Please see the information below.

 

Circumstance	Action
IF A CHILD IS IN IMMEDIATE DANGER,	CALL 999
If you need to speak to the police about a concern that is a crime but is not an emergency,	Call 101
If you “are worried or have concerns that a child or young person is being neglected, harmed or may need support”	Call 0208 255 2888  Email Mash@Croydon.gov.uk Follow this link for guidance Croydon Children Services
If you are a child who needs to speak to someone about your worries or report any type of abuse, and you cannot speak to a parent or teacher, you can contact the following agencies.	NSPCC – They can and will make a referral on your behalf if necessary Childline – or you can call them on this number – 0800 1111

 

Reporting safeguarding or child protection concerns to the school

At Shirley High school, we serve a community of students with a range of vulnerabilities and disadvantages. As such, a number of staff hold level 3 safeguarding qualifications, which is the level required for whole school Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs). All staff are Level 1 trained. This means that all stakeholders should feel comfortable to share any safeguarding or child protection concerns with any member of staff, who will know what to do and who to refer concerns to.

If…	Contact
You have any safeguarding queries or concerns, please email the safeguarding team…	Safeguarding@shirley.croydon.sch.uk
You are a student who wishes to report peer-on peer abuse in the various forms that it occurs…	POPAreports@shirley.croydon.sch.uk

MASH, Police and other external agencies.

Please ensure that the safeguarding email is used or copied in your communication with the school. This ensures that in the absence or unavailability of staff, someone else from the team can respond or delegate appropriately. 

If you need to speak directly to a member of the team, please email us or call reception and you will be given a direct number to call (This is reserved for MASH, police and external agencies. Parents and carers are expected to go through the normal channels of communication at school.)

Please avoid sending important information or requests to the general office as this often causes delays in response and delegation. 

External agencies working in partnership with the school and students

We work with a range of professionals, organisations and agencies, including:

Croydon Children Services – Children, Young People and families. You can access their website here, where you will find guidance and support about a range of services, including: Early Help; Missing Mondays team; Children Missing Education; Croydon SEND; SENDIASS Croydon 

Police – You can find advice on how to report a crime here including how to report a crime online. 

Virtual School – If you are a carer of a Looked After Child, you can contact the Virtual School if you have concerns about a “Looked After” child’s education. 

Croydon School Nurse Team – You can find and contact information about the team and their services here

P4YE (Project 4 Youth Empowerment) – You can access their website here where you will find information about their services and the impactful work that they are doing in the community. 

Young Carers – You can access their website here

Off The Record – You can access their website here

St Giles – You can access their website here

Amari Rae Consultancy – You can access their website here

 

Safeguarding Team

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) - Mrs D Afriyie 

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) - Ms T Lindsay

Deputy Safeguarding Lead (SEND) Ms T Crammer

All Heads of Year are trained DDSLs for their respective year groups. 

You can reach the team at Safeguarding@shirley.croydon.sch.uk

Designated Teacher - Mr M Vernon - Designatedteacher@shirley.croydon.sch.uk

For general pastoral queries or concerns please contact your child’s form tutor and head of year in the first instance. 

 

Where can I go for help?

External support links 

Online safety 

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has an extensive list of resources to help you spot harmful online activity; navigate the apps and sites that your child may be accessing. It also has several signposts to advice, resources and training for parents who are concerned about or want to be more informed about their child’s online activity and safety. 

Parenting Support

Croydon council provides Parenting Programmes which are accessible to all Croydon residents. If you are struggling with your child or just want some advice or parenting strategies, you should use the link to find out how you can access this service. 

You can also self refer to Early Help via the Croydon MASH link above. 

Missing Children

The Children’s Society has a dedicated page and team advising and supporting the parents of children who have run away or are planning to run away. 

If your child is missing, the first thing you must do is report the missing episode to the police. Please also speak to a member of the safeguarding team who can refer and signpost you to the relevant agencies. 

We would also like to discourage parents from allowing their children’s friends to stay at their home without making direct contact with their parents. A lot of our missing cases would be solved, saving police and staff time, if parents did their due diligence when their children’s friends visit or stay with them.

Kinship Care & Private Fostering

"Kinship care is when a child is raised full-time by a relative, close family friend, or someone they already have a trusted connection with, because their birth parents are unable to do so.”

Information about the support available to Croydon residents for kinship care and private fostering arrangements, is available on the Croydon Kinship Care webpage. 

You can also get support and advice from The Kinship Care Charity