Last updated: 26 September 2026 · Contact: admin@playspaghetti.com
SPAGhetti ("we", "us") is an educational web app that helps children practise spelling, punctuation and grammar through games and a cooking café. This policy explains what information the app handles, who can see it and how it is deleted. It is written in plain language because much of our audience is children, families and busy teachers.
The short version, for a headteacher or data protection officer
No real names are required. A pupil joins with a class code and a chef nickname. No email address, date of birth, photo or home details is ever asked for.
What we hold about a pupil: the nickname and initials, the cartoon chef they built, a three-picture "secret code" for getting their chef back, game progress (stars, levels, minutes played), any writing they save in the app, any check results and support settings their teacher records, and the same in the class's live games while they run.
Who can see it: the device the pupil is using and the teacher who owns the class. Not other pupils, not other teachers, not the public.
Where: Google Firebase (Firestore and Realtime Database, EU region for the live features), with the site itself served by Cloudflare. No advertising, no analytics, no tracking, no selling or sharing of data.
The school is the data controller when SPAGhetti is used in school; we process on the school's behalf. A teacher can remove a pupil's chef or delete a whole class themselves, immediately, from their dashboard.
Anything else: email admin@playspaghetti.com and we will act promptly.
Who we are
SPAGhetti is made and provided from the United Kingdom. For any questions or requests about data, contact us at admin@playspaghetti.com.
The three ways to play, and what each one stores
1. With a class code (how pupils use SPAGhetti in school)
A teacher creates a class in their dashboard and SPAGhetti gives it a class code (a food word and three numbers, for example BUTTER 347). Pupils type the code, pick their chef from the class list or make a new one, and play. Their progress is saved to a seat in that class so it follows them from one device to another.
A seat stores:
the nickname the pupil chose and their initials (so the teacher can tell two "Alfies" apart);
the cartoon chef they designed;
their picture secret code (see below);
game progress: stars, coins, levels reached in each skill, which games were played on which days, and minutes played;
their café (furniture, pets and decorations they have chosen);
any writing they save in the app (stories, letters, reviews and so on), which is sent to their teacher to read;
anything the teacher records on the seat: support settings (for example a larger text size, a dyslexia-friendly typeface or read-aloud on), a reading age if the teacher enters one, and results of any class check ("Taste Test") the teacher runs.
Alongside the seat, the class list that pupils see when they log in shows only the nickname, initials and cartoon chef of each classmate, so a pupil can find their own chef.
2. As a guest at home ("Start cooking" with a first name)
Progress is stored only on that device, in the browser. Nothing is sent to us. Clearing the browser's site data, or logging out in the app, removes it.
3. Signed in with Google at home
Google gives us the account's name and email address so that we can recognise the same person next time. We store that person's game progress and café against their account so it can follow them between devices. We do not use the email address for anything else and we do not send marketing.
The "secret code" is not a password
To get their chef back on another device, a pupil taps the three food pictures they chose, in order (pupils who made their chef before October 2026 may still have a two-picture code). The code is kept with the pupil's own saved work, which only that pupil's device and their teacher can read; it is not shown on the class login list. This stops a classmate opening the wrong chef, by accident or on purpose. It is not a strong lock: there are 1,728 combinations and a child who watches over a shoulder can learn one. The code is never read aloud. Unless the teacher turns codes off for the class, a pupil without a code can open their chef only on the device they used last, until their teacher gives them one; if the teacher does turn codes off, anyone with the class code can open a chef that has no code. We say this plainly because the app should not be relied on as the only thing keeping one pupil's writing from another pupil in the same class. Teachers can see, reset or make a new code for a pupil from the dashboard.
Who can see a pupil's information
The pupil, on the device they are using.
The teacher who owns the class, in their dashboard: progress, writing, support settings and check results, so they can teach from it.
Classmates see only the nickname, initials and cartoon chef on the login list. If the teacher chooses to publish a piece of a pupil's writing to the class town, the class (and only the class) can read it and react with one of three preset pictures; there is no free-text commenting. The teacher can take it down at any time.
Nobody else. Access to a pupil's seat is enforced by the database's own security rules, which we test as a stranger, a pupil, the class's own teacher and a teacher from another school. One honest caveat: class-wide records (the class name, class support settings, and check results stored against seat ids rather than names) can be fetched by any device that has joined the class, although the app never shows them to pupils.
Live class features
Class quizzes and games on the board. The teacher starts a game with a short PIN; pupils join on their devices with a nickname of up to 16 characters. Scores are shown live on the board and are not kept afterwards.
Class town live. When (and only when) the teacher switches it on, pupils in the class can see each other's chefs moving around the game town for a set time (20, 40 or 60 minutes). What is shared is the chef's position, nickname and preset picture reactions — no typing, no chat. This runs on Firebase's Realtime Database in the EU (Belgium) and the data is cleared when the session ends.
Teachers
Teachers sign in with an email address (Google or Microsoft account, or email and password). We hold the teacher's email address, the classes they create (class name, code and the seats in it), any word walls, prompts or work they set, and which features their school's plan includes. Teacher access is by invitation: an email address must be on our list before the dashboard opens. Reports the dashboard can generate (for example a one-page pupil summary) are built on screen for printing; comments typed into them are not saved.
Where and how it is stored
Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore and Realtime Database) stores accounts, seats and class data. Google acts as our data processor under its Firebase privacy terms. The live-town database is located in the EU (europe-west1, Belgium).
Cloudflare serves the website itself. It sees the ordinary technical information any web host sees (such as an IP address) in order to deliver the pages; we do not keep or analyse it.
Google Fonts supplies the typefaces on some pages, which means the browser fetches font files from Google. The dyslexia-friendly typeface offered in support settings is hosted by us.
We do not use advertising, analytics or tracking cookies of any kind, and we do not sell, rent or share personal data with anyone.
Why we use it
Solely to run the app: to let a pupil get their chef back, to save progress, to let a teacher see how their class is doing and set work, and to run the live class features. We do not profile pupils for any purpose other than showing their own teacher their progress.
Children's privacy and the lawful basis
SPAGhetti is designed for children and young people in primary and secondary schools, including pupils with special educational needs. When used in a school, the school is the data controller and is responsible for the lawful basis for processing pupils' data (normally the school's public task in providing education); we act on the school's behalf and instructions. We keep the data we hold to the minimum needed, and the class-code route needs no personal details beyond a nickname.
For home use, a parent or guardian should set up and supervise any Google sign-in for a child under 13, or use guest mode so that nothing leaves the device.
Cookies and local storage
The app uses the browser's local storage to keep progress, settings and (for a class pupil) the link to their seat, so the app works offline and loads quickly. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. Firebase sets what it needs to keep a sign-in going.
Keeping and deleting data
A teacher can remove a pupil's chef ("Remove chef" in the pupil's drawer) or delete a whole class from the dashboard. Both delete the seats, saved writing, published pieces and set work straight away.
A pupil or parent can clear on-device progress by logging out in the app or clearing the browser's site data.
Seats are kept while the class exists. We recommend teachers delete classes at the end of the year.
For anything else, including deleting a Google-linked account or a teacher account, email admin@playspaghetti.com and we will do it promptly and confirm.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you (or a child's parent or guardian, or the school) can ask to access, correct or delete the data we hold, or object to its use. Contact admin@playspaghetti.com. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Changes
If we change this policy we will update the date above and, where the change matters, tell teachers in the dashboard.