Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 2026
Summary for parents: This website is designed for classroom use only. Your child's teacher uses it to run live spelling tests: the teacher sends a word and each child types their spelling on their own screen. We only use children's first names, what they type during the current test, and some in-app extras like reward tokens and the stickers they choose to decorate their own seat - no surnames, emails, or other personal details. Each child has their own PIN code to log in, and on their own screen they only see their own name. Your child's school or educator is responsible for their data and has an agreement with us about how it's protected.
A note on terminology: Throughout this policy, we use "school" to refer to any organisation or individual using the Service (including schools, tutoring practices, home educators, and other educational settings). Similarly, "school lead" means the account administrator, and "teacher" means any staff member with a teaching role on the platform.
Who we are
Mr Sear's Spelling is a web-based live spelling test application created and operated by Daniel Sear. The Service is invite-only - access is provided by Sear Education to schools, tutors, home educators, and other educational professionals.
Mr Sear's Spelling is a sister product of Mr Sear's MTC, run by the same people. The two share one account and pupil system: teachers use the same email and password for both, and schools, classes, teachers, pupils, class logins and pupil PINs are shared, so a pupil added once appears in both and is the same child in both. Learning information is kept separate: Spelling does not read or change MTC's maths results.
When your organisation uses this service:
- Your organisation is the "data controller" - they decide to use the app and are responsible for the data
- Mr Sear's Spelling is the "data processor" - we handle the data on the organisation's behalf, following their instructions
Organisations using this service are covered by our Data Processing Agreement which sets out how we protect and handle data.
Lawful basis for processing
The lawful basis for processing depends on your setting:
- Schools - Processing is necessary for the school to perform its task of providing education (public task, UK GDPR Article 6(1)(e)). Schools do not need parental consent to use educational tools, but parents are informed about data use through the school's privacy notice.
- Tutors, home educators, and other settings - Processing is necessary for the purposes of providing the educational service (legitimate interests, UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f)). Where appropriate, consent may also be relied upon.
Information we collect about children
We use the following information about children. Most of it is part of the pupil record shared with Mr Sear's MTC:
- First names - We ask schools to enter first names only. The app is built around first names and does not need surnames or full names, and it shows a warning if a name looks like it includes a surname.
- Individual PIN codes - A unique 4-digit code for each child to log in securely. PINs are kept in a store only teachers can reach, never on the pupil's own record.
- Display alias - A friendly generic username (e.g., "Star", "Moon")
- Seat position - Where the child sits on the class seating plan
- Attendance for the day - Whether the child is marked absent or present
- Display preferences - If a child turns on options like a dyslexia-friendly font, larger text or higher contrast, that choice is saved to their record so it stays on for them next time.
- Seat designs - Children can decorate their own seat by choosing a background colour and stickers from a fixed set. They cannot upload anything or type their own text, a seat design is only seen within the child's own class, and it is the same design in both apps.
- In-app rewards - Children earn tokens by taking part, which they spend on sticker packs and colour sets for their seat. In Spelling, from 27 September 2026, a finished test counts towards tokens when at least 30% of the child's answers were right. At most 2 counted sessions a day count across Spelling and MTC together, and 8 counted sessions earn a token. Teachers can also award tokens or prizes.
- Spelling session information - During a live test: the word the teacher has sent, the list of words sent in the current test, each child's status (ready, waiting, testing, correct, incorrect), what the child typed for the current word, whether they got it right, when they started typing, and whether their screen is connected. This is cleared when the teacher ends or resets the test.
- Pupil groups (optional) - Whether a child is recorded as pupil premium, SEND or EAL. This is added only by the school's own teachers and is never shown to pupils. We record only whether a child is in each group and nothing more (no diagnoses, no notes, no detail). Schools choose whether to use this at all.
About pupil groups: Pupil premium, SEND and EAL status is more sensitive than the other information here, so it is handled with extra care: only the school's teachers can set it, it never appears on any pupil's screen, and only the fact of membership is stored.
About spelling results: Spelling does not keep a long-term history of spelling results on our servers. The teacher can download the current test's results as an Excel file to their own computer.
Information we collect about teachers
Teachers use the same account for Mr Sear's Spelling and Mr Sear's MTC. We collect:
- Email address - Used for account login and invitations
- Display name - The name shown for your account
- Class information - Which class(es) you manage
- Organisation membership - Which school or organisation you belong to
Passwords are handled by Google Firebase Authentication. Because this is the same shared account described in Mr Sear's MTC's privacy policy, the security records kept for teacher accounts are set out there.
What we do NOT collect about children
- Email addresses
- Surnames or full names
- Home addresses
- Photographs
- Dates of birth
How we protect the information
- Individual PIN codes - Each child has their own unique 4-digit PIN to log in, so they only ever enter as themselves
- Class login - Children sign in with their class login as well as their own PIN, and these are only shared with the class
- Privacy-protected names - On a child's waiting and typing screens, they see only their own name
- Secure storage - Data is stored securely using Google Firebase: main data in Firestore (London, UK), with Realtime Database (Belgium, EU) used only to check the connection is live
- No outside scripts - Fonts, icons and libraries are served from the Spelling site itself, not loaded from other services
- Educational use only - Data is used exclusively for educational purposes
Who can see the information
- The classroom teacher - Can see all children's names, status and results in their class
- School leads - Can see the classes in their school
- Children in the class - Sign in as themselves and see only their own name on their waiting and typing screens
- Sear Education staff - Only where necessary for operating or supporting the Service
The class login and individual PINs are only shared with the class for educational use and should not be shared outside the classroom.
Third-party services
This website uses the following services:
- Google Firebase Firestore - Main database (London, UK)
- Google Firebase Realtime Database - Used only to check the connection is live (Belgium, EU)
- Google Firebase Authentication - Teacher and pupil sign-in
- Google Firebase Hosting - Serves the website
- Google Cloud Functions - Checking class logins and PINs, and signing devices out (may process data outside the UK/EU, with appropriate safeguards)
- Zoho Mail - Invitation emails to teachers are sent through the shared account system via Zoho Mail (teacher email addresses only)
Spelling loads no scripts or fonts from outside services while you use it: fonts, icons and libraries (including the Excel export and QR codes) are served from the Spelling site itself. No children's data is shared with any third-party services beyond what is necessary for secure storage and sign-in. Where data may be processed outside the UK, appropriate safeguards are in place.
Children's privacy (UK Children's Code)
This website is designed with children's privacy in mind:
- Minimal data collection - only what's needed for the live spelling tests
- No advertising or tracking
- No chat or messaging between children
- Individual PIN codes - each child has their own secure login
- Seat designs use a fixed set of stickers and colours, with no uploads or typed text
- Class login and PIN protection to prevent unauthorised access
- Data can be deleted upon request
Browser storage
This website stores some information locally on your device (in your browser's storage):
- Theme, motion and reading preferences
- The remembered class and a device pass, so a pupil can go straight to entering their PIN
- Login session information (so you don't have to log in every time)
- A small tally of the current Spelling test on the pupil's device (used for seat tokens), cleared when the test ends
You can clear this at any time by clearing your browser data.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:
- Request access to your child's data (or your own data if you are a teacher)
- Request correction of any inaccurate data
- Request deletion of your child's data (or your own account)
- Withdraw consent at any time
Data retention
- Spelling session information - Cleared when the teacher ends or resets the test. Results the teacher downloads are saved to their own computer.
- Names and other shared pupil details - Retained for the duration of the school's active subscription
- Teacher accounts - Retained while the account is active; deleted upon request
If a child leaves the class, their data will be removed upon request.
When a school's subscription ends or is not renewed, the school's account is deleted by the service administrator (see below).
Deletion and recovery
Because schools, classes and pupils are shared with Mr Sear's MTC, the steps below apply to the shared records in both products.
Classes: When a school lead or teacher deletes a class:
- The class is immediately removed from view
- All associated data is retained securely for 30 days in case of accidental deletion
- After 30 days, all data is permanently and automatically deleted and cannot be recovered
- If a deletion was made in error, contact info@mrsearmtc.uk within 30 days to request restoration
Schools: When a school's account is deleted by the service administrator:
- The school and all its classes are immediately removed from view
- Teachers are unassigned from the school and are free to join another school - their accounts are not deleted
- All associated data (classes, pupil names and other pupil details) is retained securely for 30 days in case of accidental deletion
- After 30 days, all data is permanently and automatically deleted and cannot be recovered
- If a deletion was made in error, contact info@mrsearmtc.uk within 30 days to request restoration
Teachers: When a school lead removes a teacher, the teacher's account and access are deleted immediately and permanently. When a teacher deletes their own account through the Service settings, their account is also deleted immediately and permanently. Security records for the shared account are kept for a limited time, as set out in Mr Sear's MTC's privacy policy.
Contact
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or wish to exercise your rights (such as requesting deletion of your child's data):
- For organisation-related queries - Contact your school or educator directly, as they are the data controller
- For technical or service queries - Contact Sear Education at info@mrsearmtc.uk
Changes to this policy
This privacy policy may be updated from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes.
Back to Classroom