Safeguarding

For more information please call or send us an e-mail.

Telephone: 01483 761 036
Email: dsl@woking.ac.uk

The College takes its safeguarding duty very seriously and a dedicated team work to ensure that every student is monitored and is safe. All staff receive high quality regular safeguarding training.

If a student has a concern about their safety or someone else’s safety, they can speak to any member of staff in the college.  This could be their teacher, personal tutor, Head of Year, a member of the safeguarding team, or any other member of staff they feel comfortable speaking to as all staff receive safeguarding training.  This member of staff is not able to promise confidentiality but can refer the concern to the safeguarding team if this is required. 

If you have a concern about a young person, you can contact the college DSL via email: dsl@woking.ac.uk or by calling the college reception.  If you have a serious concern about a young person out of College hours, please contact the Police on 999.

The full Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy can be found HERE under Policies.

 

Designated Safeguarding Leads

Helena Clarke – (Assistant Principal)

Sophie Mngoma (Associate Director Pastoral)

Deputy Safeguarding Leads

Andy Pett, Victoria Wood, Anne Jackman, Laura Thomas, Tess Ledingham, Laura Olrod

Nominated Trustee with responsibility for Safeguarding

Anne Middleton

Operation Encompass

Woking College is a member of the Operation Encompass scheme which is run jointly between local schools and colleges, Surrey Police and Surrey County Council.  The scheme aims to safeguard and support children and young people who are involved in or affected by incidents involving domestic abuse. Witnessing domestic abuse is distressing for a young person, who may see the abuse, hear it from another room, see a parent’s injuries or distress afterwards or be physically hurt trying to stop the abuse.

Following an incident, children will often arrive at College upset and unprepared. Operation Encompass aims to ensure that the College’s Safeguarding Lead is aware so they can support young people in the best way possible. The College will not be given specific details of the incident or the parties involved. Please be assured that all information received will be kept confidential.

You can read more about the aims and benefits of Operation Encompass at www.operationencompass.org.

 

Online Safety

 

The internet, social and other online media, and the rise of mobile devices able to access such media, are powerful tools, which provide opportunities for everyone. However, the use of these can also put people at risk within and outside the College, particularly young and vulnerable people. We aim to practice and promote safe use of these technologies.

The College understands the risks young people may be exposed to which may include, but are by no means restricted to:

  • Access to illegal, harmful or inappropriate images or other content
  • Unauthorised access to, and use of, personal information
  • The risk of being subject to grooming by strangers via social media
  • Inappropriate contact with others, including strangers
  • The sharing of personal images without an individual’s consent or knowledge or understanding of the risks involved
  • Digital information remaining accessible and / or shared even after an individual believes it has been deleted, and the consequences of this. For example, an inappropriate image of a young person being discovered 5 years later by an employer to whom the young person has applied for a job
  • Cyber-bullying
  • An inability to evaluate the quality, accuracy and relevance of information on the internet
  • Plagiarism, copyright infringement, illegal downloading of music or video files
  • The potential for excessive use which may impact on the social and emotional development and learning of a young person

The College’s Online-policy, Social Media Policy and Student Code of Conduct are designed to ensure that college staff and students are aware of their own roles and responsibilities in respect to online safety and are aware of how to report a concern.