Student Guide to Safeguarding
Introduction
We have produced this guide to describe how we deal with safeguarding and child protection. We
want to ensure that whilst you are a Brooklands student you are empowered to achieve the most
out of your studies and that we provide a positive and a safe environment in which you can achieve
your full potential and get the most out of your studies.
In this guide you will find details on:
1. How safeguarding is promoted at Brooklands
2. Health and Safety
3. How to seek general advice and support
4. Information Technology and Social Media
5. What to do when things go wrong
How Safeguarding is promoted at Brooklands
Safeguarding is a matter for everyone at Brooklands– staff and student alike – and we expect our
community to behave responsibly to support, encourage and respect other members of our
community to gain the best possible experience whilst working and studying. Your welfare is
protected throughout the college both formally and informally and here are some of the policies
that exist to safeguard our community:
• Safeguarding policy
• Health and Safety policy
• Equal Opportunities Policy
• Social networks
Brooklands College regards the welfare of its students as paramount and takes seriously its statutory
duty and moral responsibility to ensure that, in all its activities and functions, robust measures exist
to safeguard students and young people and to protect them from harm or abuse. It provides a safe,
supportive and positive learning environment in which all students are protected from harm. It
ensures that staff working for the College understand their roles, responsibilities and boundaries in
relation to the protection and safeguarding of students
Student Code of Conduct
When you enrol as a student at Brooklands you agree to comply with Student Code of Conduct .The
Student Code of Conduct ensures that the rights of individuals and groups within the College are
protected and that Brooklands is free from anti-social and discriminatory behaviour and practices.
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The College will not tolerate inappropriate behaviours, including bullying and/or harassment.
Breaches of this code will be dealt with through the disciplinary procedure. It is a condition of
enrolment that you agree to:
 respect the rights of others to live and work undisturbed by noise
 respect the property of the Institution, its community and local residents and to be careful
not to damage Brooklands and local community property;
 respect the rights of others to live without fear of physical, verbal or written harassment or
abuse on the grounds of their gender, sexual orientation, race, cultural background,
disability, age, religion or belief, or any other difference;
Health and Safety
Health and Safety is dealt with in detail at induction. The main piece of legislation that refers to
employees’ and student duties is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASAWA). This imposes
general duties on everybody connected with work, including employers, employees, students,
visitors and contractors working on site.
Under the HASAWA you should:
 Take reasonable care for the health and safety of yourself and others who may be affected
by what you do (or fail to do) at work
 Co-operate with the College or any other person, so far as is necessary, to enable the College
or other person to perform with any requirement or duty imposed under any relevant
legislation
 not intentionally or recklessly misuse anything that has been provided by the College in the
interests of health and safety
What this means: Looking after yourself whilst at College
 Carrying out your work so that it does not present a risk to others
 Use all work items provided by the College correctly and in accordance with the training and
information you have been given
 Following College health and safety rules, risk assessments and emergency procedures etc.
put in place by the College or anyone the College nominates to oversee health and safety,
such as a the Health and Safety Officer
 Wear any personal protective equipment that the College provides you
 Report back to your Line Manager/Tutor or Health and Safety Officer anything you may
consider a risk to your health and safety, or that of other people, so that remedial action can
be taken
 Not intentionally damage or misuse anything that the College has provided for the health
and safety of its employees’/students and other people, such as visitors,
contractors or members of the public.
REMEMBER!
• always follow College health and safety rules
• be aware of how actions could endanger others
• report health and safety concerns to your Line Manager/Tutor or Health and Safety Officer
• do not damage or misuse anything that has been provided for health and safety reasons
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General Advice and Support
Student Services provides specialist help and can help with a range of issues including advice and
support for personal and emotional matters and we provide a free confidential counselling service
for students. The Student Services team can also help you with other concerns or issues you may
have. We commonly deal with matters relating to:
• Stress and anxiety
• Personal difficulties.
• Worries about coping on your course
• Balancing work or family life with our studies
• Financial advice
Information Technology and Social Media
Safeguarding also extends to IT usage and, in particular, social media. Social Media is great way of
making friends and keeping in touch with each other however there are risks associated with
communicating in this way such as grooming, cyberbullying and cyberharassment. There are
common sense precautions you can take to avoid these risks:• Do not give out highly personal information or contact details such as addresses
and phone numbers
• Do not publish photos of yourself or your friends which are inappropriate or give out
the wrong message, and the same principle should apply when using webcams.
• Do not arrange to meet people who you have communicated online only – you
do not know who they really are and they may not be who they claim they are
Brooklands College does not routinely monitor external social media. Nevertheless, you should be
aware that the standards of behaviour which we expect of our students online do not differ in any
respect from those we expect in other activities .If unacceptable behaviour online by one of our
students comes to our attention and is deemed to be in breach of the Student Code of Conduct, the
College will take appropriate action and institute disciplinary proceedings against the student
concerned if necessary. In certain more serious cases, this may involve legal proceedings or the
involvement of the Police.
Inappropriate and unacceptable online behaviour likely to lead to disciplinary action includes
rudeness or disrespect to other students or staff, using or distributing obscene, racist, sexist or
discriminatory language or images, anything which could be construed as harassment or bullying
behaviour, and anything likely to bring the College into disrepute.”
When you are issued with your IT credentials (your log on for the Brooklands College network) at
your, you are required to agree to abide with the acceptable use policy which covers the use of IT.
What to do when things go wrong
From time to time things do go wrong and you may need help sorting it out. In the first instance you
should contact your personal tutor or one of your course team to discuss the matter informally.
If you feel you cannot talk to your personal tutor or any of the course team, you should contact a
member of student services. In circumstances where it is suspected abuse of a child or a vulnerable
adult may have taken place, this must be reported to a safeguarding officer
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External organisations
NSPCC:
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/
For concerns about online safety and bullying and harassment contact Child Exploitation and Online
Protection Centre (CEOP) :
http://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/
Suzy Lamplugh Trust:
http://www.suzylamplugh.org/personal-safety-tips/free-personal-safety-tips/
Metropolitan Police Personal Safety:
http://content.met.police.uk/Site/crimepreventionpersonalsafety
True Vision – Stop hate crime
http://www.report-it.org.uk/personal_safety_tips
Online Safety
http://www.getsafeonline.org/
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