29/08/2026
OUR CANCELLATION POLICY
We completely understand that circumstances change, and sometimes you may need to cancel your child’s swimming lessons. We just ask that you please give us 4 working weeks’ notice.
For this current term, the last date to cancel was *01/07/26.*
Why do we need 4 working weeks’ notice?
It might seem like a long time, but there is a lot that happens behind the scenes to keep our swim school running smoothly.
Giving us enough notice allows us to:
* Fill your child’s space so we can continue to run our classes sustainably.
* Plan ahead and organise our teachers and their hours.
* Manage pool space, class sizes and costs.
* Merge or rearrange classes where needed.
* Make sure children are placed in classes that are appropriate for their age, ability and individual needs.
* Give our team some much-needed time to plan and have a proper break over the summer.
* Most importantly, continue running the swim school and providing the level of service we pride ourselves on.
Why late cancellations have such an impact
We are a small independent swim school, and like many businesspeople es in the leisure industry, we are facing ever-increasing costs from pool hire and electricity to wages, fuel, insurance and everything in between.
Sadly, we are seeing more and more pools and swim schools struggling to stay open, and we really want to make sure Dinky Dolphins can continue to provide lessons for our families for many years to come.
We deliberately keep our classes small because we believe this gives children the best opportunity to learn, build confidence and make progress. However, when a space is cancelled at short notice, it is extremely difficult for us to fill that space.
That empty space still costs the business money, and unfortunately, we simply cannot absorb the cost of repeated late cancellations.
Late cancellation fees
This is why we have a late cancellation fee. We keep this fee as reasonable as possible, but it helps to cover some of the cost of an empty space while we work behind the scenes to try to fill it again.
We regularly communicate our cancellation dates and fees, and we genuinely appreciate you taking the time to read these communications and let us know your plans within the required timeframe.
We know that nobody likes having to pay a cancellation fee, but please understand that it isn’t something we introduce lightly. It is there to protect the swim school and allow us to continue offering the small, high-quality classes that our families value.
A little plea from us ❤️
We are a small business, and we rely heavily on trust, communication and mutual respect between ourselves and our families.
Please read our communications, please respect our cancellation policy, and please give us 4 working weeks’ notice if you need to cancel.
It really does make a huge difference to us and helps us continue doing what we love, providing great swimming lessons and helping your children become confident, happy swimmers.
Thank you, as always, for supporting our small business. It genuinely means more than you know. ❤️
