Terms and Conditions of Membership

Term Information and enrolment

Payment for Inspire and Imagine classes is completed on a termly or half-term basis. We have three terms a year: September to Christmas, January to Easter and Easter to the Summer Holidays. We try to follow school schedules as much as possible with breaks for the half terms.

Payment for Create Classes is completed on a termly basis, following the same dates.

You can join us at any point throughout the term. New students are eligible to pay for their first class on a pay-as-you-go basis before committing to the rest of the term.

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Terms and Conditions

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Confirmation​

• Your child’s place on a Meraki term time course is booked using the website’s online booking form, you will then be sent an invoice for the sessions, made payable two weeks prior to the class/classes that you wish to attend where possible.
• Places on all other Meraki services are booked via email or through our website and paid for via bank transfer or an online payment link.  
• If an enquiry is made via telephone, email, contact form, or in person, you will be directed to fill in the online booking form and/or make payment via bank transfer. All places will only be secure once the online booking form has been completed (for a term time course), and full payment has been received. Until this is complete, the place is not secured and may be offered to another party.

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Booking, Cancellation & Refund policy

• Responsibility for the details of bookings and payment lies with the person making the initial booking. Places are allocated on a strictly first come first served basis.
• If the Meraki class or course you require is fully booked, you will be placed on a waiting list. In the event of a space becoming available, Meraki will contact you via email or phone.
• If for any reason, a participant is unable to attend a Meraki class after being accepted, Meraki reserves the right to withhold the full class fee. This also applies to sickness. If a participant is unable to attend a class this in non-refundable, and non-transferable to a future class.

• If for any reason a participant is unable to attend a holiday or one-off term time workshop, that has been pre-paid, tickets are not refundable, and non-transferable to another workshop.
• If at least three days' notice of cancellation is given, the ticket may be offered for resale. If it sells, it can be transferred to another class of equal value. Tickets will not be resold or transferred with less than 3 full days' notice.
• Meraki Art School will endeavour to run classes during bad weather for example snow conditions. However, should we need to cancel due to safety concerns, parents will be contacted and the class or workshop will be rescheduled for another day. If you are then unable to attend you will receive a voucher or credit of the same monetary value for another class or workshop of your choosing.

• If a refund is issued for any reason, Meraki will deduct any incurred fees before processing the refund.

Lateness

• If a regular student arrives late to a Saturday Create, Imagine, or Inspire class or workshop, they will still be admitted, and we will do our best to accommodate them within the remaining session time.
• If students arrive more than 15 minutes late to a holiday workshop (with no prior notice) they may not be admitted as we wish all the students to have the best possible experience with us. No refunds, credits or tokens will be given if this occurs.

Student/carer Expectations

• In our classes, we expect children to be attentive, cooperative, and respectful of their peers.
• We emphasise active participation, positive attitudes, courteous and respectful behaviours. It is our aim to ensure that every child has equal access to artist feedback and enjoys a fun, positive learning experience with us. Should these expectations not be met, we will contact parents/guardians and request that they promptly collect their child from the workshop.
• It is crucial that parents notify us in advance if their child has any Special Educational Needs, as failure to do so may result in exclusion from future workshops. This exclusion is solely due to the lack of accurate information we have been given, correct information ensures that we are equipped to provide the necessary support for all children in our classes. Our primary goal is to create a safe and inclusive learning environment for everyone.
• If an adult does not supply us with the correct details about their child they will immediately be excluded from booking future workshops, as it puts children and staff in a position of risk.

Fees

• Fees will be paid on a termly or half-term basis.
• All classes in the agreed half or full term must be paid for whether your child attends or not.
• All accounts must be paid in full, in advance, by the deadline given, for the participant to attend any Meraki service. Until payment has been received, the place is not secured and may be offered to another party.

Continuing/Leaving

• Once your child has registered and joined Meraki Art School there is no need to re-register every term
• We will contact you at the end of each paid half/full term time course to see if you would like to continue with the following block of lessons.

Arrival, Collection and safeguarding procedures

• Each participant will be registered in at the start, and signed out at the end of each class. It is the responsibility of parents to ensure they always comply with these procedures, and inform the teacher at the beginning of the class if any person other than themselves will be signing the student out.
• For students attending Imagine classes and holiday workshops, parents or carers must provide written consent if their child will be arriving or leaving without an adult.
  For students in Inspire classes, we assume they have permission to arrive and leave independently unless we are informed otherwise.
• One adult is required to stay for children under the age of 8 in accordance with DfE guidance.
• If children are 8 and attend a drop-off class (Imagine or Inspire) or workshop, adults are expected to drop the children off and collect at the end of the session. If a parent or carer wishes to stay with their child, they must contact the Meraki team in advance to discuss their child's individual needs. For safeguarding reasons, we are only able to allow adults who have been DBS-checked and approved by Meraki Staff to remain in the workshop area during sessions.

Programme Changes

• Meraki reserves the right to change course specifications and teaching staff wherever necessary.
• A workshop will be cancelled or rescheduled if the minimum number or participants is not met. A full refund will be provided in the unlikely event of the class or course being cancelled.

Personal Property

• All personal property is the participants’ responsibility. Expensive and/or treasured items should not be brought to Meraki classes. We will not replace or finance the replacement of any damaged items.
• Suitable “messy” clothing or an apron should always be worn to protect clothes, although we encourage the use of aprons, it is the responsibility of the parent of carer to ensure students are wearing correct clothing and understand that clothing work to sessions may get damaged.
• Please note that your property left during the activity is your responsibility and Meraki Art School cannot take any responsibility for the safeguarding of these items.

Meals and Snacks

Participants are advised to bring their own water-based drinks to Meraki classes with their name clearly labelled. Please note that Meraki classes are NUT-FREE ZONES and any nut-based products brought into the premises will be confiscated and returned to parents at the end of the class.

• During regular classes snacks should be consumed before or after a class, not during, unless there is a medical reason. This policy is in place to ensure the health and safety of the children during the class.
• During our holiday workshops no food or snacks should be consumed on the premises. Drinks may be brought along and children will have access to these at all times.

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Health, medical needs and student safety  

• Students participate at their own risk and parents are obliged to inform Meraki and its staff of any existing injuries or medical conditions upon booking. In regard to the term time courses, all application forms must have any known medical conditions stated and any changes to such information must be notified to Meraki immediately in writing.
• Any medication left on the premises must be clearly labelled and the student should, unless Meraki has agreed in writing otherwise, be able to administer it themselves.
• If a student is unwell or has an accident requiring emergency treatment, the parent will be contacted via the emergency contact details provided when booking. These numbers must always be contactable whilst the student is attending the Meraki activity.
• Parents are solely responsible for ensuring that the emergency contact details on Meraki's’ records are up to date. These can be updated by via email.
• If children have Special Educational Needs and require 1:1 adult support please discuss this with the team before the class or workshop. Please note that we are unable to provide one-to-one support for individual children. However, we are happy to accommodate and collaborate with any additional support arrangements you choose to put in place.
• parents and carers are asked to keep their children at home if they have a serious infection and to inform the setting as to the nature of the infection so that other parents can be alerted.

Please keep your child at home if he/she:

Has a fever or has had one in the previous 24 hours

Has had an upset stomach or diarrhoea in the previous 48 hours

Has heavy nasal discharge

Has discharging eyes

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Has symptoms of possible communicable diseases such as:

Measles

Chicken pox

German measles

Whooping cough

Impetigo

Scarlett Fever

Hand, foot and mouth disease

Norovirus

We cannot offer a refund for a lesson missed due to illness. In the case of a holiday workshop you may offer your place to a friend, who also has a child, to the session.

Photography

During Meraki classes, photographs and videos may be taken of participants during activities. These images may be used for publicity purposes in an image, on video, on our website, or in printed publications. Parents must let Meraki know upon booking if they would like their child/children to be excluded from any photographs/ videos.

Equal Opportunities

Meraki Art School has a commitment to ensure that the equipment, activities and service are appropriate and considerate to everyone regardless of race, culture, language, gender, age, experience, religion, background, ability or disability.

We consider language, behaviour or action that is designed to be offensive or creates discrimination or disruption to any user of a Meraki service or member of staff, unacceptable and will not be tolerated. If any behaviour at Meraki is considered inappropriate, the offending pupil, pupils or adults will be given a clear warning. If the behaviour persists and is considered to be affecting the equilibrium of the class, then a parent will be contacted either during or after the class, and the pupil asked to leave and/or not return.

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