By joining us for lessons you accept and agree to abide by the following terms and conditions.
If you would like to join us for weekly lessons you can join at any point during the term, subject to a suitable space being available. We do recommend that children who are completely new to lessons start at the beginning of a term so they progress with their class rather than start nearer the end of term when we have already covered a lot of swimming.
To join us please complete the booking form online and Michelle, our swim school coordinator, will be in touch with you by email to discuss class options. If you have not heard from us within 48 hours please email us as we may not have received your booking form. Once a suitable space is agreed we will email you a confirmation with all the information you need ready to start lessons.
We always assess our newly starting children and returning swimmers the first weeks of term to check they are in the most suitable class. If for any reason the class is not suitable we will contact you to look for an alternative. If we cannot offer an alternative suitable class we can either put your payment towards the following term or refund you for any lessons you have not received up to this point.
We run a refer a friend discount scheme. If you have been referred to us by an existing swimming (whom has already completed at least two weekly lessons with us) please let us know at the time of booking. Both you and your friend will receive a £10 discount.
One referral per child or adult that currently swims with us per term. Seahorses reserve the right to remove or amend this offer at any time.
Payments are taken by monthly direct debit via “GoCardless” our direct debit system only. We do not accept cash, cheque or BACS payments for lessons.
Payments are taken on the 2nd of each month – if you would prefer an alternative payment date please email us to arrange this. Payments are taken from December – March for the January term, April – July for the summer term and August – November for the winter term (one month in advance). If you join us part-way through the term payments may be split over two or three months as appropriate.
There is a £5 joining fee per child which reserves your space and includes a free Seahorses swimming hat for preschool, school-aged and adult swimmers, which must be worn in lessons.
Our prices will be such to a small percentage increase each year, in line with yearly pool hire cost increases and teacher salary increases.
Your space is automatically carried forwards each term. We will email you with details of the new term after half term, along with how to request to change class or discontinue lessons and the notice period deadline. We will email to remind you of the deadline as well.
We require 6 weeks term time notice to discontinue lessons at the end of the current term. Notice given after this date may result in lesson charges to make up the 6 weeks if we are unable to reallocate your space (you can attend these lessons at the start of the new term).
If you have requested to change class and we do not have a suitable alternative we will not charge you.
If you need to change time, day or venue for the following term please reply to our email about the new term before the notice period deadline. We will endeavour to find a suitable space for you but cannot guarantee we will be able to offer a suitable alternative.
Classes are reviewed at the end of each term. Generally the classes tend to progress together as a group but if for any reason a different group would be more suitable for your child we will email you separately following the rebooking email and work together to find an alternative class.
Newly children joining us and returning swimmers are all assessed the first weeks of term to check they are in the most appropriate ability class. This may result in us suggesting a change of day, time or pool if the class is not best suited to your child. If we are unable to find a class for you we can carry your payment forwards towards the following term or refund you.
When joining us you book and commit to your space for the whole term. Please see our “FAQ” page for our full refund policy.
Sometimes there may be unforeseen or last-minute circumstances meaning a teacher is unable to teach a lesson at very short notice or unable to complete a lesson once it is already underway. Whilst we will endeavour to cancel a class ahead of time where possible our admin team does not work 24/7 and sometimes things happen at the last minute that are outside of our control. The last thing any of us want is to have to cancel swimmers once they are already at the pool ready to go.
There may be a very rare occasion where we have to combine two classes that normally swim independently from each other, in which case we will not offer a refund for this class.
No refunds are given for lessons not attended for any reason including illness, holiday etc. We operate a no-refund policy for preschool & school-aged classes. Our classes are offered at very competitive prices for the quality of both the lessons and facilities and we are proud to support our teachers in receiving excellent rates & benefits for the fantastic lessons they deliver. We are therefore very affected by cancellations. So we can be a sustainable small business and continue to provide our classes we do not issue refunds for any cancelled classes.
In the unlikely event that a lesson is cancelled by us, due to any reason such as pool closure or teacher illness, this lesson will be carried forward as a credit. You can use your credit during swim weeks or any other additional one off sessions during the term. You can also transfer your credit to another of your children if needed or desired (for the same lesson price), or “top up” your class to a smaller group.
We will often add any cancelled lessons into half terms and holidays.
Credits can be carried forward term to term, so if you are unable to attend your extra lesson during the term you can attend a lesson the following term. If you discontinue lessons you will lose the credit.
For our baby & toddler classes, we appreciate many families cannot attend a lesson on another day and we do not usually run these classes during our half-term & holiday swim weeks for make-up lesssons, so we will refund you any owed swims at the end of the current term.
If a lesson is cancelled due to adverse weather conditions or other extenuating circumstances the lesson will not be credited as these matters are outside our control.
At Seahorses we treat every child as an individual and provide support for every child in the way in which they need it. All medical information is kept private and confidential and only shared with your child’s teachers, or if serious with the teachers at your session in case of emergency situations.
If your child has a medical condition you must notify us when completing the booking form and joining. Failure to notify us of medical conditions can be dangerous and impede your child’s progress.
Please give as much information as possible and include ways in which we can adapt our lessons to help your child with their swimming. We also have the option of providing additional assistants in the water if your child would benefit from this, at an additional cost. We are also able to provide private lessons and will discuss with you whether this would be beneficial for your child and review each term.
If your child wears glasses please let us know – prescription goggles may be used by any child with an eye condition. If your child has grommets please let us know and inform us whether they are able to take part in submersions, jumping in etc. Ear plugs and head bands may be worn.
If there are any changes to your child’s medical information you must update us as soon as possible.
Please ensure your child is fit and ready to swim each week. No one may enter the pool if they have an open wound (with a plaster over or otherwise), any infectious disease, cough, cold, ear infection, eye infection, head lice or stomach upset.
Please do not bring your children swimming if they have visible signs of a cold (running nose/coughing). Viruses are very easily spread at swimming pools and although your children may feel okay they may well pass on their cold to other swimmers or to our teachers, potentially resulting in lesson cancellations!
Swimmers should not enter the water for a minimum of 14 days after experiencing unexplained diarrhea or 48 hours after a D & V bug.
If your child has a verruca they may swim as normal and do not require a verruca sock as there is no evidence that verruca’s are passed on at swimming pools and the socks are ineffective and outdated. Please cover the verruca with a waterproof plaster.
If your child has chicken pox you will need to wait until the scabs have fallen off before swimming.
Babies do not require vaccinations before attending lessons.
Anyone entering the pool must shower beforehand. Showering with water alone removes up to 80% of the oils and bacteria on the skin which makes for a more pleasant swimming experience for everyone. This also enables us to keep chemical levels lower in the pool.
We do not provide refunds or credits for missed classes or class swaps.
Any child who is not yet fully toilet trained must wear a double nappy system i.e. swim nappy (we recommend a washable/reusable nappy as this is more environmentally friendly, and you will be washing swim kit anyway!) and a confinement nappy (NOT a normal nappy). All swimmers should use the toilet before swimming. Please do not leave dirty nappies in the bins or anywhere else at any of our pools. Nappies should be taken away with you and disposed of properly, not left in bins in the changing rooms or toilets.
We recommend all swimmers arrive at their lessons with swim kit under clothes in case there is traffic. This allows for a quick change before swimming.
Due to the nature & design of our Tongham pool we have a large communal/family changing room. The far right hand changing area from entering the changing room has a curtain for privacy if desired. Please be aware that both male and female parents may be accompanying their children to lessons and during our Birthlight baby and toddler classes both mums and dads may be swimming with their little ones.
At our Grayshott pool we have a communal changing room and two additional changing areas with curtains on poolside.
Please notify us if you are concerned about any use of the changing facilities.
Everyone entering the pool complex must remove their shoes & socks and place on the shoe racks provided.
Please be aware that poolside can be very warm and ensure you are dressed appropriately.
Siblings are welcome to watch the lessons but are the responsibility of their parents. They must be seated well away from the edge of the pool and under full supervision at all times. We do not take responsible for any persons watching the lessons. Please try and keep to one parent per family watching wherever possible as space on poolside is limited.
We take responsibility for our swimmers from when we invite them into the water and whilst they are taking part in the lesson only. Seahorses do not take responsibility if swimmers leave the pool for any reason during the lesson (e.g. toilet breaks). Please make sure to ask before taking your child to the toilet, as turning around a seeing a child missing may give our teachers a heart attack! When reentering the pool please wait until the teacher invites you to rejoin the class and we resume responsibility for them.
When the children are in the water it is imperative that parents do not communicate with their children outside a thumbs up/smile of encouragement (and sometimes tears of joy!) Whilst we fully appreciate it is enjoyable for parents to watch the lessons it is imperative for safety that the childrens’ attention is on the teacher and the lesson at all time. If we feel your child is being distracted or not reaching their full potential we may suggest waiting in the changing room during the lesson to see if this helps.
If a child is upset during the lesson, has loose goggles, needs their hat popping back on etc this will be dealt with by our caring and experienced teachers. It is very common for our new preschoolers and younger children to take a couple of weeks to settle into the lessons as it is all very new for them and we are very experienced in dealing with this.
No food and drink (except water in a plastic bottle/nursing), glass or talcum powder is permitted within the pool complex. All litter must be taken away or disposed of properly in the bins provided. Please help us to keep our pools clean. Smoking is not permitted anywhere on sites.
Parents/guardians must remain on site unless we have a prior agreement. We must have a correct mobile number for you at all times.
We reserve the right to ask anyone to leave poolside at any time. We do not accept ill-treatment of any of our members of staff and all conversations had at the pool must be polite and appropriate for the situation. We do not discuss any swimmers apart from your own with you, so please do not make comments about other children either at the pool or in private.
Photography or videoing is not permitted at any of our pools in accordance with our Child Protection Policies without prior agreement. Please respect this rule and do not attempt to take photos/videos without us seeing. Our teachers do not give permission for any photos/videos taken without their knowledge to be published anywhere online.
We completely appreciate parents will often want a photo or video to show a family member who is unable to attend the lessons. We are more than happy to accommodate this providing you ask first, do not capture any other children and if it will not interrupt or delay a lesson.
Seahorses may wish to take photographs and videos during your lessons for use on our website or Facebook page. When completing a booking form please state whether or not you are happy for us to take photographs/videos of your child. We will always ask in advance if we would like to take any photos of our classes, giving parents time to refuse if desired.
All swimmers (with the exception of baby & toddler classes) are required to wear a swimming hat. Newly joining swimmers will receive a free hat at their first lesson. If you need to purchase additional hats these are £5 and can be collected at the pool – we will take your payment via your direct debit account. We have lovely polyester fabric hats in both small and large sizes. Swimming hats help keep our pools clean and also keep long hair off of faces when swimming.
Goggles are only permitted for use by children who have completed our Beginners award scheme (at least 7m on their front and back unaided.) It is very dangerous for children to become reliant on goggles. If they were to have an accident and fall into unknown water it is highly unlikely they would have their goggles with them. For this reason we do not encourage the use of goggles in any of our classes (except in case of medical condition) and part of each lesson will be without the use of goggles to keep up this skill.
Please ensure your child’s swimwear is appropriate. Excessively baggy trunks or costumes will only hinder your child’s progress. Our private pools are lovely and warm so your child should not require a wetsuit – these provide a false sense of buoyancy and can restrict movement. If for any reason your child is chilly in lessons we are happy for them to wear a wetsuit if needed. Our pools are kept at 32/33 degrees.
All newly joining preschoolers will start their first lesson wearing arm discs (which we provide) until we have seen their ability, at which time we will remove them if appropriate. We will start removing the arm discs as soon as your child has a correct body position, can kick across the pool efficiently unassisted (with a woggle/float) on the front and back and can hold the woggle safely at all times or for appropriate skills.
We ask that our preschool children wear arm discs (which we provide) when they first start lessons with us as some of the pools are too deep for them to stand. This is for safety reasons and we will start to reduce the discs once the children can hold the woggle safely at all times and have correct body position, leg kick and gain confidence. We continue to use them to enable more independent swimming during the lesson, a sense of freedom in the water and to be able to get more swims in throughout the class. Arm discs do in no way hinder your child’s progress or cause dependence and allow them to progress and gain independence more quickly.
Parking instructions will be made available to you for your specific pool. Please drive slowly and carefully around all sites, with caution. Please park courteously and ensure all children walk to and from all our pools quietly and sensibly. Parents are responsible for their children at all times whilst walking to the pool complex and in the changing rooms & on poolside.
At our Tongham pool we have specific parking areas and it is imperative these are adhered to. Parking is available in the layby opposite the pool complex and the community centre ONLY. There is no parking available on the road itself under any circumstances. This is part of our commercial license agreement with Guildford Borough Council. If you choose to ignore this rule you will be removed from the swim school without refund as we risk losing the pool if our parents do not following these instruction. This rule is also in place for your children’s safety as it can be dangerous getting out of a car on to a busy road.
For our Grayshott pool parents must park in the village. There are multiple free car parks close to the pool. Please do not park in the church grounds, these are private.
For those with disabled badges or who would struggle following these rules there is a parking space available on the driveway. Please let us know if you need to use this.
We reserve the right to change or amend our terms and conditions at any time, with immediate effect.
All personal details provided to and kept by Seahorses are for our administrative purposes only and will not be passed on to any third parties. You can request to know what information we hold at any time. All medical information is kept private and confidential and only shared with your child’s teachers or anyone who needs to be informed for safety reasons.
All written correspondence (including email) between Seahorses and yourself is confidential and should not be shared with anyone else, including after you discontinue lessons with us. If you leave us and would like us to remove your information from our database please let us know.
Seahorses do not tolerate abuse of any kind to our staff or any members of our swim school. All swimmers and parents must abide by our rules and terms and conditions. Seahorses reserve the right to end your lessons, without refund, with us if we deem there has been any kind of abuse or violation of our terms and conditions or pool rules. If for any reason you are unhappy with your lessons, complaints can be made in writing by email or by telephone conversation. Please do not try to have these conversations at the pool during or between classes.