If someone is in immediate danger
Call 999. Do not use the ordinary tutoring enquiry form for urgent safeguarding information.
Raising a concern
The intended restricted contact is safeguarding@toucanlearn.co.uk, once that mailbox is active and tested. Joshua Gordon Jones is the proposed designated safeguarding lead. His role acceptance, current training and an independent route for any concern about him must be confirmed before tutoring opens.
A person may also contact the relevant local authority, police or other statutory service directly. A safeguarding concern does not have to be raised with Toucan Learn first.
Children and families can speak up
A child or young person can tell any Toucan Learn tutor or worker that something feels unsafe, in their own words and without having to use the complaints process. They should be listened to, taken seriously and told what will happen next in a way they can understand. A parent, carer, adult learner or other person may also raise a concern.
Where it is safe and appropriate, Toucan Learn will keep the child and parent or carer informed. It will not contact a person first if doing so may increase risk or conflict with advice from children’s social care or the police.
What may be a safeguarding concern
Concerns can include physical, emotional or sexual abuse; neglect; domestic abuse; exploitation; bullying or child-on-child abuse; harmful sexual behaviour; unsafe online content, contact or conduct; self-harm or suicidal risk; radicalisation; discrimination; or conduct by an adult that may make them unsuitable to work with children. A person does not need proof before reporting a genuine concern.
How a disclosure is handled
The person receiving a concern should listen calmly, take the person seriously, reassure them that speaking up was the right thing to do, avoid leading questions, avoid confronting the person alleged to have caused harm, never promise confidentiality, explain the next step where age-appropriate, record facts and exact words promptly, and share the record only through the approved safeguarding route. They must not conduct their own investigation.
Information is shared on a need-to-know basis to protect someone, obtain advice or meet a legal duty. The reason for sharing or not sharing is recorded.
Concerns about a tutor or owner
An allegation that a tutor, worker or owner harmed a child, may have harmed a child, committed a possible offence, behaved in a way indicating risk, or may be unsuitable to work with children is not handled as an ordinary complaint. The relevant Local Authority Designated Officer should be contacted without Toucan Learn first conducting its own investigation, and the police should be contacted where a crime may have been committed. Contact, systems access or sessions may be paused as a neutral protective step while statutory advice is obtained.
Current regional routes
Oxfordshire and Henley-on-Thames
Child concerns: members of the public can call Oxfordshire Children’s Social Care or MASH on 01865 519 800. The out-of-hours emergency duty team is 0800 833408. Toucan personnel must use the approved professional referral route once the private route matrix has been tested.
Official child-concern guidance · Official LADO route · Adult safeguarding
Bristol
Child concerns: First Response 0117 903 6444; out of hours 01454 615 165.
Official child-concern route · Official LADO route · Adult safeguarding
Adults concerned about a child can also contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000. Children and young people can contact Childline on 0800 1111. If someone believes Toucan Learn has not acted appropriately, they may make their own referral to children’s social care, the LADO or police.
Routes checked against the linked official pages on 5 September 2026. They must be checked again before approval and periodically afterwards.
Safer working
No tutor, worker or volunteer may inflict physical or psychological harm on a child. The approved process will cover identity and role checks, the legally appropriate DBS route where eligible, references, qualifications or competence, safeguarding training, a signed code of conduct, professional boundaries, approved communications, online-session safety, in-person risk assessment, parent or carer consent, emergency details, first-aid responsibility, insurance, incident records and access to systems.
No blanket “DBS-checked,” “qualified” or similar claim will be published unless it is accurate for every tutor in scope and supported by the recorded process. Any applicable duty to refer a person to the Disclosure and Barring Service must be assigned and understood before tutoring opens.
Records and review
Safeguarding records are kept separate from ordinary lesson or complaint notes, access is restricted, and a clear chronology records the concern, action, decision and reason. The retention rule, training interval and responsible people will be stated in the approved policy. The policy and operating process will be reviewed at least annually and sooner after an incident or material change in law, guidance, people, platform or service.