Safeguarding Policy
Please Read Carefully
At AITutoring, the safety and well-being of children are central to our mission. We are steadfast in our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of safeguarding, ensuring that every child in our care is protected. This responsibility also extends to safeguarding vulnerable adults, requiring everyone involved to uphold the utmost levels of transparency, integrity, and accountability.
Working with children means engaging with a vulnerable group that may be at risk of various forms of physical and emotional mistreatment. Therefore, protecting children must be the top priority for any educator or tutor. By law, they must report any indications of abuse, whether occurring during tutoring sessions or in the child’s broader environment. To ensure this, every tutor at AITutoring is required to hold an Enhanced DBS check, including the children’s barred list, which is regularly reviewed by our staff.
Our safeguarding procedures are designed to equip tutors and teachers with the necessary knowledge and tools to protect the children in their care. This allows them to focus on their teaching duties while maintaining a safe environment for the children they instruct.
AITutoring has a responsibility to ensure that all tutors conduct themselves in a professional, competent, and safe manner when working with children. Alongside our organisational commitment, tutors must also demonstrate professionalism and a considerate approach to their conduct.
It is essential for tutors to be thoroughly familiar with the procedures they must follow if they suspect or discover that a child is being abused or mistreated. In such situations, tutors are required to immediately contact AITutoring’s Designated Safeguarding Officer. The safeguarding officer’s role is to gather all relevant information and determine the best course of action. As a tutor, you have a legal obligation to report any concerns to the safeguarding officer.
Duties for Tutors using AITutoring
In addition to adhering to our terms of service, tutors who book lessons with children through AITutoring must ensure they establish and maintain a safe and secure learning environment for their students. The following guidelines outline the key responsibilities of tutors working with children. Tutors must ensure they:
- Treat all students with respect and fairness, free from prejudice. Regardless of a student’s race, gender, or sexuality, the tutor must ensure that no pupil feels discriminated against.
- Use appropriate language during interactions, avoiding any discriminatory or offensive terms.
- Maintain a professional teacher-student relationship at all times, refraining from sending any inappropriate communications to the pupil.
- Be sensitive and constructive when evaluating a student’s work, recognizing and valuing the effort they have put into it.
- Ensure that if the student is under 18, a parent or guardian is present during all lessons.
- Treat students with disabilities with appropriate consideration and care.
- Create and sustain a suitable tutoring environment that does not contain any inappropriate images or materials.
- Refrain from sending unsolicited communications to the student.
Additional Duties for Tutors Conducting Online Lessons
All online lessons through AITutoring will be recorded, and AITutoring will review any lessons if concerns about a tutor's conduct are reported. If there are concerns regarding a child's welfare, AITutoring will consult with our Safeguarding Officer. In cases where a criminal offence is suspected, AITutoring may provide the recorded lessons to the police. The following guidelines outline the responsibilities of tutors conducting online lessons with children. Tutors must ensure they:
- Ensure that the online environment is free from any inappropriate images or videos during the lesson.
- Arrive punctually for each online lesson.
- Verify that a parent or responsible adult is present during the session. If not, the tutor should check whether the student is comfortable continuing the session. If the student is uncomfortable, the session should be terminated.
- Be aware that online lessons through AITutoring are recorded and may be accessible to the student. AITutoring may also review recordings to address safeguarding concerns, respond to student requests, or assess the use of our whiteboard feature by tutors and tutees.
- Refrain from sending unsolicited communications to the student.
Designated Safeguarding Officer
AITutoring has a Designated Safeguarding Officer who serves as the primary point of contact for any tutor or staff member who suspects that a child is being abused or mistreated. This officer holds a position of authority, has completed the necessary training, and is thoroughly informed about the procedures to follow when contacted regarding concerns for a child's wellbeing.
As the primary recipient of any reports, the Safeguarding Officer is responsible for recording all details provided. Their report must be clear, well-organized, and include all relevant information. Based on this report, the officer will determine the best course of action.
Designated Safeguarding Officer of AITutoring: Sion safeguarding@ai-tutoring.me
Definition of Bullying or Abuse
Bullying is defined as deliberate actions taken by an individual or group to cause harm or suffering to another person or group. This harm can be physical or emotional and typically occurs over an extended period, ranging from weeks and months to even years.
Victims of bullying may be targeted due to their race, gender, sexual orientation, intelligence, or special educational needs or disabilities.
Bullying can happen in various settings, such as the classroom, playground, or during the commute to and from school. Physical bullying may involve violent assaults, theft, or the destruction of the victim’s property. Verbal bullying, on the other hand, might include spreading harmful rumors, slander, or calling the victim derogatory names.
Another form of bullying is social exclusion, where a child is deliberately left out of group activities. It’s important to notice if a child is consistently excluded from games or activities and is often left alone. Sometimes, a bullied child might choose to isolate themselves, avoiding the company of others as much as possible.
Online bullying, or cyberbullying, is a modern form of harassment where bullies continue to target their victims outside of school through social media or other online platforms. Even within the safety of their own home, children can be subjected to intimidation through cruel messages or the sharing of embarrassing photos and videos. Since teachers and tutors typically do not have access to their students’ social media accounts, cyberbullying can be challenging to detect, but attention should be given to students who appear distressed when using their phones or computers.
It’s important to recognize that almost all children engage in playful, energetic activities with their peers, which may sometimes seem excessively rough. This can make it difficult to distinguish between normal play and bullying. Additionally, both the victims and perpetrators of bullying may go to great lengths to conceal the abuse from teachers and parents, making it even more challenging to identify the mistreatment.
Procedures to Follow if You Suspect a Child is at Risk
If you notice signs that a child may have been bullied or abused, or if a safeguarding allegation is brought to your attention, it is your legal duty to take appropriate action. The most crucial step is to treat the matter seriously and not dismiss it. You must contact AITutoring’s Safeguarding Officer, who will take the necessary steps.
When you contact the Safeguarding Officer—whether by phone or email—they will ask you to provide all the information you have about the case. They will then follow the appropriate procedure, which may involve contacting the local authority's Social Services Department or the local Police Child Protection Unit. These agencies are staffed with professionals trained to handle cases of child abuse. AITutoring will work closely with these departments, providing any additional information needed for their investigation. AITutoring will not conduct independent inquiries into safeguarding allegations. Once the matter is reported to the Safeguarding Officer, they will notify social services and/or the Police Child Protection Unit.
If a child confides in a tutor that they have been abused or have knowledge of another child being abused, it is essential that the tutor creates a supportive environment where the child feels safe to speak. The child may be eager to share what they know but could also fear getting into trouble. The tutor should reassure the child that they are there to listen and support them fully.
In these situations, a child might ask the tutor to promise not to tell anyone else what they are about to disclose. The tutor must be honest with the child and should not promise to keep secrets in exchange for information. If the child decides not to share further details, their decision should be respected, but the tutor must still report the situation to AITutoring’s Safeguarding Officer.
The tutor must also ensure that the child is not in immediate danger. For example, if a tutor learns that the child is being abused by an adult who is about to collect them after the lesson, they should immediately call the police to prevent the child from being returned to a potentially unsafe environment. The Designated Safeguarding Officer at AITutoring should also be informed promptly.
When communicating with the Safeguarding Officer or Police Child Protection Unit, it is important to relay all the information the child disclosed, using the same words and phrases the child used, as these can be crucial for professionals in child protection. AITutoring will maintain a record of the report, ensuring compliance with GDPR guidelines.
There may be situations where you suspect a child is being abused even if they have not explicitly told you. In addition to visible injuries like bruises and cuts, be alert to sudden changes in the child’s behaviour. Has a previously cheerful child become withdrawn and sullen? Do they seem reluctant to go home or appear fearful of someone? An abused child might also start dressing differently, choosing loose, shapeless clothing instead of their usual attire.
If you suspect abuse but the child has not disclosed it, you should not attempt to question the child to elicit information. Although it may seem appropriate to investigate further on your own, the correct procedure is to notify AITutoring’s Designated Safeguarding Officer.
Protecting Confidential Information
As a tutor, you will have access to the names and contact details of several children, and it is your legal obligation to keep this information secure and confidential, following GDPR guidelines. This information must never be shared with anyone under any circumstances, even if you believe it would not violate any rules.
You will likely communicate with a parent or guardian of your pupil to schedule future lessons. For instance, imagine a scenario where the other parent of the child contacts you to ask about the time of the next lesson. It might seem natural to provide this information, perhaps even including the location of the class, especially if they claim to have lost it. However, if the parents are legally separated, you may inadvertently share confidential information with someone who has no custody or visitation rights.
All information you obtain in your role as a tutor must be treated as confidential. This includes not only contact details (such as phone numbers, residential addresses, and the school they attend) but also your pupil’s work and any comments or grades associated with it.
All tutors working with children and adolescents through AITutoring must agree to comply with our Code of Conduct, which includes the following requirements:
- Adhere to all safeguarding guidelines as outlined earlier in this document.
- Treat all young children and adolescents with dignity and respect.
- Maintain a strictly professional relationship with your pupil. If they send friend requests on social media, you should politely decline.
- Be aware that your own social media accounts may be accessible to the public, including your pupils. It is advisable to adjust your security settings to limit who can view your profiles.
- Exercise caution when discussing sensitive topics with young pupils.
- Ensure that if your pupil is under eighteen, a parent or guardian has provided consent for the tuition to take place.
Additionally, tutors must refrain from the following actions:
- Searching for and befriending pupils on social media sites.
- Initiating any form of communication, whether face-to-face, over the phone, or online, that is unrelated to your tuition.
- Making suggestive, lewd, derogatory, or discriminatory remarks in the presence of your pupil.
- Attempting to obtain details about their social media accounts or personal life.
- Taking photographs or videos of your pupils, or requesting that they send you any such media.
- Coercing pupils into engaging in any illegal activities.