Student welfare

Our commitment

At Lyons Languages the welfare of all students, whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs, and/or sexual identity, is at the heart of what we do.
The school’s directors and staff are committed to providing a safe environment for any person visiting the school, staying with an approved homestay provider, participating in an organised activity, travelling on arranged and approved transport, or enjoying free time as included in the school’s programmes.

Care for under-18s

We have a duty of care to all our students, but this care is particularly important for those who are under 18. We have a detailed Safeguarding Policy in place, but the following points indicate our fundamental commitments regarding the care and support of younger students:

Emergency contact details for all our students are collected on the registration forms. Parents/carers can contact us at any time before, during and after the course if they have any questions or concerns.
Parental consent forms, covering a wide range of issues including medical, curfew times and supervision are completed prior to the student's arrival. There is also an Online Safety Agreement which is signed by the student.
We operate a 'safer recruitment' policy, which means that everyone who works with our young students (staff, homestay hosts , group leaders & outside organisations) must have an Enhanced DBS check - this is a UK police check to ensure the person is suitable for working with children. We also collect two references for all our staff, including homestay hosts.
We personally visit and assess all our homestay hosts and their accommodation before they receive a student to ensure everyone is safe, comfortable and happy.
Risk assessments are carried out for all our classrooms (internal and external), excursions and activities taking into consideration any additional risks for young people.
For watersports, other outdoor activities and creative workshops, we only work with approved organisations, whose staff are trained professionals and who apply the same strict standards as Lyons Languages to the care of young students.
We are a small school, and our groups are small, so we pride ourselves on getting to know each student and endeavour to be approachable and available at all times to listen and resolve any problems which may arise.

Code of Conduct

We want every student's stay with Lyons Languages to be a rewarding and enjoyable experience, and we are committed to protecting staff, students, visitors, agents and host families against unacceptable behaviour that may affect their safety, health and welfare. We expect all visiting students to respect the rules of the school and homestay hosts during their stay, and to behave politely and appropriately. The Student Code of Conduct is included in the Student Handbook which is distributed to all students on arrival.

Supervision

A crucial aspect of keeping our younger students safe while in our care, is to ensure adequate supervision. This applies from the moment the student embarks on their journey to us, until they reach home at the end of the Study Holiday. With closed groups, we offer to accompany the students from their home country to the UK, if no group leader is present. We always provide staff to accompany groups, and those who are travelling separately, from Stansted airport to Ely.

Once here, we have clear guidance on staff/student ratios, and for hosts and students about curfew times and rules about free time outside organised activities and lessons. See more details on this in our Supervision Policy.

If you have any queries, or want discuss our policies and approach to the care of younger students,

please don't hesitate to get in touch.