will guide you through your concern.

Front Door Service

Quadrant East
Silverlink North
Cobalt Business Park
North Tyneside
NE27 OBY