Schools taking out a block booking for the school year benefit from savings

compared to booking individual assessments

Schools booking 6 or more half days benefit from a 7% reduction in the usual half-day rate

Schools booking 6 or more full days benefit from a 10% reduction in the usual full-day rate

Schools booking 9 or more full days benefit from a 15% reduction in the usual full-day rate

Need more than than 9 full days? Contact me for a discussion to benefit from further reductions.

When schools take out a block booking, if additional time is required after their time allocation has been used, providing I have availability all additional time for the rest of the year (Sept 2024 to July 2025) will be

at the lower rate that the school enjoyed as part of their block booking.

Terms and Conditions

1^st Class Assessments will always strive to meet your needs and fulfil your expectations. Before starting any work, those making and agreeing to a referral need to be aware of the Terms and Conditions. We are happy to discuss how we can match or improve on any existing provision you may currently be receiving.

What we expect from you

We expect that any child you refer to us has signed consent from their parent or legal carer or guardian. This needs to be checked by the referring setting. We would normally expect the referral to be on a referral form or document containing sufficient relevant information. This would then lead to an initial discussion about the services required, in order to provide an accurate quotation. Before any work can continue, this quotation must be agreed in writing (this includes email). A discussion about possible services and assessments required can take place before parental agreement if all information about the child is kept anonymous.

What you can expect from 1^st Class Assessments

Following a referral and/or initial discussion, you will be provided with a quotation. You can also expect:

• Confidentiality
• Effective and appropriate communication
• Honesty and trustworthiness
• Appropriate record keeping

Assessment findings, advice, and consultation contents are the professional opinion of 1^st Class Assessments and this opinion cannot be changed within a piece of work. If a setting believes that a child’s presentation has changed after an assessment, further involvement and assessments can be requested to determine if this is the case.

Involvement at the request of a parent can only be accepted if the school is in support of the request and is happy for the assessment to take place on school premises during school hours. Information is required to be obtained from the school, such as school assessment data, provision, information on the child’s progress over time. Assessment feedback must also be arranged to take place at the setting, with a member of school staff present, and during school hours.

Changes to involvement

If a setting wishes to change the type of involvement requested (eg. to add an observation or change a meeting), if sufficient notice is given this can be accommodated, and any associated increases in costs will lead to a revised quotation which must be accepted before the involvement.

Travel

Travel charges are calculated in relation to the location of the setting and will included in the quotation provided prior to any work agreed.

Ongoing work

Prices for any ongoing work such as regular visits will be agreed individually with the setting.

Reports

Assessment summaries are included in the assessment schedule, but longer reports are an additional cost. The cost depends on the length and complexity of the report, but if such a report is requested, the cost would be agreed before the report is written. If a report is requested after the assessment work has been completed, you will be provided with a quotation for the cost of the report. Reports are most useful when completed immediately after assessment work. If a report is requested after a period of time following assessment, it may not be possible to complete a valid report due to the elapsed time and effect of provision and intervention work. Depending on the length of time that has elapsed, further assessment work may be needed prior to being able to complete a report.

DBS certification

I have a clear enhanced DBS certificate and I subscribe to the DBS Update Service. If additionally necessary, settings can request that I complete the forms for them to carry out a DBS check on my behalf. (This is usually done by an online link). The cost for this, plus administration time, would be payable by the setting or referrer. At current 2024 prices, the total cost and admin charge for a DBS check will be £58.

Complaints

If you are not happy with any aspect of the service I have provided, please bring it to my attention so that we can discuss it and arrive at a mutually acceptable solution. In these circumstances, I would add notes to the child’s file so there is a record of our conversation. If you wish to make a complaint about how personal data has been handled, please contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Insurance

Safety is paramount therefore relevant insurance policies are in place. These are public liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance.

Terms and Conditions – Payment Schedules

All payments to be made by bank transfer. Payment schedules for the specific work requested will be described on every quote and invoice. Unless stated otherwise within a quote or invoice, quotes are valid for 30 days from the date of first issue.

Typical payment schedules are:

For individuals requesting services (eg. parents requesting assessments of children), payment must be made at the time of booking. Payment for multiple visits will usually be in stages. The first payment will be due once the quotation has been agreed in writing, before any further work can begin. As well as the visits, and scoring assessments after the individual work with pupils, a lot of Educational Psychology work is also done in advance of the visit in terms of the referral, visit arrangements, reading prior reports and assessment information, and preparation. This is time-consuming work and often takes several hours.

Payments for subsequent visits within the same quotation will usually be due a minimum of one week before the visit. The payment schedule will be described in your written Quotation which you will receive prior to work beginning.

The following information relates to education settings requesting services:

Full payment for Initial Consultations must be made at least 2 working days before the date of the meeting. (For example, for a visit on a Thursday, the payment must be made at the latest by the end of the preceding Monday).

Payment for assessment work must typically be made as follows: 50% to be received at least one week prior to the assessment, and the remaining 50% to be paid on receipt of an invoice which will be sent after the assessment/feedback session. Invoices will be issued electronically. Payment must be received by the date stated on the invoice, usually within 2 weeks of the first visit for the block of work being invoiced. When taking advantage of a special offer, reduction or promotion, payment may be required at the time of booking to secure the visit date at the special offer price. This will be detailed in your quote.

There is a lot of variation in assessments and visit schedules, therefore the above is in indication of payment schedules; the specific payment schedule will be described in your written Quotation which you will receive prior to work beginning.

We are sure you’ll understand how important it is for small businesses to be paid promptly for services, and this helps maintain a positive working relationship for all concerned.

Cancellations or rearrangements

Re-arrangements must be agreed at least 2 full working days before a visit is due to take place. If more than 2 working days’ notice is given to re-arrange a visit, no payment will be due. If less than 2 working days’ notice is given, payment will be due as follows: full payment for initial consultations as a sole visit, 50% payment for half-day or full-day visits. If there is a foreseeable need for a visit date to be re-arranged, more notice would be gratefully appreciated.

If a session is cancelled by 1^st Class Assessments at any point prior to a visit, a 100% refund will be given for any payments already made in respect of that visit.

If a pupil is unexpectedly absent on the day of an assessment, or parents are unexpectedly unable to attend on the day of a consultation they are due to be present for, payment will be charged as follows: 50% for initial consultations, 25% for assessment work. If required, the visit will be re-arranged and full payment schedule will be as above for the new date. However, where possible and if the circumstances allow (such as the visit is able to be re-arranged soon afterwards or added into another visit to that setting already arranged for another pupil), the 50% or 25% of short notice cancellation costs will be deducted from the re-arranged visit. This will be down to 1^st Class Assessments’ discretion.

I will always be as flexible as possible with visits and unforeseeable circumstances, however any changes to visit dates and associated charges are at the discretion of 1^st Class Assessments. A lot of preparation goes into planning a visit, especially if there are meetings with staff and parents, and assessment feedback is prepared. Short notice cancellations and rearrangements are usually unable to be filled elsewhere, therefore it is recommended where possible that settings which have several children planned for assessment hold in place signed permission for all those pupils so that if one pupil who is due to be assessed is absent on the day of the visit, another pupil’s assessment/observation/meeting can be moved to that day.  

1^st Class reserves the right to charge interest on all overdue debts for payments not received within two weeks of being due. The interest charged will be 8% plus the Bank of England base rate.

1^st Class is currently unable to accept payment through private health care providers.