Threads of Success Terms & Conditions

Please note: the terms Adviser and Officer are both used within this document and both refer to Early Years & Childcare Service staff.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellation by delegate/s:

Due to the cost of scheduling and delivering training, the Early Years & Childcare Service does have to cover the cost of running training, even if a delegate does not attend the session. The details of our cancellation policy are as follows:

Non-attendance at any KCC funded (free) event which is less than half day in duration, will be charged at a minimum of £40.
Non-attendance at a KCC funded (free) half day event will be £50.
Non-attendance at a KCC funded (free) full day event will be £100.
Non-attendance at chargeable events: unless the delegate place or training session is cancelled 14 days in advance of the scheduled training date, the full event fee will be charged.

Cancellation by organisation/agency:

Due to the cost of scheduling and delivering training and support, the Early Years & Childcare Service does have to cover their costs even if an organisation or agency cancel the training or support. Details are as follows:

Unless the organisation/agency training/support is cancelled 14 days in advance of the scheduled date, the full cost will be charged.

Cancellation by service:

Every effort will be made to provide the services in accordance with the terms of the agreement, however, if the service provider is unable to fulfil the terms of the agreement on the agreed date(s) due to illness or other unpreventable circumstance, the service provider will make reasonable adjustments as appropriate.

Charging Policy – Pay As You Go

Costs are detailed in the Training Prices and Product Prices website pages. Group training, visits, E-learning and webinars can now all be paid for via Worldpay, Direct Debit or BACS. Individual training places (via Kent CPD Online) are payable by invoice.

We no longer post out hard copy invoices or receipts. Receipts will now be scanned and emailed to you. If you require an invoice (after making a Worldpay payment OR if paying via BACS), these will be emailed to you also.

Charging Policy - Direct Debit

If you wish to pay by Direct Debit, a monthly Direct Debit will be arranged through The Education People across an agreed payment schedule. Please note, Direct Debits are available for any amount providing the monthly installment is not less than £20. You will receive a monthly statement from The Education People outlining services purchased, until the balance is cleared. If you purchase any further ad hoc services and products alongside an existing Direct Debit, you will be invoiced that calendar month for the additional services and products in full.

Please note that under Direct Debit arrangements a Direct Debit notification will be issued to you at the beginning of each month. You will then have 10 working days to challenge any of the charges before payment is deducted from your bank account at the end of the calendar month as appropriate.

Please note: £20 is the minimum monthly Direct Debit payment that can be made, however, if you already have a Direct Debit set up with The Education People you can add further products to this. All Kent County Council Local Authority schools pay by Direct Debit, so any purchases will be added to their existing Direct Debit, however, schools outside of KCC boundaries are welcome to pay via credit/debit card, BACS or Direct Debit, as they choose.

Confirmation of Order

The system will auto generate confirmation that an order for support has been received. Upon receipt of payment the Early Years & Childcare Service will make contact with the setting to arrange delivery of support/training.

Core Training and Expressions of Interest

Threads of Success contains a range of training, products and services which form our core offer, but also includes a breadth of extended training, products and services which further enrich your practice. If a training opportunity is not currently running please complete the Expression of Interest Form on CPD Online for that specific course and you will be contacted when this course is scheduled.

Data Protection

The Early Years & Childcare Service will work together with you to ensure we observe all our obligations under the existing Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from May 2018, and anything which arises in connection with our terms and conditions.

In order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) we are actively seeking your agreement for us to contact you in the future. You will have received an email asking for your permission to contact you about different aspects of Threads of Success. If you have returned this advising you do not want any further contact, you will no longer hear from us after 30 days of receipt of this email. If you have forgotten to return this, please click here and complete and return this form.

We have put together some information we hope will help you have a better understanding of how the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will impact on settings. Please note this does not constitute legal advice, so any changes to your current processes and forms should be reviewed with your legal team or advisors. Please click here to view the privacy notice for early years.

Exceeding Delegate Numbers on Group Training 

Any group training booked by settings or collaborations that exceeds 25 delegates* will incur additional costs, as follows:

Half day – an additional £35 per head
Full day – an additional £70 per head

If you do go over the maximum delegate threshold (usually 25 delegates), please ensure you have an appropriate venue to comfortably and safely accommodate all the delegates.

Lastly, if numbers are far in excess of those agreed in advance and the trainer feels that:
1. it would not be possible to deliver a quality training experience to this number of delegates, or
2. it is not safe to deliver training to this number of delegates
then the course could be cancelled and payment would be non-refundable. If the trainer decides it is appropriate to continue with the training, the host setting will receive an invoice to cover the costs of the additional delegates and prompt payment will be expected.
*Please note: some training is for less than 25 delegates (e.g. Leadership and Management three day training and several other courses) For these courses we would not accept more than the specified number of delegates.

Equality and Inclusion

When delivering services we will make every effort to ensure equality of access and to meet the needs of the target audience. We are committed to promoting inclusive practice, so please let us know if you have any specific needs.

Feedback and Complaints Procedure

The Early Years & Childcare Service welcomes constructive feedback from all our customers on the quality and nature of the service provided. After attending any course or purchasing any product, we will ask you to complete feedback and evaluation forms. If you have any concerns relating to any issues regarding Early Years & Childcare services, products or delivery, please raise this with the adviser or trainer in the first instance. Most concerns can be resolved informally at this stage. However, if after an informal discussion your concerns are not resolved, you should email the Early Years & Childcare Service at [email protected] and you will receive a response within two working days.

If the issue is not resolved at this stage then the procedure for Dispute Resolution is set out in The Education People's Terms and Conditions.

Intellectual Property

The intellectual property of any material used within any training event, adviser visit or product shall remain with The Education People's Early Years & Childcare Service. This includes any course materials, handouts, products, tools and advisory notes.

New Customers

All new customers will need to be set up on CPD Online, our online ordering process. New customers will need to supply company details and financial details in order to receive a customer number and proceed to purchase.

Safeguarding

In line with our safeguarding policies and procedures, should our advisers/officers have any safeguarding concerns we would share this as appropriate with the setting’s early years designated safeguarding lead, as well as the area education safeguarding adviser, irrespective of whether the service being delivered is KCC funded or chargeable. Further advice is available http://www.kelsi.org.uk/support-for-children-and-young-people/child-protection-and-safeguarding/safeguarding-policies-and-guidance

Training Delivery

Whilst the customer may request that the service be provided by named advisers, the service provider reserves the right to deploy their advisers to the customer’s setting to provide the service or advice in relation to need and priority. It may therefore not be possible to comply with these requests.

Venues

Training venues provided by the Early Years & Childcare Service will be charged at cost. If training is provided in-house, at a provider’s setting, the provider must ensure that venues meet health and safety requirements, accessibility under the Equality Act 2010 and are suitable for adult learners. The setting would take full health and safety responsibility for the learning space and any other areas that visitors to the setting would enter. A Venue Specification Form must be completed prior to training with a copy of the insurance certificate provided showing that this activity is permissible. We seek feedback on all venues used, but obviously not where a provider’s or a collaboration’s own setting is used. You can fill in a copy of the Venue Specification form.

Virtual Training:

Early Years & Childcare Service virtual training takes place mostly over Zoom, but also via Microsoft Teams and Go to Webinar – the delivery channel will be agreed at the time of booking. Therefore, to engage with any Early Years & Childcare Service virtual group training, you will need access to a device that can display the agreed software and where you can comfortably see, hear and interact with the trainer/s.  If you are having to share a screen, we would recommend that a maximum of eight people share a computer/laptop screen. We can always send you the recording of the training session for you to share with other members of your staff so they can view the session at a different time if you would prefer (NB – any virtual group training must not be shared outside of your setting). Alternatively, at this challenging time, the service is being even more flexible with regards to delivery and are offering more evening and weekend training sessions.

Visits:

Virtual visits take place over Zoom. You will need to ensure you have access to a device where you can comfortably see, hear and interact with the trainer/s. If you want the visit to be ‘mobile’ the technology will need to support this (either via a laptop, ipad or setting mobile phone).  It is recommended that not more than three staff are involved with the virtual visit to ensure communication remains clear and accessible. At this challenging time, the service is being even more flexible with regards to delivery and are offering more evening and weekend training sessions and visits.

Group Training:

Virtual training takes place mostly over Zoom, but also via Microsoft Teams and Go to Webinar – the delivery channel will be agreed at the time of booking. Therefore, to engage with any Early Years & Childcare Service virtual group training, you will need access to a device that can display the agreed software and where you can comfortably see, hear and interact with the trainer/s. If you are having to share a screen, we would recommend that a maximum of eight people share a computer/laptop screen. If necessary, we can send you a recording of the training session for you to share with others that work at your setting, but this must be agreed in advance.

CPD:

Early Years & Childcare Service virtual training takes place mostly over Zoom, but also via Microsoft Teams and Go to Webinar – the delivery channel will be advised at the time of booking and you will need access to a device that can display the agreed software and where you can comfortably see, hear and interact with the trainer/s.