Safeguarding & Pastoral Care
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The Safeguarding Lead at Coombe Girls' School is Mrs Clark who can be contacted via the school enquiries phone number and by email: [email protected]
The welfare of our pupils is of vital importance and monitored closely throughout the tutorial system which is well established at Coombe.
Please find our safeguarding & child protection policy on our policies page.
Key Pastoral Points
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Every pupil is in a form group. These are named after the houses in the school.
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The form group of around 30 pupils is led by a form teacher, who is a teacher in the school.
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Form teachers work hard to get to know the girls in their group and so support them effectively.
When they join the school, each girl is placed in one of eight Houses named after planets: Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Orion, Pluto, Saturn and Venus. She will stay in the same house throughout her time at Coombe. Registration is taken in this group by the form teacher who is responsible for the girls’ well-being. This form group helps the girls to know that they matter as individuals. When possible, we try to keep the same form teacher with the same form group throughout a student’s time at Coombe.
The Head of Year, Deputy Head of Year/Pastoral Assistant and Form Teacher have a personal knowledge of each student and are on hand to provide help and guidance in all aspects of school life. They communicate with parents/carers and with external welfare agencies which provide support for the home and the school.
You should contact your daughter’s form teacher first if you have any concerns about your daughter’s well-being (link: heads of year contacts, phone 020 8942 1242 or use the enquiries form in our contact us section).
The School Safeguarding Team
Useful Safeguarding links
Kingston Youth Support Service
To complement our mental health and wellbeing offerings, we are proud to offer students access to Tellmi, an evidence-based and secure mental health platform.
Tellmi is a multi-award-winning early digital mental health service (IOS/Android/Web). It supports young people by providing access to anonymous, pre-moderated, and age-banded peer support, preemptive counsellor intervention, and a directory of vetted mental health resources and services.
Students can download the app by searching Tellmi on the App Store, Google Play, or by visiting the Web App. You can learn more about Tellmi via their website.
Online Behaviour Safety
Supporting your daughter in the online world.
The internet and social media undoubtedly play a significant role in the lives of our young people. At Coombe, we feel that it is important that not only staff are informed of the issues but that parents and students are too.
Throughout the year we discuss and explore online behaviour and safety through lessons, PSHE sessions and dedicated events such as 'e-safety week'.
You will find all our e-Safety information in our dedicated section:
Illness
If a girl feels ill during lesson time the teacher will send her with a note to the medical area. Parents are contacted immediately if illness necessitates a girl going home or if an accident has occurred. It is important, therefore, that the school has details of parents’ home and emergency telephone numbers. There is also space in your daughter’s diary for her to record an emergency contact number – please ensure that this is filled in and kept up to date. It is very important that we know of any medical situations which arise during a school day, so if your daughter feels unwell, she should tell her teacher and report to Reception in the first instance.
All girls who become ill or who have an accident will be assessed by qualified First Aid staff. These staff will make a decision about contacting home and giving any treatment. In an emergency, we will make a decision about seeking further medical advice but in the majority of circumstances, this decision will need to be made by the parents. We would ask you to support us in this matter and only make arrangements for your daughter to leave school via the office staff. The school does not employ a trained nurse, therefore students with any medical conditions should be taken to their GP by the parents/carers and not sent to school for diagnosis.
PARACETAMOL / NON PRESCRIPTION PAIN RELIEF
Occasionally a child will come to us with a minor pain (e.g. an earache or headache) and there will be times they ask for a pain relief. The school’s policy is that we do not supply pain relief to students without written permission from the parent/carer. The child must also have their own supply of tablets that will be kept in the medical room.
CHRONIC ILLNESS
If your child has a chronic condition that the school is aware of, please help us to help them by keeping us informed of any changes. This is particularly important if they take part in any school trips or activities as the school records are used to collate relevant information.
DO NOT SPREAD INFECTIONS!
If you are aware that your son/daughter is unwell and not fit to attend school please keep them at home. Any vomiting or diarrhoea should be given a clear 24 hour period to avoid the spread of viruses.
If your son/daughter sustains an injury over the weekend please ensure they are dealt with before returning to school.
Students should not be using their mobile phones to contact parents if they feel unwell in school. They should tell the teacher who should sign their diary and send them to the medical room to be assessed by one of the first aiders on duty.
INOCULATION RECORDS
We do not hold student inoculation records at the school.
Records of inoculations that were administered before August 2016 are available from KU19, Hollyfield Road, Surbiton
Records of inoculations administered after August 2016 are available from Hounslow and Richmond Community Health