Our Policies

On booking your child will be placed in a class and will attend on the same day and time each week.

A position in a class is only secured when it is paid for in advance using one of the two payment options set out below. Payment in advance guarantees your child’s position in the allocated class each week. We do not hold places without payment or accept part payments.

Bookings are ongoing until at least 4 weeks’ notice of cancellation is given.

Lessons cannot be refunded, credited or transferred.

In the event of illness or unforeseen absence please refer to our Make-up policy.

Blue Dolphin Swim Centre provides two payment options.These are:

• Payment via weekly direct debit
• Upfront Quarterly balance payment

Regardless of your chosen payment method, Blue Dolphin Swim Centre will not take payment for public holidays or scheduled closures.

In order to set up a Direct Debit payment, you will be required to access the Blue Dolphin Swim Centre Customer Portal. This can be accessed via the ‘Parent Info’ section on our website. Once you have accepted our payment terms you will need to add a valid credit card or bank account details. You can amend your preferred payment method at any time via the Parent Portal.

Ongoing Payment

A deduction will be made from your nominated payment method on a day as set by the swim school, (currently weekly on Thursday). Your first payment will be taken in the week prior to your first lesson(s), to ensure your account remains one week in advance.

You must advise of any changes to your account as they occur.

Declined Payments 

If a direct debit payment is declined by your bank, the payment is due immediately by telephone or upon arrival at your child’s next lesson to ensure you are paid to swim. You will also be charged the banks dishonour fee, at the applicable rate.

If an automatic direct debit is returned 3 times, all direct debit privileges may be cancelled and your child may not be able to participate in the lesson.

Cancellation 

Should you wish to discontinue lessons, we require a written cancellation with no less than 4 weeks notice before the required date of cessation. Notification should be given via our Parent Portal (through a ‘Drop Enrolment’ request), or by email to [email protected]

If you choose to pay quarterly, Blue Dolphin Swim Centre will apply 3 months of fees to your account each January, April, July and October. This will usually be 12 weeks of your regular booking fee. Swims due on Public Holidays or during scheduled closures will be deducted from your total. Your total will also be adjusted if you join mid-quarter. You are required to settle the balance, in full, by the commencement of each quarter, or prior to your first swim if joining mid-quarter. We accept payments via our Parent Portal, over the telephone or in person.

Bookings are considered ongoing. Should you wish to discontinue lessons, we require a written cancellation request with no less than four weeks notice before the required date of cessation. Notification should be given via our Parent Portal (through a ‘Drop Enrolment’ request), or by email to [email protected]

A 10% discount is offered on lessons for the third and subsequent siblings when the first two children are paid in full.

We do not want your child to miss out on a lesson if they are on holiday or unwell. We offer unlimited make-up classes for all standard bookings, applying make-up ‘tokens’ to your child each time they qualify for a make-up class. Tokens are valid for 6 months from the date of absence, and can be redeemed at any time provided your account is paid up to date and your child holds an active booking with us.

PLEASE NOTE:

To qualify for a make-up token, Blue Dolphin Swim Centre must be notified of a swimmer’s absence at least 30 minutes prior to the class commencing. This can be done via the Parent Portal or by telephone.

Make-up tokens will be available immediately after the class has passed. Tokens are valid for 6 months from date of absence, after which time they will automatically expire.

Make-up lessons can be booked a maximum of one week in advance, and can only be cancelled or rescheduled up to the day before the make-up class.

A make-up cannot be changed or cancelled on the day of the class. If you are unable to attend on the day, and notification was not given at least a day prior, the make up token will be forfeited.

Make-up lessons cannot be used to extend lessons past your booking exit date, or to commence prior to a new booking start date.

Make-up lessons hold no monetary value and cannot be transferred or credited.

We do not guarantee make-up lessons with specific teachers and cannot always offer your preferred time.

Permanent enrolments will always take precedence over make-up bookings, and a make-up booking may be cancelled or rescheduled by Blue Dolphin Swim Centre to accommodate a permanent booking.

If you have make-up tokens available and advise of your cancellation, you are recommended to use these make ups within the 4-week cancellation period. Make-up tokens will expire 6 months after the date of absence and expiry dates will not be extended.

Blue Dolphin Swim Centre elects to close for two weeks in July, for Christmas and for Public Holidays. You will not be charged for these scheduled closure days and a make-up lesson is not required.

Make-up lessons cannot be booked if you miss a Private class.

Whilst we work hard to maintain consistency for our customers,Blue Dolphin Swim Centre reserves the right to consolidate or cancel classes at any time. This may be due to low class numbers, or amendments to our opening hours.

In either case Blue Dolphin Swim Centre will provide at least one week’s notice and our Customer Service team will work with you to re-schedule your lesson to an appropriate time. Blue Dolphin Swim Centre does not guarantee teacher requests and teacher schedules may change at any time.

Blue Dolphin Swim Centre elects to close for two weeks in July, for Christmas and for Public Holidays. You will not be charged for these scheduled closure days and a make-up lesson is not required.

Should Blue Dolphin Swim Centre be mandated to close for reasons beyond its control, and that closure is anticipated to last for 7 days or less, your class will be cancelled and a make-up token for your cancelled class will be issued.

Should any mandated closure last for longer than 7 days, then all enrolments will be suspended until such time Blue Dolphin Swim Centre can re-open and your class is reinstated. You will not be charged for suspended enrolments, and a make-up lesson is not required.

Swim nappies are required for hygiene reasons as any faecal incidents can result in pool closure. All children under 3 years of age must wear a swim nappy. Older children who still require a nappy outside of swimming lessons must also wear a swim nappy.  Disposable and reusable nappies are available for purchase at reception.

It is recommended that parents/carers wear a rash vest in the water. This assists the child to gain independence through reaching for and holding the shirt.

All children are required to wear swim goggles and cap from the Dancing Dolphins level and onwards. This equipment assists in skill development.

Flippers are required in Terrific Torpedo level and onwards which assists with stroke development.

Board Shorts and Solar rash tops are a hindrance to skill development and we advise children not to wear these items.

It is required that from 3 years of age, girls wear swimwear that covers their chest.

Can I take photos/video of my child in their swimming lesson?

At Blue Dolphin Swim Centre we welcome you capturing images of your child’s special moments, however privacy of others must be respected. You are permitted to use photographic equipment conditional upon the following:

• If you capture an image of another child or individual, you must have all relevant individuals (or their parents) consent to use images
• You do not broadcast or publish images or video footage without consent
• If you capture a private conversation of others when using a video camera or mobile phone, please respect the moment and either delete the footage or obtain all relevant individual consent to retain, use or broadcast the footage
• Under no circumstances are cameras, video cameras or mobile phones to be used in change room areas or showers
• You agree to comply with any request by Blue Dolphin Swim Centre staff to discontinue use of your camera, mobile phone or video, and to delete requested images or footage, where Blue Dolphin Swim Centre staff reasonably consider that you are not considering or respecting the privacy of others under this policy

At Blue Dolphin Swim Centre your child’s safety is of paramount importance, and our swimming teachers have been trained to think “Safety First”.

All teachers have government recognised swimming teacher qualifications along with the Blue Dolphin Swim Centres’ extensive training program.

Age and skill appropriate safety skills are taught at every level of every program. This ensures your child is safer in and around water, with the aim to learn self-survival.

Blue Dolphin Swim Centre complies with the requirements of the Children’s Protection Act 1993 to provide a child safe environment, through an extensive staff training process, Department of Community and Social Inclusion Child Related Employment screening, and senior first aid and CPR. All staff have a responsibility to report disclosures of harm to children.

All staff are trained and comply with the Blue Dolphin Swim Centre code of conduct which includes the ASCTA code of conduct.

Whilst the safety of each individual who enters the premises is ultimately their own responsibility, Blue Dolphin Swim Centre is committed to taking all steps necessary to provide a safe environment for all. You can assist by taking some simple steps;

• Please hold your child’s hand and keep them in sight when moving around pool deck
• All children under the age of 6 must always be at arm’s length
• Please supervise your child in the changing rooms
• No males over the age of 7 years are to be in the female changing room
• Please ensure your child does not run on the pool deck
• Children must not be in the water unsupervised and need to wait until their teacher invites them in. If your child is waiting at the edge of the pool, please ensure they are sitting on the blue carpet with their feet out of the water.
• Children under the age of 10 years must be actively supervised by an adult
• Part of the swim program is for your child to learn how to exit the pool independently and safely. Please allow your child to practice and learn this when they are doing jumps and dives
• If asked by the teacher to stand on the mat for mat jumps please stand squarely on the foot imprints.
• At the end of the class please ensure your child returns safely to you

Blue Dolphin Swim Centre is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information.

We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The APPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.

A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.aoic.gov.au

What is Personal Information and why do we collect it?

Personal Information is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. The information collected by Blue Dolphin Swim Centre about a particular person will vary depending on the circumstances of collection. It may include, but is not limited to:

• your name and contact details
• date of birth and gender
• emergency contact details
• bank account and/or credit card details
• payment history (e.g. for invoicing and payments of services, products and membership or personal credit information when you make payments to us)
• health information / Medical forms
• details regarding participation in our programs
• your computer IP address when visiting our website
• your image, if you are photographed or videoed at one of our venues
• if you apply for a job in one of our businesses: details about your education, employment history, membership of professional associations, referees

This Personal Information is obtained in many ways including interviews, correspondence, by telephone, by email, via our website, from your website, from media and publications, from other publicly available sources, from cookies,and from third parties. We don’t guarantee website links or policy of authorised third parties.

We collect your Personal Information for the singular purpose of providing our services to you.

Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, criminal record or health information.

• If it is reasonably necessary in the circumstances, Blue Dolphin Swim Centre may also collect sensitive information such as a person’s medical history, nationality, their ethnic background or disabilities.
• Blue Dolphin Swim Centre will assume consent to the collection of all sensitive information that is provided to it for use in accordance with this Privacy Policy, unless told otherwise.
• Such information will not be disclosed for any purpose other than providing services to patrons or members other than in exceptional cases such as to lessen a serious threat to a person’s health or safety. (see below)
• You are not obliged to provide personal information however failure to do so may result in Blue Dolphin Swim Centre being unable to provide services or products to you, or progressing your interest in employment with Blue Dolphin Swim Centre.

We use your sensitive information

• For the primary purpose for which it was obtained
• For a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose
• With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.

Third Parties

Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties, for example purchase of a gift card. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Your Personal Information may be disclosed in a number of circumstances including the following:

• In the event of a medical emergency; and
• Where required or authorised by law.

Security of Personal Information

Your Personal Information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorized access, modification or disclosure.

When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your Personal Information. However, most of the Personal Information is or will be stored in client files which will be kept by us for a minimum of 7 years.

Access to your Personal Information

You may access the Personal Information we hold about you and update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal Information, please contact us.

In order to protect your Personal Information we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.

Maintaining the Quality of your Personal Information

It is an important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.

Policy Updates

This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website.

Privacy Policy Complaints and Enquiries

If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy please contact us.

Irrespective of your chosen payment method, all bookings are considered ongoing. You will remain booked into and liable for the cost of your class unless written notification is provided by you. Notification of cancellation is required no less than four weeks before the required date of cessation. Please speak to one of our friendly reception staff if you are considering cancelling your booking.

Private classes are 30 minute sessions, booked on the same day and time each week

Make-up sessions are not available if you miss a Private lesson

If you wish to transfer to a different time or day, you are required to provide Blue Dolphin Swim Centre with 2 weeks’ notice in writing

Save for make-ups and time changes, all other Policies outlined on our website apply to Private bookings.