Families rarely announce they are leaving. More often, nobody asked them to stay before the break.
The last weeks of a term decide who is in your classes next term. This guide covers when to ask, what to offer, and how to roll over without rebuilding the timetable.
Ask before the break
Ask families about next term while classes are still running. Start about two thirds of the way through the term.
A family still deciding during the break is a family comparing centres.
Offer the next class
Do not ask whether they are coming back. Offer a class: the course that follows, the day, the time and the tutor.
A student finishing one course should have an obvious next class. Where students choose between two courses, say which one suits them, and why.
Settle fees early
Tell families about a fee change when you ask them to re-enrol. A new fee that first appears on the invoice reads as a surprise.
Decide, before you ask, whether current students keep their rate. Then put the class, the fee and when the first invoice comes in one message, so the family can say yes once.
Track who has answered
Keep one list for next term: continuing, leaving and not yet answered. Note each answer as it comes, so whoever makes the next call knows where it stands.
Call the families still undecided in the last weeks of term.
Ask the families who are leaving why. The answer is often a time clash you can fix.
Roll the term over
Once most answers are in, set next term’s dates and breaks, place continuing students into their classes, and make the sessions.
Leave a seat or two free for late answers and new families.
Common mistakes
- Asking in the last week. Families have already made plans.
- Asking by invoice. A bill for next term is a poor way to start the conversation.
- Rebuilding the timetable from scratch. Start from this term’s classes and who is continuing.
- Two conversations with one family. Talk about siblings together.
Next term in Atrium
- Set which course follows which, and where students choose.
- Guided steps settle who continues and where, with a preview before anything changes.
- Reverse the latest rollover if plans change. Rolls already marked stay as they are.
- Make next term’s sessions in one step, after a preview. No sessions are made on a break.
- Raise a price, and current students keep their rate while new students pay the new one.
- See whose fees rise next term. Once you switch fee-change emails on, prepare a notice for the families you choose.
- A rollover sends families nothing. They get the emails your team sends, or ones from automations you switch on.