Risk Assessment Policy for Student Welfare Policy
1. Statement
2. Aims
3. Related policies, legislation and guidance
4. Responsibilities
5. Student welfare
6. Risk Assessment
7. Reporting and information sharing
8. Monitoring and review
Appendix A: Policy and Risk Assessment roles and responsibilities
Appendix B: Risk Assessment guidance
Appendix C: Risk Assessment template
1. Statement
This is the risk assessment policy for student welfare of Ashbourne College.
2. Aim
The aim of this policy is to safeguard and actively promote the welfare and wellbeing of students at the College through the implementation of risk assessment.
3. Related policies, legislation and guidance
3.1 Related policies
Relevant College policies and Risk Assessments identifying those responsible for their management and authorisation are set out in Appendix A.
3.2 Relevant legislation and guidance
This policy has been developed in accordance with relevant government legislation and guidance, including the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.
Full list of legislation and guidance
4. Responsibilities
4.1 The Principal, who is also the Proprietor, has overall responsibility for safeguarding and promoting student welfare and wellbeing at the College.
4.2 At an operational level this involves:
4.2.1. Ensuring that the health, safety and wellbeing of students is suitably promoted;
4.2.2. Ensuring that all staff are aware of, and adhere to, the College’s policies and procedures on student health, safety and welfare;
4.2.3. Ensuring that key staff have clearly established roles and responsibilities;
4.2.4. Ensuring that staff are appropriately trained to identify and deal with student welfare issues;
4.2.5. Ensuring that where concerns about a student’s welfare are identified, the risks are appropriately managed;
4.2.6. Consulting with staff, students, parents and others, where appropriate, to find practical solutions to welfare issues;
4.2.7. Ensuring that standards of student welfare at the College are regularly monitored both at an individual level and across the whole school community to identify trends and issues of concern and to improve systems to manage these.
4.3 Those responsible for carrying out risk assessments in relation to the specific matters of student health, safety and welfare covered in the College’s policies are set out in Appendix A.
5. Student welfare
5.1 The College recognises its responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of students in its care. This responsibility encompasses the following principles (which are not exhaustive):
5.1.1. To support students’ physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing (as well as their social and economic wellbeing);
5.1.2 To identify students who may benefit from early help, those at risk and those suffering or likely to suffer harm;
5.1.3. To protect students from all types of abuse including sexual violence, harassment, exploitation and neglect;
5.1.3. To recognise that corporal punishment can never be justified;
5.1.4. To provide students with appropriate education, training and recreation;
5.1.5 To encourage students to contribute to society;
5.1.6 To actively promote fundamental British values, and protect students from the risk of radicalisation, extremism and being drawn into terrorism;
5.1.7 To promote a whole-school approach to online safety and help protect students from risks arising from new technology;
5.1.8 To ensure that students are provided with a safe and healthy environment; and
5.1.10 to manage student welfare and wellbeing concerns effectively.
5.2 The College addresses its commitment to these principles through prevention and protection.
5.2.1 Prevention
The College takes all reasonable measures to minimise the risk of harm to students and their welfare by:
(a) ensuring through training that all staff are aware of and committed to this policy and the values set out;
(b) establishing a positive, supportive and secure environment in which students can learn and develop;
(c) including in the curriculum, activities and opportunities for PSHEE which equip students with skills to enable them to protect their own welfare and that of others; and
(d) providing medical and pastoral support that is accessible and available to all students.
5.2.2 Protection
The College takes all appropriate actions to address concerns about the welfare of a student, whether of a safeguarding nature or otherwise. This includes:
(a) sharing information about concerns with agencies who need to know and involving students and their parents appropriately; and
(b) monitoring students known or thought to be at risk of harm and formulating and / or contributing to support packages for those students.
5.2.3 The College recognises that student welfare and wellbeing can be adversely affected by many matters whether in or away from school, including abuse, bullying, radicalisation, behavioural and health issues.
6. Risk Assessment
6.1 Risk assessment criteria and procedure
6.1.1 Where a concern about a student’s welfare is identified, the risks to that student’s welfare will be assessed, appropriate action will be taken to mitigate the risks identified. This will be recorded, regularly monitored and reviewed.
6.1.2. The format of risk assessment may vary and may be included as part of the College’s overall response to a welfare issue or by using the risk assessment guidance in Appendix B to ensure a systematic approach that promotes student welfare.
6.1.3 Any risk assessment should be signed off by the relevant member of the SLT.
6.1.4. The information obtained through this process and the action agreed will be shared, as appropriate, with other staff, parents and third parties in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of a particular student or of students generally.
6.1.5 Risk assessments are stored on the risk assessment database.
6.1.6 Risk assessments relating to individual students will be kept with the student’s records on the College’s secure safeguarding database.
7. Reporting and information sharing
7.1 When assessing risks to student welfare and wellbeing at the College, consideration should always be given to reporting the matter to outside agencies and/or regulatory bodies, including but not restricted to, Children’s Services, the Police, Ofsted, CAMHS, the Charity Commission, Channel etc.
8. Monitoring and review
8.1 Relevant risk assessments and any action taken in response to risk assessments will be monitored regularly by the SLT.
8.2 In undertaking the monitoring and review of relevant risk assessments and this policy, the Principal and SLT, will seek to identify trends and understand issues of concern and to take steps to improve systems to manage these.
Appendix A: Policy and Risk Assessment roles and responsibilities
Senior Attendance Champion – AC
Designated Safeguarding Lead – DSL
Director of Studies – DOS
Events Officer – EO
Facilities Manager/Health & Safety Officer – FM
Head of Administration – HOA
Senior Leadership Team – SLT
Appendix B: Risk Assessment guidance
A student welfare risk assessment is a careful examination of what could cause harm to student welfare and to consider appropriate control measures, so that you can weigh up whether the College has taken adequate precautions or should take additional steps to prevent the risk of harm.
The purpose of a risk assessment is not to create huge amounts of paperwork, but rather to identify sensible measures to control real risks – those that are most likely to occur and / or will cause the most harm if they do.
When thinking about a risk assessment in this context, it is important to recall:
a welfare issue is anything that may harm a student; to include cyber-bullying, abuse and the risk of radicalisation and extremism.
the risk is the chance that a student could be harmed, together with an indication of how serious the harm could be if it occurs.
Step 1: Identify the issue
First, work out how students could be harmed. This will generally be set out in the concern raised about a student’s welfare.
Step 2: Decide who might be harmed and how
Identify individual students or groups of students who might be harmed and how they might be harmed by the concern raised.
Step 3: Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
Decide what to do about the risks. The extent of the risk will depend on the likelihood of harm and its severity.
Compare what is currently done with what is required by law, DfE guidance or is accepted good practice. If there is a difference, list what needs to be done to protect the student’s welfare. Where appropriate take into account any special requirements or protected characteristics. Identify how information should be shared and protocols for authorising suggested precautions.
Step 4: Record the findings and implement them
Make a written record of significant findings – the concern, the issues, how student(s) might be harmed and what arrangements the College has in place to control those risks.
There is no prescribed format for this record but any record produced should be simple and focussed on control measures and the steps the College proposes to take to manage the risk.
Step 5: Review the risk assessment and update, if necessary
Review what is being done for the students identified and across the College generally and monitor and review the efficacy and /or the outcome of the measures that have been put in place on a regular basis, or as required.
Appendix C: Risk Assessment template