When discussing sensitive matters with a student, your discussions should be treated as confidential.
Some confidential issues will need to be shared with other named contacts and/or specialist services. If you are unsure about whether an issue should be kept confidential, or would like further advice on an issue, you can seek guidance from the Student Services Hub or your senior tutor anonymously in the first instance.
Some support services (such as disability and wellbeing services) can only pass on information once a student has given signed consent and agreed who they would like their information shared with.
All appropriate written records should be stored securely and out of plain sight of other people.
It is good practice to establish boundaries from the start. The key to this is to set out expectations – both yours and your students. Where students are experiencing difficulties outside of your experience and expertise, it is important to utilise support services that can offer specialist help. Boundaries to consider include:
When discussing or arranging to discuss a confidential matter, you are expected to:
You are not expected to have specialist pastoral support skills to offer counselling, specialist advice or ongoing emotional support. You should be able to expect your students to:
You may wish to send an information email to a number of students. Please ensure that you use the ‘bcc’ facility available in Outlook or send each email separately. Any contact with students should be individual and the recipient should not have access to the names of other students.