School Policies

Absence and lateness disrupts progress and learning of the student and others inthe class and leads to complaints from staff and students. Teachers report absence and lateness.

• Students should, as far as possible, attend all of their lessons during their stay
• Students must be in class at the start of the lesson. If they are late for lessons, they will not be allowed into class and will be marked as absent
• If a student is ill, either their host or they must phone the school (01202 422300) on the first day and keep us informed after that
• If a student wants to go on an excursion in school time or to be absent for any other reason, they must speak to the Principal or Assistant Director of Studies before they are absent
• All absences will be recorded on final certificates. This will not be changed for any reason
• Attendance at religious ceremonies is allowed at the Principal’s discretion
• Students who are regularly late or absent from class will be spoken to by the Principal or Assistant Director of Studies.
• A warning letter will be given if attendance falls to around 80%
• Students will be asked to leave the school (expelled), with no refund, if their attendance falls below 70%
• Any student in breach of visa requirements will be reported to UKBA if they are in breach of their visa requirements.

Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth welcomes students from different countries and cultures. We respect everybody from all cultures and strongly believe that the school should be a happy and tolerant place to learn. Students are expected to respect each other and all members of staff, showing tolerance of the differences in culture, belief and outlook. Any abusive behaviour, including harassment, bullying, actual or threatened violence, damage to personal property, and verbal or other abuse is not acceptable.

If you are a student and you are unhappy with the way somebody is behaving towards you or speaking to you, you must tell a member of staff immediately. Students may be expelled from school if they bully other students or staff.

If you are a member of staff, you must report any incidences to the Principal or Managing Director so that action can be taken quickly.

A child is defined as a person under the age of 18 (The Children Act 1989) The scope of this policy also covers vulnerable adults The following information applies to all students under the age of 18 years. Please remember that students aged 16+ study in General Classes and, therefore, the following information is applicable to them.

Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth recognises that:

• The welfare of the child is paramount
• All children, whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/or sexual identity, have the right to protection from abuse
• All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately
• All staff working for Southbourne School of English have a responsibility to report concerns to the Principal or in the case of residential centres, to the Centre Manager

Child Protection Policy Statement

Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth recognises that anyone may have the potential to abuse children in some way and that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure unsuitable people are prevented from working with children. Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth and its staff have a duty of care to safeguard all children studying at Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth and its residential centres from harm. All children have a right to protection, and the needs of disabled children and others who may be particularly vulnerable must be taken into account. Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth will ensure the safety and protection of all children studying at the school/residential centres through adherence to the Child Protection guidelines adopted by Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth.

Good practice guidelines

All staff should be encouraged to demonstrate exemplary behaviour in order to protect themselves from false allegations. The following are common sense examples of how to create a positive culture and climate.

Good practice means:

• Always working in an open environment avoiding private or unobserved situations and encouraging open communication
• Treating all young people/vulnerable adults equally with respect and dignity
• Always putting the welfare of each young person first
• Maintaining a safe and appropriate distance with students (e.g. it is not appropriate for staff to have an intimate relationship with a child or to share a room with them)
• Building balanced relationships based on mutual trust and empowering children to share in decision making
• Making learning motivating and promoting fairness
• Ensuring that if any form of manual/physical support is required, it should be provided openly
• Involving group leaders wherever possible, for example, encouraging them to take responsibility for their children in the changing rooms
• Being an excellent role model – this includes not smoking or drinking alcohol in the company of young people
• Giving enthusiastic and constructive feedback rather than negative criticism
• Recognising the developmental needs and capacity of young people and vulnerable adults
• Securing parental consent in writing to act in loco parentis, if the need arises to administer emergency first aid and/or other medical treatment
• Keeping a written record of any injury that occurs, along with the details of any treatment given

Practices to avoid:

• Spending excessive amounts of time alone with a child/children away from others
• Making one child in a class or group a ‘favourite’

Practices never to be sanctioned

The following should never be sanctioned. You should never:

• Engage in rough physical or sexually provocative games, including horseplay
• Share a room with a child
• Allow or engage in any form of inappropriate touching
• Allow children to use inappropriate language unchallenged
• Make sexually suggestive comments to a child, even in fun
• Show obscene images to children
• Reduce a child to tears as a form of control
• Allow allegations made by a child to go unchallenged, unrecorded or not acted upon
• Do things of a personal nature for children that they can do for themselves
• Seek to establish social contact with minors (see Social Contact with Minors Policy)

Incidents that must be reported/recorded

If any of the following occur you should report this immediately to the Principal or Accommodation and Welfare Officer who will record the incident.

• If you accidentally hurt a child
• If he/she seems distressed in any manner
• If a child appears to be sexually aroused by your actions
• If a child misunderstands or misinterprets something you have done

Use of photographic/filming equipment

Inappropriate pictures of children must never be taken and unsanctioned photos or film of children must not be taken or uploaded to the internet. Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth assures all staff that it will fully support and protect anyone who in good faith reports his/her concern that a colleague is, or may be, abusing a child. While a complaint is investigated, the member of staff will be removed from contact with children.

Bullying

What is bullying? Bullying includes: name calling; taunting; mocking; making offensive comments; kicking; hitting; pushing; taking belongings; inappropriate text messaging and emailing; sending offensive or degrading images by phone or via the internet; producing offensive graffiti; excluding people from groups; and spreading hurtful and untruthful rumours i.e. gossiping. Although sometimes occurring between two individuals in isolation, it quite often takes place in the presence of others. People doing nasty or unkind things to you on purpose, more than once, which it is difficult to stop. (Anti-bullying Alliance) If bullying is suspected:

• Take all signs of bullying very seriously
• Reassure the victim that you can be trusted and will help them, although you cannot promise to tell no one else
• Keep records of what is said (what happened, by whom, when)
• Report any concerns to the Principal

There is 1 designated Child Protection Officers at Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth: Kathryn Newman, Principal 

Declaration

Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth will oversee the implementation of the Child Protection Policy and take all necessary steps to ensure it is adhered to.

Disruptive students disrupt the progress and learning of the others in the class

• If an adult student is disruptive in class, the teacher will inform the Principal or Assistant Director of Studies
• If there is no improvement in the student’s behaviour, they will be removed from class in order to ensure the learning of other students in the class can take place
• In extreme cases students may be expelled with no refund if there is no improvement in behaviour
• Junior students who are disruptive may be placed outside the classroom for 10 minutes, as long as the teacher can see them
• The Principal or Assistant Director of Studies will be told if a student is disruptive
• If there is no improvement in the student’s behaviour, they will be removed from class in order to ensure the learning of other students in the class can take place
• Parents will be informed about junior students who are disruptive in class

Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth complies with relevant legislation for First Aid for its employees and students during normal working hours.

First Aiders

There are two qualified and appointed first aiders:

• Alison McBain
• Joshua Garner

The first aiders are responsible for administering First Aid at Work in accordance with their training. They are also responsible for checking and ordering supplies for the first aid kits.

Appointed first aiders are able to apply a plaster and call an ambulance. No other first aid will be given.

First Aid Kits

First aid kits are located in The Academic Office and the Cafeteria

Accident Book

The accident book, for recording of accidents on site at Southbourne School of English, Bournemouth is in the Academic Office.

Blood and spillages

The first aiders will wear appropriate protection while dealing with blood or other bodily fluids (latex gloves).

• Junior students should not be absent from or late to class
• Teachers report absence within 10 minutes
• Juniors students who cannot be located will be reported as missing to the police

In order for all students to have the same opportunity to practise their language skills, English must be spoken in class. Any student who does not speak English in class will be warned twice then excluded for the remainder of the lesson.

Students are made aware of this when they are welcomed on the first day!

There are designated L1 areas for break and lunchtimes where students can speak their own language if they need to.

N.B. It is not possible to exclude junior students during a lesson, unless the Principal is called to the classroom. Junior students in multi-lingual/monolingual classes need to see the Principal or Assistant Director of Studies if they speak their own language and disrupt the learning of other students.

If you have any problems with your course, you should speak to the Principal.

We have a students complaints policy in place so if you have any problems with your accommodation, you should speak to the Accommodation Officer.

We will always do our best to solve any problems as quickly as possible. If you are still not happy, please speak to the Managing Director or Executive Director.

In a situation where the problem is not resolved, please put your complaint in writing to Mr Paul Gallina. You can also contact English UK, 47 Brunswick Court, Tanner Street, London, SE1 3LH if your complaint cannot be resolved by the school.

We ask that students are dressed suitably for a learning environment. We also ask that students think about the international environment in school. Clothes which show large amounts of body e.g. number 6 below may be perfectly acceptable in some countries but will make students from other countries feel very uncomfortable.

* Dress code for Minors (students under 18 years old)
We understand that many of our students are ‘on holiday’. However, we are a school and we expect that our students are appropriately dressed for a learning environment. This also protects minors in a mixed adult/minor environment.

Minors need to follow the student dress code policy below:

1. Coats, bags, accessories and clothing should not have slogans of a sexual nature or swear words
2. Skirts/shorts which are very short and show parts of the body which are usually covered are not allowed
3. T-shirts and blouses which are see-through are not allowed
4. T-shirts, tops and blouses that are low cut are not allowed
5. Low-rise/low slung jeans which show underwear or a student’s bottom are not
   allowed
6. Loose singlet vests which show large amounts of body are not allowed (see picture)
7. Any clothes that show underwear

What will happen if a minor student is not dressed appropriately for school

1. A member of staff will speak to one of the Designated Safeguarding Officers
2. If clothes are not suitable for an international learning environment, the student will be asked to go home and change their clothes or supplied with appropriate clothing
3. The Designated Safeguarding Officers will make minors aware of the risk of Child Sexual Exploitation if necessary

In the UK anyone under the age of 18 is a minor. We have to take extra care of students under 18. Every week there will be a meeting with our Welfare Officer, Charlie, for students who are 15 years old, and 16/ 17-year-olds who are not part of a group. Students must attend this meeting. Kathryn will check that everything is ok with their stay. If students have any problems at all or they are worried about anything, they can speak to Kathryn at any time. If they want to speak to her in private, she will arrange to speak to them.

If students are absent from school, the teacher will report it so it is important that students arrive on time every day. If a student is ill, they can speak to our Welfare Officer to arrange a doctor’s appointment.

We ask students to be courteous and let their hosts know where they are going when leaving the house. For example, if they miss the bus home and will be late, they should call the host to let them know. Students who we can’t get in contact of will be reported as missing to the police.

It is important to remember that in the UK:

• It is illegal to buy alcohol under the age of 18
• It is illegal to buy cigarettes under the age of 18

It is important for parents to know that students studying on an adult course (age 15+) will not be supervised at break times, after school and on evening activities.

Unsupervised curfews for under 18’s vary – our school policy is:

12 years and under
Not allowed out unsupervised

13-14 year olds
9pm

15 year olds
10pm

16-17 year olds
11pm

18+ years old
No curfew – they will be given a key by a host so that they can come and go as they need to, within reason.

This is unless the agent, parent or group leader has specified something different.