Primary Arts Cancellation Policy

A New Direction is able to deliver the Primary Arts programme free of charge to schools with the generous support of our funder, The City of London Corporation City Educational Trust Fund. There are, however, considerable costs involved in mounting the programme, and it is frequently oversubscribed with a significant number of schools on our waiting lists, eager to take up any spaces that become available.

If you have booked a place on any part of Primary Arts for you or on behalf of your school and are no longer able to participate, or if you need to make significant changes to your booked activity, we ask that you give us as much notice as possible so that we can offer your place to another school. Cancellations or changes at short notice mean that other schools are not able to benefit and often incur costs to A New Direction.

To recoup some of these costs, A New Direction may charge a fee for cancellations or significant changes with late notice. These are different for each strand of the programme:

  • Go & See Cancellation Policy

    Cancellation fee:

    • up to £300 per participating class

    Applicable to:

    • cancellation of booking (or request to reschedule) with less than three weeks’ notice (excluding school holidays)
    • cancellation due to travel plans regardless of notice period
    • significant reduction in pupil numbers with less than three weeks’ notice. A significant reduction would be 20% or more of your tickets, ie 6 pupils per class of 30 in mainstream settings. Special schools will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

    Exclusions:

    We understand that extenuating circumstances may arise – please contact us at the earliest opportunity if this is the case.

    In some circumstances, A New Direction may have to cancel events, or may choose to waive the cancellation fee at our discretion. This may include the following:

    • Industrial action on public transport – if it seems likely that travel will be significantly disrupted by industrial action, we may waive the cancellation fee for schools that are unable to travel.
    • Industrial action in school – if a school will be closed or staff/ pupil ratios significantly affected by industrial action, we may waive the cancellation fee.
    • Severe weather warnings – particularly in the case of high temperatures where children would be put at risk by travelling. This will apply particularly where the Met Office puts out severe weather warnings, or where temperatures are expected to be 30oC or higher.
    • Unforeseen events at venues such as technical failures.

    If events are cancelled by us or by our partners, A New Direction will strive to offer affected schools an alternative event. Where possible, this will be in the same season as the original booking, for the same pupils. Where this is not possible, it is likely to be in the following term. If you are not able to accept our offered alternative and choose instead to withdraw from the programme, you will not be charged a cancellation fee.

  • In-Schools Touring Cancellation Policy

    Cancellation fee:

    • up to £1,000

    Applicable to:

    • cancellation of booking (or request to reschedule) with less than three weeks’ notice (excluding school holidays)
    • significant reduction in pupil numbers with less than three weeks’ notice. A significant reduction would be 20% or more of your attendees, ie 6 pupils per class of 30 in mainstream settings. Special schools will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

    Exclusions:

    We understand that extenuating circumstances may arise – please contact us at the earliest opportunity if this is the case.

    In some circumstances, A New Direction may have to cancel events, or may choose to waive the cancellation fee at our discretion. This may include the following:

    • Industrial action in school – if a school will be closed or staffing significantly affected by industrial action, we may waive the cancellation fee or look to reschedule where possible.
    • Industrial action on public transport – if staffing will be significantly affected by industrial action meaning they are unable to get to school, or if delivery partners are unable to reach school, we may waive the cancellation fee or look to reschedule where possible.
    • Severe weather warnings – particularly in the case of high temperatures where school days may be affected by hot weather policies and/ or early closure. This will apply particularly where the Met Office puts out severe weather warnings, or where temperatures are expected to be 30oC or higher.
    • Unforeseen events for partners such as illness or technical failures.

    If events are cancelled by us or by our partners, A New Direction will strive to offer affected schools an alternative event. Where possible, this will mean the original show and workshop booked being delivered in school on a different date (this may be after the Easter holidays). Where this is not possible, we will try to offer an alternative show. If you are not able to accept our offered alternative and choose instead to withdraw from the programme, you will not be charged a cancellation fee.

  • Masterclasses Cancellation Policy

    Cancellation fee:

    • £150 per participant

    Applicable to: no-shows or cancellations with less than three weeks’ notice (excluding school holidays).

    Exclusions:

    We understand that extenuating circumstances may arise – please contact us at the earliest opportunity if this is the case.

    In some circumstances, A New Direction may have to cancel events, or may choose to waive the cancellation fee at our discretion. This may include the following

    • If you are not able to attend but a colleague can attend in your place, we will not charge a cancellation fee.
    • If you are unwell, we may waive the cancellation fee.
    • Industrial action on public transport – if it seems likely that travel will be significantly disrupted by industrial action, we may waive the cancellation fee for participants who are unable to travel.
    • Severe weather warnings – particularly in the case of high temperatures. This will apply particularly where the Met Office puts out severe weather warnings, or where temperatures are expected to be 30oC or higher.
    • Unforeseen events at venues such as technical failures.

    If a Masterclass is cancelled by A New Direction, we will look to reschedule if at all possible. If you are not able to accept our offered alternative and choose instead to cancel your place, you will not be charged a cancellation fee.

  • Come & Try Cancellation Policy

    No cancellation fee applies to Come & Try events but we ask that you give us as much notice as possible if you are unable to attend so that we can offer your place to someone on the waiting list as we are always oversubscribed.

    If a Come & Try event is cancelled by A New Direction, we will look to reschedule if at all possible.

  • Cultural Education Leadership Programme Cancellation Policy

    Participants on the Cultural Education Leadership Programme will receive specific information about attendance expectations and cover funding eligiblity.