This code of conduct is for Wellington Community members who are signed up to Wellington Connect, this includes parents, OWs, and staff from Wellington College UK and our International Schools. This does not include students unless otherwise stated.
Every single member on Welly Connect is either approved by their details matching those we have on our database, Raisers Edge, or by being manually approved by a member of the Wellington Community team. Raisers Edge is integrated with Wellington Connect and therefore can match names/email/contact details to those you use when signing up, if these matches you will automatically be improved, if not we will manually approve.
Thank you for offering to help current 6th form pupils with careers advice and guidance. It will be
down to the individual pupils to search for and contact members of the Wellington Community via the platform.
Some ideas on how you could help current pupils who ask for careers related advice:
• give the pupil an insight into your career choice and its ‘real life’ pros and cons;
• advise the pupil on how to present themselves in a professional and appropriate way;
• enable the pupil to identify ways to improve their skills to support their career progression;
• encourage the pupil to explore different career paths within the industry if appropriate;
• encourage the pupil to take responsibility for their own professional behaviour; and
• help the pupil develop a network of contacts.
Whilst some of our U6th Wellingtonians may turn 18 years old within their final year, most of the 6th form pupils registered on the site will be aged 16 and 17 and all pupils, no matter their age, are considered to be in the care of Wellington College until they leave the College.
With this in mind we ask you to adhere to the following Safeguarding guidelines relating to your interaction with current pupils:
Code of conduct and guidance for adults supporting current students
1. The best way to communicate with current 6th form students is through Wellington Connect
• All communication that you have with students should be done through the messaging system on the platform
• Students are aware that all communication should be done through the site and that they should not share any personal contact details via the platform.
• You should not have contact with a pupil using a private messaging facility on any personal social media account or via a personal email account. Do not offer or accept to be the friend, follower, subscriber or similar on any personal social media account of a pupil;
• The College is able to monitor the messaging that goes through the system and can support students’ networking efforts more effectively if the networking is done through the system.
• If you feel you are receiving too many messages from an individual, you can control this through the settings on your Welly Connect profile or alternatively contact the Community Team; community@wellingtoncollege.org.uk
• Immediately report any communications by a pupil you feel are inappropriate to the Community Department; community@wellingtoncollege.org.uk
• If, during the course of your communication with a pupil you learn anything that might suggest to you that they are at risk in any way, please inform the Directing of Safeguarding, Delyth Lynch: dal@wellingtoncollege.org.uk
Guidance for contacting students other than through Wellington Connect; email, telephone, ‘Zoom’ and face to face meetings
As mentioned above all electronic messaging should be done through the platform but recognise there will be times when you may need to contact a student by phone, email, ‘Zoom’, or face to face. If you are going to make contact in this way with a student then you should check the following;
• The student should put the OW/parent/adult in touch with their parents/carer before making any arrangements to call/zoom or meet face to face
• If you are planning to meet a student face to face, you should request that the student brings an adult/carer/parent with them or that the student’s parent/carer/adult has given permission to meet you via a pre-meeting call/email
• You should check that the student has let their parent/carer know if they are happy for you to give the student your contact details (phone number, email, etc)
• We advise our students not to give out their phone number
2. General code of conduct when using Wellington Connect
This platform offers members of the Wellington Community, including 6th form students at Wellington College UK, the opportunity to connect with each other and whilst we encourage this, we also ask all members to show respect for other users on the platform and carefully read and adhere to the following code of conduct.
• Show respect for fellow participants on all platform mediums, including but not limited to the newsfeed, groups, and private messages. Discussions on the platforms main feed and groups are meant to stimulate conversation not to create contention. I will let others have
their say, just as I may.
• Transparency is very important in gaining trust in online relationships. I will therefore be clear who I am and who I work for when posting on any platform. This means including my real name in my profile along with disclosing my employer. Anonymous activity is not permitted. I will not try to impersonate or attempt to impersonate another user or any other person or entity (including, without limitation, by using e-mail addresses or usernames associated with any of the foregoing.)
• I understand that obscene, threatening, offensive, demeaning, derogatory, disparaging, abusive language is strictly prohibited
• I will not degrade others on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and class.
• I understand that any messages or posts that I send/write which are deemed as abusive or otherwise objectionable material will be removed and if extreme will result in immediate and permanent restriction of your account.
• I will report any posts/messages I see from others which I find abusive or otherwise objectionable material – by either reporting it directly on the platform, emailing the Community Team at community@wellingtoncollege.org.uk or contacting Delyth Lynch, Director of Safeguarding at DAL@wellingtoncollege.org.uk
3. Please see a list of all of our policies and documents relating to Wellington Connect here:
• Wellington Connect Policy
• Wellington Connect Student code of Conduct
• Graduway Privacy Policy
• Graduway Terms of Use
• The Wellington College Safeguarding Policy and e-safety Policy are available to view on the College website.
September 2023