Ready, Respect, Safe Week at Chelmsford College

The VVU took time out last week to visit Chelmsford College’s Ready, Respect, Safe Week, which evolved from the PRISE (Prepare, Respect, Inspire, Safe, Engage) Week the college ran in 2023.

Ready, Respect, Safe, is a week that sits alongside the college’s regular timetabled learning, but their life skills classes are taken over by guest speakers and used to run workshops on themes designed to educate and support the students. For example, mental health, neurodiversity, online safety, drug use, exploitation, vaping, the environment.

The VVU supports Ready, Respect, Safe Week by informing the design, and funding sessions which are evidenced as aiding towards the development of critical skills such as communication, personal safety and emotional well-being – all of which are fundamental to the students’ personal and academic growth and to keeping them and others safe.

The two sessions we sat in on were well pitched to the students – one, presented by the 2Johns, to a group of carpentry students talking about online exploitation focusing on the dangers of sharing images online and how impulsive decisions as a young person can affect your employment opportunities in later life.

The other session, presented by Reach Every Generation, was to the public services and beauty students which talked about making positive life choices, how you want to be remembered, surrounding yourself with positive people and getting rid of any toxic people in your life.

The sessions are designed to provoke thought and start some critical thinking. The college has taken time to carefully marry the right speaker with the right student audience in order to get maximum impact.

The VVU is keen to roll this out to other Essex colleges, to help facilitate this input across the county.