Our Commitment to Student Welfare

Your child’s welfare is our number-one priority. We do everything within our power to make sure that their summer is a safe and happy one.

We pride ourselves on the exceptional level of pastoral care we provide to our students, made possible by the expertise of our staff and our robust system of welfare policies and procedures.

Our award-winning staff work night and day to ensure all students’ security and comfort.

The programme is overseen by the Programme Director, who implements the day-to-day running of the programme. The director is assisted by a team of counsellors who are very often current members of our host universities. The counsellors ensure that students are looked after culturally, and socially during their programme, as well as meeting any pastoral needs. Students are able to talk informally and frankly to the counsellors in order to raise concerns or to discuss their course. Each campus has members of staff who are residential throughout the programme and are able to assist students at any time of the day or night.

Safeguarding

Oxford Royale recognises its responsibility under the Children Act to actively collaborate in safeguarding the welfare of children. We have in place structured welfare procedures at all levels of programme coordination, systematic means of monitoring children suspected to be at risk of harm, and responsible recruitment and selection procedures which ensure that all staff on the programme are fully DBS-checked and suitable to work with your children. Click here for more detail on our safeguarding policy.

Accommodation, Gender, and Age Groups

We are committed to providing secure, single-sex facilities, and house male and female students in separate corridors and/or staircases. Students may enter the room of another student/students of the same sex before curfew, but not later, and are strictly prohibited from entering the accommodation of students of the opposite sex at any time. 

Different age groups are also accommodated separately, to reflect differing welfare and safeguarding needs. Thirteen- to fifteen-year-olds have a slightly earlier curfew than students aged sixteen to eighteen. While there is no prohibition on different age groups mixing in their free time, and this might be expected as courses run in parallel, the different age groups may be seated differently at meals subject to dining hall capacity, and extra-curricular activity programming may differ. 

On our UK and Berkeley campuses, thirteen- to fifteen-year-old students may not leave campus in a group of fewer than three students, and sixteen- to eighteen-year-olds may only leave in pairs. At Yale, students of any age cannot leave campus unless they are accompanied by a counsellor. Students leaving campus for any amount of time must sign in and out.

Most of our accommodation offers a mix of single and twin bedrooms. While sharing your room with fellow students can be an excellent way to get to know people, we also try to accommodate students who desire or need individual accommodation. You have the option to pay an en-suite reservation fee at your discretion.

Leaving Campus

We encourage students to make the most of their free time by exploring the historical cities at their doorstep in a safe, responsible fashion. Students leaving campus for any amount of time must sign in and out, and wherever a student is planning to leave the course overnight, at weekends, or any other such time as to mean they will miss a register, they must ask their parents or guardians to complete an exeat form and personally submit it to Oxford Royale either in person, online, or by fax. Students are forbidden from leaving the campus grounds after curfew, or, in the case of thirteen- to fifteen-year-olds, after dinner-time. 

On signing out, students must leave us a working phone number, and take with them the emergency contact details of both Oxford Royale and their own families.

Students may not go off with strangers or members of the public, or take public transport without the prior written permission of a senior member of staff.

Keeping in Touch

Mobile phones must be put away during lessons, but are encouraged elsewhere! We emphasise to our students the importance of remaining in consistent contact with their families over the course of the two weeks, and will ensure that counsellors check in with them to make sure that they are keeping you updated. Likewise, we hope you will keep in close contact with your child as you see fit, to reassure them and mitigate feelings of homesickness or anxiety.

Should you need to reach out with any concerns, you will be provided with a campus number to contact us during the day, and a 24/7 emergency number. To read more about our technology guidelines, and our policy should an accident or emergency occur, click here.

Bullying, Discrimination, and Hate Speech

We are fully committed to fostering a nurturing culture of mutual respect and tolerance at all times. As such, our experienced Programme Directors are always on hand to appropriately and fairly deal with any issues that may arise on campus. 

Health Conditions, Disabilities, Illness, and Medication

We are dedicated to creating an inclusive environment, which makes the disclosure of disability easy and gives all students the opportunity to realise their full potential. We ask parents and students to disclose any conditions through the medical form upon registration through a medical form provided through the secure portal so that we can provide for any adjustments well in advance. 

While trained staff are authorised to administer basic medicines such as paracetamol where parental consent is granted, we cannot prescribe, recommend, store or dispense beyond medication for or belonging to the student. We urge students unable to bring, store, or administer their own medication to let us know in advance so that we can ascertain whether or not we can acquire access to a qualified medical professional near campus in order to fulfil this role. For more detailed information, please review our medical and medication policy at this link.

Special Educational Needs

Neurodivergent individuals should be celebrated; they offer unique perspectives on the world, and often have a flair for thinking outside the box. We warmly welcome students with special educational needs, and are committed to accommodating their individual requirements. We ask that on enrolling your child, you disclose information about any learning differences so that we consider these in curricular and extracurricular planning. Should significant additional needs be flagged, we will create an Individual Student Support Agreement in collaboration with you and your child. We promise to accommodate your child without compromising on standard or comfort; all students, regardless of their learning profiles, will enjoy a fun and academically rigorous summer programme. To find out more about how we accommodate learning differences, follow this link.

Commitment to Health and Safety

In 2019, for the second year in a row, we were awarded the prestigious RoSPA Bronze Award for our health and safety practices. RoSPA has been running for almost 100 years, making vital changes in legislation surrounding accident prevention. We are delighted by the continuing recognition of the extensive lengths we go to in ensuring all our students, teachers, and staff enjoy a safe time while they are with us.

Having welcomed students from more than 175 countries, we pride ourselves on being the world’s most international summer school. As such, we do all we can to assure that students of all cultural and religious backgrounds are able to fully participate in the summer school while honouring their beliefs. We work to accommodate all dietary requirements, including Kosher and Halal, while also offering multifaith prayer rooms for students to observe their faith as they wish.

One of the most important and enriching aspects of a summer programme with Oxford Royale is the opportunity for bright, like-minded young people to interact, network and build new lifelong friendships with students from across the globe. The multicultural perspectives our students provide is what makes our programmes so special, whether students are contributing valuable perspectives in class, taking part in debates about the world topics shaping our future, or simply sharing their experiences with their new friends.

We are dedicated to ensuring the safety and happiness of every student during their time with us. There will always be counsellors on campus to reassure or advise, and our Programme Directors, who run each campus, are often head teachers with decades of experience in the international school sector. Our campus team and pastoral staff are always on hand in case an issue arises, and any problems will be dealt with immediately and at the discretion of our experienced Programme Directors.  To read more about our Zero Tolerance policy concerning inappropriate behaviour, click here.