Personal Development theme of the month:

Safeguarding -

Notification / Policies

Staff at North West Community Services Training Ltd prioritise safeguarding. They are critically aware of their responsibilities on safeguarding young people and vulnerable individuals, providing effective safeguarding arrangements and guidance for staff, learners, employers and stakeholders. These are achieved through good links with the local children’s safeguarding board and other organisations that focus on ensuring learners’ safety.

NWCS will strive to issue advice & guidance to safeguard all learners from:

Sexual abuse or inappropriate relationships
Grooming
Physical and emotional abuse or neglect
Domestic violence
Inappropriate supervision by staff/volunteers i.e. ‘bad practice’
Bullying, cyber-bullying
Self-harm, risky behaviour
Unsafe activities and environments
Exploitation including financial abuse, sexual exploitation, forced marriage
Extremism and Radicalisation
NWCS can also offer extensive support to learners who are suffering with their Mental Health

Extensive Mental Health support for NWCS Learners

NWCS can also offer extensive support to learners who are suffering with their Mental Health.

Mental Health Support

Please remember the departmental website holds a raft of support materials in relation to learner Mental Health which can be located here Mental Health Support – North West Community Services Training (nwcstraining.co.uk)

Mental Health Support signposting sheet

This document has been created to help signpost yourself and others that you will be supporting different support mechanisms and services both in relation to the Covid19 pandemic and in particular in relation to supporting mental health and mental wellbeing during this time. Mental health support signposting sheet – North West Community Services Training (nwcstraining.co.uk)

The statutory guidance that all NWCS staff follow:

Keeping Children safe in education 2022

Further support can be found here (PDF):

Definition

The term ‘safeguarding’ describes the broader preventative and precautionary approach to planning and procedures that are necessary to be in place to protect the health, wellbeing and human rights of children, young people and vulnerable adults from any potential harm or damage, enabling them to live safely, free from abuse and neglect.

Advice for your learning

North West Community Services Training Ltd aims to provide a structured and safe environment in which learners can develop and improve, thus giving learners happiness and security, and enabling them to fulfil their potential. Staff can make themselves available to learners’ at all reasonable times and learners’ are encouraged to exercise a responsible attitude to each other. The emphasis is on building a constructive relationship between staff and learners of all ages. From time to time learners will go through stressful periods while on their programme of learning, just as they do at home. We actively encourage learners to speak to any member of staff, or our designated safeguarding team and are assured that sympathetic support will be given at all times. NWCS’s named designated Safeguarding Officer is Paul Sheron. The department also have staff who are professionals within their sector, fluent with the requirements of Safeguarding.

Advice for in the workplace

If you feel threatened, bullied or intimidated in any way whilst in your placement/employment, or indeed if you feel that you are subject to any of the areas listed above, please follow this advice (however insignificant you believe that the issue to be):

Report the matter to your direct Line Manager/Mentor
Report the matter to another manager within the employer (if the issue is in relation to your line manager/mentor)
Request to see the reporting policy.
Advise your Training Officer and request that the issue be flagged with the designated Safeguarding Officer

Safeguarding Policies

Did you know that NWCS have the following policies in place to protect you whilst you attend their training centres:

Overriding safeguarding policy
Confidentiality policy
E-safety policy
Lock down policy
Lone worker policy
Tackling Extremism & Radicalisation policy
Bullying policy

Safeguarding questionnaires

The responses to the 2x stakeholder questionnaires for contract year 21/22 have been analysed.
You said the following (based upon 145 responses)

100% of you felt safe within NWCS Training or at your workplace
96% of you felt that safeguarding was adequately covered during the induction period into learning.
98% of you knew who to report a safeguarding incident to whilst in the centre/workplace.

Helping Shape Your Future

Since 1986