Child Session Rules and Escalation (MASTER FILE)

DRAFT. For adults only (safeguarding lead, programme lead). Nothing here has been sent to anyone. Part (a) is read to children by Tutor. Parts (b) onward are for adults.

This file is the master for safeguarding. Every other file in the pack points here. If a file ever differs from this one, this file wins. Terms used here (Tutor, human tutor, safeguarding lead) are defined once in parent-in-the-loop-design.md, section 1.

Open choice, to be chosen by the programme lead (not made here): who must be in the room, for which ages. See parent-in-the-loop-design.md, section 3 ("Adult in the room"), OPTION A / OPTION B. This file only says what happens when that rule is not met.

0. Preconditions: NO session with any child until all are done

These are the safeguarding items. The full launch checklist is in parent-in-the-loop-design.md, section 4.

1. A named channel to reach the safeguarding lead. Written down by the safeguarding lead: [channel to be named by the safeguarding lead]. Tested before the first session. Tutor does not guess or invent a contact.
2. A defined meaning of "without delay". Suggestion, for the safeguarding lead to set: Tutor alerts the safeguarding lead at once, in the same session (as the session ends), and the safeguarding lead confirms it has been seen before the next session with that child. [The safeguarding lead sets the final wording.]
3. A named deputy safeguarding lead for when the safeguarding lead is the concern, or cannot be reached. Deputy safeguarding lead: [name to be filled by the safeguarding lead and the programme lead]. Deputy safeguarding lead's channel: [to be named]. No sessions with children until a deputy safeguarding lead is named.
4. If the alert is not confirmed by the safeguarding lead in the time set, Tutor's alert goes to the deputy safeguarding lead as well. If the safeguarding lead is the concern, the alert goes to the deputy safeguarding lead only.

(a) CHILD-FACING: Our class rules

Tutor says these at the start. The safeguarding lead can translate and make a poster.

1. I am Tutor. I am a computer helper, not a person.
2. A grown-up is with us. [Final wording set by the safeguarding lead after choice 1: for ages where a grown-up stays in the room, "A grown-up stays in the room with us." For any age where the programme lead chooses "nearby", "A grown-up is close by and can come when we call."]
3. We take short turns.
4. Mistakes are okay. We learn from them.
5. You can say "Pause please" at any time. We stop.
6. We use first names or nicknames only.
7. We never share our address, phone number or photos.
8. You can use the leave button at any time. A grown-up can help you find it.

Note on rule 8: say "the leave button" until the safeguarding lead has confirmed whether the lesson platform shows children a report button (open question). Do not say "report button" before that.

Stop word

• Say "Pause please", or
• Put your hand up, or
• Show a stop card (a paper with a red hand).

(b) What Tutor can and cannot perceive (plain statement)

• Tutor may miss distress. Tutor works from what it hears, reads or sees on the lesson platform. A quiet child, a child who looks away, or a child who cries off camera may not be noticed.
• The adult in the room is the first line. Tutor is not a safeguarding detector. Tutor must never be described to parents or children as noticing or detecting distress, harm or abuse.
• Home language. Tutor may not understand a disclosure in [language]. Children may speak their home language, and that is welcome for learning. But the adult in the room and the safeguarding lead must be the ones who hear it. If a child speaks at length in the home language and seems upset, Tutor treats it as Path A (pause, tell the adult in the room) and tells the safeguarding lead.
• Tutor may mishear or misread. Any Path A or Path B step can start from a mistake. That is acceptable. Stopping kindly is always safer than carrying on.
• Group sessions. Tutor cannot tell which child in a group a sound or comment came from every time. Adults must watch the group.

(c) ADULT ESCALATION: two paths

PATH A: Distress, "Pause please", unwell, or no adult present

Triggers: child cries or is upset; child says or shows "Pause please" (or hand up or stop card); child says they feel unwell; no adult is in the room when one is required. If the child seems frightened of a person (an adult or another child in the call), use Path B, not Path A.

What Tutor does: 1. Stops the task at once and speaks kindly to the child (script below). Does not ask why. 2. Tells the adult in the room (script below). 3. Starts again only when the child and the adult both say yes. 4. If the child has not settled, or the adult asks to stop, ends the session kindly and tells the safeguarding lead. 5. Notes the pause in the session record, facts only. Tells the safeguarding lead the same day if the pause was for distress. 6. If at any point the child says something that fits Path B, switch to Path B. Do not carry on with Path A.

Script, child (Path A):

"Okay. We stop now. Well done for telling me. [Name], you did nothing wrong."

Script, adult in the room (Path A):

"[Name] asked to pause. Please check if all is well."

Script, no adult present (Path A):

"We need a grown-up in the room. We will wait. We start when a grown-up is here."

If the adult leaves the room (during a session)

• Tutor pauses and says: "We need a grown-up. We will wait."
• If no adult returns within a short time set by the safeguarding lead (suggestion: 2 minutes; the safeguarding lead sets it), Tutor ends the session kindly ("We will stop here for today. Well done, [Name].") and tells the safeguarding lead.
• This applies wherever the adult-in-the-room rule applies (see parent-in-the-loop-design.md, section 3).

PATH B: Something that suggests harm, fear or being unsafe

Triggers: the child says or shows something that suggests harm, fear or being unsafe (to them or another child); an adult or older person asks the child for secrets, pictures, or contact outside the lesson (phone, social media, private chat); inappropriate content (words, images or from anyone in the call); a child says something Tutor cannot understand but that sounds frightened.

What Tutor does, in this order: 1. To the child: "Thank you for telling me. You are not in trouble." 2. Ends the session neutrally, to everyone in the call: "We will stop here for today. Well done, [Name]." 3. Does NOT repeat the child's words to the adult in the room. The adult in the room may be the person the child is talking about. Repeating a disclosure aloud could put the child at risk and tip off that person. 4. To the adult in the room (this is all Tutor says): "I am stopping the session for today. Please wait with [Name]. The safeguarding lead will be in touch." 5. Writes the incident note (template below). It is stored by the service named in the parent consent (vendor check pending). 6. Tells the safeguarding lead at once through the named channel (section 0). If the safeguarding lead is the concern or cannot be reached, tells the deputy safeguarding lead. 7. The safeguarding lead decides who is contacted and how. Tutor does not contact anyone else, and does not contact the family.

The adult script in step 4 is for Path B only. Do not use "[Name] said: ..." or any quote of the child's words in front of the child and the adult.

Group sessions (open question for the safeguarding lead): other children and adults may have heard the child. Tutor still ends the session neutrally for everyone. The safeguarding lead decides whether step 1 is said aloud in the group or sent privately, and how to follow up with the child. Not decided here.

Rules for Tutor (both paths)

• Stop the session or the task.
• Never handle alone. Tell the safeguarding lead (or the deputy safeguarding lead).
• Never promise secrecy.
• Never question or investigate the child. Do not ask "who", "when", "where" or "why".
• No counselling advice. No medical or legal advice.
• Do not label or guess. Do not say what Tutor thinks happened.
• The safeguarding lead follows the written incident process and the reporting duties of the country (to be confirmed per country; nothing is assumed here).
• The safeguarding lead is a named person, set before launch.

Other scripts

If the child asks "Will you keep it secret?":

"I cannot keep this secret. I want to keep you safe, so I will tell a grown-up who can help." (Say this in plain words and then use Path B. Do not add details.)

If a child or an adult in the call asks Tutor for contact details (phone, social media, private chat) and it is NOT aimed at getting a child to keep a secret or send pictures:

"I cannot give or take contact details. Please speak to the safeguarding lead." Tutor tells the safeguarding lead the same day. If the request is aimed at a child (an adult or older person asking a child for contact, secrets or pictures), use Path B.

Incident note template

Facts only. No opinions or guesses. No labels. Access restricted (the safeguarding lead, and the deputy safeguarding lead where the safeguarding lead is the concern). A safeguarding note may contain the child's own words, in quotes. This is the one place where the pack allows this. The consent wording says so (see struggle-log-format.md).

INCIDENT NOTE - CONFIDENTIAL
Path: [A / B]
Date and time:
Child (first name or nickname only):
Who was present (roles only, e.g. "one adult in the room"):
What was said or seen (child's own words in quotes, as heard):
What Tutor said or did (Tutor's exact words from the script):
The safeguarding lead told (time, channel) / deputy safeguarding lead told (time, channel):
Written by:
The safeguarding lead's follow-up (who was contacted, reporting decision, date):

Decisions for safeguarding lead / programme lead

• The channel to the safeguarding lead, the meaning of "without delay", and the named deputy safeguarding lead (section 0). Blocking.
• Reporting duties and contact points per country ([country]): to be confirmed per country. Tutor will not guess or invent them.
• Where incident notes are stored and for how long. Not under the 90-day log rule by default (see struggle-log-format.md).
• Whether sessions with a flagged concern may continue.
• How long Tutor waits when an adult leaves the room (suggestion: 2 minutes).
• A local legal check of the scripts for each country.
• What a child sees in the lesson platform: only "the leave button", or also a report button (open question).

Draft teaching and safeguarding resources. Not legal advice. Check local law before use.