Safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults

Safeguarding policy

Introduction & Aims

Language Alliance recognises that they it has a responsibility to:

  • safeguard and promote the interests and well-being of children and vulnerable adults involved in our language courses and qualifications.
  • take all reasonable practical steps to protect them from harm, discrimination, or degrading treatment.
  • respect their rights, wishes and feelings.

We recognise that children and vulnerable adults have right to:

  • to be given the support required to be healthy, safe and achieve through learning
  • to have equal rights to protection from abuse and exploitation / radicalisation
  • to expect the support of all adults in their needs for care and protection from harm or abuse

Our Commitment

To support the above aims, we are committed to:

  • rigorous recruitment policies
  • the provision of support and appropriate training
  • careful development and vetting of all content on our portal
  • monitoring of communication between parties on our portal via Language Centre directors
  • clear processes for flagging up any concerns

Children:

In educational institutions:

Any candidate aged 18 years or under should be considered as a child for the purposes of this document. Students may be registered and taking our qualifications through an established educational institution e.g. school, college or sixth form.

Language Alliance and its staff will flag up any issues that are identified and will report these to the head of the centre (usually the principle of the educational establishment).

Staff are advised to report the time, date and nature of the incident or content that may be discovered in candidate submissions.

Online:

For students under 18 who are taking our courses online will:

  • Be required to gain a signature and consent from a parent or carer.
  • Be required to sign a code of conduct to ensure appropriate behaviour in online lessons.
  • Will not be able to swap person contact details during the course.
  • Will always be in the presence of a teacher.
  • Will not be allowed into break out rooms online.
  • Will be asked to contact Juliet Park at info@languagealliance.co.uk with any concerns.

Any teachers delivering our online courses will be required to have a valid DRB form which will be checked by our team.

Any teachers having concerns will be asked to contact Juliet Park info@languagealliance.co.uk with the time, date and nature of the incident or content that may be discovered in candidate submissions.

The parent or carer will be involved if appropriate and any behaviour deemed to be unacceptable will lead to a warning and if appropriate, immediate expulsion from the course without a refund for the term they have paid for.

In the event of child abuse or peer on peer bullying the Language Alliance may contact the educational establishment a student is based in and where the appropriate agencies e.g. the police so that we they can take any necessary action to protect the child.

Adults:

An adult at risk (previously vulnerable adult) is defined as any person aged 18 years or over who is, or may be, at risk of abuse or neglect because of their need for support or personal circumstance.

This could be due to, and not limited to, any of the following:

  • has a learning or physical disability;
  • has a physical or mental illness including addiction to alcohol or drugs;
  • receiving any form of health care;
  • is living in sheltered accommodation or residential accommodation e.g. care

For future adult candidates that may enrol directly with our centre:

  • must not stray from the task in their specification;
  • must be unnecessarily inquisitive – do not ask for personal details that are not necessary for completion of the assessment;
  • must not do or say anything that might make a learner / apprentice feel uncomfortable;
  • must not be drawn into personal conversations or exchange personal contact details;
  • must not befriend learners on personal social media sites;
  • must not make suggestive or inappropriate remarks, even in fun, as this could be misinterpreted;
  • must not sit or stand too close to the learner / apprentice;
  • must not meet a learner / apprentice other than in the agreed assessment venue;
  • must not allow learners to use language that aims to radicalise by supporting terrorism and forms of extremism;
  • take a child or vulnerable adult alone in a car on journeys, however short.

All candidates registering directly through our centre will need to be aged 18 years of age. For any candidates below this age that have requested direct access (e.g. they are unable to find an educational institution to take a qualification), they will need to provide written parental permission.

Any staff (e.g. assessors) corresponding with learners directly will need to provide Language Alliance with an up-to-date DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check.

The head of Language Alliance will monitor correspondence between learners and assessors.

Provision of content:

Care is taken when selecting media to ensure the content is appropriate.

Consideration is given to the choice of materials provided to centres and their learners for use in portfolios and its acceptability or appropriateness.

Particular care must be given to texts, images or other media that could be inferred to be:

  • offensive
  • sexually explicit
  • leading to discussions about sexual relationships
  • containing nudity or representations of sexual acts
  • promoting illegality or criminal behaviour
  • violent

Staff must be vigilant regarding candidate portfolio submissions and must report to the head of centre any content which is deemed to be inappropriate in nature.

For more serious issues and depending on the communication with the principle, Language Alliance may involve the police.

Quality Assurance

This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that it remains fit for purpose and in line with all our stakeholder requirements.