Our commitment

The welfare of every child who comes to CodeBots Kids comes first, in every session we run. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility: the people who lead and coach the club, and the parents and carers who trust us with their children. This page sets out, in plain terms, how we keep children safe — and we are happy to talk any of it through with you before your child’s first session.

CodeBots Kids is a coached activity club for children over the age of 8, running sessions of under two hours a day. That places us outside the activities that require mandatory Ofsted registration, so we are exempt from registering. Being exempt does not reduce our safeguarding duties in any way. The standards on this page are the ones we hold ourselves to.

Who is responsible

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is the person responsible for safeguarding at CodeBots Kids and the first point of contact for any concern. The DSL is: [TO CONFIRM: name of the Designated Safeguarding Lead].

You can reach the DSL through our usual contact routes — email dqalib@gmail.com or WhatsApp on +44 7827 874477 — and simply say the matter is about safeguarding. It will be treated as a priority, in confidence.

Our staff

Every coach holds an enhanced DBS check, checked through the DBS Update Service, before working unsupervised with children.
References are taken up and confirmed before anyone starts.
Every coach and helper receives an induction covering this policy before their first session.
No volunteer or helper is ever alone with a child. Helpers work within sight of the lead coach at all times.

Supervision and ratios

Classes are capped at a maximum of eight children per coach, so every child is properly watched and properly taught. A register is taken at the start of every session. Children are signed in and signed out by the adult who brought them, and the booking form records a named adult who is authorised to collect your child. We will only release a child to that named adult, or to someone you have told us about in advance.

Late collection

If nobody has arrived to collect a child at the end of a session, the child stays with two adults in a public area of the venue. We contact the parent or carer, and if we cannot reach them we try the emergency contact recorded on the booking form. If nobody can be reached, we contact children’s services for the local authority the session is running in for advice. A child is never left unsupervised or sent home alone.

Behaviour and anti-bullying

Every class starts from the same few rules, written so children can understand them:

Be kind and respectful to everyone.
Listen to the coach and take turns with the kit.
Keep hands and feet to yourself.
Tell an adult straight away if something is wrong.

If a child breaks the rules, our response is gradual and proportionate: a quiet reminder, then a quiet word with the coach, then a conversation with the parent or carer, and — only if the behaviour continues — time out of part or all of a session, with the parent told the same day. Bullying, in any form, is dealt with immediately and never ignored.

One-to-one sessions

Some children learn with a coach at home or online rather than in a group. The standards do not change, and two things are added. In a home session, a parent or carer stays in the property and the session happens in a room with the door open or in a shared space — never behind a closed door. In an online session, the parent or carer sets up the call on their own account and can see and hear it throughout; we do not send meeting links to a child, and the coach never contacts a child directly.

Online safety

A coding club lives online as much as off it, so this section matters to us. These rules apply in every session:

Children work on club laptops or devices configured by the club — never on personal accounts.
The club’s internet connection is filtered, so children cannot reach content that is not appropriate for their age.
Children do not use their real names in project code, game builds or anything else they make with us.
No work is uploaded to public websites, app stores or game galleries without written parental consent.
There is no private messaging between coaches and children, on any platform. All communication goes through the parent or carer.
Chat and comment features are switched off in Scratch and any similar tool we use.
AI tools are used only when a coach is present, after the coach has explained what the tool is doing.

Staying safe online is also something we teach. As children move up from Scratch to Python, robotics and AI, we show them how to protect their own information and treat other people well online.

Photography and social media

No photograph or video of a child is taken or published without written parental consent.
Consent is recorded per child on the booking form and can be withdrawn at any time, without giving a reason.
Children are never named alongside an image.
We do not publish any image that shows a school uniform or any other detail that could identify a child.
Coaches’ phones stay away during sessions.

First aid, illness and accidents

A paediatric-first-aid-trained adult is present at every session. Minor accidents and injuries are recorded in the club’s accident book, and parents or carers are told the same day. If a serious incident happens, we call the emergency services first and then contact the parent or carer immediately.

Reporting a concern

If you are a parent or carer and something has worried you — about your own child or any child — tell the DSL, by email or WhatsApp. If you are a child in one of our classes, tell any coach; they will pass it on for you. If you are a coach, you must report any concern to the DSL the same day.

Every concern is listened to, taken seriously, written down the same day it is raised, and kept confidential. The DSL decides whether the concern should be referred to children’s services for the local authority the child lives in, and makes that referral where it is needed.

You do not have to go through us. Anyone can contact their local council’s children’s services directly — for our Willesden Green sessions that is Brent, on [TO CONFIRM: Brent children’s services / MASH phone number] — or contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or at help@nspcc.org.uk. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.

Complaints

If something we have done — or failed to do — has disappointed you, raise it with us by email or WhatsApp. Complaints are acknowledged straight away, and we respond in full within five working days. If your complaint concerns a child’s welfare, it is handled under the reporting process above rather than the general complaints process.

Review

This policy is reviewed every year, and again after any incident, whichever comes first. Each review is recorded below.

Last reviewed: [TO CONFIRM: date]

For how we handle personal data, see our privacy notice. For booking and payment conditions, see our terms.