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“Every student should be safe and feel safe”
At Windsor Forest Colleges Group, we believe that all students are entitled to be treated with dignity, courtesy, and respect regardless of their age, race, gender or ability and will not tolerate any behaviour that is abusive to our students.
Our statutory duty relating to safeguarding is set out in “Working Together to Safeguard Children A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children” (July 2018) and “Keeping Children Safe in Education” (September 2022) which states:
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined for the purposes of this guidance as: protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development; ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.
‘Children’ includes everyone under the age of 18.
The Support we offer:
Across the group we have teams of friendly, specialist staff dedicated to supporting the needs of all students, including looked after children and care leavers. We offer:
These are in addition to many other student services such as careers advice, travel, childcare, accommodation, counselling, additional learning support, and more.
Where a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer from harm, it is important that a referral to children’s social care (and if appropriate the police) is made immediately.
For more information, download our Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy.
We take our responsibility to safeguard and promote welfare seriously, working hard to make sure all of the college’s activities and procedures support and promote safeguarding. We teach the students about personal safety, and how to keep themselves safe from harm and promote modern British values.
There is a strong anti-bullying/harassment ethos throughout the college. We teach our students how to recognise all forms of bullying, including sexual harassment and build on their skills to keep themselves safe from such behaviours whilst giving them the confidence to report it.
Our curriculum and student support teams provide the opportunity to discuss feelings and emotions and help our students to think about their own personal safety and their rights as individuals to be kept safe from harm. We have clear guidance to help students to use the Internet (including social media) safely and have appropriate filters in place to prevent students accessing inappropriate materials.
Starting College can be an exciting time, although for some it can feel a bit daunting as they get to grips with a new environment, a new routine, and meeting new people all at once. If you’re a care experienced person there may be additional challenges too. We use the term care experienced to cover a range of different living circumstances young people have. This includes:
Your education and experience at College is our priority and we understand that as a care experienced student you may experience disadvantages that other students do not. We work closely with external agencies, including social services and the Virtual school, to ensure that appropriate support is in place whilst you are at College, this could include:
We understand that at times you may experience pressures at home or whilst at College and our safeguarding & CLA Lead, is on hand to provide individual support through any aspect of your time at College, ensuring that you get the right help and support you need. We have a team of experienced staff who will work with you – and where appropriate your carer/host, social worker, and/or parents – to help you right from the start with your application, so you will be supported from the moment you contact us right through to the end of your course.
Our safeguarding team will work with you to identify ways they can assist you on a one-to-one basis, addressing any individual needs and concerns you may have. On a need-to-know basis, certain staff will be made aware that a young person is or has been, in care but they will not be told any further details unless they are part of your immediate support team. This is so we can tailor the advice and guidance we offer you and allow you to maximise your opportunities while you are at College.
Any information shared in this way will always be done with your knowledge. This allows us to offer you many benefits including any financial assistance you may be entitled to, as well as, for example, knowing your hobbies, interests and talents so we can help you to participate in college activities.
We actively plan internal and external scrutiny of our safeguarding work and procedures. We self-assess our safeguarding work and the Governors monitor our compliance with statutory safeguarding responsibilities. We have a named Governor responsibility for Safeguarding.
The wellbeing of every student and staff member is at the heart of everything we do. Pastoral care is provided across curriculum areas by staff who know the students well. Relationships form the core of everything we do. Peer relationships are vitally important in ensuring all our students are happy at College.
We also recognise the importance of the relationships between staff and students, which is built on mutual respect and trust, allowing our students to thrive. The wellbeing of our students is embedded into all of our courses, and extra-curricular activities.
Students having a voice at College is a vital part of our ethos, we have an active student council which is integral to life at each of our Colleges. They meet on a regular basis and their ideas and thoughts are passed on to the Senior Leadership Team.
Our Pastoral Support Team are vitally important in the lives of our students, and are a point of contact for parents, for academic and welfare issues. Pastoral Support Tutors act on any concerns that may arise and break down barriers to learning. They are able to provide regular support to students to provide advise and guidance to enable positive outcomes.
Prevent is one of the four elements of CONTEST, the government’s counter-terrorism strategy. It aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The Home Office works with local authorities and a wide range of government departments, and community organisations to deliver the Prevent Strategy.
The Prevent Strategy:
The strategy covers all forms of terrorism, including far right extremism and some aspects of non-violent extremism.
Revised Prevent duty guidance: for England and Wales – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
We are committed to providing the best support and learning opportunities for all of our students, in an environment where there is mutual respect and equality of opportunity for all students and staff. Equality at the Windsor Forest Colleges Group means that we provide an accessible and supportive educational experience for all. Our commitment to our students and staff and our expectations of them is based on the rich diversity of the communities that we serve.
