Safeguarding

SchoolJewel has been designed from the ground up to give children a calm, safe and distraction-free experience, while giving schools complete control over how it is used. This page explains what we do to safeguard pupils, and what we ask schools to do. How we look after pupil information is set out separately in our Privacy and Cookies Policy and in the School and Trust Compliance Centre.

At a glance

• No chat, messaging, comments or contact between pupils.
• No photos, files or free text. Pupils cannot upload or type anything that anyone else reads.
• No pupil email addresses, and we never contact pupils.
• No adverts, pop-ups, sponsored content or tracking for advertising.
• No in-service purchases. Points are earned through recognition and can never be bought.
• No AI chatbots and no AI-generated content.
• Every message a pupil can send is chosen from a fixed list of kind, pre-approved messages.
• Schools decide how pupils are named, and full names are never needed.

There are no chat rooms, private messages, discussion boards, comments or social features. A pupil cannot send a message to another pupil, to a member of staff, or to us. This prevents unsupervised contact between users.

There are two small ways a pupil can involve another person, and both are tightly limited:

• Sharing a privilege with a friend. A pupil can choose to share a Prize Shop privilege with a classmate from their own class, picked from a list that shows first names and surname initials only. No message is sent, the classmate pays nothing, and the teacher arranges it.
• Saying thank you. See below.

A pupil can spend a few of their own points to thank a member of staff. The pupil never types anything. They choose a teacher and a message from a short list of kind, ready-made messages, for example "Thank you for being patient with me."

• Only staff who have chosen to receive thank-you messages appear in the list, and they can opt out at any time.
• The message can be read by the member of staff it is sent to and by the school leader. It is never public.
• Because the messages are fixed, nothing unkind, personal or inappropriate can be sent.

Every school has its own safeguarding and data protection procedures, and SchoolJewel works alongside them. Schools decide how pupils appear on the platform: first name only, first name and surname initial (for example Alex M.), a class-based identifier (for example Puffin 7), or a full name. We do not need pupils' full names. The platform works in exactly the same way whichever option a school chooses, and we recommend a first name and initial. We do not ask for dates of birth, addresses, photographs or any sensitive information. See the School and Trust Compliance Centre for guidance and printable documents.

• No ranking of pupils. There are no league tables of children. Personal Best compares each pupil only with their own past, so pupils who find school hard can still succeed visibly.
• Fair House competitions. If a school uses Houses, scores are calculated per pupil so smaller groups are not disadvantaged, and no individual pupil is singled out.
• Noticing every pupil. Teachers see a gentle prompt when a pupil has not been recognised recently, so quiet and overlooked pupils are not missed.
• No pressure to spend. Points cannot be bought and there are no countdowns, streak penalties or messages that push children to do more. Celebrations can simply be dismissed.
• Kind, plain language. Messages are positive and written for primary-aged children. Younger pupils (Reception to Year 2) get a larger, simpler layout and a Listen button that reads messages aloud.
• Points are for celebration, not sanctions. Teachers can remove points to correct a mistake and are asked to confirm first. Points must not be used for assessment or behaviour sanctions.
• Schools choose the prizes. Our suggestions favour responsibility, choice, kindness and experiences over sweets and toys. Food ideas carry a reminder to check allergies and dietary needs.

Every request to the platform is checked on the server for a valid login and for ownership of the information involved, so one school can never see another school's pupils.

• Pupils log in with a username and a simple password on a printed card, or by scanning the QR code on it. There are no email accounts for pupils to manage. A pupil account only ever shows that pupil's own points, prizes and messages.
• Teachers' passwords are long, randomly generated, shown once and stored securely. Teacher and pupil accounts cannot reach the website's administration area.
• A teacher can issue a new password at any time, which signs out every open session.
• We ask schools to give each pupil only their own card, to keep spare cards locked away, and to issue a new password straight away if a card is lost or seen by others.

All text on the platform is written by us. Pupils cannot add content, and pupil pages do not show adverts, links to other websites or third-party content. The website uses only basic visit statistics (such as pages viewed), which never include names or anything entered into the platform. Pupil information is stored in the European Union and is never used for marketing, sold or used to train AI.

SchoolJewel supports your safeguarding, behaviour and personal development work. It does not replace it. The school remains responsible for:

• following *Keeping Children Safe in Education* and its own safeguarding and online safety policies;
• supervising pupils when they use the platform, particularly younger pupils;
• deciding which staff have accounts, and removing leavers promptly;
• keeping login cards secure and telling pupils what SchoolJewel is for; and
• never entering sensitive information about a pupil (see the Terms).

• If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
• A concern about a child should go to your school's designated safeguarding lead (DSL). Adults can also call the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000, and children can call Childline on 0800 1111.
• A concern about SchoolJewel itself (for example something inappropriate, an account that seems to have been misused, or a login card seen by the wrong person) should be emailed to info@schooljewel.com with "Safeguarding" in the subject line. We treat these as a priority and aim to reply within one working day.
• If we ever become aware of information suggesting that a child is at risk, we may share relevant information with the school's DSL or with the authorities where the law allows or requires us to.

Safeguarding is not an add-on. It is part of how SchoolJewel was designed. By removing communication features, limiting personal data, eliminating advertising and letting schools control how pupils are identified, we aim to give every child a calm place to be noticed, celebrated and proud of their own progress.