Policies
We aim to provide clients with a clear and concise breakdown of all our policies and procedures. We pride ourselves on transparency. If you have a question, please do not hesitate to get in contact.
This document includes:
-Cancellation Policy
-Illness and Health Policy
-Injury and Emergency Care Policy
-Failure to Collect a Child Policy
The following information is available in a range of accessible formats. Please email info@thegovernessoflondon.co.uk if you require assistance.
Cancellation Policy
Lateness
We appreciate that in our clients’ busy lives there will always be occasions where their children may not be able to be at a specific location at a specific time for a lesson.
Likewise, you will appreciate that our tutors are often reliant on public transport network to get to a lesson. Please also be aware that tutors can be trapped without signal on the London Underground and may therefore be unable to tell you if they are running late.
We allow a grace period of 10 minutes at the start of all lessons to allow flexibility for both children and tutors. If your Child is not present after this period, we may cancel the lesson without refund. Likewise, if the tutor is not present after this period, you may cancel the lesson and we will refund you for the lesson. In either case, it can be agreed that the lesson will go ahead at the person’s discretion.
Cancellation
If you know that a lesson has to be cancelled, please give a minimum of 48 hours’ notice, via email to info@thegovernessoflondon.co.uk. We can then contact the tutor or see if other arrangements may be made to move the lesson to an alternative time
and/or date. No refund is given and you and your child must fit around the availability of the tutor.
Illness and Health Policy
Illness
1.If a tutor is ill or unexpectedly unavailable and is unable to teach a specific lesson and an alternative tutor cannot be provided, we may have no option but to cancel the lesson. We will refund you for the cancelled lesson, unless it can be rearranged at a time convenient to you and a tutor.
2.We are aware that children rarely give 48 hours’ notice as to when they are going to be ill. Please let us know as soon as possible if your child is sick. We may be able to reschedule your lesson.
3.If your child is running a temperature during the lesson (and is not teething) the tutor reserves the right to cancel the lesson. We may be able to reschedule the remainder of the lesson.
4.Our tutors travel from one home to another delivering lessons and therefore if your child has been ill or sick in the 24 hours prior to a lesson, please cancel your lesson to ensure that bugs are not spread to other children. We [may be able to / will] reschedule your lesson.
In situations
Health
The Governess of London doesn’t work with children who are unvaccinated (without a medical reason) as our tutors also deliver lessons in children’s hospitals, so many of the children we work with are
All our tutors:
-are immune against chickenpox (naturally or vaccinated);
-are vaccinated against flu each year in September/October;
-have had their childhood vaccinations and have had the MenACWY vaccine before starting university.
Our tutors are not authorised to give your child
All tutors are trained in paediatric first aid and
A large number of the children we work with are prone to febrile seizures and tutors are trained specifically to deal with this condition. In the event your child has such a seizure, the tutor will shout for a parent or guardian (if nearby) but will not leave your child to search them out. Febrile seizures are scary for both the parent and tutor. Please note that, although well trained, this may be the first time the tutor has witnessed a seizure.
Please note that none of our tutors are medical doctors (even those studying medicine!) several of our tutors have PhDs in subjects ranging from psychology to geology. Please do not confuse a PhD with a licence to practise medicine in the UK.
Injury and Emergency Care Policy
If your child sustains an injury whilst in our care, you will be issued with an incident report. This incident report will also be added to your child’s profile on our website portal. Bumps and scrapes will be dealt with by the tutor administering first aid – all tutors carry a BabyAid first aid kit.
All injuries/bumps involving your child’s head will require you to collect your child immediately.
If your child has a suspected broken bone or sustains a serious injury or there is another emergency, the tutor will call 999 and will, if appropriate, follow the advice of the A&E medical staff. We are not liable for administering treatment if following that advice.
Medical staff will be given a copy of your child’s digital profile or the information on it
– please ensure that this is kept up to date. The tutor will never leave your child
unaccompanied in hospital. Parents may be charged for the additional hours at the standard lesson rate.
Please note that emergency care in the UK is free at the point of access. If you are not entitled to free treatment on the NHS then you will be liable to cover the cost of emergency treatment that your child receives.
Failure to Collect your Child Policy
Parents are responsible for ensuring a child is collected promptly at the end of their lesson, assessment or event.
We understand that London’s transport network isn’t always the most reliable, flights home get missed or parents get held up at work. However, please let your tutor know as soon as possible.
Your child will never be left alone by one of our tutors. Any additional time a tutor spends providing childcare will be charged at the rate of £50 + VAT per hour.
If a parent or adult responsible for your child fails to return/pick up your child, the tutor will hand over your child to Laura
We charge £1,000 +VAT per night for unplanned overnight care, and £50 per hour + VAT from
If we do not hear from you after 12 hours, we will inform the relevant authorities that we have an unaccompanied child as we have a duty to the child to ensure he or she is safeguarded.