Safeguarding Policy

LearnOnline Safeguarding Policy

LearnOnline Safeguarding Woman sat against pink pillow with cup that has pink heart floating in it

1. Policy Statement

LearnOnline aims to offer self-study courses to anyone who wishes to study independently.

LearnOnline courses offers flexibility, giving a wide range of learners the opportunity to study. This means that some learners will be under 18 or be considered vulnerable adults.

Some of the courses involve contact with administration staff and tutors. In addition to this there may be projects as part of the course, which ask the learners to communicate with the wider community.

LearnOnline welcome all learners, including those considered children, young people and vulnerable adults:

Children – 13-16 years
Young people – 16-25 years
Vulnerable adults –
- those who receive care, nursing or support to live independently
- those who receive substantial health or social services
- those with learning or physical disability
- those who have physical or mental illness
- those who have substantial reduction in physical or mental capacity due to advanced age or illness
- those who are homeless or in temporary accommodation
- those who may be vulnerable to radicalisation.

The policy recognises that persons not otherwise considered vulnerable may become temporarily vulnerable in the home or workplace due to domestic violence, stress, illness, bullying or other factors.

It is expected that all learners are supported by an appropriate adult in the home or school setting whilst they work on the self-study LearnOnline courses.

2. The Scope of Safeguarding

LearnOnline aims to ensure that:

staff acting on LearnOnline’s behalf do not intentionally or unintentionally harm others
staff are vigilant and take appropriate action if they become aware that the learner is or has been harmed
staff are vigilant and take appropriate action if they become aware of any individual is being harmed, such as a child in the learner’s care.

Harm may include:

sexual abuse
emotional abuse
physical abuse
neglect
sexual exploitation
financial exploitation
bullying
domestic violence or abuse.

3. Roles and Responsibilities

All LearnOnline staff (administrators and tutors) are employed by Pembrokeshire College and undergo Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and Educational Workforce Council (EWC) checks before they are allowed to communicate with learners.

All staff receive annual safeguarding training with Pembrokeshire College and follow the Pembrokeshire College Safeguarding policy.

It is the role of LearnOnline staff to report any suspicious activity or concerns to the appropriate persons.

It is not the role for LearnOnline staff to identify or make judgement as to whether abuse has occurred.

LearnOnline ensures learners are provided with up to date access to understand how to protect themselves or report a situation.

4. Protective Behaviours

LearnOnline staff should recognise appropriate boundaries and maintain a friendly, professional manner when in contact with learners. Care should be taken to avoid personal comments or humour that could be misinterpreted.
LearnOnline staff should protect their personal information and not share it with learners.
LearnOnline staff should not engage with learners or potential learners through social media, other than the approved sites dedicated to marketing.

5. Procedure for handling safeguarding concerns

When a member of the LearnOnline team (administrator or tutor) has a concern about a learner’s welfare they must report it to the LearnOnline Delivery Officer.

Once the concern has been expressed, the LearnOnline Delivery Officer will contact the Pembrokeshire College Safeguarding Team who will follow the Pembrokeshire College safeguarding policy.