Reduce some of those out-of-pocket situations when your child can’t make their regular swimming lesson (sickness, holidays).
Our make-up system can sometimes help swimming lessons fit into your schedule when plans need to change.
And when you cancel your child’s swimming lesson early enough, you’re giving another parent the time and opportunity to use your cancelled spot for their child’s catch-up lesson. Thank you!
Sorry if you thought this blog was about waterproof makeup. For tips on pool-proof make-up, research what synchronised swimmers use. There are some fascinating articles out there!
Defining make-ups
Make-up lessons, or “make-ups” for short, are catch-up swimming lessons your child can enjoy
- provided there’s a vacant spot in another class that’s equivalent to their learn to swim level, and
- provided you’ve let us know of their absence by the required deadline.
Later in this blog, we’ll cover why those provisos are important.
Not every swim school provides make-ups
Some swim schools follow the educational school or kindergarten business model, where fees are paid in advance, and no refunds or make-up classes are offered for non-attendance.
Why we offer make-ups
At Aquabliss, we understand that sometimes things get in the way of swimming lessons, such as holidays or medical appointments.
And to secure your regular spot, you’ve paid for those learn to swim lessons in advance, so you hate throwing that money away when your little fish can’t make it to the swimming pool.
We get it. Especially if you’re doing the right thing and keeping your child at home when sick – thank you!
So, we offer make-ups because we want to work with you, as much as we possibly can, to accommodate these special circumstances. If we can, we want to help ease your stress and prevent your child from falling behind.
Afterall, we believe every swimming lesson counts towards making a safer swimmer.
But there are limitations to our make-up system. We don’t (and can never) have an endless supply of make-up spots available and consequently you don’t have an endless supply of make-up vouchers.
So read on to learn what those limitations are and why.
Make-up lessons are limited & they expire
There’s a limit to how many make-ups each swimmer can qualify for each year. And this is based on the number of times a week a child is booked in for regularly scheduled swimming lessons.
For e.g., learn to swim well with lessons twice a week, the maximum make-ups that can be taken in a year is doubled.
The main reason for a quota, and an expiry date that prevents unused make-ups from being rolled over, is because the number of make-up lessons is dependant on (and limited to) the number of vacant spots in class.
Also, learning to swim takes discipline, and we know that kids learn best when they attend lessons regularly. And if we didn’t limit the number of make-ups, there’s a risk that some parents might be tempted to skip a few more lessons here and there.
This is evidenced by swim school industry research which shows that schools that allow make-up lessons have more missed classes. Swim schools that don’t, have lower absences.
The quota and expiry date
We publish that information in just one spot, here on our T&Cs page. Just in case the quota and expiry dates have changed by the time you read this article.
Why make-up classes are subject to availability
It might seem strange that we offer a quota of make-ups per year, but we can’t guarantee you will be able to use them.
Read on to understand why.
A make-up lesson is only possible when there’s a vacant spot in another class. And that class needs to be equivalent to your child’s level.
There’s no point placing any child in a class below or above their skill level because they won’t be catching up on anything. And you won’t be getting value for money, which defeats the purpose of having make-ups in the first place, to minimise those out-of-pocket expenses.
A child placed in a lower-level class for a make-up lesson will likely get bored as they’ve already learnt those skills, and some bored students can sometimes be disruptive.
If a make-up lesson is booked into a class above a child’s level, they’ll likely be out of their depth (no pool pun intended!) and there’s a risk they can lose their confidence, become overwhelmed and even be stressed. Plus, the regular students in that class might lose valuable learning time if the teacher must spend more time with a nervous newbie.
So, here’s a critical point……
Because we can’t control when a parent decides to enrol, seizing an unsold spot, or when a child can’t use their spot (sickness, on holidays etc.), it’s impossible for us to guarantee how many make-ups will be up for grabs each year.
It’s a challenging balancing act, and the supply and demand can also be impacted by such things as staff shortages, business peaks and lurgy seasons like the flu.
So, we encourage you to only miss a lesson when it’s absolutely unavoidable.
Increasing make-up availability and hints on how to grab one
You can help increase the number of make-up spots available. This blog explains how and has some great hints and tips on improving your chances of grabbing one.
Not currently swimming with us?
Please take a look at our programs or contact us. We’d love you to be part of our extended Aquabliss family.