APPENDIX A
STUDENT OFFICER CARE AND SUPPORT PROVISION
— In the Recruit Training School.
— In Officer Safety training.
METROPOLITAN POLICE
RECRUIT TRAINING
SCHOOL
Student Officer Care and Support Provision
This document explains the provision of advice,
care and support services available for student officers within
the Recruit Training School (RTS).
1. Instructional Staff
In addition to providing instruction and training,
members of the Instructional Staff act as first line managers
to the student officers. In this role they manage all aspects
of study support, welfare, discipline, sickness and personal issues
and act in a liaison and referral role to support units and other
advice providers.
2. RTS Managers
Intake Managers (Inspectors) are responsible
for the management of all staff and student officers within their
own intake. As such they have a responsibility for all line management
issues. Referrals are made by Intake Managers to the Head of Foundation
Training (Chief Inspector) or the Head of Recruit and Probationer
Training (Superintendent) on matters of welfare and discipline.
3. Pastoral Care Unit
The Pastoral Care Unit is a new concept and
is in the process of being established. Staffed by police officers
it will provide confidential advice to student officers and act
as a link for them to other agencies and units who may be able
to assist them. The unit will not usurp the functions of line
managers or staff associations but will focus on empowering student
officers to solve their own problems or seek the most appropriate
advice. The name of the unit is currently being re-considered
as it has been suggested there is a Christian connotation to the
current name that may deter some student officers from making
contact. The service is open to all student officers who wish
to make contact. The issue of confidentiality has been fully discussed
and terms of reference, making use of existing precedent in the
service, will be developed. In order to ensure a level of confidentiality
the unit will not accept referrals from other members of staff.
The unit will be heavily publicised and act only on direct contact
from student officers.
The terms of reference for the unit are shown
below in Annex 1.
4. Police Federation
The Police Federation have two full time representatives
on site and are available at all times to advise student officers
on a wide range of issues. The Federation office is situated on
the second floor of the main classroom block and is openly accessible
without appointment. The Police Federation address all new intakes
of student officers on their first day of service. The role of
the Federation is fully explained along with the assistance they
can provide whilst the students are in training.
5. Staff Associations
All other staff associations have ready access
to student officers at all times. An office is reserved for the
use of these associations and contact details are provided to
student officers should they wish to consult. Students are made
aware by their Trainers of the existence of all staff associations
on their first day of service. Many of those associations attend
the Marketplace events (see below) and are provided the opportunity
to speak directly with students.
6. Human Resources
The Human Resource Unit provides expert assistance
to line managers and provides access to student officers to a
full range of HR functions. These include Welfare Advisers, Occupational
Health Advisers, Mentors, Fairness at Work Advisers, First Contact
Officers and Financial Advisers.
7. Study Club
The Study Club is held twice a week by Instructional
Staff on Wednesday between 3 pm and 6 pm and Thursday between
8 am and 11 am and is open to all student officers. The club provides
one to one additional tutoring for student officers on subjects
they may be finding difficult to understand. The intensive nature
of such tutoring limits the number of times the Study Club can
be held. The Study Club is promoted to new students by their trainers
and is advertised on the Recruit Training School web-site. The
web page is shown in Annex 2.
8. SSDU
The Student Support and Development Unit undertake
all aspects of academic support for student officers. Staff from
the unit address all new students on their first day of service
and also publicise their services on the Recruit School web-site.
The unit provide an E learning web-site to assist in the process
and are available to provide one to one guidance and advice on
study and examination techniques. The web page of the SSDU is
attached below at Annex 3. The E Learning web-site contains advice
on a range of study areas including a database of questions students
may access to test their own knowledge. This section of the site
alone has generated over 25,000 "openings" between January
and April 2004. As an anecdotal example of the assistance this
site provides a student officer who had previously been in training
in 2001 and who had resigned because of assessment failure re-joined
the service earlier this year. He states that extensive use of
the E Learning facility has been so useful to him that he is now
in week 15 of his training and has passed all his assessments.
Student officers may access the unit voluntarily
of they may be referred to the unit by their line managers. Student
Officers are also referred to the unit when they fail assessments
and the unit are responsible for developing and implementing bespoke
action plans for those officers. As a second anecdotal example,
a student officer who had failed four Skills Evaluation Exercises
(Practical Assessments) recently completed an action plan developed
by the SSDU and has since achieved 100% in her two most recent
assessments.
Officers in the unit will also provide assistance
with specific issues such as dyslexia and language difficulties.
The unit is currently progressing a project with the Director
of the Strategic Disability Team, Linda Van den Hende, to make
fully trained dyslexia consultants available to SSDU staff and
student officers who are statemented dyslexics to ensure they
are not academically disadvantaged. It is anticipated that this
programme will be operational from the middle of June 2004. SSDU
staff are also in early discussion with colleagues to establish
a similar level of support for students who do not use English
as a first language.
9. The Marketplace
The "Marketplace" is based upon a
university "Freshers' Fair" and is held five times a
year. All student officers are informed of this event by their
trainers and may attend to meet representatives from staff associations,
social/sports clubs or specialist departments and see what they
can offer regarding support or recreational activity or provide
help in selecting a career path. The web page for the Marketplace
is attached in Annex 4.
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