The safety & welfare of our young students is of paramount importance to everyone at language tree

From the moment a young person registers to join one of our courses, the process starts to ensure that they will be safe, happy and well-cared for throughout their time with us. 

While we apply this principle to all our students, we pay particular attention to the care of under 18s:

• Students aged 14-16 will always study with students of a similar age (as well as a similar level).
• Students aged 16-17 may sometimes study in an adult class if they wish to.
• We collect emergency contact details for all our students. For our students aged under 18, we also complete Parental Consent Forms.
• All students under 18 will also have a nominated contact in the UK  who can act in loco parentis.
• Everyone who works with our young students (staff, host families, group leaders & outside organisations) will have a DBS check - this is a UK police check. We also collect at least 2 references for all our staff.
• We personally visit all our host families before they receive a student and during their stay to ensure everyone is safe, comfortable and happy.
• We complete extra risk assessments for all our excursions and activities to consider any additional risks for young people.
• For our water sports, we only work with our approved local partners who apply the same strict standards to the care of young students.
• We have a detailed Safeguarding Policy and an experienced management team to help ensure all staff are fully trained to work effectively and safely with students aged under 18.
• All our staff engage in active questioning with all our students throughout their stay to ensure everyone is having a good time and that they feel confident to talk about anything they are worried about.