Online admissions open for the 2026 intake · admissions@banadirschool.comStudent Portal

Banadir Language School

Teacher Code of Conduct

Banadir Language School

Document type Code of Conduct
Version 1.0
Owner The Headmaster
Approved by TO BE COMPLETED: name and role of approver
Date of issue TO BE COMPLETED: date this code comes into force
Next review due TO BE COMPLETED: date twelve months after issue

Purpose, scope and status

Purpose

This Code states the standard of behaviour the school expects of every adult who teaches for it. It exists so that a teacher knows what is required before a question arises, and so that a student, a parent and the school can hold the same expectation.

We teach entirely online. Almost every safeguard a physical school gets for free, a corridor, a window in a door, a colleague walking past, we do not have. This Code is how we replace them.

Scope

This Code applies to every adult who teaches, assists in teaching, or has any contact with a student on behalf of the school. It applies whether you are employed, contracted, sessional, covering a single lesson, or volunteering. It applies from the moment you accept your first lesson.

It applies to your conduct towards all students, including those over the age of eighteen. Professional boundaries do not switch off because a student is an adult.

Status

This Code is part of your engagement with the school. You are asked to sign the acknowledgement at the end of it before you teach your first lesson, and again whenever a new version is issued.

It is not a complete list

No document can name every situation. Where a situation is not covered here, apply the standard this Code is built on: do not do anything that would lead a reasonable person to question your motives. If you are unsure, ask before you act, not after.

If you are unsure

Ask the Headmaster. A question asked early has never cost anyone their position. Acting first and explaining later has.

What happens if you breach it

A breach of this Code may end your engagement with the school. A serious breach will, and may also be reported to the police or to the relevant authorities. Section 9 sets out how breaches are handled.

Read this alongside

  • The Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
  • The Privacy Policy
  • The Terms and Conditions
  • The Parental Consent Form for lesson recording

Part 1: Professional conduct

As a teacher of this school:

1.1 You must treat every student with respect, regardless of age, sex, background, language, religion, ability or nationality.

1.2 You must use professional language at all times. Slang, sarcasm, mockery and anything that could humiliate a student have no place in a lesson.

1.3 You must not make, or encourage anyone else to make, comments of a sexual nature to or about a student.

1.4 You must not discuss your own personal or romantic relationships with a student, or in a student’s hearing.

1.5 You must not show favouritism. Extra attention given to one student, and withheld from another, is noticed by both.

1.6 You must not give personal gifts to a student or a family, and must not accept them beyond a token of small value. Report any offer of a gift of real value to the Headmaster.

1.7 You must not teach while under the influence of alcohol or any illegal substance, and must not smoke or vape on camera or within view of a student.

1.8 You should be dressed for a lesson as you would be to meet the student’s parent in person.

This means that you should: - Speak to a student the way you would speak in front of their parent. - Keep your own life out of the lesson. - Give the quiet student the same time as the confident one. - Refuse a gift politely and tell the Headmaster it was offered.

Part 2: Boundaries and contact

2.1 You must keep every communication with a student inside the school’s own channels. The school’s platform and the school email address are the only permitted routes.

2.2 You must not give a student, or a parent, your personal phone number, personal email address, social media account, or any other private means of contact.

2.3 You must not accept a personal contact request from a student or a parent. If a student finds your personal details and contacts you, do not reply. Report it to the Headmaster the same day, and the school will tell the student politely that this is not how we work.

2.4 You must not contact a student outside the school’s stated operating hours, which are TO BE COMPLETED: the hours during which contact with students is permitted. If a student needs something outside those hours, it goes through the school.

2.5 You must not arrange to meet a student, online or in person, outside a scheduled lesson.

2.6 You must not teach a student of this school privately, outside the school, where that student came to you through the school.

2.7 You must tell the Headmaster if you already know a student or their family personally, before you teach them.

2.8 The eighteenth birthday is not a starting gun. Personal contact with a former student who was a child while you taught them raises exactly the same concern after their birthday as before it. Do not begin one.

2.9 If you notice any sign, however small, that a student has become attached to you personally, report it to the Headmaster immediately. This protects you as much as the student.

This means that you should: - Never message a student from your own phone or your own account. - Reply to everything through the school, even when a private reply would be faster. - Tell the school the same day a student tries to reach you personally. - Refuse a private tutoring request from a school student and say why.

Part 3: The lesson itself

3.1 You must join every lesson at least five minutes early, with your equipment already tested.

3.2 You must check your camera, microphone and connection before the lesson, not during it.

3.3 You must keep your camera on for the whole lesson, with your face clearly visible and lit. A student cannot learn a language from a black square.

3.4 You must teach from a living or communal room. Never from a bedroom.

3.5 You must check what is behind you: photographs, artwork, mirrors, documents, anything that identifies where you live. Keep the background plain, or blur it.

3.6 You must be alone in the room, in a quiet space, free from interruption.

3.7 You must not continue a lesson if a student appears in a state of undress, or if anything in their surroundings gives you concern. End the lesson, politely, and report it.

3.8 You should raise any problem with a student’s dress, room or behaviour with them at the time, politely and directly, and end the lesson if it is not resolved.

3.9 You must record the date, start time, finish time and attendance of every lesson, in the school’s own system. There is no register on a wall here, so the record is the only proof a lesson happened.

This means that you should: - Sit down five minutes early with the camera already on. - Look behind you before you press join. - End a lesson rather than teach through something that worries you. - Log the lesson the moment it ends, not at the end of the week.

Part 4: One to one lessons

One to one teaching is where an online school carries its greatest risk. These rules are not negotiable.

4.1 You must not teach a child one to one without the school knowing in advance that the lesson is happening and why.

4.2 For a child, a parent or another responsible adult must be present in the room or within earshot for the whole lesson. For a younger child, in the room.

4.3 If no adult is present, you must ask the child whether they are comfortable to continue, and must end the lesson if they are not.

4.4 A member of the school’s senior staff may join any lesson at any time, unannounced. This is the online equivalent of a head teacher opening a classroom door. Expect it and do not treat it as a criticism.

4.5 You must not use breakout rooms with children unless a second adult is supervising, because you cannot be in two rooms at once.

This means that you should: - Confirm an adult is present before the lesson starts. - Say hello to the parent at the start so they know you know they are there. - Never object to a senior member of staff joining.

Part 5: Recordings

Recording a lesson does not prevent harm. It is a study aid and a record, nothing more. Do not treat it as a safeguard.

5.1 You must not record any lesson with a child unless the school has approved it and the parent has given written consent using the school’s consent form.

5.2 You must start recordings only through the school’s own platform, never on your own device, your own phone, or any separate recording tool.

5.3 You must not download, copy, store, edit or share a recording. Recordings stay where the school puts them.

5.4 You must not take a photograph or a screenshot of a student for any reason.

5.5 You must tell the participants at the start of a lesson that it is being recorded.

5.6 If you believe a student or a parent is recording the lesson, you must end the lesson immediately and report it.

5.7 Recordings are kept for TO BE COMPLETED: the number of days recordings are kept, and then deleted. If a parent withdraws consent, that lesson’s recording is deleted.

5.8 You must not record a conversation in which a student tells you something has happened to them. Write it down afterwards instead. See Part 8.

This means that you should: - Check the consent status before you press record. - Say out loud, every time, that the lesson is being recorded. - Never keep a copy of anything, for any reason, including your own development.

Part 6: The technology itself

The features of a video platform are not neutral. Each of these is a rule, not a suggestion.

6.1 You must not share a lesson link with anyone, including a parent who asks for it. Links come from the school.

6.2 You must admit students one at a time, checking each name against your register. Never admit everyone at once.

6.3 If a name in the waiting room does not match your register, ask them to change it. If they will not, do not admit them, and report it.

6.4 You must lock the room once everyone has arrived.

6.5 You must turn off private messaging between participants. Anything said in a lesson should be visible to everyone in it.

6.6 You must not send the chat log to anyone after a lesson. It may contain messages the recipient is not entitled to see.

6.7 You should share your screen rarely, and never show anything containing another student’s personal details.

6.8 You must set the meeting so participants cannot record it, and remind them at the start not to.

6.9 You must use school accounts and, where provided, school devices. Never a personal account.

6.10 You must not store any student information on a personal device, and must not use an open public wireless network to teach.

6.11 You must not share your login with anyone, including family.

6.12 You must get approval before using any new tool, app or website with students. The school has to check it first.

This means that you should: - Read every name in the waiting room before clicking admit. - Lock the room as a habit, every lesson. - Ask before you introduce a new app, even a free one.

Part 7: Confidentiality

7.1 You must keep anything you learn about a student or their family confidential.

7.2 You must not discuss a student, by name or in a way that identifies them, in any group chat, social media, or conversation outside the school.

7.3 You must not promise a student that you will keep something secret. If a student begins to tell you something serious, tell them plainly and kindly that you may need to pass it to someone who can help.

7.4 Confidentiality never outranks a child’s safety. See Part 8.

This means that you should: - Say “I cannot promise to keep that secret, but I will make sure the right person helps” before a child tells you something. - Never post about a lesson, a student or a family anywhere.

Part 8: Raising a concern

8.1 If you believe a child is at immediate risk of harm, act immediately. Contact the emergency services in the student’s own location if you can, and tell the safeguarding lead the same hour.

8.2 For any other concern about a child’s safety, tell the safeguarding lead within twenty four hours.

8.3 The safeguarding lead is TO BE COMPLETED: name, role, email and phone of the safeguarding lead.

8.4 The deputy, for use when the concern involves the lead, is TO BE COMPLETED: name, role, email and phone of the deputy safeguarding lead.

8.5 You must also report a low level concern: anything that leaves you uneasy about another adult’s behaviour, even if you cannot say why, and even if it seems too small to mention. Being over friendly, having a favourite, being alone with a child behind a closed door, a joke that sat wrong. Small does not mean unimportant. It means early.

8.6 You may report a concern about yourself. If you find you have been in a situation that could be misread, or you think you fell below this Code, say so. Self reporting is treated as good practice, not as an admission.

8.7 When you write a concern down, record only what was said and what you saw. Not what you concluded, not what you assumed. Facts survive scrutiny. Interpretations do not.

8.8 You must not investigate yourself. Do not question the child further, do not confront the adult, do not look for evidence. Report it and stop.

8.9 If you believe the school has not acted on your concern, you must escalate it outside the school, to the relevant child protection authority in the student’s own location.

8.10 You must tell the Headmaster if you are charged with, cautioned for, or convicted of any criminal offence during your engagement.

This means that you should: - Report the small thing on the same day you notice it. - Write “she said her uncle shouts at her”, not “I think there is trouble at home”. - Report a concern about yourself before someone else does.

Part 9: Breaches

9.1 Breaches are handled according to how serious they are, not according to who noticed them.

9.2 A minor breach, such as being late without notice or a lapse of professional language, is dealt with by a conversation with the Headmaster and a note on file.

9.3 A repeated minor breach becomes serious. The pattern is the problem, not any single instance.

9.4 A serious breach, including any breach of Part 2, Part 4, Part 5 or Part 8, may end your engagement immediately.

9.5 Where a breach concerns the safety of a child, the school will suspend you from teaching while it establishes the facts. A suspension is not a finding against you. It exists to protect the student and to protect you.

9.6 The school will not stop looking into a concern because a teacher resigns.

9.7 You must cooperate with any enquiry, and answer fully and promptly.

9.8 Where a breach may be a criminal offence, the school will report it to the police or the relevant authority.

Acknowledgement

Teacher Code of Conduct, version 1.0

The full Code is above and on the school’s website at /conduct. This page is what you are signing.

I will:

  • Treat every student with respect, whatever their age or background.
  • Keep every communication inside the school’s own channels.
  • Teach from a communal room, on camera, appropriately dressed, with a plain background.
  • Arrive at least five minutes early with my equipment tested.
  • Admit students one at a time, checking each name, and lock the room.
  • Record every lesson’s date, time and attendance in the school’s system.
  • Make sure an adult is present or within earshot for a one to one lesson with a child.
  • Tell the participants, every time, when a lesson is being recorded.
  • Report any safeguarding concern to the safeguarding lead within twenty four hours.
  • Report a low level concern, including one about myself, and write down only what was said and seen.
  • Tell the school if I am charged with, cautioned for, or convicted of any offence.
  • Cooperate fully with any enquiry.

I will not:

  • Give a student or parent my personal contact details, or accept theirs.
  • Contact a student outside the school’s operating hours or outside a scheduled lesson.
  • Meet a student, online or in person, outside a scheduled lesson.
  • Teach a school student privately outside the school.
  • Record a lesson without approval and written parental consent, or on my own equipment.
  • Download, copy, edit, share or keep any recording, or take a photograph of a student.
  • Share a lesson link, admit everyone at once, or send a chat log afterwards.
  • Promise a student that I will keep something secret.
  • Investigate a concern myself.
  • Teach under the influence of alcohol or any illegal substance.

Agreement

My signature confirms that I have read this Code of Conduct in full, that I have had the opportunity to ask questions about it, and that I agree to follow it for as long as I teach for this school, including any future version issued to me.

I understand that acting against this Code, or failing to do something it requires of me, may end my engagement with the school, and that a matter concerning the safety of a child may be reported to the police or the relevant authority.

Printed name
Role
Signature
Date

For the school

Received by, printed name
Role
Signature
Date

The signed original is kept by the school. A copy is sent to the teacher.

Return this page to info@banadirschool.com.

Download the code to sign

Teachers sign the acknowledgement on the last page before teaching their first lesson. This is the same document as a PDF, ready to print or fill in on screen.

Download the PDFPDF, 9 pages