Policies

Attendance and punctuality are integral and fundamental to your learning.

The core expectation for all students is:

• 100% attendance
• 100% punctuality

We recognise though that this is a challenge for some students. It is your responsibility to notify the college using the campus specific contact details that can found at the Customer Service Desk on your campus.

Students experiencing consistent attendance and punctuality issues and are considered to be at risk of failing to achieve or of withdrawal may find themselves subject to our Fitness to Study process or our Student Disciplinary Process.

You must attend ALL of the time and be ON time!

If you are unable to attend – you MUST contact us:

The Manchester College is committed to providing a secure and learner focused environment.

As part of this commitment, the College issues ID cards to all individuals within the College community. This policy proposes that all individuals are identifiable at all times whilst on College property and sets out the guidelines for ensuring adherence to the policy.

Common Identification

Identification will be ascertained by a College badge and coloured lanyards as follows:

• Grey Lanyard - All staff
• Dark Blue Lanyard - Students aged 14-16
• Harpurhey Campus (Purple) - Students aged 16+, including apprentices (The Manchester College white logo)
• City Campus (Red) - Students aged 16+, including apprentices (The Manchester College white logo)
• City Labs Campus (Light Blue) - Students aged 16+, including apprentices (The Manchester College white logo)
• Openshaw Campus (Green) - Students aged 16+, including apprentices (The Manchester College white logo)
• Shena Simon Campus (Black) - Students aged 16+, including apprentices (The Manchester College white logo)
• Wythenshawe Campus (Gold) - Students aged 16+, including apprentices (The Manchester College white logo)
• T Levels - Students studying T Level programmes (T Level white logo)
• Blue Lanyard - Higher education students (UCEN Manchester white logo)
• Turquoise Lanyard - Governor (‘Governor’ printed in white)
• Orange Lanyard - Short-term visitors (e.g. presenters, attendees at meetings)
• Red Lanyard - Longer-term visitor groups (e.g. building contractors, no The Manchester College logo)
• Brown Lanyard - Agency staff contracted for teaching on and off site and temporary lanyard for staff without lanyard
• Yellow Lanyard - Non consent for photo/video at marketing events.

As part of The Deal, ID badges must be worn at all times. ID badges may be removed in practical vocational classes when deemed a health and safety risk, at the end of the session your ID should be worn prior to leaving the workshop. 

• All students will be issued with an ID badge and lanyard on enrolment at College

• ID badges must be visible and worn on a lanyard outside of clothing

• ID badges are the property of The Manchester College and must not be defaced. Defaced ID badges will be confiscated, and a new student ID must be purchased

• Individuals must not wear an ID badge belonging to another individual. Should this happen, the IDs will be confiscated and will result in disciplinary action

• Persistent failure to properly wear an ID badge/lanyard will result in disciplinary action in accordance to the Disciplinary Policy

• Students who forget their ID badge must report to reception and obtain a temporary badge with a yellow lanyard for that day only. Student’s details will be checked, and a Cause for Concern will be recorded on the student’s pro monitor. Students must return the badge/lanyard to reception at the end of their timetabled day. Disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with the Disciplinary Policy if ID is forgotten more than 3 times

• Students who lose their ID card will have to pay a £2.00 fee for a replacement card from reception

• Students who lose their lanyard will have to pay a 50p fee for a replacement lanyard from reception 

• Students print allocation will be available via their ID for use at the printing machines. Additional printing can be purchased at the Library reception 

• 16 – 18 students who meet the criteria for free meals will have their allocation added to their ID weekly for use in the college catering facilities.

The College operates under a policy of positive behaviour management. Rather than responding to poor behaviour, we have a culture of mutual respect through strategies that recognises and rewards good behaviour. 

The Deal sets out the promotion of the values and standards that students will experience in the workplace. This procedure provides for an opportunity to reward positive behaviour but also a process where any behaviour deemed as misconduct is addressed and actions put in place. which, if not heeded, could lead to exclusion. The exception to this is in the case of extreme misconduct in which case no warnings will be issued before the alleged breach is considered by the appropriate Assistant Principal. 

Stages of the Procedure:

Where there is a failure to meet academic requirements or behaviour standards (as set out in The Deal), the following procedure will be implemented: 

Informal Stage: up to three Cause for Concerns may be given by the staff concerned. 

Stage 1 - Verbal Warning 
If a student’s behaviour or academic performance does not meet the required standards through the informal stage, or the behaviour is a more serious breach of the 
code set out in The Deal (an action of misconduct), the student will normally be given a Stage 1 Verbal Warning. 

Stage 2 - Formal Warning 
If a student who has received a verbal warning fails to meet the set targets, repeats the issues for which they received the verbal warning, departs from the College’s standards in other aspects of his/her behaviour or academic performance, or commits misconduct he/she will normally be given a Stage 2 Formal Warning. 

Stage 3 - Final Warning  
The Final stage will be triggered if: 

• No significant improvement in behaviour or no achievement of the targets set after the Stage 2 Formal Warning 

OR 

• The student’s actions are so serious – Gross Misconduct (See section 6) that the student is taken straight to the final stage without having to go through stages 1 and 2. 

Stage 4 - Exclusion 
Should the student continue to fail to meet the targets, to comply with the conditions set or if there is any further incident, or the incident is deemed serious enough at the Stage 3 meeting, the student will not be given a further warning but will normally be permanently excluded from College (all courses and all campuses). Options to exclude from the course or the campus can also be considered at this stage. 

We live in a world that has become over reliant on single use plastics, during your time with The Manchester College you can play an important role in helping our campuses become greener and more environmentally friendly. 

With 1 million plastic bottles sold every minute and half a million straws used every day, we want our students to be aware of some helpful advice to decrease your reliance on single use plastics. 

What can you do to help? 

• Ask yourself if you really need it, if not, don’t take it. 
• Cut down on pre-packaged items and buy fresh or bring your lunch from home. 
• Stop your junk food intake. Not only is it healthier, but you won’t use any single use plastic wrappers. 
• Take your own fork instead of using a disposable one. Cleaner and greener, you know it makes sense. 
• File your rubbish in the appropriate recycling bins around campus…and at home. 
• Remember your water bottle and top up at the free filtered water fountains around campus to save money and live green. 
• ​​​​​​​Create a recycled products fashion show to raise awareness to your friends. 

• Pass on these tips on to your friends and family to help them lower their plastic footprint. 

A job well done

If you are pleased with what we have done or how we have done it, we would love to know.

You can give us your comments and compliments:

In person: The Customer Services Team at any site can give you a comments form.

By email: feedback@themanchestercollege.ac.uk

By post:

Head of Planning and Performance
The Manchester College
Ashton Old Road
Manchester
M11 2WH

A bad experience

We do everything we can to make sure your experience of the College is an excellent one. If you do have a bad experience however, it is better that we know about it so that we can resolve the issue for you and improve things in the future.

We aim to respond as quickly as possible. If we work together, we may be able to resolve an issue informally. For example, you are welcome to discuss your concerns with the relevant Head of Department, your tutor, or a member of the Student Experience Team.

However, if you are not satisfied with their response or don’t wish to discuss your concern in this way, you can follow these steps to make a formal complaint:

• Complete a Complaints Form (You can get the form from Customer Services Team at any site or by calling 0161 674 3021).
• Complete and sign the form and send it by post to the above address.
• From our website; follow the “About Us” section.

What happens next?

The Head of Planning and Performance will write to you within five working days to confirm we have received your complaint. Your complaint will be assigned to the most appropriate manager in the College. Be assured that your personal details will always be handled sensitively and only disclosed to anyone who needs to know them as part of the investigation into your complaint. We aim to resolve your complaint within 15 working days whenever possible. The manager who is looking after your complaint will investigate and write to you within 15 working days with a response.

If you are satisfied with our response or we don’t hear from you within a further 10 working days, we will consider the complaint closed.

A complaint regarding the College Board of Governors

If your complaint is about the Governing Body or an individual member of the Governing Body, this needs to be addressed to The Company Secretary.

The Company Secretary
Executive Support Office
The Manchester College
Ashton Old Road
Manchester
M11 2WH
Tel: 0161 953 2204

Full policy and procedures

We have a full ‘Comments, Complaints and Compliments Policy and Procedures’ document which is available to you on request from the Head of Planning and Performance or which can be downloaded here .

Assessment appeals and academic procedures

Safeguarding is a term that covers many things – all to do with making sure students are safe, healthy, protected from harm and enjoy positive wellbeing.

An important part of the college’s role is to equip students to deal with situations that put their well-being at risk, both in college and outside, and both now and in the future.

Here at the Manchester College there is a team of designated safeguarding people on each of our campuses. You will find them in the student experience team. Please see a list of your designated safeguarding people at the bottom of this section.

All staff members are identifiable by their grey staff lanyards with ‘staff’ written on it and they all have an ID badge. All students must follow the student ID policy at ALL times to ensure safety across campuses. All College staff receive up-to-date safeguarding training and can help you contact a designated safeguarding person at any time for support and advice when the campuses are open. 

If you feel unsafe please go to the nearest reception and notify a member of staff and ask for a member of the Student Support Team who can support you further.​​​​​​​

The Manchester College regards the promotion of Health and Safety as a shared responsibility for the College community including all employees, learners, visitors and contractors.

We ask you to:

• Fully co-operate with all health and safety instructions we give you.
• Report any accidents or hazards (anything that could cause harm) to a member of staff immediately.
• Not put yourself or anyone else in danger.
• Not smoke on site, except in clearly designated areas, where a “Smoking Permitted” sign is displayed.

Access to college

• ID badges must be worn at all times other than in practical vocational classes. 
• ID badges must be visible and worn outside of clothing.
• Individuals must not wear an ID badge belonging to another individual.
• All students who fail to bring their identification to college must obtain a temporary pass from Reception.
• Any unusual or suspicious behaviour should be reported to any member of Manchester College staff.

Reporting hazards and accidents

• If you become aware of a hazard, please inform a member of staff immediately.
• If you have an accident or see an accident, please inform a member of staff immediately.
• In both cases, this will enable the college to help you or the injured person, remove any hazards and prevent it from happening again. 

First aid

• There are First Aid boxes at every college site along with trained people to help you.
• If you feel unwell or have an accident, report this immediately to a member of staff who will be able to summon a First Aider 

Fire safety

On discovering a fire:

• Operate the nearest ‘BREAK GLASS’ call point
• Evacuate immediately in an orderly manner
• DO NOT use lifts
• DO NOT stop to collect belongings
• DO NOT lock any doors
• Follow instructions from staff /Fire Wardens
• Proceed to the assembly point
• Remain at the assembly point until instruction is given to you

On hearing the fire alarm:

• Evacuate immediately in an orderly manner
• DO NOT use lifts
• DO NOT stop to collect belongings
• DO NOT lock any doors
• Follow instructions from staff /Fire Wardens
• Proceed to the assembly point
• Remain at the assembly point until instruction is given to you

Evacuation

If you need help to leave the building in an emergency evacuation, possibly due to hearing, visual or mobility issues, you need to inform a member of staff so that arrangements (Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan) PEEP can be put in place to ensure your safety.

Health and safety policy

For the purpose of Safety Management it is important that you are aware of the College’s health and safety policy and where to find the health and safety policy statement. 

Under the College’s health and safety policy you have the following responsibilities: 

• comply with all policies, guidance and procedures which are in place to control health and safety risk as well as risk to wellbeing;
• ensure that their activities do not present unnecessary or uncontrolled risks to themselves or to others;
• attend appropriate induction and training;
• report any accidents, unsafe circumstances or work-related ill-health;
• not interfere with any equipment provided to protect people from hazards;
• where a learner is not confident of their ability to complete a task or leisure activity safely, inform the person in charge of the activity rather than compromise their own safety or the safety of others.

The policy statement can be found framed at the reception of all College campuses, it details the standards and expectations for safety laid out by the leadership team.