We recognise that parents/guardians will want to do all they can to support their child but even in the most supportive of relationships there may be occasions when a child is worried and may choose not to talk to his or her parent/guardian.  This may result in enormous stress and whilst we recognize that parents/guardians will naturally be disappointed if their child does not choose to talk to them about the worrying issue, we feel that there could be even more distress if the pupil is unable to cope with the issue themselves.  On this basis we have agreed the following:

Our staff will be supportive to pupils who approach them with concerns but will make it clear that they cannot offer confidentiality to the pupil on anything that involves an illegal activity or anything that is a potential child protection issue where the pupil or others are likely to be at risk of significant harm.

The Deputy Head or Head teacher will liaise with parents/guardians as appropriate in cases where a staff member has reported an issue over which they cannot offer confidentiality.

Staff will support pupils to inform their parents/guardians about issues that are troubling them as appropriate.