Welcome to Merton Adult Learning

Welcome to your course and thank you for choosing to study with us.

Your tutor will introduce themselves and give you all the information you need about your course and the place where you will be learning.

We want you to enjoy your course and learn how to be more independent and more confident. We hope you meet new friends and learn skills to help you with work or volunteering.

There is important information about studying with us, and your tutor is on hand to help and guide you with any questions you may have.

We hope you have a great experience, learn new skills, and have fun.

Keeping Safe

Your safety is important to us. We make sure where you learn is safe, and we will give you information on how you can stay safe.

Your tutor will tell you who to speak to if you do not feel safe or if you are worried about the safety of someone else.

Keep yourself safe

• Don’t tell strangers where you live or send your address to anyone online or by text. Keep your phone and keys safe and tell someone straight away if you lose them.
• Don’t talk to strangers you meet who are pretending to be your friend. If they ask you to keep money or packages for them – say no and tell someone you trust.
• If you see a bag or package that looks suspicious or dangerous, don’t touch it, and tell someone you trust about it.

Health and Safety

Stay safe by following the health and safety information your tutor gives you.

Always carry tissues and use them to catch your cough, cold or sneeze. Remember to 'catch it, bin it, kill it'.

Wash your hands thoroughly and often.

Be kind

Be kind to people. If someone is treating you badly or bullying you, tell someone and ask for help.

Online Safety

When you are on the internet or on your phone:

• Don’t give out, text or post your name or address to people you have only met online.
• Don’t give your password to anyone.
• Don’t agree to meet with someone you have only met online or had texts from. It can be dangerous.
• Don’t accept emails or pictures from people you have only met online or by text, and don’t send pictures of yourself to them.
• Don’t say anything online or by text that is unkind.
• Don’t open an email or a link in an email from someone / somewhere you don’t know. Check with someone you trust first.

Keep your money safe

Keep your money in a safe place.

No-one should take or steal money from you, ask you to lend it to them, or ask you to spend it on them.

Equality and diversity

We celebrate people’s differences and expect everyone to be treated fairly.

We have fun together and learn about each other

We respect each other and care about other people’s feelings

We take turns, let others have a chance to speak, and listen to each other

We don’t bully people or say things that can hurt them

Your responsibilities

We expect you to:

• Stay safe while you are at your class and follow the health and safety information your tutor gives you.
• Respect your tutor, other learners and the things around you. We do not accept bullying or bad behaviour.
• Come to class every week and be on time.
• Do the work your tutor gives you. Ask for help if you need it.
• Let us know if you can’t come to class because you are unwell.
• Tell your tutor if you see something that might cause harm to you or someone else.
• Use class equipment safely.

Information, advice and guidance

When you are on your course, your tutor will tell you how you are getting on and what other courses you can do. Our Information, Advice and Guidance Advisor and/or your tutor will tell you about how you can be a volunteer and what this means, and about jobs with local employers.

Feedback

We will ask you to tell us if you enjoyed your course, and how it helped you learn something new.