Simms Counselling & Training Policies & Procedures
1. Equalities Statement
Simms C & Trecognise that many individuals and communities experience unlawful and unfair discrimination and oppression on the grounds of their gender (including transgender and transsexual people), relationship or marital status/civil partnership, race or ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation (because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or heterosexual – LGBTQIA+), age, HIV status, language, background, socio-economic background, faith or religious belief, pregnacy/maternity, physical appearance and political opinions. We believe that equality for all is a basic human right and actively oppose all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination. We celebrate the diversity of society and are striving to promote and reflect that diversity within this organisation. We expect the same equality from our students.
If either party does not comply with this statement and exercises, what is considered to be discriminatory behaviour, this may be subject to our complaints or disaplinary procedure and in certain cases may result in instant dismissal from the course.
2. Complaint Procedure & Disciplinary procedure
Our students’ concerns are at the heart of our practice and we would like to know about any complaint you may have. We will aim to resolve any complaint to your satisfaction. Malpractice of Staff and Students are taken very seriously.
MAKING A COMPLAINT
Our complaints procedure is designed to help you raise any problems you are experiencing and ensure that:
- Your complaint is recorded and investigated
- Every effort is taken to resolve your complaint at an early stage
- That the process is transparent and you are kept informed at every stage
- Your complaint is dealt with in confidence
If you have not been able to resolve your complaint with the person concerned, you will be asked to complete a simple form on which the complaint and the action you would like taken to resolve it will be recorded. This is the Complaint Record and is kept with all other relevant documentation which you have the right to see at any time. This file is only seen by those directly involved with your complaint.
We keep a careful record of all complaints in order to have a clear picture of the issues which arise for our students: this helps us to improve our services overall.
There are various ways in which a complaint may be investigated, but we make sure that all those directly involved have the chance to comment and discuss the complaint.
2a. THE STAGES OF THE COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE:
- Discuss the complaint with the person concerned
- Complete a Complaints form and send it to: Selene Miller (Equalities & Complains Officer)
Email: selene@simmscandt.co.uk
- Meeting with the independent complaints officer, Dr. Michael Bennett and person(s) concerned (where necessary and at the students request)
- Complaint will be reviewed and concluded by Dr.Michael Bennett who will come to a decision. A deceision will be given in writing in within 21 days
All complaints should start at stage 1 or 2 and are usually resolvable at either of these stages, however, you alone decide if you want to take your complaint to a further stage. You will be given any meeting appointments as promptly as possible and you are welcome to take a friend or other supporting person to any meeting you request. A record of all meetings will be kept in the complaints Record File Associated with your complaint and you will be notified with a decision within the agreed time.
3.Disciplinary procedure
Disciplinary procedures will also be followed in the event that the organisation or tutors believe a student is not adhering to the equalities statement.
Any meetings that take place will be documented. In addition to this, if there is any action to be taken by the organisation or by tutors, a disciplinary notice will be issued, which informs you of the decision to be taken. You are able to share your side of the story if you wish to request this, followed by one of the following actions:
- A written warning or
- Instant dismissal from the course
4.Bullying Policy
Everyone attending Simms Counselling & Training courses has a responsibility to create a secure, safe environment for everyone so that students and staff feel safe whilst on the course. Everyone has a right to feel valued and respected.
Bullying behaviour is entirely at odds with the ethos of the organisation and we take bullying very seriously.
At Simms Counselling & Training we define bullying behaviour as:
– wilful, conscious desire to hurt, threaten or frighten someone;
– including name-calling, teasing, jostling, malicious gossip, verbal abuse, intimidation, damaging or stealing property, coercion of a person into acts he/she does not wish to do, physical assault, social exclusion;
– any behaviour using threat and fear which involves the bully gaining pleasure from a victim’s pain, fear or humiliation. Including, physical and emotional abuse
- Bullying related to the 9 protected characteristics – Age, Gender reassignment, being pregnant/maternity, race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Furthermore, it is a crime to discriminate against anyone because of one or more of the protected characteristics
- Bullying in relation to ones religion, faith, belief or non belief
4a. Hate Crimes and incidents
A hate crime can be defined as any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s race or perceived race; religion or perceived religion, sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation; disability of perceived disability or a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.
A hate incident can be defined as any incident which the victim, or anyone else, thinks is based on someone’s prejudice towards them because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender.
Behaviours and conduct which can be considered as hate incidents are wide ranging and can include but not limited to:
Verbal Abuse
Harassment
Bullying or intimidation
Threats of violence
Physical attacks
Abusive social media posts, text messages or phone calls, hate mail and all forms of online abuse, including abusive reviews about the company or staff and students
Any experiences of bullying need to be reported at the first instant to your tutor or equalities officer. If you feel you are being bullied, you have a right to put in a complaint. Refer to the complaints procedure. (See point 2)
Instances of bullying others will be subject to the Simms Counselling & Training disciplinary procedure. (See point 3)
5. Quality Assurance
In order to ensure fairness and objectivity assignments and portfolios are internally and externally moderated/verified. The centre will undergo External Verification by the CPCAB External Verifier. The verifier will examine all student portfolio’s, selecting samples of work from all areas of assessment. The External Verifier will also make a twice yearly visit and will wish to speak to you about your experience of the course. (Your tutor will give you prior warning in this case). Portfolios, therefore, are not strictly confidential. In addition your work will be moderated by our independent moderator and the Simms Counselling & Training tutor team.
Please note; Your work therefore, is not completely confidential, as work is viewed by the external verifier and moderator, as well as the tutor team for moderation purposes. In addition, there is the sharing of student BACP membership numbers between the CPCAB and the BACP (L4 Diploma students only).
6. Privacy Notice (GDPR)
Course work and any other related course work and documents are stored in the Google classroom and can be accessible for up to 6 months after the ending of the course. It is therefore advisable that students download any marked work to their own device if they wish to be able to access course work after the ending of the course. 1-1 tutorials are also uploaded to the Google classroom by the student.
Copies of any student information such meetings and disciplinaries are given to the student and are kept on file for up to 6 months after the ending of the course.
Information on your application form is used for the purpose of emergency contact, certification, as well as any admin needs. Application forms and learner agreements are kept on file for the duration of the course and up to 1 year after the course. You can request that your application form or learner agreement be deleted so long as this is 3 months after the course has finished and you have already received your certificate. If you ask to have your application form erased and you apply for another course, you will be asked to complete a new application.
7. Resits & Appeals
You have the right to appeal against an external assessment decision.
If you are ‘not proficient’ in the external assessment, you will be able to re-sit, however, there is a cost for this,. You are also entitled to appeal against the decision at an additional cost. (Please check your course handbook for current re-sit and appeals fees). You may also view this information on the CPCAB website.
Please see the stages of appeals below:
1) Discuss the issue with your tutor at the first instance
2) The matter will then be referred to the Internal Moderator
3) Meeting with the Independent Complaints Officer, who will then make the final decision
8. Course Fees
Please note course fees for any course put on by Simms Counselling & Training (Simms C and T) are payable before the start of your course of study in full. Instalments are by arrangement with the centre. Once you attend a course you are liable for the full fee regardless of whether you finish the course. Exceptional circumstances can be discussed with Selene Miller. (Please see your learner agreement) It is important that you keep up with your agreed payments and discuss any difficulties with finance as soon as possible. Outstanding fees will be forwarded to a debt collection agency if we are unable to recoup the funds via communication with the student.
9. Achieving your Qualification
To gain this qualification you must pass the written CPCAB External Assessment AND the Internal Portfolio. Please note that where tutors feel students have not met the necessary course requirements such as the required level of self awareness, an ability to explore your own views, judgements and stereotypes, the ability to work with Diversity or the ability to work ethically and safely (These examples are not exhaustive), you may still not pass the course even if you have sucessfully completed the internal and external assessments. Tutors aim to give you feedback along the way to encourage and enable you to develop in areas conducive to meeting the course requirements. Unfortunately, in rare cases some students may not achieve this, which can result in the student not achieving the qualification. Discussions around repeating the year can be discussed with your tutor(s), although, this does not mean an automatic agreement to repeat the year.
All information stated above is available in the course handbook for all levels
Updated: 24 August 2023