Safeguarding and Online Safety Statement

1. Our Commitment

1.1 Brightlink is committed to providing an environment in which children, young people and adults at risk are treated with dignity, respect and care.

1.2 Brightlink Law School is an online legal education provider and some learners and prospective learners may be under the age of 18.

1.3 Our full organisational Safeguarding Policy and procedures govern safeguarding across Brightlink’s education and training activities.

1.4 This statement explains how safeguarding relates specifically to the Brightlink Law School website and online contact with us.

2. Using Website Forms Safely

2.1 Our general website forms are designed for enquiries about legal education, training, careers, employers and working with Brightlink.

2.2 Please do not use an ordinary website enquiry form to provide detailed confidential information about:

• (a) abuse;
• (b) neglect;
• (c) exploitation;
• (d) self-harm or risk of harm;
• (e) criminal allegations;
• (f) medical information;
• (g) safeguarding allegations; or
• (h) another person’s sensitive personal circumstances.

2.3 Our website forms include reminders not to include confidential or sensitive information in free-text fields.

2.4 If your enquiry involves a safeguarding issue, please use Brightlink’s safeguarding reporting route instead.

3. Reporting a Safeguarding Concern

3.1 Anyone with a safeguarding concern relating to Brightlink can contact our safeguarding team.

Email: safeguarding@brightlink.org.uk

Telephone: 02921 888386

3.2 If telephoning, ask to speak to a Designated Safeguarding Lead or ask for one of them to call you back.

3.3 Safeguarding concerns will be treated seriously and respectfully and dealt with in accordance with Brightlink’s Safeguarding Policy and procedures.

4. Immediate Danger

4.1 The Brightlink website and email accounts are not emergency services.

4.2 If somebody is in immediate danger or a crime is taking place, contact the emergency services or the appropriate statutory safeguarding service.

4.3 Do not wait for a response to a website form where urgent action is required to protect somebody from harm.

5. Children and Young People Contacting Brightlink

5.1 A young person may contact Brightlink directly about legal education or a potential route into law.

5.2 We will communicate in a professional and age-appropriate way and take safeguarding considerations into account where necessary.

5.3 If a young person discloses information that raises a safeguarding concern, confidentiality cannot always be absolute. Information may need to be shared with an appropriate safeguarding person or organisation where this is necessary to protect them or somebody else.

6. Online Appointments

6.1 Some Brightlink conversations and learner support take place online, including through Zoom.

6.2 Online contact with learners is subject to the same expectations of professionalism, appropriate boundaries, respect and safeguarding as any other Brightlink activity.

6.3 Where an online conversation raises a safeguarding concern, Brightlink’s safeguarding procedures apply.

7. Privacy and Safeguarding

7.1 Safeguarding information is personal information and may be particularly sensitive.

7.2 We only share safeguarding information where there is an appropriate reason to do so.

7.3 Data protection law does not prevent appropriate safeguarding information being shared where sharing is necessary and lawful to protect a child, young person or adult at risk.

7.4 Further information about our use of personal information collected through this website is set out in the Brightlink Law School Privacy Policy.

8. Further Information

8.1 Brightlink’s full Safeguarding Policy contains further information about our safeguarding responsibilities, reporting arrangements and procedures.

8.2 If you are unsure whether something is a safeguarding issue, you may contact our safeguarding team for guidance.

Email: safeguarding@brightlink.org.uk

Telephone: 02921 888386