Tutoring Service & Engagement Terms | Avivo Australia

Full Tutoring Service and Engagement Terms

Tutoring Plans:

Avivo operates its tutoring plans on a term by term basis and follows the Victorian Government School Calendar, which is divided into four terms. Each term varies in the number of weeks. In 2023, Term One is ten (10) weeks, Term Two is nine (9) weeks, Term Three is ten (10) weeks and Term Four is nine (9) weeks. Avivo reserves the right to vary the duration of each tutoring term.
If a tutoring session falls on a public holiday, Avivo will work with you to find another suitable time if the student or the tutor cannot attend the session on the public holiday. If the student requires the session in the same week, we will endeavour to accommodate the makeup session as close to your normal tutoring day.
If the session is not required or unable to be rescheduled that week it can be used at another time during the term or via our online tutoring service.

Length of Engagement:

Avivo provides its clients with the convenience of a term based tutoring plan.
All tutoring plan engagements are for the set term period and subject to our cancellation policy.
Clients are expected to select session times that will not change on a regular basis during a term.

Your Tutoring Session:

A tutorial session is one (1) hour. The session starts on the hour or half hour depending on the day of the week.
The structure of each session is determined by the tutor and student. Parents are welcome to provide input into the structure in advance of the session by phone, email or in person. However, once the session has commenced parents are requested to allow the session to proceed without their presence to maximise the student experience and outcome(s).
Tutors cannot run over the allocated hour if the student is late.
If attending on site, as a courtesy to other students and tutors, the student should arrive 10 minutes prior to their session so they are ready and waiting to start at their allocated time.
If online, as a courtesy to other students and tutors, the student should log on 3-5 minutes prior to their session so they are ready and waiting to start at their allocated time.

Changes to your Tutoring Plan:

Avivo will provide the parent/guardian with a seven (7) day grace period from the commencement of each tutoring term to notify Avivo by email (admin@avivoaustralia.com.au) of any sessions during the term that need to be rescheduled. These changes will be made without incurring a change fee. Any changes to session times after this seven (7) day grace period (cancelled or rescheduled session requests) will incur a change fee of $25.00 per session change. This is payable at the time of changing the session.
Due to the high demand for our services, we cannot accommodate weekly changes to your regular time. Any request for a permanent change to a regular session time requires a minimum of 48 hours notice to ensure the resource you require is available on a regular basis. This change is subject to availability and a one-off change fee of $25.00.

Illness and Unavoidable Events:

If due to illness or any other unavoidable event a student cannot attend the tutoring session then a minimum of 24 hours notice is required for the session to be recorded as a cancelled session, please refer to our cancellation policy below.

Cancellation, Rescheduling and Change Fee Policy:

Avivo has a minimum twenty-four (24) hour cancellation policy. This policy allows us to try and accommodate the student at another time during the week or later in the term. Cancelled sessions (with more than 24 hours notice) will not incur a fee.
Avivo provides parents and students with a courtesy reminder email twenty hours (24) hours prior to a session. This is a courtesy reminder email only. To assist parents with our cancellation policy and to allow us to rearrange times and tutors, we require notification by USING OUR RESCHEDULE A SESSION FORM no later than 7pm on the night prior to the session. Cancellations after 7pm the day prior to the session will be recorded as a “missed session” and incur the full session fee.
The agreed session is reserved for the student each week at the same time for the term. As the agreed session time is no longer available in our system to allocate to other students if the agreed session is cancelled and cannot be rescheduled at a mutually agreeable time during the term it will be forfeited.
To terminate all future tutoring sessions once the term has commenced, we require written notification of 5 business days. A cancellation fee of $255 + GST (3 tutoring sessions) is applicable if terminating your tutoring plan with 3 or more sessions remaining for the term. If there are less than 3 sessions remaining for the term then these sessions will be forfeited.
Sessions held during the peak tutoring times of 4pm to 6pm Monday to Thursday cannot be rescheduled more than once in a term. You will forfeit the right to the time if two or more non-attendances occur during the tutoring term.
Please note our term-based programme requires all tutoring sessions to be used within the respective term otherwise the session(s) are forfeited.

Makeup Sessions Online:

The cancelled session can be rescheduled to an online session within the term with the student’s tutor or a substitute tutor. Avivo will send you a link via email to book this session.
Makeup online sessions once booked cannot be cancelled or rescheduled.

Tutor Availability:

In the event a tutor is unavailable, we will provide an alternative tutor or time for the session. If the tutor is running late due to travel delays, we will advise you the parent/guardian with as much notice as possible and make sure any time missed is made up in future sessions. Our tutors are trained to arrive at least 20-30 minutes before their first session of the day when on site or be ready 5-10 minutes before their first session of the day when online.
Avivo uses its best efforts to manage tutor unavailability due to other work or study commitments that may arise from changes to university timetables and personal circumstances. Accordingly, Avivo reserves the right to work with your current tutor to provide a substitute tutor when and if necessary or alter the session time and/or day in the event of illness.

Payment Policy:

It is a condition of our service that payment is made in advance of the commencement of each term and/or tutoring plan.
Additional learning resources and materials provided to students are invoiced retrospectively at cost plus a small handling fee (to cover administration and postage). Avivo holds accounts with education suppliers and all discounts it receives on purchases are passed onto our clients.
On request, Avivo will provide parents/guardians with an installment plan for term-based plans. Depending on the number of sessions being held each term, the installment plan is divided into two (2) or three (3) equal installments. All installment plans require the parent/guardian to provide credit card details in their profile on our booking management system (our provider is Stripe and credit card details are encrypted). Installment plans are only provided for full term based plans. If not paid prior via bank transfer, the credit card held in our booking management system will automatically be processed on the installment date shown on the installment invoice.
Where payment is made by credit card, the client agrees to pay the credit card transaction fee imposed by the card provider, online payment and/or merchant facility.

Late Payment Fee:

If an invoice is not paid by the due date, a late payment fee of $25.00 will be added to this invoice. A further $25.00 late payment fee will be added every seven (7) days from the due date until the invoice is paid. In the event of non-payment of the invoice after thirty (30) days, the tutoring service will not be provided. In the event of a default in payment, the client agrees to pay all costs associated with the recovery of such fees including legal demand costs.

Zero Tolerance of Parent Abuse:

At Avivo we pride ourselves on providing a highly customised service for our students. Since our inception we have never encountered any verbal or electronic abuse by a student that attends Avivo.
On rare occasions, we unfortunately have encountered electronic or verbal abuse by a parent. In the past five years, this has become a growing problem globally within schools. Regrettably at Avivo, we have not been immune to this phenomenon and although these incidents are extremely rare, we have felt the need to bring in this policy.
In most cases, the unwarranted abuse is a result of a parent wanting Avivo to operate outside its terms and conditions. On occasion, it is a case of perception not matching reality of the tutoring service we offer. This is sometimes prompted by a poor school test or exam result by the student. Often, the schoolteacher (the primary point of contact) hasn’t been consulted on the matter to ascertain what the student needs to do to improve his or her result. In addition, adequate consideration hasn’t been given to the student’s study efforts outside of instruction at school and the tutoring session.
All such electronic or verbal abuse incidents are referred immediately to our Advisory Board and a recommended course of action put in place.
Where possible we provide a solution-based approach to resolving the issue amicably and with empathy towards the parent, student and the situation that has prompted the abuse.
The Advisory Board reserves the right to immediately terminate all future tutoring services by Avivo if deemed necessary.

Best Efforts Policy:

Avivo endeavours to provide its services with all due care and skill. Every reasonable effort will be made to provide the best possible outcome for the student. However, no guarantee of results is possible.

Indemnity:

As a client you agree to indemnify Avivo and its independent contractors from all and any liability whatsoever arising out of or in any way connected to your engagement with Avivo.