Booking means you have read and accepted the T&Cs. 

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These terms and conditions are valid for all tuition from 1st August 2025.  Newton's Lantern reserves the right to make changes to these terms and conditions from time to time and existing clients will be notified of these with as much notice as possible.

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1. Registration and Booking

Please contact us directly to book and discuss how our services may be able to help you or your child.

 

A non-refundable deposit of one session's fee must be paid to secure the first session at the time of booking.

 

Clients are required to provide adequate contact details including postal address, email, and landline/mobile numbers to enable us to communicate with you effectively.  Please complete the registration form as accurately as possible.  Please ensure you provide contact numbers for all parents/guardians who are likely to be present during tuition, this is to ensure we can contact the relevant guardian/parent in case of emergencies/technological breakdowns.  Please ensure that you inform us if any contact details change during the academic year.

 

Lessons are charged as per the rates on my website and last for duration of 1 hour; however bespoke lesson lengths are available upon request.


 

Scheduled lessons will always take place either in person at the student’s home or online via Microsoft Teams on the day and time specified on the invoice, unless a tutorial is rearranged for a time that is mutually convenient to both tutor and client/student.


 

If Ad hoc lessons are required, we will try to accommodate these where possible, subject to availability or last-minute cancellations. 

 

2. Payment

Payment is by bank transfer. For in person sessions cash payment of the invoice is also available.

 

Single sessions will be invoiced monthly in advance after the first lesson. Invoices will be issued via email in the first week of the month with clear due dates for sessions booked in the following month. All payment must be made by the invoice due date. A reminder will be sent after the due date, but if payment has not been received before the next lesson is due, further sessions will be cancelled, and the slot may be given to another student.  Full payment and late payment charge of £45 will be required to rebook.

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Payment Plan fees will be invoiced via email in advance. All payments must be made by the invoice due date. A reminder will be sent after the due date, but if payment has not been received before the next lesson is due, further sessions will be cancelled, and the slot may be given to another student.  Full payment and late payment charge of £45 will be required to rebook.


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If ad hoc or additional lessons are required, these will be added to the next invoice after the booking and must be paid for in advance.

Additional travel fees may apply for in-home sessions beyond a certain distance (agreed in advance).

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Non-payment of fees – Newton’s Lantern reserves the right to refuse to allow the student to attend tuition while fees remain unpaid or if there is a persistent failure by the client to pay the fees on time.


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3. Cancellations & Missed Sessions

At least 24 hours’ notice is required to cancel or reschedule a session.

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Cancellations with less than 24 hours’ notice will be charged at the full rate, except in cases of emergency or illness (at the tutor’s discretion).

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In the case of holidays, and the pupil would not be available for online lessons during that time, then the client should give at least one week’s notice to receive credit toward the next sessions. 

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If the Tutor needs to cancel a lesson, as much notice as possible will be given and the client will receive credit for further lesson(s) with an alternative time may be offered.

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If a client wishes to terminate the plan, then two weeks’ notice is required. In this case any money refunded will be minus any used sessions charged at the full single session value, this includes payment plan fees.


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4. General Lesson Expectations

It is the parent’s/student’s responsibility to provide any additional information they feel is important to tuition (for example medical conditions/special education needs etc.). If a student is neurodivergent and has a neurodevelopmental condition such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), the parent/client must declare this information on the registration form before lessons begin, so that the tutor can work with the parent/client on the best strategies on how to effectively work with the student within the lessons.

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It is the student’s responsibility to come to the lesson with all the necessary materials needed, such as textbooks, paper, pencils and rulers, as well as any resources provided by Newton’s Lantern for that topic/lesson. If the student has a specific pen or piece of equipment (such as reading glasses) that is needed for their lesson; they must bring it with them to the lesson. If the student has been set homework, it must be completed by the next session so that it can be used for discussion and feedback.

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We believe that giving feedback is an important component for students to be able to gain positive learning experiences. We always aim to give feedback in a way that is fair, constructive and beneficial for the student to be able to act upon and learn from it. It is equally important that students accept the feedback graciously and be willing to learn and act on it. Parents are welcome to join the session at the beginning or end of the lesson for feedback.  We do not provide written progress reports.

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Parents are responsible for ensuring that their children know how to behave appropriately. 

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It is important that clients/parents work in conjunction with the tutor to tackle any low-level behaviour that the student may engage in. This may include behaviour such as excessive talking, refusal to work or participate in the lesson. It is important that the student comes ready to work in the lesson. Any student that comes to tutoring and consistently engages in unacceptable behaviour, will risk their tutoring lesson being stopped and the possible end of their tutoring contract.

 

Newton’s Lantern has a zero policy for high level unacceptable behaviour (from a client/parent or student) that has resulted in aggressive, rude behaviour or violence of any sort. This includes behaviour such as swearing, physical violence, name calling or the use of discriminatory language or terms. This behaviour will result in an instant termination of the tuition contract and no money will be refunded for any lessons that have been pre-paid.  

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Newton’s Lantern do not film or record any of our students or any portion of the lessons. This is in line with our data protection policies. Likewise, it is completely unacceptable and against GDPR (general data protection regulations) for clients/parents to record or film the tutor or any portion of the lesson without consent. Any client/parent that is known to have done this will risk an instant termination of their students/learner’s tuition lessons and no refunds will be allocated in this case. 

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Newton’s Lantern reserve the right to cancel any bookings for students where behaviour or language by either parent or student is unacceptable. Although this is very unlikely, you will receive a refund for any outstanding lessons if this needs to enforcing.

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5. Specific In Person Session Expectations

In person tutoring will be conducted at the student’s home.

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The tutoring space must be clean, quiet, and free from distractions. Keep distractions to a minimum, e.g. muting phones/social media to ensure a quiet working space etc.

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A responsible adult must be nearby within earshot in the venue and doors must be left open for safeguarding purposes. Parents are welcome to join the session at the beginning or end of the lesson for feedback.  We do not provide written progress reports.

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6. Specific Online Lesson Expectations

Login for online lessons on time for the start of their lesson. Ideally, the student should aim to log on at least 5 minutes before the lesson begins, so that if there are any log in issues they can be resolved before the lesson begins. If there are any connection issues, the client/ student must contact the tutor by phoning them. Do not send a text or a WhatsApp message.

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If the student arrives late to the lesson the time will not be extended, the lesson will end at the designated time to enable the next student to have their full lesson.  If for any reason the Tutor is late the lesson duration will either take place in full, have the missing time added to another session, or an alternative time will be offered.

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Students should attend online tuition from an open room such as a living or dining room, rather than bedrooms, whenever possible for the purposes of safeguarding, if this is unavoidable, please ensure the environment is appropriate.

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A responsible adult must be nearby within earshot of the student, and doors must be left open for safeguarding purposes. Parents are welcome to join the video call at the beginning or end of the lesson for feedback.  We do not provide written progress reports.

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Students should have their webcam turned on unless there is a reason that this is not possible. This enables me to gauge the student’s understanding of the concept being taught.

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Dress appropriately as you would be for in person tuition (no pj’s, swimwear etc.)

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Ensure that all equipment (computer/laptop/iPad, graphic tablets/apple pencils, webcams, headphones and microphones, calculators) are ready and charged where appropriate for the lesson.

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Ensure that you test that your equipment, in particular, that your webcam/ headset/earphones/microphone are working before the lesson starts. This is especially important if you are going to be working on a new device.  ​

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Newton’s Lantern do not film or record any of our students or any portion of the lessons. This is in line with our data protection policies. Likewise, it is completely unacceptable and against GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) for clients/parents to record or film the tutor or any portion of the lesson. Any client/parent that is known to have done this will risk an instant termination of their students/learner’s tuition lessons and no refund will be allocated in this case. 

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7. Additional Group Session Expectations.

Minimum numbers may be required for groups sessions to run. All students attending groups must attend a Teams chat with your tutor free of charge prior to group tuition starting.

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Group sessions run at fixed times; missed sessions cannot be rescheduled or refunded.

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If a student joins late or leaves early, the full session fee still applies.

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Students are expected to be respectful of others and contribute positively to the group learning environment.

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All students must have their webcam turned on unless there is a reason that this is not possible (for example poor signal). This is to ensure that the tutor knows exactly who is viewing the lesson and helps me to gauge student’s understanding of the concept being taught.

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Ensure background is suitable (e.g. no certificates on walls with full names or visible logos which would make students identifiable such as their school logos)

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Students should not share their full name or any details that would make them identifiable within the group.

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Students must ensure that only their first name and first initial from surname are shown on their zoom screen.

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8. Safeguarding

Newton’s Lantern is committed to safeguarding and upholding the wellbeing of all students.

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All sessions are conducted professionally, with appropriate boundaries and high expectations of all students towards the tutor and other students.

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A responsible adult must be within earshot of the student during the sessions, whether online or in person. Any doors between the responsible adult and the student must be left open.

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We do not film or record any sessions or students.

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Our tutors are members of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme managed by Disclosure Scotland. The PVG scheme is a membership scheme for people working with children or protected adults. It’s a legal requirement to join the scheme if you're doing a regulated role with these groups, such as teaching or tutoring. It helps ensure people who are unsuitable to work with children and protected adults cannot do such roles with these groups.

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9. Confidentiality and Privacy Statement

The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) came into force on 25th May 2018 and requires that all businesses issue a privacy statement to all clients and contacts, regarding the data held about the individual.

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Newton’s Lantern is the ‘controller’ of your data

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What information is held

Personal information and student progress are kept confidential and used only for tutoring purposes.

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The information we hold comes from you as the parent and your child as the student or, in the case of those students over 18, you as the student.  On the registration form you complete we ask for the following information:

• Name of Student

• Name of Parents/Guardians (applicable to students under 18 years of age)

• Home address

• Phone numbers.

• Email addresses

• Names and phone numbers of any other responsible adults who are likely to be present during tuition sessions, to ensure they can be contacted in case of emergencies or technological breakdowns.

• Age and School Year Group (if applicable)

• Details of regular session booked

• School/college attended

• Home address for correspondence

• Exam subject, level and exam board (where applicable) for current academic session.

• Background education information: any previous relevant exams and grades, areas of weakness, current focus and future goals, etc.

• Anything else the parent or student feels is important for tuition e.g. special educational needs, medical conditions, etc.

 

We only hold the data needed to provide the services you engage us to provide.  Contact information is used for scheduling, invoicing, record keeping and communicating my own services. Data will not be shared unless there is a legal obligation to do so. All reasonable steps are taken to ensure your data is processed and stored securely. This information is stored as paper copies in a securely locked cabinet and also any files are stored on our password protected computers.  Names and email addresses are also stored in our email contacts on our password protected computers and phone numbers are also stored on our pass code protected mobile phones.

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Your rights

You have the right to ask for all information held relating to you to be deleted.  Please note, however, that for child protection reasons tuition cannot continue after information is deleted and that terms and conditions regarding cancellation remain the same.  Unless a client has specifically asked for information to be destroyed, client details will be held on file for 2 years following the completion of tuition by the student.  Financial data will be retained for seven years for tax reasons.  When the information is destroyed, all papers will be shredded to protect the client’s identify and any data held in computer files will be either anonymised or permanently deleted. Emails/Phone records will be permanently deleted.

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Subject access requests

You have the right to see information held relating to this tuition agreement. 

If you wish to exercise this right, then you can do so by making an appointment to view the information at the beginning of the student’s tuition lesson.

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Communication

For child protection reasons, we communicate with you as the parent (or the student if over 18) before tuition begins and ask for your consent to hold information on your child and permission to tutor via the registration form.  Communication regarding booking invoices etc. is via email and occasionally text message or phone call. 

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Consent

It is assumed that on completing the registration form and tuition agreement, you consent for Newton’s Lantern to hold the information about your child on file until 2 years after tuition with us ends.  It is assumed that consent to communicate via Teams or other online platforms is given by parents for online tuition service.

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Data Breaches

The GDPR introduces a duty on all organisations to report certain types of data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and in some case, to individuals.  In the event of a data breach, Newton’s Lantern will notify the ICO of a breach where it is likely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals – if, for example, it could result in discrimination, damage to reputation, financial loss, loss of confidentiality or any other significant economic or social disadvantage.

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Photography and Video Recording

From time to time, we may take still photos of children’s work and activities taking place.  These may be published on my website and on social media.  Children’s faces are not shown in photos and names will not be shown online in photos. Consent for photography is sought on the registration form.

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Newton’s Lantern do not film or record any of our students or any portion of the lessons. This is in line with our data protection policies. Likewise, it is completely unacceptable and against GDPR (general data protection regulations) for clients/parents to record or film the tutor, other students or any portion of the lesson without consent. Any client/parent that is known to have done this will risk an instant termination of their students/learner’s tuition lessons and no refunds will be allocated in this case. 

 

10. Limitation of Liability

While every effort is made to support academic progress, no specific grade or skill set outcome can be guaranteed. The tutor will not be held accountable or responsible for the academic success or lack thereof demonstrated by the student/client. 

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The tutor is not liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect, special, punitive or similar damages arising out of this tutoring service, or any errors or omissions in the content of our materials.  You the client specifically waive any and all claims arising out of the use of the tutoring service.

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11. Agreement

By booking sessions with Newton’s Lantern, you agree to these terms. These terms may be updated occasionally, with notice given to existing clients.