Safeguarding
& Support

Al-Mahdi Institute has a duty of care to every student on The Madrasa Project. This page sets out who holds responsibility for safeguarding, how a concern is raised, and what happens to it.

Responsibility

• Facilitators. All teaching staff on the programme hold current safeguarding training and a defined role. More than one member of staff is present at every session.
• The Designated Safeguarding Lead. The Designated Safeguarding Lead holds responsibility for safeguarding across the programme and is contactable through the Institute office. A concern raised at a session is passed to the Lead the same day.

Raising a concern

A student who wishes to speak to someone may approach any facilitator before or after a session. They need not explain themselves in advance. A student or a parent with a concern may also contact the Institute on 0121 446 5047 or at madrasa@almahdi.edu.

Confidentiality

Conversations between a student and a member of staff are treated as confidential. The exception, which is explained to students at the start of the year, is where the safety of a student or another person is at risk. In those circumstances the Institute has a duty to act. We will tell the student what we are doing and why, unless doing so would itself create a risk, and we do not share a student’s information with other students.

Records

Safeguarding records are kept on paper, in a bound and page-numbered log held securely and accessible to the Designated Safeguarding Lead alone. They are retained for twenty-five years from the student’s eighteenth birthday, and are held separately from the ordinary student record. Our handling of all other information is set out in the privacy notice.

External support

The following services are independent of the Institute and available to any young person or parent.