1. Who we are and what this is
HomeCode is provided by Imara Systems Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 16256656, office at 167 - 169 Great Portland Street, London, England, W1W 5PF.
These terms are the agreement between you and us when you use HomeCode. By starting the conversation with us and confirming that you accept these terms, you agree to them. Accepting these terms is separate from agreeing to receive WhatsApp messages and from choosing whether your keyworker is told if you stop engaging. We ask about each of these separately.
HomeCode is currently a pilot, running with a limited number of families in Cambridge. It is being evaluated. That means it may change, and it will end on a planned date, which we will tell you about well in advance.
2. Who HomeCode is for
HomeCode is for families and young people aged 5 to 16 and over, living in temporary accommodation, referred through a housing or family support service.
The person who signs up is the young person's trusted adult: a parent or legal guardian, or someone with parental responsibility — or, where no parent or guardian is involved, their keyworker. A trusted adult must be 18 or over. Where the keyworker is the trusted adult, they take on the WhatsApp correspondence and receive the learning passport and engagement information in place of a parent.
A young person aged 16 or over who has no trusted adult available may take part directly, in a self-directed mode, and these terms then apply to them. Children under 16 do not sign up themselves.
3. Cost
We will tell you in writing before any charge for HomeCode applies to you, and you can stop at any time (see section 12).
Your own costs still apply. WhatsApp messages use your mobile data or wifi, and your network charges for that in the normal way. We have no control over what your network charges.
4. HomeCode is not an emergency service
This is the most important thing on this page.
- HomeCode does not provide crisis support, counselling, or emergency help.
- Nobody is reading your messages at the moment you send them. Messages are checked automatically, and a person is alerted afterwards, not instantly. The check is not perfect and can miss things.
- If a child or anyone else is in immediate danger, call 999.
- Children and young people can call Childline free on 0800 1111, at any time.
- For urgent housing or welfare help outside office hours, contact your local authority's out-of-hours service. You can find the number on their website.
Do not rely on HomeCode to summon help. It is a learning service that takes safeguarding seriously, not a way of contacting emergency services.
5. What we provide
| Daily messages | One short learning activity, sent by WhatsApp, usually in the morning |
| A tablet | Lent to you for your child, with learning content already on it. It works without internet |
| A family dashboard | The HomeCode app on the tablet, and a web page reached by a link we send you, showing which activities we have sent you, whether you have replied and, if the tablet is paired, how your child is getting on |
| Keyworker support | If you agree, your keyworker is told if you stop engaging, so they can check in. Where your keyworker is the trusted adult, they receive the messages, the learning passport and the engagement information instead of a parent |
What HomeCode is not. It is not a school, not a tutor, and not an assessment of your child. It does not replace education, and progress shown in HomeCode is an indication of engagement, not a measure of ability or attainment.
6. The tablet is lent to you, not given
The tablet remains the property of Imara Systems Limited throughout.
You agree to:
- Look after it with reasonable care, as you would your own.
- Use it for your child's learning.
- Return it when the pilot ends, when you leave the service, or if we ask for it back. We will tell you where and how to return it, and it will not cost you anything.
- Tell us promptly if it is lost, stolen or damaged beyond ordinary use.
We agree to:
- Provide it working, charged, and with content already loaded.
- Replace it if it stops working through no fault of yours.
- Not charge you for ordinary wear and tear, accidental damage, loss or theft. These things happen, particularly when families are moving, and we will not add to your difficulties over a tablet.
Please do not sell it, give it away, or pawn it. If it cannot be returned, tell us and we will deal with it sensibly.
7. Using the service properly
Please do not:
- Use HomeCode to send anything abusive, threatening or unlawful.
- Pretend to be someone else.
- Try to break into, disrupt or interfere with the service.
- Let anyone use the tablet to reach content that is not appropriate for a child.
If you do, we may suspend or end your access. We will always tell you why, and we will always consider the child's interests first.
8. Safeguarding
We check every message for signs that a child or an adult may be at risk of harm. How we do that is explained in our Privacy Notice §5.
If we believe a child is at risk of significant harm, we may share what we know with the people who can help — your keyworker, our Designated Safeguarding Lead, and where necessary children's services, the police or emergency services. We may do this whether or not you have consented to information sharing.
We will normally tell you when we do this, unless telling you would put a child at greater risk. This is not a term you can opt out of. It is the condition on which a service like this can responsibly exist.
9. Content and who owns it
Learning content comes from Oak National Academy and is used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Each activity carries its attribution. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. HomeCode is not endorsed by Oak National Academy or the Department for Education. Some images or other items in Oak lessons belong to other people and are not covered by that licence, so we only use items we are allowed to use.
The HomeCode name, software, design and everything else belong to Imara Systems Limited. You may use them to take part in the service and for nothing else.
Anything you send us stays yours. You give us permission to use it only to run the service, as described in the Privacy Notice.
10. WhatsApp
HomeCode uses WhatsApp, which is operated by Meta, not by us.
Your use of WhatsApp is governed by Meta's own terms and privacy policy. Meta can see your phone number and the content of your messages, because it operates the service carrying them. We explain this in the Privacy Notice §6.
If WhatsApp is unavailable, changes, or you would rather not use it, tell us and we will discuss what else we can do.
11. Availability
We will do our best to keep HomeCode running, but we cannot promise it will always be available. It may be unavailable for maintenance, because of a fault, or because something we depend on, such as WhatsApp or our hosting, is unavailable.
This is a pilot. Features may change or be withdrawn as we learn what helps.
12. Ending it
You can stop at any time. Reply STOP to any HomeCode message. We stop immediately. You do not need to give a reason, and we will not chase you about the messages. We will ask you to return the tablet (see section 6).
We may end your access if you break §7, if the pilot ends, or if we can no longer safely provide the service. We will give you as much notice as we reasonably can.
When it ends: please return the tablet. We handle your information as set out in the Privacy Notice, and you can ask us to delete it — see Deleting your information.
13. Our responsibility to you
We do not limit our responsibility for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow us to limit. Your legal rights as a consumer are not affected by anything in these terms.
Beyond that:
- We provide the service as it is. We do not promise particular educational outcomes.
- We are not responsible for loss caused by things outside our control, including your network, WhatsApp, or the loss of your internet connection.
- We are not responsible for decisions made by your keyworker, your local authority, or any other organisation.
None of this affects §4. If someone is in danger, call 999.
14. Changes to these terms
If we change these terms we will publish the new version at homecodebyimara.com/terms and update the date at the top. If a change materially affects you, we will tell you over WhatsApp before it takes effect.
15. Complaints, and the law that applies
Please tell us if something is wrong. Email enquiries@imarasystems.com or reply to any HomeCode message. We would rather fix it. If your complaint is about how we handle your information, we will confirm we have received it within 30 days (and usually much sooner), look into it without undue delay, and tell you the outcome.
For privacy complaints you can also contact the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may bring proceedings in your own courts.
16. Contact
| Support | enquiries@imarasystems.com |
| Privacy and data | legal@imarasystems.com |
| Post | Imara Systems Limited, 167 - 169 Great Portland Street, London, England, W1W 5PF |
| Reply to any HomeCode message |
Imara Systems Limited. Registered in England and Wales, company number 16256656.