Last updated 21 July 2026

Tutor & Staff Code of Conduct

The professional standard every tutor and member of staff is held to, and the reference point against which any concern is judged. Agreeing to it is a condition of tutoring with us — it forms part of the Tutor Agreement you accept at onboarding.

Draft — pending safeguarding review. A working draft, to be signed off with our safeguarding adviser before launch.

Professional boundaries

Your relationship with a student and their family is a professional one. Keep it that way.

Do not form personal relationships with students or their families outside the tutoring relationship.
Do not connect with, follow, or message a student on personal social media, and do not give or ask for personal contact details.
Do not give gifts to, or accept gifts from, students or families beyond a token thank-you.
Do not favour or single out particular students in a way that could be misread.

Communication

All communication happens on the platform, and nowhere else. Keeping it there protects you as much as the student and leaves an auditable record if anything is ever questioned.

Keep every message on the platform — never move to WhatsApp, personal email, social media, or any channel other than Arcstone.
Never share your personal phone number, personal email, or social-media handles, and never ask a student or parent for theirs.
Communicate respectfully and professionally with students and parents at all times.
Reply within a reasonable time and keep parents appropriately informed.

Online-session rules

Teaching a child over video needs specific rules, and they are not optional.

Cameras stay on for both tutor and student for the whole lesson — no audio-only lessons with a child.
Be in an appropriate, non-private space (not a bedroom where avoidable) and suitably dressed, as you would be in a classroom.
Do not record a lesson without the clear consent of everyone in it, and never record a child covertly.
A parent or carer may be present or nearby at any time, and you must never discourage that.
End the lesson and report immediately if anything inappropriate happens or is shown on camera.

Conduct during lessons

How you show up to teach.

Be punctual, prepared, and focused on the student’s learning.
Use appropriate language and keep conversation relevant to the lesson — never discuss sexual, violent, or otherwise inappropriate topics.
Never teach while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Treat every student fairly and without discrimination.

Low-level concerns

A low-level concern is any behaviour by a tutor or member of staff that is inconsistent with this Code and leaves you feeling uneasy, even if it falls well below the threshold of harm and is not — or not yet — an allegation of abuse. It might be trivial, a misunderstanding, or the first sign of something more. Reporting it is never an accusation; it is how we keep everyone safe and support tutors to stay the right side of the line.

For example

Being over-friendly with a student, or blurring the professional boundary.
A one-off lapse like turning the camera off, or a comment that felt off.
Contacting or trying to contact a student outside the platform.
Any conduct that simply does not sit right, without you being able to say it caused harm.

Not the same as a LADO referral

A low-level concern is NOT the same as an allegation that meets the harm threshold. Where a tutor may have harmed a child, committed a criminal offence, or behaved in a way that indicates they pose a risk, that is an allegation — the Designated Safeguarding Lead refers it to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) within one working day under the Safeguarding Policy. The low-level concerns route below is for everything that falls short of that threshold.

How to report. Report a low-level concern to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (admin@arcstonetutors.co.uk) as soon as you notice it — the same day. Report your own lapse too, if you realise you have crossed a line; self-reporting is treated as a positive.

What we do with it. Every low-level concern is recorded and kept, even where no further action is taken, so that patterns across time or across tutors can be seen. A single concern may be nothing; three that rhyme are a signal.

No detriment. Anyone who reports a concern in good faith — about a colleague or about themselves — will not be penalised for doing so, even if it turns out to be unfounded.

Questions about this Code, or a concern to raise, go to the Designated Safeguarding Lead at admin@arcstonetutors.co.uk, who aims to respond within 24 hours.