The Bible Home Tutors
Keeping children safe
A tutor comes into your home to teach your child. This page says exactly how we keep your child safe while they do. The best interests of the child come first, always.
If a child is in danger right now
Call for help first:
- The Police, onward to the Attorney General of Lagos StateCall 112The report is made to the office of the Attorney General of the State. In practice it goes first through the police and then to the Ministry of Justice.
- Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, Lagos StateCall 08000 333 333A reporting channel and a first responder in its own right.
- A medical or health care centreHealth centres serve both as a reporting channel and as first responders, and are often the right first call where a child needs care.
Then tell us: call 09131132071.
The eight rules every tutor signs
Every tutor signs our Child Protection Policy before meeting a single child. The rules do not bend for a family who asks, for a tutor in a hurry, or for a child who is disappointed.
Rule 1
A responsible adult is in the house
Not necessarily in the room, but in the house, awake, and aware the tutor is there. With no adult at home the tutor does not teach. A parent cannot give a tutor permission to break this rule.
Rule 2
The door stays open
Every lesson, every time. If the only quiet room is out of earshot of the adults, the lesson happens somewhere less quiet.
Rule 3
Nothing is secret
A tutor never agrees to keep anything from a child’s parents, however small. If a child asks them to, the tutor says they cannot promise that.
Rule 4
A tutor never contacts a child directly
No phone numbers, no messages and no social media with a child. Everything goes through the parent.
Rule 5
Physical contact stays where anyone can see it
Nothing that would look wrong to a stranger watching through the window.
Rule 6
No photographs, no gifts, no money
A tutor never photographs a child, and never gives or accepts a gift or money. Photographs come only from a parent, with their written permission.
Rule 7
A tutor reports the same day
If a child says somebody is hurting them, the tutor listens, does not promise silence, writes down the child’s words and reports it that day. The tutor never decides alone whether it is serious enough.
Rule 8
Sensitive subjects are never taught alone
Anything touching the body or purity is taught with a parent in the room, from a script we supply. There are no exceptions.
What the platform will not let happen
Rules that depend on somebody remembering them are not enough. These are built into the system itself, so they hold on a busy day as well as a quiet one.
- A lesson cannot be written up until the tutor has recorded whether an adult was at home. With no adult at home there is no lesson, and the tutor is still paid for the journey, so nobody is ever tempted to teach anyway.
- A lesson on the body or purity cannot be recorded as taught unless a parent was there.
- Children have no accounts with us: no login, no phone number and no email address. There is no way for a tutor to message a child through the platform.
- A tutor cannot see your phone number or your address beyond what they need to reach your gate, and you only ever see your tutor’s first name.
- You get a text when the tutor arrives and when they leave, and a written report after every lesson. You confirm each lesson happened, or tell us if something was wrong.
- Every online lesson is recorded from start to finish. No recording, no lesson.
- Before teaching any child, every tutor is interviewed, has their identity documents checked, is vouched for by referees we contact ourselves, gives a guarantor, signs this policy and passes our safeguarding training.
- An independent safeguarding referee, from outside the ministry, is told about every serious concern at the same time as our coordinators. Nobody can quietly decide it was nothing.
- Two serious concerns about the same tutor pause that tutor from teaching automatically while they are looked into. That is a precaution, not a finding against the tutor.
- If a child tells anyone that they are being harmed, it is reported to the authorities, as the law requires. It is not something we weigh up or keep inside the ministry.
If you are worried about anything
Tell us, even if you are not sure, and even if it seems small. A concern is never treated as an accusation, and you do not have to decide how serious it is: that is our job. Call 09131132071, or sign in and use Raise a concern on your page.
Read the full policy
The policy every tutor signs is short, four pages, and you are welcome to read all of it. This is version 1.0. Since it was written, the legal duty to report harm to the authorities has been built into how we work, as described above, and the document is being updated to say so.