EQUALITY & DIVERSITY NEWSLETTER - Yeovil College

Yeovil CollegeMudford RoadYeovilSomersetBA21 4DREQUALITY &DIVERSITYNEWSLETTER`Welcome to Yeovil College’s regularEquality and Diversity Newsletter. Weaim to keep everyone informed of howthe college is responding to equalityand diversity issues, the events thathave taken place and successes wewish to celebrate

STAFF TRAININGMental Health AwarenessNearly 90 Yeovil College staff have completed a Level 2 Mental Health Awareness course,the latest in a string of valuable qualifications completed by staff to improve their ability tosupport students and colleagues. In the past two years, hundreds of staff from across theCollege have completed courses in Equality and Diversity and Safeguarding, for which theCollege received an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted rating earlier this year. Staff from all areas of theCollege completed the most recent course, including the Principal, departmental heads,lecturers, support and administrative staff. They learned about good mental health andmental ill-health, as well as illnesses such as schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder. The coursealso explored common problems that they may encounter such as stress, eating disordersand post-natal depression.LegislationThe college has published its Equality Duty which will be effective until July 2014. It is alsorequired to produce and publish clear equality objectives. These are now on the Collegewebsite. The Duty and Objectives are monitored on a regular basis by the Equality andDiversity Group.EQUALITY ANDDIVERSITY GROUPThe Group, chaired by James Hampton, the Principal, continues to meet on a regular basis.Members include staff representatives from across the college as well as members from theSomerset Racial Equality Council and Somerset County Council. We are currently looking torecruit at least two student representatives to the Group.If you are interested in joining the Group or want to get involved with E & D at Yeovil College,please contact Angela Coward (angela.coward@yeovil.ac.uk)