Safeguarding

Creating a safe environment for all

Personal safety is essential for effective and successful learning and can only be felt in an environment that promotes wellbeing and security for everyone. Effective safeguarding is more than simply having safer recruitment policies and procedures in place.

It means having a culture of vigilance where all our staff know their responsibilities and act accordingly and all our learners are aware of what they can expect and what to do if they have concerns.

What is safeguarding?

Safeguarding looks at keeping children, young people and vulnerable adults safe from a much wider range of potential harm and delivers a plan of preventative action, not just reaction.

How do we create a safe environment?

The College is committed to ensuring a safe environment for all by:

• identifying adults who are suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm
• taking appropriate action to see that vulnerable adults are kept safe and issues or allegations of potential abuse, which are disclosed, are reported appropriately
• training all staff at induction and at regular intervals in safeguarding and the Prevent duty.

The College is committed to safeguarding and promotes the welfare of all students and expects staff to share this commitment. Staff are expected to be vigilant in the workplace and to promote effective safeguarding practices in those around them.

Any safeguarding concerns should be reported to the College’s safeguarding lead Diane Lawson on 01226 760000 or via safeguarding@northern.ac.uk

e-safety

With the pace of current digital developments, everyone who uses the internet should be aware of the potential risks.

Social networking sites

Posting personal information on social networking sites such as Facebook leaves a digital footprint which could leave you open to identity theft, cyber stalking, e-bullying and even harm potential employment prospects.

Adware, spyware and computer viruses

It is important to protect your computer from adware, spyware and viruses that may slow performance or crash your operating system.

To protect your computer from infection:

• don’t open email attachments from people you don’t know
• avoid downloading free software online unless you’re certain it’s from a reputable source. Many free programs are merely a device for delivering adware and spyware
• install virus protection software and a firewall on your home PC and check for updates regularly

Fraud

The global nature of the Internet has brought new life to illegal activity that used to circulate by mail or telephone. Some of the most common forms of Internet fraud include:

• postings on online auction sites that feature non-existent or falsely represented merchandise
• money offers promising large sums of cash in exchange for assistance with bank account transfers
• phony sweepstakes offers asking for payment to claim a prize that doesn’t really exist

Identity theft

Phishing is a common trick used by identity thieves. This crime involves sending emails or creating websites that appear to be from a legitimate source and asking you to confirm personal information such as bank account numbers, passwords, birthdates or addresses.

For further advice and guidance, please visit the Get Safe Online website at www.getsafeonline.org

Please be aware that, under the terms of the College ICT User Policy, all internet activity is monitored and logged.

To view our safeguarding policies please visit our policies and key documents page.