Terms and Conditions:  City of Belfast Swimming Club AquaStrokes

The following terms and conditions apply to all persons (“your child”) attending swimming lessons organised by City of Belfast Swimming Club (CoB SC) (“we” or “us”). Please ensure you have read and understand the following and please keep a copy for your records.

1. Acceptance of terms and conditions
   1. By booking onto a course of swimming lessons with us, you accept these terms and conditions and they will form a binding contract between you and us.
   2. You will ensure that you/ or your children and any other children you bring to the swimming pool will follow the general swimming pool rules set out at the end of these terms and conditions and any rules that are specific to a particular pool.
   3. We reserve the right to vary these terms and conditions at any time upon reasonable notice to you.

1. Bookings
   1. A waiting list is maintained, and you will be notified when places become available.  Once enrolled, your child will have priority booking for subsequent courses.
   2. The start date, venue, start time, course and session duration, the name of teacher will be confirmed on the invoice that will be emailed to you prior to the commencement of the course. This information can also be accessed via your online account, My Lessons.
   3. The fee for a course will be confirmed to you at the time of booking.  You must pay for the whole course even if your child misses a lesson for any reason. Payment is made monthly, by direct debit.  
   4. Cheques, cash and credit card payments are not accepted.  
   5. Invoices that are emailed to you and not seen by you because (a) your email address has been entered incorrectly or (b) has been marked as ‘spam’ by your email client are still payable in full.
   6. If payment is not received by the course start date, then your account will be treated as a late payment and we may at our complete discretion cancel your booking and we shall not be obliged to teach you or your child.  

1. Registration and contacting us
   1. Your details are secured in the SwimSoft online management system, in line with our Privacy Policy.  We will use the information in your online account for contact purposes, lesson bookings, invoicing and re-enrolment and any other such purposes as we deem reasonable as part of the provision of the courses.
   2. You must keep your contact details in your online customer account up to date, because we use this information to send you information about your lessons or notify you if lessons are cancelled.  
   3. You agree that all information stored in your online account can be accessed by designated administrators.  Teachers have access to the names, dates of birth, achievements and medical notes of children in their classes.  

1. Holidays
   1. 4.1 If you wish to take a holiday during a course so that your child misses a lesson or lessons within the course, you must still pay for the entire course. You shall of course retain your place on the course for the duration of the course.

1. Illness and medical conditions
   1. At the time of registering with AquaStrokes you must complete the section on medical information.  It is your responsible to update this information by emailing the Co-ordinator, or directly on your My Lessons account. We will discuss with you any adaptations, special provision, or other options available within the City of Belfast AquaStrokes programme.
   2. If there are any signs of stomach upset and sickness in your family on the day of your child’s lesson or in the several days before the lesson, you must not send your child to lessons. 
   3. Children with heavy colds, sinusitis, ear infections, diarrhoea, vomiting, chicken pox and any other contagious diseases should not attend lessons whilst these symptoms show. If you have any queries with regard to further health problems, please contact us. We shall not be liable for your child catching any illness or disease whilst at our lessons.
   4. Subject to the following, we will not provide refunds or credits for absence from booked lessons due to illness, regardless of the number of lessons missed as a result. However, if your child suffers a serious illness, which affects him or her for more than 4 weeks (such as broken bones or any condition that requires prolonged hospitalisation and/or medical attention) then we may offer you a credit for all lessons missed as a result of the condition if:
      1.  you inform us of the condition and prognosis no less than 48 hours before the first lesson to be missed;
      2.  you provide us with a doctor’s note detailing your child’s illness or medical condition;
      If we offer you a credit in these circumstances but you do not wish to continue with swimming lessons with us, we may at our discretion offer you a refund instead for the number of weeks remaining.
   5. It is your responsibility to ensure that you or your child is medically fit to swim. We will not be liable for any accidents or injuries arising from swimming with us that relate to your child’s individual medical condition(s), save that nothing in these terms and conditions will limit the liability of any person for death or personal injury caused by negligence.

1. Requests to change lessons and requests for credits
   1. You shall not have the right to change the day, time, venue or teacher for your booked lessons for any reason once the course has started but we may entirely at our discretion choose to allow you to do so if we feel that you have reasonable grounds to request such change. 
   2. In the event a lesson is cancelled, you will be credited for the value of that lesson, which will carry over to the following month or course. If we agree to give you a credit for unused lessons but you do not wish to continue swimming lessons with us, then we may in our absolute discretion offer you a refund for unused lessons.

1. Cancellation by you
   1. If you cancel a course after you have paid for it, we shall not be obliged to provide you with any credit or refund subject to paragraph 8 of these terms and conditions.
      If you request to cancel your course after the start date, you will still be liable to pay for all allotted sessions up to that point, regardless of attendance of the same
      If you have not submitted a request to cancel after your first lessons have started, your full invoice will remain payable.

1. Cancellation by us
   1. If we determine that there is insufficient support for a course, we have the right to cancel, suspend or postpone the course before the date of the first lesson. We shall give you as much notice as possible of any such cancellation and we will provide you with a full refund of your course fee if no suitable alternative course is found. Our liability for any such cancellation shall be limited to this refund and we shall not be liable for any losses of any kind incurred by you as a result of such cancellation.
   2. We will make every effort not to cancel lessons once a course has started but on rare occasions, pool closure or other unforeseen circumstances may force us to do so. We shall give you as much notice as possible of any such cancellation. Your account will be credited and may be offset against your fees for a subsequent course. Paragraph 10 applies only to lessons cancelled by us. It does not apply if you miss a lesson for any other reason, including holidays or sickness.

1. Parental responsibilities
   1. You are responsible for any children you bring with you into any part of the swimming pool venue including the changing area.
   2. Children are not the responsibility of our teachers until the child enters the swimming pool at the start of a lesson.
   3. During lessons you must not interrupt or communicate with the teacher, distract the pupils or approach the poolside, unless it is a matter of health and safety.
   4. You must keep children who are not swimming quiet and under your control at all times whilst in the swimming pool venue.
   5. You may not take photos or video recordings or any other type of recording of any children within the property.
   6. If you feel that lessons are not providing adequate progression, please raise the issue with us by way of email so that we can discuss your concerns.

1. General pool rules
   1. Swimmers must shower and go to the toilet before they enter the water.
   2. Shoes must be removed before entering the poolside or overshoes worn.
   3. Long hair should be tied back, or a swimming hat worn.
   4. Swimmers should not enter the pool until the class has started and should wait to be invited into the pool by the teacher.
   5. You must leave the pool as soon as the class has finished and should leave in an orderly manner.
   6. Safety for all is our paramount concern and we have the right to remove anyone on, in or around the pool who gives us any concern whatsoever with regard to safety.
   7. You must not run or act inappropriately once within the pool vicinity.
   8. We shall not be responsible for any injury/accident caused as a result of children and/or parents disobeying these rules.
2. Limitations of Liability
   1. Whilst every reasonable precaution is taken by us to ensure security and safety at our swimming lessons, we shall not in any way be liable for any loss or damage arising in any way from our swimming lessons or the swimming pools we use. However, nothing in these terms and conditions shall limit the liability of any person for death or personal injury caused by negligence.
   2. Any claim against us arising from attendance at one of our swimming lessons must be notified in writing to us within six months from the day of the relevant swimming lesson and we shall not be liable for any claim that is notified to us after this time.
   3. In any event, we shall not be liable to you:
3. for any purely economic loss, for consequential or indirect losses or for any loss of profit or opportunity;
4. (where the claim is insured) for any loss which we are unable to recover from any insurer;
5. (where the claim arises as a result of something which was done or not done by a third party) for any loss which we are unable to recover from that third party; and
6. for any loss which is greater than the fee paid by you for the relevant course of swimming lessons.

the changing rooms and in the car park) is done so at your own risk.

1. In the event that you or your child causes harm, damage, loss or injury to any other person or property during the course, you agree to indemnify us and reimburse us for all claims, losses, damages, expenses (including legal fees), and any other liability suffered by us as a result of such harm, damage, loss or injury caused by you or your child.
2. We shall not be liable for any loss or theft of your or your child’s personal personal possessions and all property left by on the property (including without limitation in the changing rooms and in the carpark) is done so at your own risk.

1. Assignment and subcontracting
   1. We may at any time assign, transfer, charge, subcontract or deal in any other manner with all or any of our rights under the contract between us and may subcontract or delegate in any manner any or all of our obligations under the contract between us to any third party or agent.
   2. You shall not, without our prior written consent, assign, transfer, charge, subcontract or deal in any other manner with all or any of your rights or obligations under the contract between us.

1. Governing Law
   1. This Agreement and these Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of Northern Ireland and you agree that any disputes shall be resolved and interpreted exclusively by the Courts of Northern Ireland.