FOLLOWING a police raid aimed at targeting a group accused of dealing drugs at Kingsdown School, the headteacher has stressed teachers' commitment to safeguarding.

Mrs Emma Leigh-Bennett, headteacher at Kingsdown School, said: “Safeguarding children is our number one priority and as a school we have invested and continue to invest an incredible amount of time and resources, in particular training and software, to ensure that our safeguarding processes, procedures and systems at the school keep our children, our staff and our families safe.”

READ MORE: Kingsdown School 'drugs ring' smashed by Swindon police in dawn raid, police claim

She said she was fully aware about the challenges that face Swindon and Stratton in particular and had been networking with very senior members of the Wiltshire Police. 

Part of this work led to the setting up of a town wide multi-agency group with the core function to improve the safeguarding of children:, “Kingsdown School was a founding partner in the multi-agency safeguarding group led by Wiltshire Police”.  This group, which also consists of social services and school leaders, meets regularly at Kingsdown School. Its aim is to share intelligence around safeguarding concerns and, the raid on Wednesday morning, was in response to information shared at the group.

Mrs Leigh-Bennett said: “The school works tirelessly to be alert to information about drugs in our community. The safeguarding leads are quick in their response to share it with those that must and need to know.”

She said there was an ever-increasing number of children who feel safe and comfortable in talking with an adult – either teachers or non-teaching staff – in the school.

Mrs Leigh-Bennett added: "Kingsdown is a school which is improving rapidly, celebrating its best GCSE results for a number of years, and we will continue to take a proactive and supportive approach to keeping children safe".