Cindy's Swim School London logo
Cindy's Swim School London logo

Our policies

The policies which govern our business and services are as follows.  Enrolment and participation in the school requires acceptance and adherence with these policies.  This is for the safety and enjoyment of our pupils and the smooth running of our business.

Booking terms and conditions

Payment:

We need to secure the pool space and our teachers in advance of our lessons to make sure that they are all in place for you. As such you’ll understand that:

  • Cindy’s Swim School (CSS) has three terms a year, which roughly follow the local school term dates.
  • Once you are enrolled, your booking will recur on a subscription basis unless you give us four weeks’ in-term written notice.
  • To secure a slot, payment must be made, or a Direct Debit Agreement set up, before the start date. If you have not paid you or your child may not be allowed to swim.
  • If you decide to start swimming part way through a term, that’s no problem, we will simply pro-rata the cost from your start date.
  • We also run school holiday courses, which are separate from the termly courses and are invoiced as a one-off payment when you indicate to us that a pupil would like to attend.
  • If you are a new customer and accept the offer of a three-week trial, then these are payable in advance, and are non-refundable. If you miss a lesson, we cannot provide catch-up lessons.

If you are paying by Direct Debit:

  • In response to customer requests, we are pleased to offer a monthly Direct Debit subscription to help spread the cost of lessons over the course of the year.
  • Instead of paying for a whole term of lessons up front, you will be invoiced for any pro-rata amount plus the next month’s subscription on signing up for lessons.
  • Thereafter, monthly subscriptions will be taken on the 2nd of every month, directly from the pre-agreed bank account.
  • Please note, no payment will be charged in August, when there are no weekly lessons.
  • Payments will be a fixed monthly amount, regardless of public holidays or start and end dates at venues, to spread payments evenly across the year (excluding August).
  • Any additional purchases (school holiday courses, stock items, pool equipment, etc.) will be charged separately.
  • To cancel your subscription, please give us 4 weeks’ in-term written notice, so we can your stop your payments in good time.

If you are paying by bank transfer or card payment:

  • Please note classes need to be booked and paid for in advance on a termly basis. Therefore, the amount that is invoiced will vary per term depending on the number of weeks in the term.

Missed lessons:

  • We are unable to give refunds, credits or re-book lessons for any non-attendance. This is because we still accrue the cost of the pool and the teacher’s time.
  • The only exceptions are:
    • Baby lessons (children enrolled in either Baby 1, Baby 2 or Baby 3 classes): A catch-up session is offered to customers who are enrolled in a baby swim session whose baby is too sick to attend a scheduled lesson. There is no requirement to provide evidence of sickness other than a notification in writing (email) at least one hour before the start of the lesson, that the child is not well enough to attend. The number of catch-up sessions is limited to two lessons per term and they cannot be carried forward more than one term.  So to be clear:
      • If one lesson is missed, the pupil can receive one catch-up lesson free of charge.
      • If two lessons are missed, two lessons can be provided free of charge.
      • If three lessons or more are missed, the maximum number of catch-up lessons provided free of charge is still two lessons.
    • All other lessons: Outside of baby lessons upwards, if a medical note is provided clearly the pupil can’t come to class.   As we still lose money on missed lessons ourselves we cannot credit or provide catch-up lessons for the first two lessons missed.  However if a pupil has ongoing issues and misses three lessons or more, in sympathy with the situation we will credit HALF of the lessons missed back to the pupil – either in the form of a catch-up lesson or lesson credit up to a maximum of two lesson credits.  The lesson credits need to be redeemed within three months of the missed lesson.  To be clear:
      • If four lessons are missed, two lessons will be credited back or catch up sessions provided.
      • If three lessons are missed, one lesson will be credited back or catch up sessions provided.
      • If two lessons are missed, no credit or catch up session can be provided.
  • We have a piece of software which tracks the number of lessons you have left with us. This total includes the number of classes remaining and any class credits awarded based on the terms and conditions above.

Us unavoidably cancelling lessons:

  • We try very hard not to cancel lessons. However, although our swimming instructors are nearly superheroes, they do occasionally get sick and sometimes our pools are closed for reasons beyond our control.
  • Therefore, lessons can sometimes unavoidably be subject to change and the lesson dates, times and teacher may need to be altered. In such circumstances we reserve the right to move lessons to another venue.
  • We cannot offer a lesson credit if we are able to provide an alternative venue for the class, within circumstances that we consider reasonable.
  • If we are unable to find another venue, alternative dates will be offered. If you are unable to attend any of these dates, we will credit the lesson on your next invoice or adjust your next direct debit payment accordingly.
  • Please note, our ethos at Cindy’s Swim School, is to give our pupils consistency in their lessons so that they keep the same teacher for periods of progress, whenever possible. However, this is subject to availability and can be affected by circumstances not in our control (staff sickness, departure etc.). As pupils progress and move up levels they will also generally change to a different teacher.

Stopping swimming with us:

  • Your booking will automatically renew (and you will be automatically charged) unless we receive an email from you with 4 weeks’ in-term written notice that you would like to cancel.
  • If you do not wish to continue swimming lessons with us, 4 full weeks’ in-term notice must be given to cancel your place. Holidays and half term weeks do not count towards the notice period.
  • If you paid for the whole term in advance (not Direct Debit), in the event of cancellation, any remaining classes from your term booking AFTER the 4 weeks’ notice period will be refunded. So, for example if you gave notice after your 6th class of your term block and the term is 12 weeks long, your 4 -week notice period would take you to your 10th class (inclusive) so you would receive a refund for 2 lessons from your block booking.

Keeping in touch:

  • Parents need to ensure that CSS has an up-to-date address, email and telephone contact details for all pupils, as well as current medical records.
  • Parents should check notice boards, email and the CSS website for up to date information about the school and their classes.
  • Please refer to our Privacy Policy for information about what data we collect, why we collect it and how we use and protect it.

At the pool:

  • Swimmers should arrive suitably equipped to their lesson.
  • All property left in changing rooms or on poolside are left at your own risk. CSS cannot accept responsibility for the loss or damage of any personal belongings.
  • Swimmers should be collected at the end of their lesson promptly.
  • Parents need to ensure that swimmers are left safely in the care of poolside staff and not left outside the building.
  • All pupils and parents need to abide by our Pool Rules.
  • No camera or video equipment can be used at the pools or during lessons without prior express written permission from CSS. Please see our Privacy Policy for details on how and when CSS may take photographs and use them.
  • Parents are to please familiarise themselves with CSS’s Emergency Operating Procedures (EOP’s), which are available in coloured folders at all our pools.
  • CSS will not accept any hostility or aggression to our teachers. Any such behaviour shown may result in the relevant parent being banned for the pool. Another adult will then be required to bring the swimmer to lessons.
  • If a child’s or adult’s behaviour is unreasonable and/or poses a health risk to them we will refuse entry.

During our lessons:

  • CSS teachers may need to ask a parent/guardian to leave the pool area if the parent/guardian’s presence is distracting the child / children and interrupting the progress of the lesson.
  • Our teaching standards are in place to ensure that each child gets the best teaching available to them to ensure that they in turn become the best swimmers they can be. We ensure this is nurtured in a friendly non-competitive environment, whilst not pushing competitive comparison, unless competition is a personal objective of the pupil.
  • All our lessons are based on a solid teaching structure, with an emphasis on core strength, water safety, and fun. We have found that with these focuses in mind, we have delivered amazing results, producing confident, strong and happy swimmers!
  • All parents need to be aware of and agree to CSS teaching methods. CSS are a hands-on swim school with a focus on fun, discipline and progress.
  • All of our teachers have up to date DBS certificates – to ensure the safety of your children and comply to our Child Protection Policy.
  • We believe that children benefit a lot more from a hands on approach, in particular the little ones, where the benefits are much greater, giving them the physical support they need. It also helps to build trust between the child and the teacher, allowing pupils to learn the correct body positions and strokes without the extra complication of a teaching assistant. With regards to the older swimmers, the hands on approach benefits the pupils by allowing them to focus on their strokes and having the freedom to learn the best techniques directly from their teachers/coaches.
  • Never bring your child swimming if they have an illness, please wait until the doctor has given the all clear before returning. Please notify and keep CSS up to date on the condition. We may refuse a child if we feel that the child is too unwell to swim and poses a health risk to themselves and/others.

That’s is the necessary small print over for now. From time to time we need to amend our terms and conditions and other school policies, please do check back here from time to time.  If you have any questions about these terms now or in the future, please don’t hesitate to give the office a call to talk through.

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