Network governance handbook

1. Responsibilities

Example Co supplies its agreed programme licences and software. Independent teaching providers supply tuition and run their own sessions, staff and premises. Permission to use RTL programmes is not certification of a provider, tutor or venue. RTL remains responsible for its own products, representations and data duties.

2. Provider identity and lawful operation

Operators must show parents their actual legal supplier, contacts and any separate venue host or collection agent before enrolment. Keep organisation and all location records current. Schools follow the same operator terms. Providers must satisfy applicable local laws and maintain insurance required by law and their agreed schedule. Overseas providers must assess local rules; UK registration and DBS terminology must not be presented as universal requirements.

3. Honest representation and licensed use

Operators, tutors and partners must state their actual role and authority, use licensed materials and approved branding within their permissions, and make truthful claims. Do not promise guaranteed outcomes, unsupported verification or authority to bind RTL. Parents must use household materials within L01. Users retain ownership and rights in their independent work and personal information as applicable; programme rights remain with RTL or its licensors.

4. Cooperation and standards

Provide necessary, proportionate information about compliance with your licence and report material changes affecting lawful access. Providers retain local checks and operational evidence. Do not routinely send criminal-record documents to RTL. RTL may decide access and licensing consequences under G07; that does not transfer management of tuition to RTL.

5. Fair treatment and hierarchy

Everyone must respect others' dignity, privacy and lawful rights. Good-faith complaints, lawful criticism and whistleblowing are protected. The accepted role terms and applicable commercial/data schedules determine obligations and take precedence as stated there; governance does not create undisclosed prices. Local rules may add practical arrangements but cannot remove statutory rights or weaken incorporated standards. G06 covers reporting, G07 restrictions and G08 exit. Only the modules listed with a person's role acceptance bind that person contractually.

1. Local accountability

The teaching provider must establish safeguarding arrangements appropriate to its learners, activities, premises and local law before teaching. It must identify a responsible safeguarding contact and an alternative route if that person is unavailable or implicated. A sole provider must give families a credible alternative reporting route. RTL sets licence conditions; it does not recruit or check tutors, supervise sessions or act as the local safeguarding service.

2. Recruitment and eligibility

The provider must assess each role, complete legally required checks and suitability steps lawfully before relevant activity, and prevent ineligible or barred individuals undertaking it. Assess identity, references, required qualifications, relevant overseas history and right to work as applicable. Keep evidence securely with justified access and retention. Assess rechecking on relevant changes and local requirements, rather than relying indefinitely on an old certificate.

For England and Wales use the current regulated-activity rules, including the removal of the relevant supervision exemption from 1 September 2026. Assess the specific role; do not infer that all volunteers are automatically eligible for every check. Scotland and Northern Ireland require their own current assessment and routes. Overseas providers use local requirements. Do not request a higher-level check without eligibility or routine upload of certificates to RTL.

3. Preventing harm

Provide staff with induction, proportionate training, reporting routes and supervision appropriate to their responsibilities. Apply G03 boundaries and G05 session arrangements. Consider abuse, neglect, bullying, discrimination, online contact, exploitation and risks arising from lone working. Agree reasonable adjustments without excusing unsafe or discriminatory treatment. Make arrangements known to parents and explain safe reporting to children in an age-appropriate way.

4. Responding to concerns

Take immediate steps within your role to protect a child, contact emergency or local protection services when appropriate, and make required referrals without waiting for RTL. Listen without leading questions, record facts and the child's words accurately, and do not promise secrecy or undertake your own criminal investigation. Share only necessary information through secure routes. Allegations involving the safeguarding contact must use the alternative route.

5. Network notification

Notify RTL through the restricted concern route of matters materially affecting professional access, programme use or brand permission. Protect the child and any official investigation when deciding what may be shared. RTL may preserve evidence and consider G07 restrictions without finding criminal guilt. Providers and tutors must cooperate with lawful authority requests and must not retaliate against reporters. Retain sensitive concern files separately from routine progress records under a lawful local schedule.

1. Respect and professional boundaries

Tutors and other adults acting professionally must treat children, families, colleagues and RTL staff respectfully. No threats, humiliation, discriminatory abuse, bullying, corporal punishment, sexual conduct with children, grooming or exploitation is permitted. Do not use gifts, secrets, favouritism or private contact to create an inappropriate relationship. Respectful conduct also applies to RTL's dealings with providers and families.

2. Contact and communication

Use authorised professional communication routes. Do not arrange secret or inappropriate private contact with children, use personal social-media contact to bypass safeguards, or disclose private learner information. One-to-one teaching, transport, physical assistance and personal care must follow the provider's risk assessment, applicable law and agreed family arrangements. Physical contact must be necessary, appropriate and consistent with safeguarding and law, never punishment or intimidation.

3. Images, records and teaching

Do not photograph, record or publish a child without the required lawful basis, permissions and clear purpose. Optional publicity is separate from learning. Do not pressure children or parents to agree. Keep observations accurate and relevant; distinguish observed fact from interpretation. Do not falsify records, misrepresent qualifications or claim RTL has vetted you. Use accessible, age-appropriate teaching and reasonable adjustments.

4. Reporting and cooperation

Raise concerns under G06 and local safeguarding procedures. Do not retaliate, coach accounts, destroy evidence or obstruct a lawful report. An unproven allegation is not automatically malicious. Deliberately fabricated reports may be considered only on evidence, not because a complaint is inconvenient. Confidentiality protects privacy but does not prevent protected disclosures or lawful criticism. G07 determines RTL access consequences; providers separately address employment or tuition decisions lawfully.

1. Working together

Parents, tutors and RTL staff should speak respectfully and listen to concerns. Parents must not threaten, harass or abuse other families, tutors or staff. Tutors and providers owe the same respect to parents and children. You may complain, disagree, leave a lawful review or report a concern in good faith.

2. Helping your child participate

Give your provider necessary attendance, collection and emergency information and tell it about relevant changes. Agree reasonable adjustments and any support your child needs. Follow the provider's lawful collection and session arrangements, supplied with its tuition terms. These local duties do not make RTL responsible for running sessions. Do not share another child's image or private information without lawful permission.

3. For learners

Be kind. Give others a chance to learn. Use materials and devices carefully. Tell a trusted adult if you feel worried, hurt or left out. You can ask for help and take a break as agreed with the adult looking after the session. Adults should explain expectations in a way you understand and help you follow them.

4. When something goes wrong

Providers must consider age, disability, additional needs and the circumstances before responding to behaviour. No humiliating punishment or automatic exclusion because of a disability is allowed. Immediate protective action may be needed for a safety concern, followed by a fair assessment and reasonable adjustments. G06 explains concerns and G07 covers RTL access decisions. Children do not personally accept adult contractual liability through this code.

1. Before opening a session

The provider must assess whether its actual activities, ages and hours require registration, permission or other local compliance as tuition, childcare or a school. Check the rules of the relevant UK nation or overseas jurisdiction. A programme licence is not regulatory permission. Register each location in the app and maintain the L07 location information, including for home and shared venues.

2. People and supervision

Provide staffing, competence and supervision suitable for the learners and activity under local law and risk assessment. Record attendance and handover, authorised collectors and emergency contacts. Establish action for an uncollected or missing child. Staff must know who is responsible throughout arrivals, sessions, breaks and departure. Do not leave children with unauthorised adults or assume a venue host provides supervision.

3. Premises and health

Assess safe entry, exits, fire, evacuation, first aid, accessibility, toilets, visitors, equipment and foreseeable hazards. Allocate premises duties with the host without displacing either party's legal duties. For homes assess household members, private areas, pets and visitors. Obtain necessary landlord, insurer and other permissions. Handle allergies, medicines, illness and personal care under appropriate local arrangements and privacy safeguards. Do not put sensitive details into unrestricted learner notes.

4. Online and individual teaching

Assess platform access, appropriate visibility, recording, communication routes, one-to-one boundaries and action if a child reports harm remotely. Explain any parent supervision expected before sessions. Do not record by default or move children to unapproved private communication channels. Consider lone-working and transport risks where relevant.

5. Incidents and review

Stop unsafe activity, seek emergency help where needed, record material facts and make required local reports. Follow G02/G06 for protection concerns and notify RTL of matters affecting licence or network access. Review arrangements after a significant incident, venue change or material activity change and at locally appropriate intervals. The provider performs and owns these operational tasks; RTL's location record is not an inspection or safety certificate.

1. Where to raise a concern

For RTL programme, account or billing concerns use website or in-app Help at https://rtlclubs.vercel.app/contact and its contact form. Select "Programme or app", "Billing", "Tuition provider" or "Concern about a child or tutor". If the form is unavailable or unsuitable, email help@rtlclubs.com or write to [Correspondence address to be confirmed]. Sensitive concerns use help@rtlclubs.com. These routes and their accessibility must be verified before publication. Help is not an emergency service and no round-the-clock monitoring is promised.

For tuition, the named provider's contact is in your tuition agreement. You may report directly to RTL without first confronting a provider or tutor. In immediate danger in the UK call 999; overseas use the local emergency number. Contact appropriate local child-protection services or police where needed. Do not wait for an RTL reply or internal review before making a necessary external report.

2. What happens to a report

Give enough information to identify the concern and affected service, including dates where known. Do not send unnecessary criminal-record or medical documents. RTL will route reports to people who need them, distinguish local tuition matters from its own service and network-access decisions, and consider conflicts of interest. Local providers and competent authorities handle local safeguarding duties. RTL remains responsible for duties applicable to its own actions and data.

RTL will assess available information, preserve relevant evidence, request clarification where appropriate and explain the next step so far as safe and lawful. Anonymous reports may be considered, although missing information can limit action. Confidentiality will be respected but absolute secrecy cannot be promised where protection or legal duties require disclosure. No response deadline is invented here; publish realistic contact arrangements when resourcing is confirmed.

3. Fairness and review

RTL will distinguish allegations, established facts and network judgements. Where a concern may justify restriction, G07 applies. The person concerned should normally receive sufficient information to respond, with protective redactions or delayed disclosure where necessary. Complainants may ask for review of complaint handling through help@rtlclubs.com, without entitlement to another person's confidential records. An available person uninvolved in the original decision should review conflicts and material issues.

4. Protection for reporting

Good-faith complaints, whistleblowing, lawful criticism and reports to regulators or police are not prohibited by confidentiality or brand clauses. No retaliation is permitted. Failure to substantiate a report does not make it malicious. A finding of intentional fabrication requires evidence and fair consideration. Anyone may seek legal advice or use available external remedies without completing this procedure. Store sensitive reports separately with restricted access and lawful retention.

1. Purpose and grounds

RTL may restrict its software, programme licences and brand permissions to address an identified material breach, unlawful use, unauthorised data access or serious credible concern about continued professional access. It acts on its own services and permissions, not as an authority closing independent tuition businesses or deciding criminal guilt. A complaint count alone is not a removal rule.

2. Temporary protection

An authorised decision maker may impose immediate temporary restrictions where a serious credible concern creates a risk that cannot reasonably wait. Record the information considered, credibility and severity, affected permissions, why a lesser measure is insufficient, decision maker, time and review trigger. Consider urgency, corroboration and possible mistaken identity; do not require final proof before a necessary temporary protective step. Revisit restrictions as relevant information arrives and avoid open-ended suspension without active review.

3. Response and permanent decisions

Give reasons and sufficient relevant information for a response where safe and lawful. Explain withheld information in general terms when possible. Consider the response and material exculpatory information. Proposed permanent-removal criteria, subject to management approval before activation: substantiated serious misconduct or material licence/data misuse; a material remediable breach not corrected after reasonable warning; or a documented continuing serious risk for which proportionate lesser restrictions cannot adequately protect users or lawful service operation. Repeated substantiated breaches may be relevant; duplicate reports are not separate incidents. No one-complaint or three-complaint automatic threshold applies.

Document the grounds, evidence assessment, alternatives, scope and reasons. Distinguish the contractual access judgement from allegations of criminal conduct. Do not publish allegations as proved facts. A lawful report or critical review is not itself a ground for removal.

4. Scope and accounts

Removing a tutor means all professional access across the RTL network. Do not allow re-entry through another club or role while that restriction remains. Preserve independently justified parent access unless a separate decision explains why it too must be restricted. Organisation restrictions must identify the organisation and affected users rather than treating every parent as culpable. Keep Help, review contact and appropriate billing information available through a usable route.

Conduct state is separate from paid/unpaid state. Record payments accurately. A renewal, repayment or purchase restoration cannot clear a conduct restriction. Restrict only permissions justified by the decision and protect evidence and lawful learner records. Do not implement unexplained blank screens as an enforcement notice.

5. Review

The affected person may ask help@rtlclubs.com for review, explaining any error, new evidence or disproportionate effect. Provide the request route with the decision. An available reviewer uninvolved in the original decision should reassess relevant grounds and conflicts; arrange suitable independent input if no such internal person is available. Do not invent a staffed appeals panel or fixed turnaround. A late request with a reasonable explanation should still be considered. Give the outcome and reasons where safe. Restrictions may continue during review where justified, but must be reconsidered if the risk changes. External referrals do not wait for review.

6. Money and restoration

Identify the actual payer and affected service. Ending access, cancelling renewal and requesting/refunding payment are separate actions under L10. No tuition refund is promised for money RTL did not collect. Do not automatically cancel unaffected parent subscriptions. Temporary compensation remains a business decision subject to mandatory rights. Restore professional access only after an authorised documented decision that the relevant grounds have been resolved; a payment event is insufficient. Follow G08 for continuity and evidence.

1. Learner continuity

When a tutor leaves, the provider must remove their assignment access and arrange authorised handover. When a provider exits, stop new licensed activity and branded representation, identify affected families and explain the actual change. Do not promise replacement tuition or silently move learners to another provider. Transfer only with appropriate authority, lawful basis and permissions. Keep child-protection files separate from ordinary learning history.

2. Records and completed work

Do not erase original learner records, falsify progress or withhold records to pressure a payer. Parents and learners may retain lawfully obtained completed work and reports. Ending a licence stops future restricted programme use and commercial copying; it does not claim ownership of a child's work. Departing staff return or securely deal with working copies under applicable lawful instructions, without deleting records held for legitimate continuity or legal duties.

3. History after cancellation

After paid entitlement ends, RTL may make a limited history view available while it continues that service. This is not lifetime access, access to new paid content or a guarantee that every feature remains available. Proposed objective reasons to change or withdraw that view are discontinuation of the history service, a necessary security or legal change, loss of a lawful basis for the relevant access, or inability to maintain the relevant system safely. Mere preference to erase inconvenient records is not a reason.

Before activation approve and disclose [HISTORY AVAILABILITY SCOPE], [NOTICE PERIOD] and [PRACTICAL EXPORT OR COPY ROUTE]. Give advance notice appropriate to the impact and a reasonable opportunity to obtain available records before planned withdrawal. Where law or urgent security prevents advance notice, explain as soon as lawful and safe and provide an appropriate alternative rights route. Do not silently replace an existing permanent-record commitment with this clause; assess existing contracts and rights first.

4. Retention and rights

History display, legal retention and data-subject rights are different. Closing paid access does not itself authorise deletion, and retaining data does not promise continuing app access. L09 and the approved retention schedule govern lawful retention, holds, correction and deletion. Requests may continue through help@rtlclubs.com subject to identity and authority checks. Preserve only data justified by the purpose and law; no indefinite blanket retention is authorised.

5. Exit account treatment

An access decision must identify professional roles, affected organisations, legitimate parent access and the payer. Partner departure does not end independent club contracts or confer rights to learner records. G07 governs network restrictions; L10 governs RTL payment remedies; the separate tuition contract governs tuition consequences. Record handover decisions, authority, access removal, notices and outstanding issues without unnecessary sensitive duplication.