A missed class costs a family a lesson and costs you a seat. Without a written rule, each make-up becomes a conversation, and each person at the desk answers it differently.
A clear policy, given to families at enrolment, settles the question before it is asked.
Decide what counts as notice
Choose how much notice a family gives for a make-up to be owed, such as the day before. Say how they give it: a call, an email or a word at the front desk.
Decide what happens with no notice at all, and whether illness is an exception.
Set a limit
Cap make-ups per student per term, so a seat is not held for a student who rarely comes.
Decide whether unused make-ups carry over to next term, and say so. A make-up with no end date is a debt that keeps growing.
When the centre cancels
If you cancel a class, for a closure or a tutor away with no cover, the whole class is owed a make-up. That is a different promise from a student who missed out, so write it as its own rule.
Where a make-up cannot run, say whether you credit the fee instead.
Where make-ups happen
Book make-ups into a class of the same course with a free seat. A private session you then have to staff costs more than the class it replaces.
Say whether a make-up can be on another day, and who chooses it.
Track make-ups owed
Each owed make-up goes on one list: who is owed, why, and when it is booked. Look at it each week, so nothing waits until the end of term.
When a make-up runs, mark the student on that class’s roll, then take them off the list.
Common mistakes
- Rules only the front desk knows. Put the policy in your enrolment terms and on your website.
- Make-ups with no end date. Owed make-ups pile up and fill your best classes.
- Billing the make-up again. A make-up replaces a class already paid for.
- No note of the notice. Record when the family told you, so the decision holds up later.
Make-ups in Atrium
- A cancelled session owes the class a make-up. Staff can also give one to a student who missed out.
- One list shows what is owed, booked, delivered or waived, and what is overdue.
- Book the student into an upcoming session of the same course. Marking them present clears it.
- A make-up class is not billed again, and it counts as attended.
- Absences land on a follow-up list. Note how the call went, then book a make-up or close the absence.
- The email telling a family about their make-up starts off until you switch it on.