Weston College truly recognises the integral role parent/carers play and therefore we will be in regular communication with you and that we will respect and actively seek your views and build a climate of trust by facilitating genuine and honest engagement and collaboration.

We will:

- Keep parents/carers informed of developments at Weston College that affect and benefit their young person’s education and future career options
- Actively engage parents/carers as a key stakeholder to improve the college experience for both learners and parents
- Empower and encourage parents/carers so that they develop a high level of trust and form a strong alliance with the College

Teaching staff review progress that the learners make on a regular basis and communicate information to parents through a variety of means. Teaching staff set targets which are incorporated into the delivery of lessons. If teachers have any concerns about the progress a learner is making they will identify the main barriers to learning and put appropriate strategies in place.

Parents/Carers are welcome to come into college to discuss their young person’s progress at any point in the college academic year.

Reports on a young person’s progress will be issued at least twice per year. These should be used to articulate the progress being made towards their learning goals and targets. College templates are provided by the quality directorate. Faculties are responsible for collating the reports and getting them sent out at the appropriate time.
Parents and carers will be given an opportunity to attend progress evenings. These will be used to enable parents/carers to discuss with subject teachers and Personal Tutor’s a young person’s progress and any areas of support and/or development that might be needed. Parents/Carers are welcome to come into college to discuss their young person’s progress at any point in the college academic year.

Every student has a Personal Tutor who is responsible for their academic and pastoral support. They are the first point of contact for students and are responsible for the delivery of the collegiate tutorial programme and associated scheme of work. They will oversee the student’s whole learning experience. Your young person’s Personal Tutor will support them in the following ways:

Academic support

- Set and review SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) and challenging targets, ensuring your son/daughter makes progress and achieves at least their minimum grades for their chosen course of study.
- Develop career action plans, stimulate ambition and support your young person’s progress.
- Monitor and review attendance and attitude to learning, interviewing where appropriate.

Pastoral support

- Check that your young person feels safe and secure in the College environment, giving due regard to the College’s Safeguarding Policy
- Discuss with students any issues relating to their progress and achievement, and where appropriate, refer them to the Welfare team for specialist support or Careers Advice team for guidance on careers, university and changing course
- Liaise with parents/carers where appropriate to ensure positive outcomes are recognised and areas of concern are highlighted.

We are in a time when digital has boomed, and therefore a vast majority of our communications will be via email or by phone. Due to COVID we will still hold some of our events virtually but will where it is safe to do so try and maximise the number of in-person events we can facilitate.

You will be kept up to date on your young person’s:

- Personal and Social Development
- Individual Development
- Progress against targets and outcomes
- Attendance
- Student wellbeing and pastoral matters
- Careers and/or progression information
- Weston College updates

We will continue to send to parents our half-termly Weston College e-newsletter, as well as a range of other communications to keep you informed and equipped with the information to best support your young person.

All learners are on a study programme which includes a substantial qualification, maths and English development, tutorial, Personal and Social development, work experience or industry placement and directed study time.

It is an expectation that learners attend all elements of their programme and arrive on time and ready to learn. The importance of high attendance on learner progress cannot be underestimated and it is our expectation that all learners will have an average attendance rate above 95% for all elements of their programme of study. Learners that fail to attend regularly, punctually and meet expected classroom standards will be followed up as per our student attendance and retention policy.

Weston College is committed to providing a safe environment for all employees, students, visitors and anyone else likely to be affected by college activities.

Your young person’s safety is paramount to us which is why we expect all leearners to visibly wear their college ID badge with them at all time whilst they are on college premises. It is important that students keep their ID badge safe as lost cards are an identity theft and security risk.

It is the duty of everyone at college to behave in ways that ensure the health, safety or welfare of themselves and others. All students are, at induction, provided with information about the college’s key policies and procedures and are informed of the expectation to always act in a safe and appropriate manner at all times this information is reiterated in the College Handbook.

Weston College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at Risk.

We expect the whole college community to share this commitment including the aims of our Safeguarding of Children and Adults at Risk Policy and Procedure. If you have a concern about your young person’s wellbeing, safety or rights you can talk to any member of staff or ask to speak to a member of the College’s safeguarding team.

As part of your young person’s enrolment, they provided us with contact details for parents and carers. We will use this information to keep you informed on all of the above. If you are unsure of whether we have this information your son/daughter can log-on to their ‘eILP’ at home and simply check/add in your contact details and email address. Below is a step-by-step overview:
- Log-on to ProPortal via the College website
- Click on ‘Learner Resources’ tab
- Click on ‘contacts’
- Update contacts where required
- Please provide us with
* your name
* relationship to learner
* mobile number
* email address

Data Protection Legislation states that any child over the age of 16 reserves the right to withdraw their consent for the College to contact you. Should this happen, we are required to get express [written] permission from the student to allow us to inform you that this consent has been withdrawn. In cases where we do not get this permission we will strongly encourage the learner to inform you that they have withdrawn this consent.

Learners who withdraw their consent to contact parents or carers must provide the College with an emergency contact; the individual named as the emergency contact should know that they have been named and confirm that they are happy to act in that capacity.
If consent is not withdrawn by your young person, the College will continue to contact you until the learner leaves the College, or reaches the age of 18, whichever is the later date.

The Welfare and Wellbeing Team would like to share some links with parents and carers which we hope you will find useful to support your young person.

Parenting and Family Support | Family Lives Family Lives provides targeted early intervention and crisis support to families.
 
Self-care for parents and carers | Anna Freud Supporting yourself as a parent/carer  
 
Parents Helpline | Mental Health Help for Your Child | YoungMinds Supporting your child with their mental health  
 
Parent Resources – Hope Support Services Help, support and advice if you as a parent, have been given a medical diagnosis   
 
Help for parents and caregivers - St Giles 
Child Criminal Exploitation, including County lines, serious youth violence - knife crime 
 
Knife Crime, Gun Crime, Advice, Support, Petition for Tougher Sentences, Successful Law Change 
 
Resources for parents and carers | The Ben Kinsella Trust
 
Citizens Advice - benefits, debt, housing, law, immigration, health 
 
Online safety - help and guidance 
 
Sextortion or Sexually Coerced Extortion Help & Support