We are making this change for a number of reasons. In recognition of the difficulties caused by shorter terms for parents of students in the independent sector, and, for all parents, to lessen the impact of our fee increase. A copy of our term dates for September 2013 onwards is available on this website.
We do appreciate that in some cases a lesson may be missed due to sickness and other commitments. We ask that parents and students give us as much notice as possible. We also ask that students do not attend lessons if they are unwell. Although their lesson is only for 1 hour and they are not in a class mixing with other children, your child’s tutor will be working closely with them and is just as likely to become ill themselves and ultimately spreading the infection to others.
There are occasions when we may be able to offer you an alternative time but this would be an exception rather than a rule, and dependent on another student having cancelled a lesson. The rebooked lesson can only be offered in the same week as the missed lesson, they may not be carried forward. Tutor timetables are usually fully booked with very few free slots, but we will try our best.
Unfortunately technical problems sometimes mean that Skype lessons are interrupted, and on some occasions unable to go ahead. These problems can often be resolved at the start of the lesson. However should they persist due to technical difficulties in the student’s home, e.g. poor broadband connection, defective camera, slow processing speeds on students’ lap tops and the lesson need to be aborted this will count as one missed lesson.
On an annual basis we also carry out progress tests to help us gauge the effectiveness of the teaching and learning. This helps us identify areas of strengths and weaknesses to enable us to modify the teaching programme if necessary. This is carried out during the course of a lesson and it usually takes place in the summer term. The results will be shared with you and your child’s school should you wish.
Skype lessons
If lessons are being delivered via Skype, depending on our child’s individual learning programme it may be necessary to have certain resources available at home. In some cases we will provide these, or you may be asked to contribute towards the cost of these resources. Either way this will be discussed with you prior to commencement of lessons.
Monthly payment
At the beginning of each calendar month we will send you an invoice for the appropriate number of sessions during that period. We ask that you pay this invoice within 7 days. Payment can be made by:-
Cheque
Made payable to the Dyslexia and Literacy Support Centre.
After 7 days we do not accept payment by cheque, in which case one of the other payment methods will be required.
Online
Please use the payment facility on our fees & payment page.
Termly payment
This option is available for parents who would prefer to make one single payment to cover the entire term. You will be sent an invoice at the beginning of each term.
Our waiting room is provided for parents and carers only who wish to stop at the centre whilst their child is with us. Due to the close proximity of the waiting room to the teaching rooms other children and babies are not allowed to stay in the waiting room during your child’s lesson. We hope you understand that our reasons for doing this are purely in the best interests of your own child.
The use of mobile phones is also distracting for our students when used in the waiting room or directly outside the Centre. If you need to use your mobile phone whilst you are at the Centre we ask that you please do so from your car or in the car park area.
However, at the end of each lesson time is limited to due to pupil swap over. For this reason it is probably best to have detailed conversations away from lesson times. We suggest you call us at the centre or ask your tutor to ring you at a more convenient time.
We ask that whenever possible you should plan to commit to your child attending tuition with us to the end of a term and if you do need to cease tuition for other reasons we ask that you speak to your child’s tutor about this.
