Responsible use
Using AI responsibly with young children
These safeguards are built into the prompts behind every tool — and they are also a checklist for you before anything leaves this app.
AI drafts, the educator decides
Nothing here is a finished document. Every output is a first draft to be read, corrected and owned by the adult who knows the child. If a plan does not match the children in front of you, the plan is wrong — not the children.
Verify curriculum and policy claims
The assistant is told to flag CAPS links, phase expectations and referral routes as needing verification. Check them against your current CAPS documents, your school's assessment policy and your district's procedures. These differ by province and change over time.
Protect children's information
You never need a learner's full name, ID number, address, medical details or photograph to use these tools. Use initials and describe needs instead. Saved work is private to your account and is not shared with other users.
No diagnosis, ever
The assistant will not label a child as dyslexic, autistic, ADHD or delayed. It describes what you can observe and points you to the correct referral path — usually your school-based support team, a speech-language therapist or an educational psychologist.
Watch for bias
Language models are trained mostly on English, Northern-hemisphere material. Suggestions can assume resources, family structures or home languages that do not match a South African classroom. That is why the forms ask what you actually have, and why home-language checks are built into the guidance.
Kindness is a requirement, not a tone setting
Parent messages are written to be honest without blaming a family's circumstances. If a draft reads as judgemental, do not send it — regenerate it with a warmer tone or rewrite it yourself.
What this assistant cannot do
- It does not know your children, your class, your school or your term plan — only what you type.
- It can state something wrong with complete confidence. Confidence is not accuracy.
- Its knowledge has a cut-off date, so it can miss recent curriculum or policy changes.
- It cannot see a child, hear speech, or assess hearing, vision or motor skills.
- It should never be the only voice in a decision about a child's progression, placement or support.
Privacy in practice
What you type is sent to an AI service to produce the answer. Write as if the note could be read by someone outside the school — because in effect, it is processed outside it.
| Write this | Not this |
|---|---|
| “T., Grade R, still confusing s and sh” | “Thandiwe Nkosi, 5, ID 20190…” |
| “One learner needs movement breaks” | “Sipho is on Ritalin for ADHD” |
| “Parent works night shift, grandmother helps” | Family address, employer, phone number |
| Describe behaviour you observed | Paste a medical or psychological report |
A three-question check before you use a draft
1. Is anything here a fact I should verify against CAPS or school policy? 2. Would I be comfortable if a parent read exactly these words? 3. Does it fit the children I actually teach, with the resources I actually have?