Safeguarding and Child Protection – everyone’s responsibility 

King's Oak Primary School has a duty to keep children safe. This includes how we protect children from experiencing harm and how we should respond when we suspect or confirm that a child is being harmed. 

Children are at the centre of everything we do at King's Oak Primary School. We are committed to providing an environment in which children feel welcomed, safe, valued and respected. Adults in our school know that keeping children safe is everybody’s responsibility and that all children, regardless of age, gender, culture, language, race, ability, sexual identity, religion or lack of religion have equal rights to protection and opportunities. 

Definitions of Safeguarding and Child Protection

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is the process of:

• Protecting children from maltreatment.
• Preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development.
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.
• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes and life chances.

Child Protection is the process of protecting individual children identified as either suffering, or at risk of suffering, significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect.

Our policy on Safeguarding and Child Protection (which lists signs of potential abuse and what to do if you have a concern) can be viewed and downloaded here.  We can provide paper copies if you prefer – please do come and ask at our office.

If you have any concerns, relating to safeguarding, about a child at our school who you feel needs additional help and support, please do come and speak to one of the members of staff listed below:

Key Personnel:
The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Ian Hutchings, Headteacher. The Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads are:

• Iren Gabrovska (first point of contact as Child Protection Officer (CPO)
• Jess Russ, Deputy Headteacher
• Debbie Fossey, Assistant Head
• Thurka Balendran, Assistant Head

The designated Governors who acts as a link between the DSL and the Governing Body are Clive Douglas and Harry Atkinson.

The designated governors responsible for liaising with the Local Authority and/or partner agencies, as appropriate, in the event of allegations being made against the Headteacher is Clive Douglas.

Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
Every local authority has a statutory responsibility to have a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) who is responsible for co-ordinating the response to concerns that an adult who works with children, may have caused them or could cause them, harm. 

Contact the LADO
Email: LADO@achievingforchildren.org.uk

Phone: 07774 332675

Posters with photos of our DSL and deputies are displayed around our school and in our main reception area. 

You can also contact RBK’s Single Point of Access (SPA) team between 8:00 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. from Monday to Thursday and 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Friday (please see below). You can tell us about a child, young person or parent/carer that needs support in some way by contacting the SPA Team. You may be concerned about the child’s developmental needs, issues that the parent or carer is experiencing, or you may suspect a child is being neglected or subjected to physical, sexual, or emotional abuse.

In an emergency

RBK has a duty team that can be contacted out of office hours (evenings and weekends) – please see below.  If you think a child is in immediate danger, you should contact emergency services.

How to contact RBK children’s safeguarding team:

Tel: 020 8547 5008

Emergency Services – phone 999

Out of hours duty team – phone 020 8770 5000