Terms & Conditions
Please read our UPDATED Terms and Conditions and Class Rules below - you will be asked to tick boxes during the booking process to ensure you understand and will abide by them.
PHONICS STARS™ | Terms and Conditions for Parents
I understand that I am personally responsible for the behaviour and welfare of the Child/ren that I sign up to PHONICS STARS™ classes, and this responsibility transfers to any Carers I nominate to supervise my child/ren in my absence (e.g. grandparents, aunts, uncles, childminders, friends).
I understand that it is my responsibility to supervise my child/ren during the activities, (online or in venues). When operating online, I will ensure that there is adequate space to allow my child/ren to move safely during the active elements of the session, without risk of knocking into nearby furniture and objects.
Online Sessions: I understand that once I have made payment for the classes, this is non-refundable and it is up to me to access the sessions that are made available to me, non-attendance is not refunded. (Please see separate Zoom session Terms and Conditions further down this page).
Face-to-Face Community Venue Sessions: I understand that once I have made payment for the classes, this is non-refundable, and non-attendance is not refunded. Where offered, a "make-up" class for that week will be available on Zoom. There is to be no swapping between classes during a 5-week block, and every 5-week block will form its own "bubble."
PHONICS STARS™ | Session Fees and Payment Information
Face-to-Face Community Venue Session Fees: The cost for the 5-week term is £45.00. This is based on one adult and one child joining the face to face classes and includes a FREE PHONICS STARS™ kit bag of essential items you will need to join in the fun at our sessions! The kit bag is yours to keep - extra resources can be purchased from me if you need them, or you are welcome to replace yourself.
Please note: This must be the same adult and child each week. Babes in arms can come too (free of charge) but please be aware that babies (and all children) are always expected to be with you. Any additional children (mobile babies upwards) coming would need to be booked and paid for as a separate space. Unfortunately, we cannot offer any sibling discounts at this time, due to our significantly reduced class sizes.
The cost includes a weekly face-to-face class and full access to the members' pages of our Facebook page. You will also be able to join in a Zoom online session once a week, as part of your membership.
Online Zoom Live Classes: The cost for a 5-week term is £35.00. Kit bags are available separately at a cost of £10.00
Booking is not complete unless payment is made IN FULL andunfortunately, we cannot reserve spaces.
Classes will be allocated on a first come-first served basis in the order that payment is made.
Each venue has a strict capacity, and numbers allowed at each class are varied, and greatly reduced due to Government social distancing rules.
Face-to-Face Community Venue Classes and Zoom Live Class dates:
Autumn Term 1 (5 weeks)
w/c 25th September, 2nd October, 8th October, 15th October, 23rd October
Autumn Term 2 (5 weeks) (booking will be available during Autumn Term 1)
w/c 13th November, 20th November, 27th November, 4th December, 11th December.
(There will be no classes w/c 26th October and 22nd November because it is a 2 WEEK HALF TERM)
USER AGREEMENT
By attending Face-to-Face Community Venue sessions, our Zoom Live sessions and/or accessing our other online materials, you are agreeing not to use any PHONICS STARS™ activities (including but not exclusively; lesson structures, plans, methods of teaching, activities, songs, props and materials) in schools, commercial or voluntary groups. You must not share videos or materials in any format. You must not copy any of our materials that are copyrighted under our registered trademark, PHONICS STARS™ We reserve the right to remove your membership if you breach this agreement, and seek legal advice.
PHONICS STARS™ | Photography and Online Media
Online Sessions: Photography or filming will only take place by Parents or Carers in your own setting - the closed Facebook group does not allow the teacher to see you at all, although you must be seen on Zoom. The Class Rules do not allow Parents to take photos or save photos of other Children.
During your Child’s attendance at PHONICS STARS™ Online and Face-to-Face Community Venue Sessions, we may wish to use photographs and videos of activities that involve your child, that you have shared with us, or that we have taken with your permission. The photographs may be used for displays, on our websites and social media, our publications, PHONICS STARS™ events, newspapers and other similar publicity-based uses. When filming or photography is used by the news media, Children will only be named if there is a reason to do so, and home addresses will never be given out.
I understand that:
• Any images or videos that you share with us is because you want to.
• Media you share in the closed group may be used by PHONICS STARS™ for local publicity, on our social media platforms, websites (and the purposes listed above) if you grant us permission. You can ask to see the images of your Child held by us, that you have shared on our social media, and you may withdraw your consent at any time.
• Under no circumstances can ANY images or ANY videos be uploaded to your personal pages that contravene our copyright and trademarked activities and content. Please contact us if you require any further clarification.
• Any images, videos or PDFs are not permitted to be shared with anyone else outside of our closed Facebook group. This is classed as a breach of contract and would also put our copyright and trademarked activities at risk.
• Finally, images or videos that are not of your own child are not allowed to be downloaded/shared from our closed Facebook group for safeguarding reasons.
PHONICS STARS™ | Membership to our Face-to-Face sessions - Autumn Term 2020
We are offering 5 face-to-face classes per half of the Autumn Term (10 weeks in total) which will be progressive and interactive, lasting for 50-60 minutes. Class sizes will be greatly reduced to give all children the opportunity to speak and interact with each other from their individual "mats." Iof our Facebook Group - this will give you the opportunity to embed the learning from the week, or an opportunity to 'catch up' if for any reason you miss the class. We will also provide activity suggestions; resource lists and PDFs for you to print off or simply view. Where offered, there may also be a Zoom session lead by your Class Leader - you are welcome to join this as part of your membership too.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
We will provide everything that you need for the face to face classes. Please ensure that you have a mask for to wear as you enter and exit the building, and when using any communal areas such as the toilets or venue cafe if one exists. Please ensure you are dressed warmly as there will be increased ventilation to the building.
REFUND POLICY
We do not provide refunds if you change your mind after making the booking or if you cannot attend the class for any reason. If the classes must be cancelled by us due to COVID-19 or a Government enforced lockdown, you will be offered an online alternative.
COVID-19 SAFETY POLICY
Your safety is important to us and we have carried out a thorough risk assessment. We will carry out a risk assessment prior to every class. We are following the Government guidelines very carefully and will adapt accordingly if they should change.
At the time of writing (24th August 2020) until further notice:
All floors, surfaces and equipment will be cleaned thoroughly in between each class.
ENTRY AND EXIT: Our new system will ensure everyone will be safe and happy. Doors will be opened 5 minutes prior to the class to enable you to enter one family at a time, wash your hands thoroughly, before social distancing at your "mats". Everyone will wash their hands with soap and water (for at least 20 seconds) on entering the building; including children. Parents are responsible for enforcing this. Hand sanitiser will be provided in addition to this at our designated sanitisation stations.
On entry and exit of the venue, all adults including Class Leaders, will be expected to wear masks as they enter and exit the building. Children and those with a health condition under Government guidelines are exempt from wearing one. You may take them off when prompted to do so by your Class Leader, and you and all other families are at your "mat", as you will be 3m away from each other. When the session is finished, Class Leader will prompt masks to be put back on and you will leave the hall safely and by using hand sanitiser from the sanitisation station.
A 1m physical distance should be maintained while wearing masks - otherwise a minimum of 2m distance should be maintained.
"Mat" areas will be set out for the class and you will be allocated your area on arrival.
On your first session each child will get their free Kit Bag to only be used by them and you, and is yours to keep - you will be responsible for bringing your kit bag for each session as we will be using them every week - if you don't bring it, there will be elements to the class that your child will not be able to participate in because they won't have the equipment to do so.
Please ensure that you stay in this area for the duration of the class. There will be no sharing of resources OR mixing with other families.
Your children will be expected to stay with you on the "mats" for the duration of the class. It will be your responsibility to enforce this.
Please ensure to the absolute best of your ability that your child physically distances from other children unless they are from the same household. We understand this is going to be tricky, and children will naturally gravitate, but where we can mitigate the risk, we will need to do so.
Your belongings should be kept with you at all times in your designated "mat" area or holding area at the edge of your room. Please ensure they are not touching anyone else's equipment.
Shoes can be left on since all surfaces will be cleaned in between every class.
At the end of the class, families will be released gradually to allow a staggered exit. Please ensure you leave promptly.
Signs will be visible reminding you to physically distance; including if you are queuing for the toilet. As the toilet is in the communal area of the venue, you will need to wear a mask as per Government guidelines.
Class sizes have been greatly reduced to enable easier physical distancing and the format and content of the classes will be adapted to keep you safe.
The building will be ventilated as much as possible, even when the weather is cold, so please no food/drink is to be consumed in the building at all unless it is baby milk OR you are drinking water from your own bottles.
Your data will be kept for three weeks after the term has finished. Our usual privacy policy will apply unless in the event it is needed for Track and Trace; in which case it will be shared with the Local Authority.
PHONICS STARS™ | Membership to our Zoom sessions - Autumn Term 2020
We are offering 5 face-to-face classes per half of the Autumn Term (10 weeks in total) which will be progressive and interactive, lasting for 40 minutes. Class sizes will remain small to give all children the opportunity to speak; interact with each other and maintain a feeling of continuity and community. This will give you the opportunity to embed the learning. We will also provide activity suggestions; resource lists and PDFs for you to print off if you wish or simply view, which will be within our Facebook Community Group for Autumn Term members.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
For the live classes you will need: a device and internet connection; play dough (if you have it); two scarves / socks / tea towels / pom poms to wave; a piece of paper or small whiteboard; two pens or two crayons to write with (preferably different colours); an item related to the letter sound (you will be told about this in advance). If anything else is needed, we will try to give you as much warning as possible. (Please do ensure that our e mail address is added to your address book so that our e mails do not get filtered into your junk folder.)
To access our other materials, you will just need your electronic device. We will provide you with any passwords you might need. If you have a printer, this will be useful. However, it is not compulsory.
REFUND POLICY
We do not provide refunds if you change your mind after making the booking or if you cannot attend the class.
INTERNET PRIVACY POLICY (Please see our full privacy policy available on our website)
As a rule, we do not record our Zoom live classes. If we wanted to record it for teaching purposes, we would ask for your permission. Please do not attempt to record it yourself on any other device.
Please do not take photos or videos of other children. (You may take photos of your own child if you wish to share these.)
When you take part in a Zoom live class, please ensure your camera is on. This is so we can see that you are who you say you are. If your camera is not on, we reserve the right to remove you from the class.
Please ensure your child's name is on the screen rather than your device name. This makes it easier for us to see who is in our waiting room. We reserve the right to not let you into the class if we do not know who you are.
Please be mindful that when your camera and microphone is on, everyone on the call may be able to hear and see what is happening in your room. Please make sure it is not inappropriate language or behaviour for your young children! We reserve the right to REMOVE people if this is the case. (Having said this, do not worry too much if your children are just making lots of innocent noise! We will MUTE you / ask you to mute yourself anyway for much of the class- as the children take turns to speak).
Please do not share our Zoom live class links with anyone else without our written permission. We reserve the right to remove you permanently from our systems if anyone else attempts to log in because of you sharing this information.
INTERNET CONNECTION POLICY
With the best will in the world, there could be connection failures with the internet which we unfortunately cannot predict or be responsible for. (So far, we have had no problems!) If for any reason the class is severely disrupted due to a bad connection on our side, we will endeavour to offer you another class time to catch up. This will be at our discretion and availability.
MISSED CLASSES
We are keeping to strictly no more than 10 families per class so it will not be possible to change your class time if you miss it for any reason. Keeping the classes the same offers familiarity to the children and it ensures that no classes will be oversized.
HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY
Your children's safety is important to us, even when we are not physically there to provide a safe environment. Please ensure that the room that you using to take part in the Zoom live classes is clear and safe. Children will need some space that is clear (about an arms span either side) in which to participate in the classes safely. We cannot be held responsible for any injuries that occur because of our classes or children copying our moves. Although we do not need to see the adult on camera, we need you to be physically present in the same room as your child to supervise them.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE EVENT OF A LOCAL OR NATIONAL LOCKDOWN?
In the event of a local or national lockdown, or any other reason that means a session cannot be delivered as a Face-to-Face Community Session, a Zoom session will be held in its place. We will inform parents of this as soon as possible with all information that is needed. NO REFUNDS OR CREDITS WILL BE GIVEN.
Please see a copy of our general Class Rules Policy below.
PHONICS STARS™ | Class Rules Policy
Please note, these rules are for physical sessions, but the majority are still applicable to online sessions.
PHONICS STARS™ is designed to be fun, energetic and engaging. However, we have developed some simple rules and basic guidelines to create a safe and enjoyable environment in which all Children present, of different ages and different abilities, are given every opportunity to learn. There have been amendments to our Terms and Conditions because of the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020,
FOOD & DRINK: For health and hygiene purposes please do NOT give food to Children during class. However, we do encourage drinking water providing you use your own water bottles, within your own designated area.
MOBILE PHONES: The use of mobile phones and devices is discouraged with the exception of enabling Parents to take photographs of their own Children.
PHONICS STARS™ encourages Parental involvement and participation which helps to build on positive relationships. Mobile phones can be used to take photos of your own Child but please respect other families who may not want their Child’s photo taken, therefore please ask other Parents’ permission. We strongly discourage Adults from using their phones to make calls, check emails or browse the internet etc. PLEASE use this quality time as an opportunity to engage with your Child/ren.
LISTENING AT QUIET TIMES: Please respect the Class Leader and other families at quiet times. This is because good listening is vital to the development of Phonics and the Children’s behaviour can be affected when Adults are talking and not setting the right example. Children need to understand the importance of following codes of behaviour, and this provides the perfect opportunity for Parents to do this. When everyone is quiet (including Adults) each person is supporting every Child’s development within the class.
Other times, such as Activity Challenge Time, are a chance for you to work closely with your Child, discover new ways to support your Child and work together with other Parents/Carers. You can also use this as an opportunity to talk to other Parents and the Class Leader (socially distanced) and discuss ideas.
Currently, we are unable to have any non-participating children at our sessions, with the exceptions of babes in arms. Every person in the venue will count towards our headcount and we must limit the number of people within the venue to adhere to strict Government guidelines, until Social Distancing rules are relaxed. Only one adult and one child per booking.
HEALTH AND SAFETY: At PHONICS STARS™ we believe every Child has the right to remain safe at all times and so we offer every Child the opportunity to build the foundations for learning in a fun, happy, stimulating and safe environment. Children learn through play; some play is fine motor, and some learning is table based. Some activities are designed to support gross motor development. When we are allowed, we use water and sand which can be slippery, and small objects which could cause choke hazards if small toddlers are not supervised. The very nature of this physical play is such that some accidents may occur.
All our classes are held in Public Halls and similar spaces which have been designed and hired by us for public use. However, most include steps and stairs, tables and chairs and other everyday objects which can become hazardous when Children are insufficiently supervised. Please be aware that whilst our Class Leaders are responsible for leading the classes, all Parents and Carers attending PHONICS STARS™ classes are responsible for supervising their Child and any other Children who they bring into the venues during and around class times.
As a contingency, all PHONICS STARS™ Class Leaders have received paediatric first aid training. However, we believe prevention is always much better than cure and ask Parents and Carers to remain vigilant as the supervisors of their Children in and around PHONICS STARS™ classes.
And finally, although our Class Leaders are responsible for leading the classes, rather than supervising the Children, all Class Leaders are DBS checked (formerly known as CRB) and approved.
COVID-19, SICKNESS AND CONTAGION: We have implemented the following special measures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak:
- All PHONICS STARS™ Class Leaders have completed multiple Covid-19 training courses, along with updating their First Aid training. Certificates have been obtained for all these courses
- Government advice for adults is to stay alert and to continue to socially distance, at a distance of one metre plus where the two-metre rule cannot be adhered to. We ask customers to please respect this and stay within safe distances of one another. In respect of younger children (early years/under 5’s) we understand that this may not always be possible and certainly more difficult to maintain, so we will be reducing the numbers in classes and adapting the layout of sessions to help children and their grown-ups ensure that they remain safe at all times.
- A health declaration has been added to your booking, this will need to be filled out prior to attending sessions. This is to ensure that no one attending has been in close contact with anyone that has been diagnosed, or showing symptoms of COVID-19, if they have they must self-isolate for 14days (per government advice) and can join in on our online sessions from the safety of their homes.
- For anyone booked into our classes, you must inform NHS immediately if you develop any symptoms for a test and give all contact details to their track and trace who will then be in touch with ourselves for customer details if needed.
Should any children or adults attending the class have an infectious disease, such as an eye/ear infection or sickness and diarrhoea, they should not return to the PHONICS STARS™ class until they have been clear for at least 48 hours. We follow strictly the advice given to us and exclude specific contagious conditions, e.g. sickness and diarrhoea, conjunctivitis and chicken pox to protect other children in the classes. Illnesses of this nature are very contagious, and it is exceedingly unfair to expose others to the risk of an infection. This is designed to protect your Children, so please help us to protect all the others.
If a Class Leader is unwell, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be able to allow another class leader to cover and so the session will either be re-scheduled, or will revert to a Zoom session instead. Any children absent from class due to sickness or holidays will not be refunded.
TOILETS: We do have the use of toilets at all our venues - some are communal with other members of our community, and others are designated especially for your session. Please follow the individual venue guidelines for what procedures are in place for cleaning the toilet after you have used it. Please ensure you have washed your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and used hand sanitiser again before returning to your space.
BUGGIES/PRAMS/OTHER LARGE ITEMS: Due to all the space needed we ask no buggies or pushchairs are brought into the venue. Each venue will have their own protocol for leaving these items outside although items left are at the owner's risk.
BEHAVIOUR: As outlined in `listening at quiet times’ our classes need to have an element of discipline. Occasionally we may have Children within our class whose behaviour can be disruptive and dangerous to themselves and possibly result in harm to others. In this case the Class Leader may make the decision to stop the class and ask the adult in charge of the Child to manage his/her behaviour.
On occasion, we have also encountered behaviour by Adults which we have considered to be unacceptable. We reiterate that all the Adults play an important role in the classes in role-modelling the need to accept behaviour codes, to listen carefully and to share and collaborate as their Child will need to do in school in order to fulfil their potential. In this case the Class Leader will endeavour to discreetly ask the adult in charge of the Child to manage his/her behaviour.
Decisions after each of these interventions are entirely at the discretion of the Class Leader, and can result in removal from the classes without refund.
EVERY CHILD MATTERS: We believe that every Child has the right to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and have an economic well-being. We promote equality of opportunity. Each class has been carefully designed and planned so that each Child can access their learning, and activities can be adapted to suit a range of abilities. If your Child needs any adaptions or you know of any ways that have been recommended to aid your Child’s learning, please inform your Class Leader and we will do our best to support your needs.
NOMINATED CARERS AND ‘STAND INS’: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the same adult should be bringing the child each week. If occasions arise when you may need to nominate Carers to bring your Child/ren to PHONICS STARS™ classes, we ask you to make them aware of the Class Rules, and that under these rules, they will be responsible for welfare of the Child/ren in and around the PHONICS STARS™ classes that they attend. If they would like to, please invite them to ask for a copy of the Class Rules from the Class Leader at the start of the class.
Following reading our Terms and Conditions, you will be asked to tick the following statements on your booking form:
For Face-To-Face Venue Sessions:
I understand what the package entails
I will bring my kit bag to every session, and ensure it is appropriately cleaned and sanitised for each session and after each session
I agree to wear a mask on entering and exiting the building, and in communal areas such as toilets or an onsite cafe
I agree not to come to the classes if I or anyone who I have been in contact with, to my knowledge, has suffered with COVID-19 symptoms
I agree to my data being used if necessary, for Track and Trace
I will ensure that my family wash their hands on entering the building
I will ensure that my family maintains a 1m physical distance from others when wearing a mask and a 2m distance at other times
I agree to ensure that my family stays within our allocated mat area for the duration of the class
I understand and agree to the refund policy
I will not share my online log-in details with anyone I do not live with
For Zoom Live Sessions:
I understand what the package entails
I will provide my child with the equipment they need (kit bags are available to purchase)
I will provide a safe environment for my child and I will supervise them during classes
I will not attempt to record live sessions or photograph other children
I will keep my camera switched on
I will not attempt to share or copy materials in any format
I will not share class links or log ins with anyone else
I understand and agree to the refund policy
PHONICS STARS™ POLICIES: The following Policies are available upon request.
• Safeguarding Policy
• Health and Safety Policy
• Emergency and Evacuation Policy
• Equal Opportunities Policy
• Admissions Policy
• Complaints Procedure Policy
• Special Needs Policy
Thank you for taking the time to read our class rules, which help to keep our classes a safe and fun place to be.
If you have any feedback on our website or if you would like to make a complaint regarding our use of your personally identifiable information, we would appreciate if you could contact our Data Protection Officer on fun@phonicsstars.co.uk. Our DPO will endeavour to resolve any issues quickly and to your satisfaction.
Best wishes to you all,
Samantha Baldwin
Founder | Director Phonics Stars™ UK
This Privacy Policy is provided by phonicsstars.co.uk
We are a registered company in England and Wales. Our registered office address is: 2nd Floor Regis House, 45 King William Street, London, United Kingdom, EC4R 9AN