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Safeguarding Policy

This policy explains how The French & German Tutor protects learners under 18, responds to concerns and maintains safe professional boundaries in online tuition. The welfare of the child is the paramount consideration. Safeguarding concerns will be acted on promptly and shared with the appropriate statutory service when necessary; they will not be investigated by the tutor.

1 Purpose and commitment

The French & German Tutor is committed to providing a safe, respectful and inclusive learning environment. Safeguarding means preventing harm, recognising concerns early, responding appropriately and working with parents, carers and statutory agencies where required.

For this policy, a child or young person is anyone under 18. References to a parent include a person with parental responsibility or an authorised carer. The policy also informs the response to concerns involving an adult at risk, although child-protection procedures are its main focus.

The business will:

put the learner’s welfare, dignity and voice at the centre of decisions;
maintain clear professional boundaries in lessons and communications;
recognise and respond to abuse, neglect, exploitation, bullying and online harm;
record concerns factually, securely and without delay;
share information on a need-to-know basis when this is necessary to protect a child;
co-operate with the relevant Health and Social Care Trust, Police and other competent authorities; and
review safeguarding arrangements at least annually and after any relevant incident or change in guidance.

2 Legal and guidance framework

This policy has regard to safeguarding frameworks and associated UK data-protection duties.

This policy does not replace the role of statutory child-protection services. Current official procedures take precedence if guidance changes.

3 Roles and accountability

Proprietor and Designated Safeguarding Lead

The proprietor and tutor is the Designated Safeguarding Lead. He is responsible for safer working practice, safeguarding records, risk assessment, referrals, policy review and maintaining suitable safeguarding knowledge and training.

Because this is a sole-trader service, a concern or allegation about the tutor must not be referred to him for investigation. The person receiving or raising the concern should contact the relevant HSC Trust Gateway Team and, where a criminal offence or immediate danger may be involved, the Police. A parent may also seek advice from the NSPCC Helpline.

Parents and carers

Parents and carers are expected to provide accurate emergency contact details, advise of relevant additional needs or risks, help the learner join lessons from an appropriate location and raise any concern promptly. Parental awareness does not prevent a learner from speaking privately about a concern, and it does not remove the tutor’s duty to refer when necessary.

Learners

Learners will be treated with respect, listened to and encouraged to say if anything makes them uncomfortable. They may end an online lesson at any time and may speak to a trusted adult. A learner will never be asked to keep a secret about safety.

4 Recognising safeguarding concerns

A safeguarding concern may arise from something a learner says, an injury or change in behaviour, an online interaction, information from another person, or conduct observed during tuition. Harm may occur at home, in school, in the community or online and may be caused by an adult or another child.

Area of concern

Examples and indicators may include

Physical abuse
Unexplained or inconsistent injuries; fear of going home; disclosure of being hit, restrained, poisoned, burned or otherwise harmed.
Emotional abuse
Persistent humiliation, threats, rejection, coercive control, exposure to domestic abuse, extreme withdrawal or marked anxiety.
Sexual abuse or exploitation
Sexualised behaviour or knowledge not appropriate to age; grooming; pressure to share images; unexplained gifts; disclosure of sexual contact.
Neglect
Persistent unmet needs involving food, clothing, supervision, healthcare, education or emotional care.
Online harm
Cyberbullying, grooming, sexual extortion, harmful content, impersonation, pressure to move to private channels or misuse of images and recordings.
Peer-on-peer harm
Bullying, harassment, discriminatory abuse, sexual violence or harassment, coercion, image-based abuse or harmful sexual behaviour.
Other risks
Domestic abuse, self-harm or suicidal thoughts, criminal or sexual exploitation, trafficking, radicalisation, hate incidents, substance misuse or fabricated illness.

Indicators do not prove abuse, and the absence of indicators does not mean a child is safe. The tutor’s role is to notice, respond, record and refer - not to diagnose or investigate.

5 Safe online tuition

Before tuition begins

A parent or carer books tuition for a learner under 18 and supplies their own contact details and an emergency contact.

The parent receives the safeguarding expectations, privacy information and terms before regular lessons begin.

The learner’s age, preferred name, relevant learning needs and any reasonable adjustments are confirmed.

Lessons use an agreed professional platform and the tutor’s business account.

During lessons

Lessons take place at agreed times. The tutor uses a neutral, appropriate workspace and professional background.

The learner should normally join from a shared or suitable study area, appropriately dressed, with a parent or responsible adult reasonably accessible for younger learners.

Bedrooms should be avoided where practicable. If unavoidable, the door should remain open and the camera frame should show only an appropriate study area.

The tutor will not use virtual backgrounds or camera positioning to conceal inappropriate surroundings.

One-to-one tuition is permitted with parental knowledge and consent. A parent does not have to remain on screen but may observe, subject to avoiding disruption.

If an unexpected person enters, the tutor will remain professional and pause or end the lesson if privacy or safety is compromised.

If connection is lost, the tutor contacts the parent using the agreed business channel rather than pursuing the child through personal accounts.

Recording, screenshots and artificial intelligence

Lessons are not recorded by default. No recording, photograph, screenshot, transcript or AI-generated lesson summary will be made or retained without a clear purpose, advance written parental consent, the learner’s knowledge, and appropriate privacy information. Consent may be withdrawn for future recording. Secret recording by any participant is prohibited, except where an individual records for the purpose of documenting suspected wrongdoing and the law permits it.

Learner work or personal information will not be entered into public generative-AI services unless the information is anonymised or a suitable lawful and transparent arrangement is in place. Facial recognition, emotion detection and automated safeguarding judgements will not be used.

Communication and boundaries

Routine communication about learners under 18 is with the parent or carer through the business email address or agreed business channel.

Direct learner communication is limited to necessary educational matters, uses an agreed professional channel, and includes or remains visible to the parent where the platform permits.

No private social-media connections, disappearing messages, personal account contact, sexualised humour, favouritism, gifts of significant value or unnecessary personal disclosure are permitted.

Messages are sent at reasonable hours except for an urgent welfare concern or unavoidable lesson disruption.

The tutor does not transport learners, meet them socially, provide personal care or enter a private arrangement outside the agreed tuition service.

Physical contact is not applicable to online tuition. Any future in-person tuition requires a separate location risk assessment and updated arrangements.

6 Responding to a disclosure or concern

If a learner discloses harm, or a concern arises, the tutor will:

Stay calm, listen carefully and take the child seriously.
Allow the child to speak in their own words without pressing for detail.
Ask only minimal open questions needed to clarify immediate safety, such as ‘Tell me what happened’ or ‘Is anyone in danger now?’
Reassure the child that they did the right thing by speaking and that the harm is not their fault.
Explain that the information cannot be kept secret and will be shared only with people who need to help keep them safe.
Avoid confronting the alleged person, promising an outcome, investigating, or asking the child to repeat the account unnecessarily.
Make a factual, dated record as soon as possible, using the child’s exact words where remembered.
Assess immediate danger and refer promptly using the decision route below.

Immediate decision route

Situation / Action

A child is in immediate danger, a serious crime is in progress, or urgent medical help is required

Call 999. Keep the child online if safe to do so, alert the parent unless that may increase risk, and follow emergency-service instructions.

There is reasonable cause to suspect significant harm, abuse or neglect, but no immediate emergency

Contact the relevant HSC Trust Children’s Gateway Team without delay. If unsure which Trust applies, use the current contact directory at safeguardingni.org. Record the advice and action.

A possible crime or non-emergency police matter

Contact PSNI on 101 and make any parallel social-services referral required.

Uncertainty about the threshold

Seek prompt advice from the relevant Gateway Team or NSPCC Helpline. Do not delay because proof is unavailable.

Concern or allegation about the tutor

Contact the Gateway Team and, where appropriate, Police directly. Preserve evidence. The tutor must not investigate or contact the child to obtain an account.

Informing parents

Parents will normally be told about a concern and referral. They will not be informed before advice is obtained where doing so may place the child or another person at greater risk, lead to intimidation or destruction of evidence, or prejudice a police or social-services enquiry. The reason for not informing them will be recorded.

7 Safeguarding records and information sharing

A safeguarding record will be created promptly and kept separately from routine lesson notes. It will include:

the learner’s name and relevant identifying details;
date, time, platform and people present;
what was seen, heard or disclosed, distinguishing fact from opinion;
the learner’s own words as accurately as possible;
any immediate risk assessment and action taken;
who was contacted, when, advice received and decisions made; and
the author’s name and the date and time the record was completed.

Records will be accurate, proportionate, securely stored with access restricted to those who need it, and retained only for as long as necessary in accordance with the business retention schedule and legal obligations. Relevant information may be shared without consent where this is necessary and proportionate to protect a child or another person. Data-protection law is not a barrier to justified safeguarding information sharing.

Safeguarding records will not be emailed to a child, discussed in group messages or stored on an unprotected personal device. If information must be transferred to an authority, a secure method will be used and a record of the transfer kept.

8 Allegations, low-level concerns and complaints

Any allegation that the tutor has harmed a child, may have committed an offence against a child, behaved in a way that indicates a risk of harm, or may be unsuitable to work with children will be treated seriously and referred externally. No attempt will be made to reach a private settlement, secure silence or manage the matter solely as a customer complaint.

A concern that does not appear to meet the statutory threshold - for example, blurred boundaries, over-familiar communication or an avoidable one-to-one contact outside agreed arrangements - will still be documented and reviewed. Repeated or escalating concerns may meet a referral threshold. Parents may use the Complaints Procedure, but that process will not delay safeguarding action.

9 Safer practice and suitability

The proprietor will maintain an enhanced AccessNI check, including the appropriate barred-list check where the role is eligible, and will renew or update checks as required. An AccessNI certificate is one part of safer practice and does not replace ongoing professional vigilance.

Before any employee, subcontractor, associate tutor or volunteer is allowed contact with learners, the business will introduce a documented safer-recruitment process proportionate to the role. This will include identity and right-to-work checks, references, qualifications, employment-history review, appropriate AccessNI checking, safeguarding induction, a code of conduct, supervision and a clear allegation-reporting route.

Until that process exists, no other person will teach or privately communicate with learners on behalf of the business.

Safeguarding training will be refreshed regularly and when guidance changes. Relevant professional-development and policy-review dates will be recorded.

10 Equality, inclusion and additional vulnerability

Every learner is entitled to equal protection regardless of age, disability, sex, gender identity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, language, family circumstances or educational setting. Some children may face additional barriers to disclosure, including communication needs, disability, reliance on adults, previous trauma, care experience, being educated at home, social isolation or English as an additional language.

Reasonable adjustments will be made so that learners can understand expectations and communicate concerns. A child’s behaviour will not be dismissed as merely part of a disability or additional need. Discriminatory language, harassment and bullying will be challenged calmly and appropriately.

11 Attendance, missing learners and welfare checks

If a learner under 18 does not attend, the tutor contacts the parent through the agreed channel. The tutor will not repeatedly contact the child privately. A missed lesson alone is normally handled under the cancellation policy; however, unusual absence combined with known risk, alarming communications or evidence of immediate danger will be treated as a safeguarding concern and escalated.

If a learner disconnects after disclosing immediate danger or serious self-harm intent, the tutor will try to contact the parent unless this could increase risk, use the emergency contact information, and contact emergency services with the information available.

12 Self-harm and suicide concerns

A statement suggesting self-harm or suicide will be taken seriously. The tutor may ask direct, limited questions about whether the learner is in immediate danger, has already harmed themselves or has access to a means, solely to decide the urgency of action. The tutor does not provide clinical assessment or counselling.

For immediate danger, call 999 and alert an appropriate adult unless doing so increases risk. For serious but non-immediate concerns, contact the parent and seek urgent advice from appropriate health or safeguarding services. Record the words used, actions taken and advice received.

13 Preventing and responding to online incidents

If harmful content, nudity, abuse or illegal imagery appears during a lesson, the tutor will stop viewing or sharing it, avoid downloading or forwarding it, preserve only lawful contextual evidence, end or pause the session if necessary, and seek advice from Police or the relevant safeguarding authority. Suspected child sexual abuse material must never be copied, screenshotted or circulated.

If a learner sends an indecent image, the tutor will not reply with or request imagery, will not share it with the parent or anyone else, and will obtain specialist advice. The device and message should be left intact where possible pending advice.

14 Emergency and support contacts

Contact and purpose

Emergency services

999 - immediate danger, serious crime in progress or urgent medical assistance

Police non-emergency

101 - non-emergency police advice or reporting

HSC Trust Children’s Gateway Teams

Current regional contacts: www.safeguardingni.org - use the team for the child’s home area

Regional Emergency Social Work Service

Out-of-hours safeguarding support: 0800 197 9995

NSPCC Helpline

0808 800 5000 - advice for adults worried about a child

Childline

0800 1111 - free, confidential support for children and young people

Samaritans

116 123 - emotional support; not a substitute for 999 in an immediate emergency

Contact details can change. The current number on the relevant official website should be used whenever practicable.

15 Policy availability and review

This policy will be available to parents, carers and learners through the business website or on request. It will be reviewed annually, and sooner following a safeguarding incident, a significant near miss, a change in service delivery, a change in legislation or official guidance, or the engagement of another tutor.

Material changes will be communicated to current clients. Earlier versions and the record of review will be retained where appropriate.

20 September 2026

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The French & German Tutor | Safeguarding Policy |

Appendix A Safeguarding concern record

Complete as soon as possible. Use the learner’s own words. Do not investigate or ask leading questions.

Learner’s full name and date of birth

________________________________________________________________________________

Date, time, platform and people present

________________________________________________________________________________

Nature of concern or disclosure

________________________________________________________________________________

Exact words used by the learner where possible

________________________________________________________________________________

Visible or contextual observations

________________________________________________________________________________

Immediate safety action taken

________________________________________________________________________________

Parent informed or not informed and why

________________________________________________________________________________

Agency or person contacted, time, advice and reference number

________________________________________________________________________________

Further action and follow-up

________________________________________________________________________________

Record completed by, signature, date and time

________________________________________________________________________________

The French & German Tutor | Safeguarding Policy |

Appendix B Parent and learner online-safety expectations

These concise expectations may be supplied with booking information.

A parent or carer remains responsible for the learner’s location, device, internet access and general supervision during online tuition.
The learner joins from an appropriate study area and is suitably dressed. Bedrooms are avoided where practicable.
Lesson links and access codes are not shared with others.
No participant records, photographs, screenshots or streams a lesson without advance written agreement.
Communication uses agreed professional channels. The parent should be copied into, or able to access, communication with a learner under 18.
The parent tells the tutor about any relevant accessibility, communication, medical or safeguarding need that affects safe tuition.
Abusive, discriminatory, sexualised or threatening behaviour, and the display or sharing of inappropriate content, may cause a lesson to end immediately.

Concerns should be raised promptly with the proprietor at hello@thefrenchandgermantutor.com. A concern about the proprietor / tutor may be reported directly to the relevant HSC Trust Gateway Team or Police.

Policy note: This document is intended as a practical safeguarding policy and does not constitute legal advice. Specialist advice should be obtained where a particular incident, contractual arrangement or expansion of the service creates uncertainty.