Terms and Conditions & Complaints Procedure

Coda Music & Arts Trust Terms and Conditions

Coda Music and Arts Trust is a registered charity and is non-profit making. We provide a wide range of services and are reliant upon our customers, clients and users to pay their invoices promptly in order to safeguard Coda’s operations.

The following sets out our terms and conditions:

Classes start promptly please don’t be late as missed time for lateness cannot be made up.

Practice. Regular practice is a key part of learning music and without it, you will not progress. Coda provides a practice book at no cost to encourage and monitor practice.

Special needs. Everyone is welcome at Coda regardless of ability. It is a condition of enrolment that Coda is made aware of any special needs, requirements or medical conditions . This includes allergies (such as to nuts).

Photography and Video. From time to time Coda will take photographs or video during classes and activities. These may be used in our publicity and on our website. If you do not wish for your image or your child’s image to be used in this way please tell us.

Children. Coda is not responsible for children outside of their music lesson. Please do not leave children at Coda unsupervised.

Smoking. Coda does not permit smoking anywhere on its premises.

Your property. Coda does not accept liability for loss or damage to any personal possessions. Please ensure you keep all valuables with you. The Centre is a public place – please have regard for your property.

Car Parking. Vehicles and their contents are left at Coda at the owner’s risk. Coda has close residential neighbours, please leave the premises quietly and do not leave car engines running/music playing whilst waiting.

Invoices When booking lessons at Coda, you are committing to a term of weekly lessons and lessons are invoiced termly. Invoices for the subsequent term are issued automatically.

Deputy Tutors Coda reserves the right to provide a deputy tutor when necessary.

Notice Four weeks written notice must be given if, for any reason, you do not wish to continue with your lessons. If notice is not given, a sum equivalent to four weeks fee is charged.

Payment.  Fees are payable 28 days from receipt of your invoice. If payment is not received, Coda will fill the space with another student.

If Coda cancels a lesson the missed lesson will be refunded or credited back to you.

Missed lessons due to student’s absence are payable at the normal rate and will not be refunded.

Payment Types. We accept payment by direct transfer, cards, cheque or cash. Cheques should be made payable to Coda Music and Arts Trust with name and class details on the back. If paying in cash, please obtain a receipt. This receipt must be produced should there be any query with regard to cash payments. Online payments can be made to the bank details on your invoice.

Bursary Scheme. In order to support students who may have difficulty in affording the full cost of lessons or music therapy sessions, Coda Music and Arts Trust has set aside limited funds for a bursary scheme. Contact the office for a form.

Conduct we expect everybody to behave respectfully. We do not tolerate aggression or behaviours which interfere with the rights of others.

Coda reserves the right to terminate lessons at its discretion where behaviour is not consistent with our standards of conduct.

Complaints Procedure

Coda Music and Arts Trust Complaints Handling Policy

Our complaints policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality service to all our staff and students.  When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it.  This will help us to improve our standards.

Considerations regarding this policy:

Timings: Reference to ‘days’ throughout this policy should be taken to mean Monday-Friday during school term times. Coda reserves the right to adhere to ‘days’ if it is too difficult to gather evidence and/or the relevant people during a holiday period.

Scope: This procedure is for students/parents of students currently learning at Coda, or for former students, so long as the complaint was raised whilst they were attending lessons at Coda.

Record Keeping: You can be assured that all concerns and complaints will be treated seriously and confidentially. Correspondence, statements and records will be kept confidentially. A written record will be kept of all complaints in our complaints file.

What will happen next?

First Stage

It is hoped that most complaints and concerns will be resolved quickly and informally. If students or parents have a complaint, they should contact Coda in writing with the details, to contact@coda.org.uk or to Coda Music and Arts Trust, Chewton Farm Road, Christchurch, BH23 5QL.

Coda will send you an email acknowledging receipt of your complaint within 3 days of receiving the complaint.

Coda will then investigate your complaint. We will review your matter and speak to the member of staff/person involved. You will then get correspondence acknowledging resolution, or not, within 7 days of receiving the complaint.

We will make a written record of all concerns and complaints and the date on which they were received. Should the matter not be resolved within 7 days, then you will be advised to proceed with your complaint in accordance with the Second Stage of this procedure.

Second Stage

If the matter is not resolved, we will then pass your complaint on to a representative from Coda who may invite you to a meeting to discuss, and hopefully resolve your complaint. He/she will do this within 14 days of Coda sending you the acknowledgement email.

Within three days of the meeting, the representative of Coda will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he/she has agreed with you.

If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, the representative of Coda will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his/her suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of Coda sending you the acknowledgement email.

At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for someone unconnected with the matter at Coda, normally one of the Trustees or the CEO, to review the decision.

We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.

Reviewed and Revised November 2023

© Coda Music and Arts Trust 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Coda Music and Arts Trust is a registered charity no:1068710