As our tuition with children takes place online, keeping them safe online is of paramount importance at French Toast Lessons. 

All tutors working with or on behalf of French Toast Lessons are expected to follow this code of conduct in relation to safeguarding:

• Commit to safeguarding children and young people. This includes children and young people that we do not directly tutor – for example, the siblings or relations of a child we tutor. 

• Take all reasonable steps to protect students from harm, discrimination and demeaning treatment and respect their rights, wishes and feelings.

• Engage with safeguarding policies laid out by French Toast Lessons – including attending training when it is offered.

• Complete an enhanced DBS check as laid out in French Toast Lessons’ Safer Recruitment Policy.

• Ensure that our students receive tutoring in a safe environment and that we value each student’s contribution, irrespective of their age, culture, ability, gender, language, racial origin, religious belief and/or sexual identity.

• Show respect for students’ cultural background. We will also put a child’s wellbeing as paramount – so whilst being respectful of cultural background, if something threatens a child’s safety/wellbeing then it should still be considered as a concern. For example, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is practiced in some cultures but is illegal in the UK and should be reported to the appropriate authorities.

• Do not contact or allow contact requests from students under the age of 18 on any social media platforms or engage in any conversation via text messaging or social media with students under the age of 18 unless it is with the explicit, prior consent of the parent/guardian with whom the service agreement lies, and with the same party(ies) copied in to all such communications either on email, text messaging or social media. If you tutor for a family with whom you have an existing social media connection, this should always be disclosed to any Agency you may be working with. Social contact should not begin with students just because they have turned 18; developing a personal (non-professional) relationship with a child you are educating before they are 18 and then developing this further once they turn 18 could raise concerns that the child has been groomed.

• Staff and volunteers with French Toast Lessons must not have a sexual or romantic relationship with any child under the age of 18. They should also not start such a relationship with a service user when the user turns 18 after contact with them prior to their birthday. This could be considered an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

• Not being left completely alone with children. If there are occasions where staff/volunteers may be alone with a child, it is important that others should be notified (for example, other staff at French Toast Lessons, teachers/staff at an educational institution, or the parents/carers of the child). If there are other people in a building but not in the same room, the door should be left open where possible; where not possible (e.g. fire doors) the door should remain unlocked.

• When tutoring children in their homes (online or in-person), the tutorials should ideally take place in a communal space (for example, a living room, kitchen or office) – this should ideally be a quiet and calm space, but one which others could access if they wanted to check-in.

• When tutoring children online, this should be arranged through a responsible adult such as their parent, carer or teacher. That adult should have the time and date of the tutorial, and a link to join. They do not need to join for the length of the tutorial but this allows them to check in on the tutor and student should they wish to. Adults responsible for the welfare of a child should never be prevented from being able to access a tutorial if they wish to do so.

• The contents of a tutorial should be kept confidential from others (other than where there is a lawful reason for the contents to be shared, e.g. if the tutor genuinely believes that one or more persons is at risk, or may be at risk, of harm).

• We have chosen as an agency not to record sessions. It is highly recommended that tutors ensure that a parent or guardian is available and within earshot of the tutorial at all times for both online and in- person tutorials and parents/guardians should always be encouraged to remain nearby. This is of greater importance when sessions are not being recorded. (In the circumstances where a parent or guardian goes absent during the tutorial, it is up to the individual tutor to decide whether to end the tutorial or not, but they would be perfectly entitled to do so).

• The person providing an online tutorial should be in a secure space and should be alone – not caring for or joined by others. If part of the tutorial includes another person being with them or joining the call, this must be communicated ahead of time to the client taking the call. For example, a colleague who joins the tutorial to provide specific information about a topic.

• Staff and volunteers are encouraged to speak to management and the safeguarding team at French Toast Lessons if they are ever unclear about matters of conduct. It is better to have a conversation ahead of time and clarifying anything they are unclear about.

• Where tutors use their own devices when delivering tuition through, or via an introduction from, French Toast Lessons, they consent for those devices to be investigated as part of any necessary safeguarding investigation by relevant authorities or agencies.

• Any devices used to carry out online tutorials should have antivirus software and anti-malware software installed.

• If you receive information about a child or young person either from a student directly or from another source, which could potentially cause serious physical or psychological harm to a child or young person, you must report this to French Toast Lessons’ Safeguarding Officer as soon as possible.

French Toast Lessons will only ever interact with children using their services through agreed means and times – arranged through a responsible adult – for example, a parent or carer, or through a school representative. Note that an adult may have vulnerabilities but still be able to arrange their own tuition – this should be considered when booking.

Staff and volunteers of French Toast Lessons will not contact children using their services through social media platforms or through their own personal profiles. The only time staff or volunteers will talk to children through social media is if they contact French Toast Lessons company profiles in order to seek support or ask about their services.

French Toast Lessons will also advise tutors connecting to families through French Toast Lessons to follow this guidance.

Content or resources shared with or sent to children should be appropriate and not include anything which could harm children or expose them to harm. For example, anything depicting illegal activity, violence or extreme views.

If sensitive topics arise in educational content, resources will be carefully chosen and will be checked by other staff to ensure they are appropriate for purpose.