Statutory Safeguarding & Child Protection
1. Purpose and Digital Safeguarding Commitments
TutorPulse is fundamentally designed as a front-of-class interactive tool. Because it is positioned on large, highly visible smartboards, this Safeguarding Document details the technical safety barriers engineered to protect vulnerable children, prevent exposure to inappropriate material, and highlight pastoral risks.
2. Automated Content Moderation & Safety Filters
Nightly content generation: A scheduled serverless function connects to the Gemini API to refresh general educational question pools. Generated items pass through automated validation and blocked-content checks before publication. Automated moderation can make mistakes, so authorised staff retain oversight and can report or remove unsuitable material.
Manual Overrides: The Super Admin Console maintains a live Question Pools Auditor and manual Feature Flag Control Panel allowing the system owner to instantly take any deck or module offline globally if an anomaly is detected.
3. Pastoral Signals and Staff Follow-up
Suggested check-ins: The Pastoral system reviews up to the most recent 10 recorded school check-ins. Repeated Worried or Tired selections may create a suggested staff check-in, while “Need a chat” creates an actionable request that remains visible to authorised staff until acknowledged. These are prompts, not diagnoses, risk scores or automated safeguarding decisions.
Teacher responsibility: Staff can privately see who selected each state on that day and must use professional judgement. TutorPulse does not replace the school’s normal safeguarding reporting system or emergency route. Concerns must be recorded and escalated under the school’s policy to the Designated Safeguarding Lead where appropriate.
4. Smartboard Privacy and Pupil Protection
Privacy-aware classroom use: The tracker no longer shows a public bar graph or public individual history. Pupils do select their name and mood on the classroom interface, so a nearby person may still observe that interaction. Schools should supervise check-ins, position the display thoughtfully and provide a discreet alternative where a pupil needs additional privacy. Identifiable daily details and history are restricted to the teacher’s pastoral view.
Administrative Verification: To protect the classroom from unauthorised access, the school_admin has direct oversight of active staff. If a teacher account needs to be investigated or suspended, the admin can trigger a read-only Teacher Sandbox Preview or remove the credentials instantly, blocking access to student records.