Safeguarding at MAES
Safeguarding as a phrase covers many things, but ultimately it is all about keeping people safe and protecting their wellbeing.
We take the safeguarding of our learners seriously and an important part of the work that we do at Manchester Adult Education is to provide learners with the support and information they need to deal with situations that put their wellbeing at risk, whether that’s at one of our adult learning centres or in external environments.
To help keep our learners safe, MAES:
- Has its own Safeguarding policy which follows the Manchester City Council Safeguarding Procedure.
- Works closely with other departments within Manchester City Council and other external organisations to support adults at risk.
- Ensures that all staff members are carefully recruited, trained and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checked.
- Makes specialist support staff and tutors available to provide support and signpost to all learners if required.
Our Safeguarding team
If, for example, you are concerned about issues such as abuse including physical, emotional, sexual, financial and verbal abuse, bullying or harassment, radicalisation or extremism, our Safeguarding team will support you and liaise with external agencies who can provide further help if needed.
If you’re at risk and in immediate danger, you should always call 999.
Keeping safe
To keep our learning environments safe, healthy and secure, please make sure that you are aware of the processes for:
- Evacuating the building
- Reporting accidents, incidents and hazards
- Smoking/vaping in the building
- Using IT responsibly
Please speak to your tutor or a member of the learning centre team if you have any concerns over health and safety.
There are many ways that you can keep yourself safe online. These include:
- Keeping your personal information private – The internet is full of opportunities to share your personal information, but this can make you vulnerable to things such as identity theft, cyberstalking, and other issues, so please avoid sharing personal information.
- Choose a strong password – It may be tempting to choose an easy password such as your name, address but the more complex your password – the better! Use a mixture of numbers, letters, special characters and use both upper and lower case.
- Be alert – If you receive an email that doesn’t quite look right, then don’t click it! Identity thieves often send emails or create websites that appear to be genuine and try to capture personal information such as your bank account number, your date or birth, address and even passwords.
- Stay protected – Make sure that you install virus protection software and a firewall on to your computer device and check for updates regularly.
- Watch out for fraudulent sellers – Watch out for things such as online auctions for non-existent or falsely represented goods, foreign money transfers, paying up front for loans or financial services, competitions asking for payment.
Prevent is a government strategy aimed at reducing the threat of terrorism by stopping people becoming radicalised. Radicalisation can happen when a person becomes exposed to extreme ideologies, which may be founded in social, religious, or political beliefs that seek to undermine society and choice.
MAES seeks to protect learners from the messages of extremism, and we are committed to supporting those who are at risk of radicalisation and their friends and family.
There are four British Values which we all have a responsibility to support and demonstrate and these are as follows:
- Democracy
- Rule of Law
- Individual Liberty
- Respect and Tolerance of all religions/faiths or none
These values emphasise what it is to be a citizen in the modern and diverse Great Britain.
Other support organisations
If you do not wish to contact the Safeguarding team, we have listed below just a few of the organisations that can also offer help and support. Please note: the organisations listed below are suggestions and are not an exhaustive list of the help available to you.
| What help? | Organisation | Contact details |
|---|---|---|
| If you need someone to talk to | The Samaritans offer a no judgement, no pressure listening service and will help you work through whatever's on your mind. | www.samaritans.org 116 123 |
| If you or someone you know is being bullied | BullyingUK gives anti-bullying support and advice to victims and their families. | www.bullying.co.uk 0808 800 2222 |
| If you’re experience violence at home | The National Centre for Domestic Violence helps victims of domestic violence to apply for an emergency court injunction. | www.ncdv.org.uk 0800 970 2070 |
| If you don’t feel well mentally | Mind provides advice and support to those experiencing a mental health problem. | www.mind.org.uk Local: 0161 769 5732 National: 0300 123 3393 |
| If you or someone you know needs help with a gambling addiction | Gamcare provides information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling | www.gamcare.org.uk 0808 802 0133 |
| If you need help dealing with grief when someone has died | Cruse helps families to cope when someone has died. | www.cruse.org.uk 0808 808 1677 |
| If you are being abused at home or in a forced marriage | Women’s aid supports and gives information and support with abuse at home and forced marriage. | www.womensaid.org.uk |
| If you experienced sexual abuse as a child | Survivors in Transition supports those who have experienced sexual abuse in childhood. | www.survivorsintransition.co.uk 07786 052 282 |
| If you are being forced to work (also known as Modern Day Slavery) | Hope for Justice supports those being forced to work and not being properly paid. This includes being forced to work in the home. | www.hopeforjustice.org 0300 008 8000 |
