Our Community

The safety and wellbeing of every student in our care is our highest priority. Mark Jermin Stage School has a comprehensive Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy in place, which applies to all staff, freelancers, chaperones, volunteers, and contractors working on our programmes. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Nia Jermin, supported by Deputy DSL Fiona Armstrong, both of whom hold Level 3 safeguarding qualifications. Every member of our staff team holds a current enhanced DBS check and has completed a minimum of Level 2 safeguarding training before working with students. We operate a whole-company approach to safeguarding: every adult in our organisation shares responsibility for keeping children safe.

The health and safety of our students is fundamental to everything we do at Mark Jermin Stage School. We carry out thorough risk assessments for all activities, venues, and events, including our in-person classes, performances, online programmes, and overseas activities.

Our industry weeks operate as residential programmes and are run in full compliance with national boarding school welfare regulations, including the National Minimum Standards for Residential Special Schools and relevant local authority requirements. We maintain strict staff-to-student ratios across all our residential programmes to ensure every student is properly supervised and supported at all times, day and night. All residential staff are fully vetted, DBS-checked, and safeguarding-trained before taking up their roles.

We work closely with our host venues to ensure that appropriate fire safety, first aid, and emergency procedures are in place at every site we use, in the UK and internationally. First aid-trained staff are present at all Mark Jermin events and industry weeks.

We love celebrating our students’ achievements, but we take the use of images and video seriously. We will only ever photograph or film students with consent from a parent or guardian, obtained in advance. Images and footage are used only for the purposes stated at the time of consent and are never shared on personal devices or accounts. We follow strict guidelines on the storage, use, and deletion of all student media.

All staff, students, and contractors are expected to use Mark Jermin’s digital platforms and communication tools responsibly and professionally. Staff communicate with students only through official Mark Jermin channels. During online lessons and events, we use company-approved platforms only. We take online safety seriously and follow current guidance to protect students in both in-person and digital environments.

Mark Jermin Stage School is committed to handling all personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. We collect only the information we need, store it securely, and never share it with third parties without a lawful basis for doing so. Students and families have the right to access the information we hold about them at any time. Our full Data Protection and Privacy Policy is available on request.

We expect all students to treat each other, our staff, and our venues with respect. Our Student Code of Conduct sets out the standards of behaviour we expect, both in person and online, and applies across all Mark Jermin programmes including classes, industry weeks, residential courses, and online sessions. We have a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, discrimination, and harassment in any form. We believe that a safe, respectful environment is the foundation for great training, and our students help us build it.

Every member of the Mark Jermin team, whether employed, freelance, or volunteering, is expected to uphold the highest standards of professional conduct at all times. Our Staff Code of Conduct sets out clear expectations around professional boundaries, communication with students, physical contact, social media use, and the duty to report concerns. All staff receive this document before working with students and are required to sign it as part of their induction. We take any breach of this Code seriously and have clear procedures in place for raising and investigating concerns.

Mark Jermin is proud to have built one of the most vibrant and supportive performing arts communities online. Our digital spaces, including our online classes, training platforms, and WhatsApp groups, are an extension of our studios, and the same values of respect, inclusivity, and professionalism apply. This policy sets out how we keep our online community safe and positive for every student and family who is part of it, including how our platforms are managed, who has access to them, and what we expect from everyone who participates. All online sessions are monitored by Mark Jermin staff, run on secure platforms, and never broadcast publicly