Important information when attending a course

Mobile phones

Please switch off mobile phones during lessons except with the prior agreement of the course tutor.

Supporting your Learning

We recognise that adult learners come from widely varying backgrounds and are at different stages of their lives. We know you bring considerable knowledge, skills and experience to your learning and we aim to help you build on this. If you have a disability, learning difficulty or medical condition such as diabetes, epilepsy etc, we hope you will tell us about it. If you agree, we can work with you to put together a personalised package of support.  We can support you with English or maths to cope with course needs.

Types of support could include:

• British Sign Language Communicator
• Hearing loop or other aids for hearing impairment
• Special exam arrangements such as extra time or exam papers in alternative formats
• Extra help with assignments and coursework
• One-to-one assistance in class  Enlarged print handouts or course material in alternative formats
• Speech output or other assistive computer software

If you would like to discuss this in confidence, please let us know.

Term dates

Some of our courses run during term time, dates are shown below. However, courses that run throughout the year. You will be told course times by your tutor at the beginning of the course. Full term date information

Unable to attend class?

What happens if I cannot attend the first session or miss a week? If you miss the first session, please let us know and come along to the next session.  Your tutor will be notified and will keep course materials for you.  Please contact us if you are unable to attend a session of your course.  We need to show your attendance on your course so that we can continue to subsidise your learning.

If you are unable to attend a session… If you wish to let us know that you are unable to attend a lesson or session you can contact us in the following way, send us an email with your full name, course code and the specific lesson day/time you are unable to attend to acl.absence@essex.gov.uk

Class cancellations

We reserve the right to cancel courses that fail to recruit minimum numbers.  If this becomes necessary, we will contact you by post, telephone, email or text.  Please let us know if your contact details change. If after the first session you attend you decide the course is unsuitable, please contact reception.

It is not the policy of Essex County Council to refund fees automatically when a change in circumstances prevents or discourages a learner from continuing with a particular class.

Plagiarism 

If you are studying an accredited programme, there may be varied forms of assessment. Usually assessment will involve the production of written work (coursework). Your tutor will provide guidance about the format, style and content of the written assessment, including advice on how to use written sources (i.e. information from books, periodicals, articles, the internet etc.). It is very important not to copy sections of any written source that you use and pass it off as your own work. This is called “plagiarism”.

Plagiarism involves taking someone else’s words, thoughts or ideas and trying to pass them off as your own. It is a form of cheating which is taken very seriously.

Don’t think you won’t be caught; there are many ways to detect plagiarism.

• Markers can spot changes in the style of writing and use of language.
• Markers are highly experienced subject specialists who are very familiar with work on the topic concerned – they may have read the source you are using, (or even marked the essay you have copied from).
• Internet search engines and specialised computer software can be used to match phrases or pieces of text with original sources and to detect changes in the grammar and style of writing or punctuation.
• If your work is submitted and it is discovered that you have broken the regulations, one of the following penalties will be applied:
• The piece of work will be awarded zero marks
• You will be disqualified from that unit for the examination series in question
• You will be disqualified from the whole subject for that examination series
• You will be disqualified from all subjects and barred from entering again for a period of time.
• If you have copied from another learner, they may also have the above penalties applied.
• Your awarding body will decide which penalty is appropriate.

REMEMBER IT’S YOUR QUALIFICATION SO IT NEEDS TO BE YOUR OWN WORK.

Course documentation 

These are the forms we ask you to complete and the purpose of each one:

Learning Agreement	To get your details on our computer system so that we can contact you.
	This form also triggers the funding for courses.  By law we have to get your signature for all the required information.
Individual Learning Plan.	To help you plan your learning and recognise our progress and achievement.
Learner Satisfaction Surveys.	To see if you are happy, and how we can improve our Service.  We are also required to do this by the inspection service and our funders.
Learner Support Fund/bursary fund application.	If you are applying for financial help or additional learning support:  We are required to do this for funding and SFA audit purposes.
Learning Support Plan.	This identifies the support we have agreed with you and is required for funding and SFA audit purposes.
Learner Welfare form and Safeguarding Risk Assessment	At the start of your programme with us we offer all learners the opportunity to complete a Learner Welfare form; your tutor will provide this. If you do feel that you are vulnerable and would like us to know more about you in order to support you, then your tutor will help you to complete the rest of the form. This will then be stored confidentially, and the information only used if needed.

Diversity and Equality

We respect all individuals regardless of their backgrounds, abilities or beliefs. This means we are committed to providing equal access to our services for all adult learners irrespective of race, age, ethnicity and culture, disabilities, learning difficulties, medical conditions, religion, sexual orientation, and gender. Adult Community Learning as part of Essex County Council seeks a society that is fair and inclusive. We will seek to uphold these values in our own dealings with the public.

Harassment

We are committed to the fair and equal treatment of learners and staff on a day-to-day basis. This means that bullying, harassment, victimisation and discrimination in any form are unacceptable. Anyone found guilty of harassment of any kind will be subject to disciplinary measures, including possible exclusion.

Actual or threatened violence will be viewed as a serious offence and may lead to prosecution.  Anyone found to be under the influence of alcohol and / or illegal drugs will be asked to leave the premises and may be liable to prosecution.