Dear Students,
Incident outside Kingston College 8th November 2018
An incident took place in close proximity to, but not within Kingston College premises on Thursday 8th November, with one of our students being the victim of a crime. The facts are unclear at this point but the police are investigating the incident as an isolated, targeted attack. The college is assisting with the police enquiries and conducting our own internal investigation.
Kingston College takes its safeguarding responsibility very seriously and follows statutory guidance to keep students safe within the college boundaries. Our sites have very tight security processes, which ensure that the college is a safe environment and our student surveys show that learners feel safe. Any student found to be breaking our code of conduct or endangering other students through their behaviour will be subject to the College’s student disciplinary policy and procedures.
The College works closely with external agencies to educate our students on issues they face as part of urban living. Examples of this include the support of the Mayor’s ‘London needs you alive’ campaign, educating learners on dangers associated with carrying a knife and regular visits by local and regional support services, as well as our own award winning support services for students. As recent as this week, we hosted a range of student events related to wellbeing, safety and crime reporting.
The rise in mental health cases and knife crime are the two main issues facing young Londoners today. The college is responding to this by setting a strategic focus on mental health awareness and support. In addition, we are working with local safeguarding board and a youth charity to deliver a knife crime conference, which will bring London colleges together to hear from experts in the field and discuss how we collectively put measures in place to counter the increase in knife crime incidents.
If this has raised any issues that you wish to discuss, or if you have any further information about the incident please speak to your tutor or Student Support staff in G75 or anonymously at https://www.fearless.org/en/give-info
If you have been affected by the incident in any way you can also seek counselling at https://kooth.com/
Yours sincerely,
Mike Tweedale
Kingston College Principal