Club Policies
Transparency, safety & best practice — version 1.0 · April 2026
All students, parents, guardians, and staff connected with Apex Dance Club are expected to treat one another with courtesy and respect. We have zero tolerance for violence, verbal abuse, threatening behaviour, or any conduct that places others at risk.
Where a student's or parent/guardian's behaviour is judged to be a danger to others, Apex Dance Club reserves the right to remove that student from class immediately and without refund. Persistent or serious disruptive behaviour will be addressed up to and including permanent withdrawal from the club.
Any disciplinary action will be applied fairly, consistently, and with due regard for any special educational needs, disabilities, or vulnerabilities the individual may have.
Parents and guardians play a vital role in supporting our coaches and the club community. We ask all parents and guardians to:
- Respect the authority of coaches and staff at all times
- Refrain from coaching, instructing, or directing their child during sessions — this disrupts the class and undermines the coaching relationship
- Raise any concerns with staff outside of class time, not during sessions
- Set a positive example of respectful behaviour for students
- Ensure their child arrives on time, is properly dressed, and is collected promptly
Aggressive or threatening conduct towards staff, coaches, or other families will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Concerns should always be raised through the appropriate channel — see our Complaints procedure in the Terms and Conditions.
Students are expected to arrive for every class dressed appropriately:
- Suitable dancewear must be worn — a leotard, or club t-shirt with fitted shorts or leggings. Clothing with zips, buckles, loose hoods, or baggy elements is not permitted as it poses a safety risk
- Long hair must be tied back securely and kept away from the face
- No jewellery of any kind may be worn during class — including earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets, watches, or fitness trackers. This is a strict safety requirement with no exceptions (unless agreed in writing for medical or religious reasons)
- Students should bring a named water bottle containing water only. No fizzy drinks, food, or chewing gum are permitted in the dance area
- Valuables should be left at home. The club accepts no responsibility for lost or damaged personal belongings
To keep classes safe and productive for everyone, students must:
- Follow all coach instructions carefully and promptly
- Wait for a coach's permission before entering the studio or using any equipment
- Only use apparatus or equipment when directed by a supervising coach
- Treat all other students, coaches, and staff with kindness and respect
- Avoid disruptive, unsafe, or foolish behaviour at any time
Parents and guardians are not permitted to observe regular classes from the studio or training area. Students focus and progress better when parents are not present during sessions.
We hold designated Watching Weeks, normally at the end of each term, when families are warmly invited to see their child's progress. During Watching Weeks, we ask parents to:
- Remain in the designated viewing area at all times
- Keep noise to a minimum so students can hear their coach
- Supervise any younger siblings who are present
- Avoid using flash photography. Video recording is not usually permitted unless we confirm otherwise
Bullying in any form — physical, verbal, social, or online — is completely unacceptable at Apex Dance Club. We define bullying as deliberately harmful behaviour that is repeated over time and targeted at an individual or group. Examples include:
- Physical intimidation, hitting, or pushing
- Name-calling, mockery, or belittling comments
- Threats, coercion, or social exclusion
- Cyberbullying — harassment via social media, messaging apps, or other digital platforms
Any student or parent who becomes aware of bullying should report it to a member of staff immediately. We will investigate all reports promptly and sensitively. Please note that Apex Dance Club can only address bullying that takes place within our own sessions and venues.
Behaviour & conduct concerns:
Email: management@apexdanceclub.co.uk ·
Phone: 07803 458795
Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. Every adult who has contact with children through Apex Dance Club — whether a coach, volunteer, chaperone, or contractor — has a duty to put the welfare of the child first. This applies regardless of a child's age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic.
We are committed to ensuring that all students at Apex Dance Club:
- Experience acrobatic dance in a safe, child-centred, and enjoyable environment
- Are protected from harm, abuse, and exploitation, whether within club activities or in connection with them
We recognise that some children — including those with disabilities, those from minority backgrounds, or those facing difficult personal circumstances — may face a higher risk of harm. We take our responsibility to protect these individuals particularly seriously.
In fulfilling our child protection commitments, Apex Dance Club will:
- Ensure that the welfare of the child informs every decision we make
- Treat all children equally and with dignity
- Provide appropriate safeguarding training to all staff and volunteers
- Maintain secure, accurate records of any safeguarding concerns
- Act promptly and appropriately whenever a concern is raised
- Use robust recruitment and vetting procedures — including DBS checks — to prevent unsuitable people from working with children
- Take immediate action to address any inappropriate behaviour, whether physical or verbal
- Stay up to date with changes in safeguarding law and national guidance
- Ensure that concerns are referred to the Police or Children's Social Care where required by law
- Ensure emergency contact information for every student is accessible to all relevant staff at all times
This policy is mandatory for every person involved with Apex Dance Club. Failure to comply will be dealt with immediately and may result in dismissal or exclusion from the club.
This policy is reviewed every year and updated whenever there are significant changes in legislation or government guidance.
Designated Child Protection Lead: Joseph Marx — Principal & Club Director
Email: management@apexdanceclub.co.uk ·
Phone: 07803 458795
The Data Protection Act 2018 is the UK's implementation of the GDPR. All organisations that handle personal data are required by law to follow strict data protection principles. Personal data must be:
- Processed lawfully, fairly, and transparently
- Collected for specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes only
- Limited to what is necessary for those purposes
- Kept accurate and updated where required
- Retained only for as long as necessary
- Protected against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or damage
To run our classes safely and effectively, Apex Dance Club may hold the following personal data about students and their families:
- Full name, date of birth and/or age, gender
- Home address, email address, and contact telephone number(s)
- Medical information, including health conditions, allergies, and relevant diagnoses
- Details of any special educational needs
- Emergency contact information
- Any other information relevant to a student's safe participation in our activities
Personal data is collected and used solely to enable the safe and effective delivery of our classes and activities — including providing appropriate support to each student, responding effectively in an emergency, maintaining accurate records, and communicating with families.
All personal data is stored on secure, password-protected systems. Access is restricted to authorised staff only. We collect data through our online registration form, direct communication, our website, and class enrolments. We avoid paper forms wherever possible.
Following the end of your or your child's involvement with Apex Dance Club, personal data is securely deleted or anonymised within three to six months, unless we are legally required to retain it for a longer period.
Your personal data may be shared in the following circumstances:
- With Apex Gymnastics (our parent organisation) for internal administrative purposes
- With our website hosting and booking platform providers
- With our email communications provider
With your explicit consent only, data may also be shared with examination or assessment bodies where your child is entered for a grading, and event or festival organisers where your child is participating.
We will never sell your personal data. We will not share it with any other third party without your explicit consent.
Under the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to:
- Be informed about how your data is used (this policy fulfils that obligation)
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete data
- Request erasure of your data in certain circumstances
- Restrict or object to certain types of data processing
- Receive your data in a portable format
- Not be subject to solely automated decision-making
You also have the right to lodge a complaint directly with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
Data Protection Lead: Joseph Marx
Email: management@apexdanceclub.co.uk ·
Phone: 07803 458795
As defined by the Department for Education in Keeping Children Safe in Education, safeguarding means:
- Protecting children from maltreatment
- Preventing the impairment of children's physical or mental health or development
- Ensuring children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
- Taking action to enable all children to have the best possible outcomes
For the purposes of this policy, a child is any person under the age of 18.
Everyone who works with Apex Dance Club — paid or unpaid — must:
- Take any concern about a child's welfare seriously and act on it without delay
- Listen to children and give weight to what they say
- Maintain the confidentiality of children and vulnerable individuals at all times
- Never promise secrecy to a child
- Maintain appropriate professional boundaries at all times
- Follow Apex Dance Club's guidelines on the use of mobile phones, cameras, and social media
- Avoid being alone with a child in any private or secluded space
- Report any disclosure or concern about a child's welfare to the Safeguarding Lead immediately
All staff and volunteers must be able to recognise the signs of abuse:
Deliberately causing physical harm to a child, including hitting, shaking, throwing, burning, drowning, or suffocating. Also includes deliberately inducing or fabricating illness.
Persistent emotional mistreatment that causes serious harm to a child's development — including making a child feel worthless, silencing, humiliating, threatening, or exposing them to distressing situations. Emotional abuse underlies all other forms of abuse.
Forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities. This covers both physical contact and non-contact acts such as grooming, exposure to sexual imagery, or encouraging sexual behaviour.
The persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical, emotional, or medical needs, including failure to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, supervision, or appropriate medical attention.
Repeated harmful behaviour intended to hurt, demean, or control someone. Child Sexual Exploitation is a form of abuse in which children are sexually exploited for gain — children may not realise they are being exploited. Children in performing arts can be specifically targeted.
- Report your concern to the Apex Dance Club Safeguarding Lead at once
- If the Safeguarding Lead is the subject of your concern, contact the LADO directly
- Write down exactly what you observed, including your own response. Date, sign, and keep your record safe
- Where a serious allegation is made against any staff member, that person will be immediately stood down from all contact with children
- Remain calm. Do not show shock or disbelief
- Listen without interrupting. Allow the child to speak in their own words
- Do not promise confidentiality. Explain that you will need to share what they have told you
- Tell the child they were right to tell you and that they are not in trouble
- Contact the Safeguarding Lead immediately
- Do not investigate the matter yourself
- As soon as possible, write a full account using the child's own words
- Children under 12 must be brought inside and collected by an authorised adult
- Students aged 12+ may arrive/depart unaccompanied only with prior written parental consent
- Only adults named in writing by the parent/guardian are permitted to collect a child
- Parents must notify the club in advance if a different person will be collecting
- Physical contact will only occur where genuinely necessary for safe coaching practice
- In acrobatic dance, instructor contact may be required for lifts and acrobatic elements — always carried out professionally and with the student's awareness
- Consent will be sought before physical contact is made
- Images and video of children will only be taken with parental consent as recorded on the registration form
- Parents may not photograph or film children other than their own without the principal's permission
- Staff must transfer all images to secure storage and delete them from personal devices within seven days
- Mobile phones and cameras are strictly prohibited in all changing rooms
- All chaperones must be approved by their local authority and provide evidence before working with the club
- Maximum ratio: 12 children per chaperone
- All chaperones must hold a current DBS check and be familiar with club safeguarding policies
- Children must not enter adult changing areas
Safeguarding Lead: Joseph Marx — Club Director & Principal
Email: management@apexdanceclub.co.uk ·
Phone: 07803 458795
LADO Email: LADO@wandsworth.gov.uk
These Terms govern participation in all classes, sessions, workshops, performances, and events offered by Apex Dance Club, operating at Aspire Centre, Earlsfield, London. They apply to the parent or legal guardian ("Guardian") of every participating student ("Participant"). The current version is always available at apexdanceclub.co.uk.
The Guardian acknowledges that acrobatic dance — including tumbling, lifting, and partner work — carries inherent risks. Injuries may range from minor (bruises, sprains) to serious (fractures, concussion) or, in rare cases, more severe outcomes. The Guardian voluntarily accepts these risks and understands that not all risks can be eliminated even when appropriate coaching and safety procedures are in place.
Apex Dance Club takes all reasonable steps to provide a safe environment through qualified instruction and appropriate facilities, but cannot guarantee that no injury will occur.
The Guardian confirms that the Participant is physically and mentally fit to take part in Activities and has no condition that would place them or others at heightened risk. The Guardian agrees to fully disclose all relevant medical conditions, allergies, medications, injuries, or additional needs at registration, and to notify the Club promptly of any subsequent changes in writing.
- Emergency consent: Where the Guardian cannot be contacted in an emergency, Club staff are authorised to administer first aid and seek emergency medical assistance
- Illness: Participants must not attend if unwell — including fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, or any contagious illness — and should remain absent until fully recovered
- Medication on site: Where a Participant needs to carry or take medication (including inhalers or epi-pens), the Guardian must notify the Club in writing in advance so that an agreed procedure can be established
Class fees are published in the Club's current fee schedule and are subject to periodic review. Reasonable notice will be given of any changes.
- Fees are invoiced to the Guardian's registered email address before the term commences and must be paid in advance by the stated deadline
- Non-payment by the deadline may result in the Participant's place being suspended or reallocated to the waiting list
If you require a different payment arrangement, please contact management@apexdanceclub.co.uk. Any arrangement is at the discretion of the Club Director.
No refunds or credits are provided for classes missed due to personal reasons, holidays, minor illness, or any other circumstance outside the Club's control. Your fee holds the Participant's place for the full term.
Where a significant injury sustained during a supervised Club Activity prevents attendance for four or more consecutive weeks, and is supported by medical evidence, the Club may at its discretion offer a refund for classes not attended that term or a non-transferable credit for future use.
Where the Club cancels a session due to circumstances within its control (e.g. staff illness), a make-up session will be offered where feasible, or a credit applied to your account. Refunds may be offered at the Club's discretion.
Where sessions are cancelled due to events outside the Club's control — including severe weather, venue closure, power failure, public health emergency, industrial action, acts of terrorism, or government restriction — no refund or credit is guaranteed. Where operationally possible, the Club will endeavour to reschedule or offer an online alternative.
During the Participant's first term only, the Guardian may withdraw at any time by giving written notice to management@apexdanceclub.co.uk. A refund will be issued for any classes in that term that have not yet been attended.
After the Participant's first term, a minimum of one full term's written notice is required for each class. The Club will aim to act reasonably and may offer a refund for classes not yet attended, but this is not guaranteed and remains at the Club's discretion depending on circumstances and the notice given.
No refund will be given for classes already attended at any point.
- Participants should arrive a few minutes before class and must not arrive excessively early. Late arrival may result in refusal of entry on safety grounds
- Participants under 12 (or below Year 7) must be brought inside the designated waiting area and collected in person by an authorised adult after class
- Participants aged 12 and above (Year 7+) may arrive and leave unaccompanied only where the Guardian has provided prior written consent
- Only adults named in writing by the Guardian are authorised to collect a Participant. The Guardian must notify the Club in advance if a different person will be collecting
- If collection is delayed, the Participant must remain inside the building and find a member of staff. Participants must never leave the venue alone
- Apex Dance Club is not responsible for the safety of Participants outside the venue
All Participants and Guardians must follow all safety rules and instructions given by coaches and staff at all times.
- Appropriate dancewear is required — a leotard or fitted shorts and t-shirt. Clothing with zips, loose hoods, buckles, or baggy elements is not permitted. All jewellery must be removed. Hair must be tied back securely. See the Behaviour Policy for full dress code requirements
- Participants must wait for a coach's instruction before entering the studio or using any equipment
- Guardians must not coach, instruct, or intervene during sessions — concerns should be raised with staff outside of class time
- Non-compliance with Club rules or Codes of Conduct may result in warnings, removal from sessions, suspension, or permanent exclusion at the Club's discretion.
Parents and guardians are not permitted to observe regular classes from the studio or training area. Apex Dance Club holds designated Watching Weeks — normally at the end of each term — when families are invited to observe a session. During Watching Weeks, Guardians must remain in the designated viewing area, keep noise to a minimum, supervise any siblings present, and refrain from filming unless the Club confirms this is permitted.
Acrobatic dance instruction may require physical contact from a coach — for example, to correct technique, guide a movement, or support safe execution of lifts. This will always be carried out professionally, with the Participant's awareness, and in accordance with the Club's Safeguarding Policy.
- Images and video of the Participant will only be taken where consent has been given on the registration form. These may be used for marketing, social media, and promotional purposes
- Where footage is taken to support technical development, it may be shared with parents or via a private class group, subject to the consent of all relevant families
- Guardians must not photograph or film any child other than their own at Club venues without prior permission from the principal
Apex Dance Club processes personal data in accordance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Full details are set out in the Club's GDPR Policy. Essential communications relating to enrolment will be sent using the contact details provided at registration. Marketing communications may be sent separately — you may opt out at any time without affecting participation.
Fees for performances, gradings, assessments, festivals, and external events must be paid by the stated deadline to secure the Participant's place. These fees are non-refundable once paid. Further details will be provided when a child is invited to take part in any such activity.
Participants are solely responsible for their personal belongings. Apex Dance Club accepts no liability for items that are lost, damaged, or stolen on site. Lost property found by staff will be kept for a reasonable period before being disposed of or donated to charity.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Guardian agrees to release and hold harmless Apex Dance Club, its staff, coaches, and volunteers from liability arising from the Participant's involvement in Activities. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded under the laws of England and Wales. The Guardian agrees to indemnify the Club against any losses arising from damage or injury caused by the Participant to others or to property.
Apex Dance Club maintains appropriate Public Liability and Employers' Liability insurance. Personal accident cover for individual Participants is not included. Guardians are advised to arrange separate personal accident insurance if they wish.
We encourage concerns to be raised informally with a coach or member of staff in the first instance. Formal complaints must be submitted in writing to management@apexdanceclub.co.uk. We will acknowledge your complaint within five working days and aim to resolve it within 28 days.
Apex Dance Club reserves the right to amend these Terms from time to time. Reasonable notice will be given via email or our website. Continued participation after notification constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
Apex Dance Club will not be liable for any failure to deliver Activities caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including natural disasters, pandemic, government action, or venue-related failures. Any credits or refunds offered in such circumstances are at the Club's discretion unless required by law.
These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. If any provision is found to be unenforceable or invalid, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
Apex Dance Club · Aspire Centre, Earlsfield, London
Email: management@apexdanceclub.co.uk ·
Phone: 07803 458795 ·
apexdanceclub.co.uk