Last updated by Lee Brooks: 1st July 2021

Contents

Arabian Rules & Regulations

Arabian School of Gymnastics is a non-profit making registered children’s charity. We are NOT a business and we rely on donations and the kindness of volunteers to help make ends meet. These Rules & Regulations are in place to help protect everyone, but also to uphold the integrity and protection of the children. We ask that you help us by abiding by them.

Thank you

DRESS CODE

The correct attire to be worn is either a leotard (no frilly skirt attached) or shorts and a tee-shirt. Socks are not to be worn. Children with a verruca need not wear a sock as they are only transferable via wet conditions. Belts and buckles along with hard or large hair accessories are not permitted.

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HYGIENE

Gymnasts must attend the gym in an appropriately clean manner. With hundreds of children a week attending classes and sessions, we endeavour to care for your child as if they are our own.

We will not accept children who are, in our opinion, not hygienically clean and dirty feet and hands including nails are seriously frowned upon and will be flagged up with the parent or guardian.

Coaches have to handle and support gymnasts, therefore cleanliness is of paramount importance. If we feel there is an issue with the cleanliness of feet or hands, we will send the child to the bathroom to wash their hands and use baby wipes on their feet. This often happens when children have come straight from school after having outside PE classes.

Underarm odour can make the whole gym smell very unpleasant very quickly and is a subject most people feel awkward addressing. If we suspect a child has this problem, we will bring it to the attention of the parent or guardian.

We will give advice to older children and provide access to a deodorant spray. This advice will be given as delicately as possible. This is not just an age issue; it affects younger children too.

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HAIR

We expect children who have long hair to have it appropriately tied back so it does not get in their way or the way of the supporting coach. If their hair ties fall out whilst in the class, their coach will re-do the ponytail as a matter of safety.

Gymnasts wearing make-up or face paints may well be asked to remove it as it can easily leave marks on the equipment and carpet. It is advisable to not to come to gym after attending a summer fete where they may have been painted.

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BULLYING/LANGUAGE

We will not tolerate bullying of any kind whatsoever. Any gymnast found to be bullying or spiteful to others will be spoken to by a Senior Coach or the Head Coach. We will also notify the parent or guardian. If this behaviour continues, we will remove the gymnast from the club. Removal of a gymnast under such conditions will come with a full refund of fees paid and membership still not used.

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PARENTAL ABUSE

Any parent who abuses any member of the club will be warned just once. A repeat of aggressive attitude or bad language will have them banned from entering the club. We would like to point out that we have children in the club, and many of our staff and volunteers are relatively young, it is not acceptable under any circumstances to be aggressive or intimidating.

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REFUNDS

We DO NOT give refunds for missed classes, holidays, adverse weather or a change of mind.

In serious or extreme cases, the parents may ask the Head Coach or Commercial Director to review their case/position as they are able to make compassionate decisions or freeze subs for later use.

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PAYMENT

All payments must be made online through the booking system on the 1st of the month and if this is not the case your child could be denied entry. The club will contact the member to state payment has not been received, but the rules are simple; teaching your child will only be done if payment once payment is received. We look at this similar to a cinema, you pay to enter and watch, here you pay to enter and be taught. Late payments often cause a lot of additional unnecessary administration and therefore incur a £10.00 charge to cover this increased time and manual intervention.

Payments are made through the booking system and the club does not hold bank details.

Note that fees are for the whole month starting on the 1st day of the month and ending on the last day of that month.

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PAYG BABY AND TODDLER (currently on hold due to Covid-19)

Membership is not paid nor are advance monthly payments. Cash (or card payment) is required to attend for the session. However, if parents are acting in a way that is not in keeping with good manners and respect for the other users or the charities equipment, then the club has full power to remove the person in question. Any parent wearing rude or offensive tattoos or jewellery will be asked to cover them up or failing this, asked to leave.

Our PAYG sessions with babies and toddlers’ are all about interaction and especially facial interaction. Anyone who feels they are unable to show their face in these sessions will be advised of an alternative session and facility to attend and pay, where they may well be permitted to hide their face.

No food or drink is ever permitted to be consumed in the gym facility; this includes baby bottles. We ask EVERYONE to please consider all users and this is the reason Arabian is popular and we do our utmost to keep it clean for you all. The ban on food and drink is in place 24/7. But you are permitted food and drink in reception or the waiting room. Regarding breastfeeding see the Breastfeeding section. Refunds are not given in these sessions.

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HOLIDAY/VACATIONS

If you go away and you wish for your child’s place to be retained, then monthly subs must be paid in full. Previously, a small number of members feel if they go on holiday they do not need to pay. Your monthly subscriptions to Arabian are just like your mortgage, rent or other utility bills – they are still due when you’re on holiday. If the payment is stopped your child will lose their place and the next on the list will be promoted. We are not in a position to subsidise holidays.

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BREASTFEEDING

Arabian welcomes breastfeeding mothers.

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CCTV

We have CCTV cameras around the gym, and these are there for the protection and security of all participants. There are 5 cameras in the gym, 2 cameras in the reception and then 2 cameras in the Party room and Storage areas.

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MEMBERSHIP

Membership must be paid yearly by every gymnast (apart from those who use Pay as You Go Sessions ‘PAYG’ – including Baby Gym and Open Sessions). This membership assists the charity with the general upkeep of the facility. Entry into the training gym is only permitted with a current membership. If you leave the club and come back say in 3 months’ time, membership is a rolling system so as long as it has NOT expired your child will still be covered. If membership is not up to date, then the child will NOT be permitted into the training hall until such time as it has been paid. This is a management decision and will be enforced by the receptionist.  Prior to July 2020 all memberships were valid from the date of the month the member joined by this has now been moved to the start of the month the member joins.

As an example, if you join on the 1st August or any date throughout August your membership will commence on the 1st of the month. Furthermore, effective immediately, the membership year will run from the 1st April to 31st March and all payments until April 2021 will be pro-rata.

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OUTDOOR FOOTWEAR

No outdoor footwear is permitted in the gym facility. If an adult or a child has a medical fitting on, then we offer coverings.

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WHEELCHAIR ACCESS

The gym facility is generally not ideal for a wheelchair access and has many soft uneven objects in the way. However, we will always do our best to assist a wheelchair user for Baby gym/parties and they will be given a position in the gym so they can be part of the session.

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GUIDE DOGS

We welcome the partial sighted and especially the blind. Many people are either scared of dogs or allergic to them and for these reasons, we prefer to keep the dog out of the gym facility. However, we do offer to care for the dog with one to one attention from a staff member whilst the visitor is in the gym.

We can also offer FREE one to one attention, with the parent who is partially sighted or blind, provided we are notified two days in advance so we can arrange a staff member to be available.

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WATCHING (not possible during Covid-19 restrictions)

The gym has a viewing window where we welcome all parents and guardians to sit and enjoy watching their child. However, if at any time a child or a coach requires the blind to be lowered it will be done without notice.  Gymnastics can be very challenging and when learning the harder skills, it can be intimidating to have their parents or other adults watching.

The viewing window can be particularly distracting for the younger gymnasts when Mum or Dad are sat waving or trying to communicate to their child. Please refrain from doing this, as we will lower blind. Your child’s safety is our priority.

As Squad gymnasts train 3 to 4 times a week parents are asked not to watch the whole session as it creates many concentration issues for the coaches. However, we are happy for the squad to be watched for the last 30 minutes. If parents are unhappy about this and ignore our request, then the child will be placed out of squad and into a general class where you may watch all the time.

Any parent who would like footage or pictures of their child doing gymnastics may do so by asking. At the end of the session the parent may come into the gym and take pictures once cleared by the Head Coach. Anyone seen filming at the window or taking pictures will be asked to stop and may also get unwanted comments from other parents. The blind will also be dropped and remain down if this happens.

The rule is clear, do not film or take pictures, this is for the protection of all children and yourself.

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JEWELLERY

No jewellery (or hard hair bands) are to be worn as it could well be an object that may endanger either the gymnast or the coach whilst participating the sport of gymnastics. Anyone who will not remove Jewellery from their child will lose their place within the club, as they will NOT be permitted to take part.

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DISCIPLINE

For their own safety, all children must have the ability to follow orders and listen to instructions. If a child is unruly and causing disruption to the group/session, then they may be asked to sit out for 5 minutes for them to reflect on their behaviour. If this fails and they are still too difficult then we will call the parents and a repeat of this behaviour in another lesson will mean they need to take a rest from the sport until such time their behaviour is in keeping with the discipline of the sport. We retain the right to withdraw any child if we believe that the child is not responding to the coach as they should or in a way which put them, other gymnasts or their coach, at an increased risk of injury.

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LATE ARRIVAL (Rule amended for Covid-19 and superseded by Covid-19 procedures)

Gymnasts must arrive on time as warm-up is an integral part of the session. It is recommended to arrive 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start to allow time to get changed. Late arrival causes disruption and we don’t have coaches available to do a separate warm-up for gymnasts who enter the lesson late.

We are completely aware that on the odd occasion circumstances beyond your control will mean you arrive late. Anything over 10 mins late and the gymnast will not be allowed to take part in the session and no refund will be given. Continued late arrival will mean removal from the club.

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DROP OFF & PICK UP (Rule amended for Covid-19 and superseded by Covid-19 procedures)

We take responsibility for your child from the moment they walk into the gym hall for their lesson. The reception area is not our responsibility, it is that of the parent /Guardian.

Once the class has finished and the children come out at the end of their session, the child is now the responsibility of the parent/guardian and not the coach. Coaches may well have the responsibility for another class to teach. Of course, we try to see that every child is collected and does not go out of our reception. However, the responsibility after the lesson has finished is that of the collector, who must be there 5 minutes before the end of the lesson. If a child has not been collected after their class, we will care for him/her but if there is a repeat and the child is left once again, we reserve the right to terminate the lessons and membership. Cases where children are not collected without a genuine reason then as a children’s charity it is our job within the community to record the instances.

We are also obliged to advise local children’s services if we feel there is a cause for concern for the child’s welfare.

If parents wish for their child to walk themselves out of the waiting area to the carpark or anywhere else unsupervised, then for this to happen, we need the parent/guardian to sign a registered consent letter at the club to state this is their direct wish and action.

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MEDICAL

It’s important that current medical information is given to the club and recorded in the event of any emergency. This should be kept up to date and particularly include any change of mobile contact numbers. We may have to act on your behalf in the unlikely event there is an accident and we are unable to get hold of you. Therefore, your information you leave with us is highly important.

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FIRE PROCEDURE

In the event the fire alarm goes off we take all children safely out of the building. We DO NOT allow anyone into the gym as we have full lock down as directed by the fire regulation services. The children will be cared for outside by the staff. Once given the all clear we will take all children back into the building. Fire alarms thankfully are rare but in the event of one going off we do not offer refunds for anytime missed due to evacuation. Please do not take your child from this safe area without informing a member of staff to record on the register.

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COMPLAINTS PROCEDURES

The complaints procedure is to raise your issue with reception who will ask the Head Coach to speak directly with you. If you are unhappy with this response, then you may ask to speak with the Commercial Director. If you remain unhappy you may write to the Chairman of trustees and post it to the club where it will be dealt with independently from the coaching team.

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PRAMS/BUGGIES/STROLLERS/OR ANY LARGE OBJECTS

The Milton Keynes fire officer has made it very clear that we are too small an area with high volumes of people coming in and out of the gym to allow obstructions like the above mentioned into the facility. Therefore, we are unable to allow access. These items must be carefully lined up along the wall outside the gym in the corridor. Any item left in the corridor is done so entirely at the owners’ risk.

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PRICES

Prices advertised may well change from year to year and the club will always give appropriate notice regarding changes. It will be the responsibility of parents to amend payments on the booking system to reflects any changes made.

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REMOVAL OR DENIED ENTRY

We reserve the right to remove people from the club and the have the right to refuse entry.

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WELFARE OFFICERS

Our welfare officers’ details are listed on the website and in the waiting area. If you have any concerns regarding staff or coaching, you may ask to speak directly to the welfare officer who is able to act independently of the club.

Arabian Gym Bletchley Leisure Centre, Princes Way, Bletchley, Bucks, MK2 2HO

Telephone:         01908 647060

Email: reception@arabiangym.com

Charity Number: 1159361

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