Terms version 2026-08-22-uk-beta-v2
Terms of use
1. Who these terms are with
These terms are between you and Benjamin Bowler, trading as Literacy Guide (“Literacy Guide”, “we”, “us”). Contact: benjamesbowler@gmail.com. If you use the service for a school, you confirm that you are authorised to request access and follow the school’s instructions. If you use a school invitation as a parent or guardian, you confirm that you control the invited email address and will use the account only for the family access the school gives you.
2. The service
Literacy Guide provides early-literacy teaching activities, books, games, assessments, planning and reporting tools. The beta is under active development. Human checking continues on a pass-by-exception basis: current content remains available unless a defect is reported and quarantined.
3. Accounts and child access
- Teacher accounts are for authorised adults and require a real, confirmed email address. Account approval is an access-security decision, not an endorsement or employment check.
- Parent and guardian accounts require a school-created, time-limited invitation sent for a specific learner and a matching confirmed email. The school can revoke the link or withdraw a released report.
- Adults must keep credentials secure, use their own account, report suspected compromise and remove access when it is no longer needed.
- A parent or guardian must not forward an invitation link, share credentials or keep viewing information after they know their authority has changed. They should contact the school to correct or remove a family link.
- Only a school-authorised adult may create a learner profile. Use a first name, chosen name or classroom nickname—never unnecessary identifying details.
- Children use the service under appropriate adult oversight. The service is not an emergency, safeguarding-report or medical system.
- The anonymous try-out must not be used to submit personal information; it offers no saved progress or report.
4. School responsibilities
Before entering real learner data, the school must authorise the service, decide and document its lawful basis, give required child/parent information, complete any required DPIA, select appropriate retention, make reasonable accessibility adjustments, and agree the applicable school data-processing schedule. The school is also responsible for checking the parent or guardian email and authority before creating a family invitation, releasing only an appropriate family report, and revoking access when it changes. A teacher’s personal acceptance of these site terms does not by itself prove that the school has completed those duties.
5. Acceptable use
You must not misuse the service, attempt unauthorised access, test security without written permission, upload malicious material, scrape personal information, identify children in public material, bypass school or account boundaries, infringe rights, or use content to harm, exploit or discriminate against anyone. Do not enter free-form medical, safeguarding or special-category details.
6. Learning information and decisions
Scores, recommendations and reports are aids for qualified adults. They are not diagnoses and must not be the sole basis for a high-stakes placement, exclusion, safeguarding or special-education decision. Teachers remain responsible for professional judgement and checking that an activity suits the learner. Family accounts show only snapshots a school has deliberately released, not the complete school record or live internal notes.
7. Your data and our materials
The school retains its rights in its learner and teacher data and gives Literacy Guide permission to process it only to provide, secure and support the service and meet legal duties. The application, original books, artwork, audio, interface and documentation remain owned by Literacy Guide or their named licensors. During the beta, authorised users receive a limited, revocable, non-transferable right to use them for the school’s internal educational work. You may print provided classroom resources for that purpose, but may not sell, republish or build a competing dataset from them.
8. Availability, changes and support
We aim to keep the beta reliable and secure, but it may change, pause or be withdrawn. We may suspend an account to protect children, data, users or the service, or for serious misuse. Where practicable, schools will be given a reasonable opportunity to export and remove their data. Report errors, security issues and accessibility barriers to the contact above.
9. Responsibility and legal rights
Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or statutory consumer rights. The beta is provided without a promise that it will meet every school policy or produce a particular educational outcome. Each party is responsible for loss it causes through breach, negligence or unlawful conduct, subject to mandatory law.
If you are a consumer, your mandatory rights and the courts available to you are not reduced. Otherwise, these terms and non-contractual disputes are governed by the law of England and Wales and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, unless mandatory law requires another forum.
10. Ending use and changes to terms
You may stop using the beta and ask for account or learner data deletion, subject to lawful record retention. We may end the beta or access for material breach, security, legal or safeguarding reasons. Material terms changes receive a new version and date; continuing account access may require fresh acceptance.
11. Entire terms
These terms, the Privacy Notice, Cookie Notice, Accessibility Statement and any properly agreed school data-processing schedule form the current beta arrangement. A paid order, service level, fee, tax, refund, liability cap or geographic service address is not created by these terms.