Safeguarding Policy

Purpose

Ravenscroft College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all learners and young persons who engage with the College. This Safeguarding Policy sets out the College's responsibilities for protecting individuals from abuse, neglect, and harm, and for ensuring a safe learning environment. It is designed to meet the expectations of the Office for Students (OfS), the requirements of awarding body partners, and relevant UK legislation including the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, the Children Act 2004, the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (Prevent Duty), and statutory guidance from the Department for Education.

Scope

This policy applies to all learners (including those under 18 where applicable), staff, contractors, volunteers, and any individual who comes into contact with learners through the College's activities, whether delivered online, through blended learning, or face-to-face.

Definitions

Safeguarding encompasses a broad range of measures to protect individuals, including:

• Protecting learners from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
• Preventing harm to learners' health, development, or welfare.
• Ensuring that the College's learning environment is safe and supportive.
• Taking action where there are concerns about a learner's safety or wellbeing.
• Supporting learners who may be at risk of radicalisation or extremism (Prevent).

Key Principles

• The welfare and safety of learners is the College's paramount concern.
• All staff have a responsibility to identify and report safeguarding concerns.
• The College will work in partnership with relevant statutory agencies and support services.
• All safeguarding concerns will be treated seriously, recorded, and acted upon.
• Confidentiality will be maintained as far as possible, but the safety of the individual will always take priority.
• The College will operate safer recruitment practices for all staff and contractors.

Designated Safeguarding Lead

The College will appoint a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) who has overall responsibility for the day-to-day management of safeguarding matters. The DSL will:

• Act as the main point of contact for all safeguarding concerns.
• Ensure that safeguarding records are maintained securely and confidentially.
• Liaise with local authorities, the police, and other statutory agencies as required.
• Provide guidance and support to staff on safeguarding matters.
• Ensure that all staff receive appropriate safeguarding training at induction and annually thereafter.

In the absence of the DSL, a nominated Deputy DSL will fulfil these responsibilities.

Safeguarding Concerns

All staff, learners, and third parties are encouraged to report any safeguarding concerns. Concerns may include:

• Physical, emotional, sexual, or financial abuse.
• Neglect or self-neglect.
• Online abuse, cyberbullying, or exploitation.
• Domestic abuse or coercive control.
• Concerns about radicalisation or extremism.
• Mental health concerns that may indicate risk to the individual or others.
• Modern slavery or trafficking.

Prevent Duty

In accordance with the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, Ravenscroft College has due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. The College will:

• Ensure all staff receive Prevent awareness training.
• Carry out appropriate risk assessments in relation to the Prevent Duty.
• Provide a safe space for learners to discuss sensitive topics in an academic context.
• Refer any concerns about radicalisation to the DSL, who will liaise with the relevant authorities (including the local Prevent team or police) where appropriate.

Online Safety

Given the College's online and blended delivery model, the College recognises the importance of online safety. The College will:

• Ensure that the virtual learning environment is secure and monitored.
• Provide guidance to learners on safe and responsible use of digital platforms.
• Respond promptly to reports of online abuse, harassment, or inappropriate behaviour.
• Include online safety in staff and learner induction programmes.

Safer Recruitment

The College will apply safer recruitment practices, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for all staff, contractors, and volunteers who have regular contact with learners, as appropriate. References will be obtained and verified for all new staff.

Training

All staff will receive safeguarding training at induction and refresher training at least annually. The DSL and Deputy DSL will undertake enhanced safeguarding training and maintain current knowledge of legislation and best practice.

Record Keeping

All safeguarding concerns, referrals, and actions will be recorded securely and confidentially. Records will be maintained in accordance with the College's Data Protection and GDPR Policy and relevant statutory guidance.

Review

This policy will be reviewed annually or following any safeguarding incident, significant change in legislation, or update to regulatory or awarding body expectations.