Terms and Conditions of Booking and Safeguarding

Tuition times and dates are agreed at the start of each month / termly period (for group classes). The fee for each month must be paid, prior to teaching, by the first of each month / prior to the start of each term (for group classes). Payments are not refundable or transferable to other services or individuals. Should a child miss a session that month for any reason, payment is not refundable or transferable. 

Should your tuition session be cancelled by Kim, which is unlikely, the session fee for that hour will be deducted from the next month’s invoice. It is expected that payment is made in full and on time each month. It is expected that children attend tuition during term time each week. Where regular sessions are interrupted by other activities, such as school visits, open evenings etc, the regular session may be re-arranged at Kim’s discretion. In these cases, these must be isolated events and should be agreed prior to payment being made for the month. Regular tuition sessions, if missed, are non-refundable and non-transferable.   

When sessions are booked on a more ad-hoc basis, payment must be made on receipt of the invoice and at least 24 hours prior to teaching.

Payment should be made via BACS using the account details given on the monthly invoice. Without payment, the tuition session will be cancelled, and the regular session slot may be offered to another child permanently.  

Children should attend face-to-face tuition with their own pens, paper and copies of the relevant texts.

It is expected that a month’s notice is given via email when wishing to end tuition.

1:1 sessions are 60 minutes long unless otherwise discussed and agreed. Parents are sent email feedback following the session each week. Homework will be set if required. This will be marked in session time. For online 1:1s, homework should be emailed prior to the session to kim@englishelephant.co.uk.

Online classes are 60 minutes long. Children and parents may view lesson recordings and resources following each lesson in their area of the English Elephant Learning Portal. Homework will be set each week; this is optional and will be marked with feedback from Kim via email, when submitted within given timescales. Homework should be emailed to kim@englishelephant.co.uk. End of term assessments and reports will be written for those children that meet submission deadlines only. All homework tasks must be submitted within the half term they are set. any submitted after the half termly deadline will not be marked.

Safeguarding

The purpose of this policy statement is:

• to protect children and young people who receive the services of English Elephant Tuition from harm.

• to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection. This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of English Elephant Tuition


This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children. A summary of the key legislation is available from nspcc.org.uk/learning.

We believe that:

• Children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind

• We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

• the welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse.

• some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.

• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

  • valuing, listening to and respecting them.
  • adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and students.
  • developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures.
  • providing effective management for staff through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently.
  • recruiting and selecting staff safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made such as DBS checks.
  • recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance [more information about this is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office: ico.org.uk/for-organisations].
  • sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children and their families via leaflets, posters, group work and one-to-one discussions.
  • making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern.
  • using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately.
  • using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff appropriately.
  • creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment.
  • ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place.
  • ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance
  • building a safeguarding culture where staff., children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.
  • password protecting all online tuition sessions. The password will only be shared with those pupils in that session.
  • having an active waiting room, which children will wait in until admitted by their tutor.
  • allowing pupils to use whatever name they choose in the tuition session as long as it is appropriate and confirmed to Kim prior to the tuition session if it is different to their registered. No individual will be granted access to online lessons without a recognised name.
  • allowing pupils to make the choice if they wish to use the camera and/or microphone during their sessions.
  • direct messaging is disabled during online lessons. Children may message the whole group publicly in chat or their tutor only in private chat.
  • having an open door policy for parents to view 1:1 face to face tuition sessions. Parents can let themselves in via the sidegate. Parents are welcome to sit in on sessions if they or the pupil wishes to.
  • having 1m distance between Kim and the pupil in 1:1 face to face tuition sessions.
  • not sharing resources in 1@1 to face tuition sessions.
  • having full viewing access to the tuition room via the windows from the driveway and street.
  • where homework or queries are sent to the tutor via email or Whatsapp by the child, parents will be copied into any replies sent. The tutor will not communicate with children on Whatsapp or email without parental consent and inclusion.

Tutor online code of conduct

● Kim will only conduct online tutoring with her pupils at the designated tutoring times and dates confirmed on invoices and the English Elephant term calendar.

● Kim will conduct online tutoring in the tuition room that does not expose personal information or access to inappropriate background content.

● Kim will be dressed appropriately.

● Kim will keep her video stream ‘on’ for the duration of their sessions.

● Kim will conduct her sessions without disruption (mobile phones should be set to silent and away from gaze unless required for learning) or supervision by any other persons not approved by English Elephant.

● Kim will not share any links to online content or websites that contain anything other than educational resources that directly link to the content of her sessions. If in doubt of the validity of any websites or material please get in contact with English Elephant who need to approve all non-English Elephant resources used in sessions.

●Screenshots of sessions will only capture copies of student work and learning notes. Screenshots must not capture images of individuals participating in sessions.

● Parental consent and child consent, in line with GDPR, must be given for the recording and safe storage of online sessions. Sessions are viewed via a password protected website.

● English Elephant will monitor all online sessions either live during the tutorial or afterwards in a systematic random review of safeguarding procedures.

● Kim will report any concerns about safeguarding or child protection as well as follow all English Elephant safeguarding and child protection procedures outlined.

Pupil online code of conduct

All pupils and their parents who receive online tutoring with English Elephant agree to the following code of conduct when involved in online sessions:

● Pupils will only receive online tutoring at the designated tutoring times and dates advertised by English Elephant, in agreement with their parents, confirmed via payment and completion of registration form at the point of booking.

● Pupils will be dressed appropriately for attendance.

● Pupils will conduct online tutoring either in location appropriate for learning that does not expose personal information.

● Pupils will have any mobile phones on silent and out of gaze during sessions, unless used for learning,

or completely away.

● Pupils will not record video, still images or audio of any tutoring sessions.

  • Pupils can use whatever appropriate name they choose in tuition sessions but this must be communicated with Kim prior to the start of sessions.
  • Pupils can choose if they wish to use their camera or microphone.

● Pupils will never disclose their phone, email or other communication details with their tutor nor request those of their tutor through the online platform. If a pupil wishes to communicate with another pupil outside of the tuition sessions they must put their request in writing to Kim, via email, who will contact the other pupils’  parents to gain consent. Only once consent has been obtained from both parties will Kim share contact details with parents. It is then the resposnisbility of the parents / guardians to monitor safe communication.

● Pupils will not share any links to online content or websites that contain anything other than educational resources that directly link to the content of their sessions.

● Pupils will not take any screenshots of sessions.

● Pupils consent to the recording and safe storage of online sessions on the password protected website. Pupils can only access the recordings of sessions they are in.

● Pupils consent to the monitoring of all online sessions by English Elephant staff either live during the tutorial or afterwards in a systematic random review of safeguarding procedures.

Parent/Guardian code of conduct (for home-based online tutoring):

● Parents/Guardians will support their child with basic IT set up, with the support of English Elephant if required and where possible.

● Parents/Guardians will support their child to attend and engage in as many online tutoring sessions as possible. Children may ctach up on missed sessions via the lesson recordings. Attendance to live lessons is monitored through a register.

● Only pupils enrolled with English Elephant may be involved in online tutoring sessions with English Elephant. Trial lessons may be arranged with prior notice and consent.

● Parents/Guardians will pass on any concerns about safeguarding immediately by emailing Kim@englishelephant.co.uk. .

● Parents/Guardians will ensure a safe, quiet and appropriate environment for online tutoring to take place at home for their child. 

Homework

Homework is optional but recommended.

In online, live lessons, it is set weekly and will be marked if submitted within the given timescales. If homework is submitted late, it may not be marked. Homework should be submitted via email in a pdf document for the best quality feedback; it will be returned to the same email address. If this is not the given email of the parent / guardian, parents / guardians will be copied into any feedback in respose.

It is the responsibility of the parent to supervise and monitor the submission of homework, ensuring that it is appropriate and in-line with the expectations for their child.

Contact details

Dedicated safeguarding officer

Name: Kim Williams

Phone/email: 01384 377272 / kim@englishelephant.co.uk

NSPCC Helpline

0808 800 5000

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.