POLICIES

This Privacy Policy explains how SWINGDYHOP uses personal information collected when a parent or guardian enrols a child.

1. Upon enrolment, SWINGDYHOP collects contact information and any relevant medical information regarding the child that a parent or guardian may choose to provide.

2. When a parent or guardian provides personal details to SWINGDYHOP , it is only used for legitimate business interests in carrying out work to provide dance classes, workshops and produce performance events shows for enrolled students.

3. SWINGDYHOP only collects personal information to communicate with families, manage accounts, comply with Child Protection Legislation to ensure every child’s health and safety whilst they are in our care.

4. SWINGDYHOP will not disclose or sell personal data to third parties unless we are required to do so by law.

5. SWINGDYHOP uses personal data collected to send invoices and email important information via our email Newsletters. Occasionally, SWINGDYHOP may contact a parent or guardian by telephone to discuss a specific matter.

6. It is important that personal information is kept current and that a child’s information, particularly any medical needs are accurate and up to date. Parents are asked to update these details if and when any circumstances change, via email. Maxine@swingdyhop.co.uk

7. Parents have the right to request a copy of the information that SWINGDYHOP holds and SWINGDYHOP will immediately correct or remove information when asked.

8. SWINGDYHOP will automatically delete all personal information when a child leaves the school, unless otherwise directed by the parent/guardian.

9. Access to the SWINGDYHOP email account, website, social media accounts and newsletters are all password protected. Access is not available to any other external parties. The Principal has sole access to all data.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEOGRAPHY POLICY

All parents/guardians are asked to review and agree or disagree to the following policy upon enrolment:

1.Teachers may photograph and/or take short video clips of class content from time-to-time. These may be used as a helpful teaching tool to provide visual feedback to the class.

2. Teachers are permitted to use any photograph or footage of SWINGDYHOP students on the SWINGDYHOP social media accounts, as per the consent form signed.

3. Parents are permitted to photograph and/or film ONLY their child, during performances. If sharing on social media platforms, parents are asked to ensure that any other children who have been captured accidentally (ie. in the background) be blurred out, unless permission has been granted from the child’s parent directly.

4. Parents are all given photographic consent forms to sign, when they enrol. The information contained herein will be adhered to. If you have not received a photographic consent form please email Maxine@swingdyhop.co.uk

5. Should a parent/guardian prefer that an image and/or film of their child NOT be used for promotional purposes by SWINGDYHOP, whether it be on the website or social media (Facebook), parents have the option to ‘opt out’ at any time by providing written notice to the Principal. If an image or footage of a SWINGDYHOP student is used for promotional purposes, the child’s name is never made public. Maxine Kilgour has sole charge of all images/video footage and has password protected access to the SWINGDYHOP Facebook and Instagram accounts and Website.

CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

We have a responsibility to safeguard the welfare of the children we teach and to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are in place so that any child or young person in our care may take part in classes and performances within a safe and secure environment.

This policy applies to all our staff and volunteers and covers children under the age of 18 and/or vulnerable adults in our care.

1. We will promote and maintain the welfare of every child and young person we teach and seek to protect them from harm, regardless of cultural background, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief or any other form of identity or creed. We will create a safe and welcoming environment for all.

2. We believe that no child or young person should be the subject of neglectful or abusive behaviour.

3. To protect children and young people in our care, SWINGDYHOP

will:

i. Provide safe and age-appropriate dance classes, which will allow each child to develop at their own pace.

ii. Ensure all required checks are made when hiring staff, including holding a current Working with Children check and First Aid Training.

iii. Provide appropriate training and support to all staff.

iv. Ensure that all volunteers helping at SWINGDYHOP events, whether backstage, front of house, etc, hold a valid DBS.

v. Hire venues which provide a safe environment in which to dance.

vi. Hold a register on site of every child enrolled in the school and retain a contact name and number close at hand in all venues in case of emergencies.
vii. Ensure parents have given permission before any pictures or videos of students are used for promotional purposes (ie. website, social media).

viii. Report suspected neglect or abuse to a relevant organisation or to the police.

ix. Ensure that this policy is reviewed annually.

4. To protect children and young people in their care, SWINGDYHOP Teachers will:

i. Take responsibility for children and young people’s safety when in their care.

ii. Treat all children equally and with respect.

iii. Provide professional and constructive feedback, rather than negative criticism.

iv. Teach age-appropriate choreography and choose music for children, without any explicit language or connotations.

v. Ensure that bullying in any form will not be accepted or condoned.

5. Appropriate Physical Contact in Dance Policy

Teaching dance is a physical activity and a teacher will sometimes need to make physical contact with a student to show an idea, to correct a student’s position to ensure safe practice or to help students move into a certain position in the space (for example; encouraging preschool children to hold hands to make a circle).

An example of physical correction is:

Adjusting foot positions for correct alignment or offering to hold a student’s hands to assist with balance.

We will say why and how we will be correcting the student’s position before making any contact and will always respect the student’s wishes, should they not wish to be touched.

HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY

Drop off and collection

1. Parents and carers are responsible for their children at drop-off in all waiting areas until the studio doors open and the teacher arrives.

2. At collection, SWINGDYHOP adopts a ‘see and release’ policy - teachers will only ‘release’ students from their care once a parent or carer has been seen.

3. Should older students (secondary school-aged) be making their own way home, parents must notify us of any new arrangement in advance to confirm that they are happy for us to let the student leave the premises unaccompanied. We must have this permission in written form.

Health

4. All SWINGDYHOP Teachers have current First Aid Training.

5. In the case of a medical emergency, teachers will decide on the best course of action based on the situation. If the situation allows, teachers will attempt to contact the parent/guardian twice. If teachers are unable to reach the parent/guardian, an ambulance will be called.

6. Parents/carers must provide details of any relevant medical conditions and/or allergies as requested upon enrolment, with the ParQ document given at enrolment. If you have not received this it is imperative that you email Maxine@swingydhop.co.uk It is the parental responsibility to ensure the details in the health ParQ are up to date and correct.

Code of Conduct

7. Courteous and respectful behaviour is expected from all participants within the SWINGDYHOP community, including students, parents and other family members. SWINGDYHOP reserves the right to decline service should the above expectations not be met.

FEES POLICY

Enrolment Fee

1. Upon enrolment, the current term fee is applicable. Term fees will vary, depending on the amount of weeks per term, which is changeable. You will always be informed of the full term fee at sign up. Payment confirms your child's place in class for the term. This fee covers administration, music licences and Public Liability. Fees are for a termly sign up. Payment plans can be made on request. If a student joins mid term the termly fee is still applicable.

Class Fees

2. Class fees are due, in full, in advance of the first day of each term. Reminder invoices are sent via email 2 weeks prior to the start of term, if payment has not been received.

3. We are unable to refund/credit term fees, or part thereof, due to absence.

4. Any classes that are missed due to unforeseen circumstances from SWINGDYHOP, will be made up on an alternate day.

COMPLAINTS POLICY

At SWINGDYHOP, we always seek to provide a high quality service to everyone we deal with and to work in a way which is open, builds trust and is respectful. In order to do this we need you to tell us when we get things wrong.

We also know that, whilst we always strive for excellence, sometimes we will fall short of expectations. Any expression of dissatisfaction with our service, which calls for a formal response, whether or not it is justified, will be dealt with as a complaint.

We will listen to complaints, treat them seriously, resolve them as quickly as possible and learn from them so that we can continuously improve. This policy and procedure sets out how SWINGDYHOP will deal with complaints it receives.

Scope

Our complaints policy covers complaints about:

· the standard of service you have received

· the behaviour of our staff

· any action, or lack of action, by our staff or others engaged on SWINGDYHOP business

Our complaints policy does not cover:

· dissatisfaction, comments or complaints about our policies, decisions or approaches to our work

· complaints about people we do not either employ or have a service contract with, however, in some circumstances we may ensure complaints about partners or members we work with are passed on to the correct individual for investigation

· matters that have already been fully investigated through this complaints procedure

· complaints which are vexatious, obviously unreasonable or abusive

· hypothetical or anonymous complaints (although you can request that your complaint is treated confidentially)

Resolving concerns and complaints

As with many other organisations, most concerns that are raised can be quickly resolved through either a telephone call or email to SWINGDYHOP. We prefer to receive complaints in writing so if you make a complaint in person, or over the phone, you may be asked to follow this up in an email.

We keep a record of all correspondence relating to complaints and the final outcome.

Anyone making a complaint can expect to be treated with courtesy, respect and fairness at all times. We expect that you will also treat our staff dealing with your complaint with the same courtesy, respect and fairness. We will deal with your complaint promptly and will not treat you less favourably than anyone else because of your sex or legal marital or same-sex partnership status: this includes family status, responsibility for dependants, and gender (including gender reassignment, whether proposed, commenced or completed); sexual orientation; colour or race (this includes ethnic or national origin or nationality); disability; religious or political beliefs, or trade union affiliation or any other unjustifiable factors, for example language difficulties, age, pregnancy and maternity.

If you feel your complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction you will be provided with an opportunity to escalate the complaint within a reasonable timeframe.

The process for escalation is provided in the Complaints Procedure below.

Policy Owner

The current owner of this policy is Maxine Kilgour who is responsible for reviewing the policy every three years from date of last approved version.

A central log of all complaints received will be kept by SWINGDYHOP and anyone involved in a complaint will retain all relevant correspondence until after all escalation routes have been exhausted, a final decision has been made and communicated (this is in line with our data retention policy).

Complaints Procedure Summary

Complaint received and logged

Stage 1

Acknowledgement sent within 5 working days

Complaint to be reviewed with full response sent within 20 working days

Are you happy with our response?

Yes

Complaint closed, records kept and any lessons noted

Ask for a review of our response

Stage 2

Acknowledgement sent within 5 working days

Complaint and Stage 1 response reviewed with full and final response sent within 20 working days

Complaint closed, records kept and any lessons noted.

Complaints Procedure

Stage 1

If you are unable to resolve your concern easily through a telephone call or email to

SWINGDYHOP you should email or write to the member of staff who dealt with you. Please set out the details of your complaint, the impact of the events and any resolution you would like to see.

In normal circumstances, you can expect your complaint to be acknowledged within

five working days of receipt and to receive a response within 20 working days.

All complaints should be emailed to maxine@swingdyhop.co.uk making it clear in the subject line that the email relates to a complaint.

Our aim is to resolve all matters as quickly as possible. However, inevitably, some issues will be more complex and, therefore, may require longer to be fully investigated. Consequently, timescales given for handling and responding to complaints are indicative. If a matter requires more detailed investigation, you will receive an interim response within the above timescales describing what is being done to deal with the matter, and when a full reply can be expected and from whom.

Stage 2

If you are not satisfied with the initial response to the complaint then you can indicate that you want the complaint reviewed under the Stage 2 final procedure.

You would email maxine@swingdyhop.co.uk following an unsatisfactory response to Stage 1, or you can reply to the response you have received and request that it is reviewed. You must ensure that your request for review is made within a reasonable time of the Stage 1 response being received; in normal circumstances a reasonable time would be deemed to be five working days and your request must state the reason why you are dissatisfied with the Stage 1 outcome.

In normal circumstances, you can expect your escalation to Stage 2 to be acknowledged within five working days of receipt and to receive a response within 20 working days. This decision will be final.

Owner: Maxine Kilgour

Updated: 29/01/2024