Terms and Conditions – Diagnostic Assessment
Booking a diagnostic assessment:
Diagnostic assessments can be booked online, or via email or phone with the assessor. You will receive an email confirmation with a date of your free 30 minute phone consultation appointment. If this time in not convenient, you can re-arrange this appointment by contacting the assessor via email ( karen.bull@sweetchestnut.uk) or by phone (07801671371).
When booking an appointment, you are required to provide a contact email address and phone number.
As part of the booking process, you will be contacted by phone to discuss the assessment in detail and any concerns you may have. A teams call can be arranged if this is preferred.
Prior to booking it is advisable that parents complete the visual difficulties protocol. Where parents answer often or always to any of the symptoms their child experiences, it is recommended that a child is seen by an optometrist before a dyslexia assessment is undertaken.
A deposit of £200.00 will be taken at the time of the telephone consultation. You will receive an invoice immediately after the initial phone consultation and we ask that this is paid within 48 hours to reserve the booking slot. Payment details are contained on the invoice. This amount will be deducted from the final amount due on the day of the assessment.
Prior to assessment, the assessor will request background information via parents from the school. This form is made available for parent to share with their child’s school once the booking has been made.
A parental questionnaire is also collected and is available live on the website for parents to complete. If parents are unsure about completing the form a zoom meeting can be arranged on request to gather the evidence.
All assesses are required to have had an eyesight test within two years of the assessment. If the chid wears glasses these must be brought to the assessment.
Cancelation charges.
Cancellation / reschedule over 14 days – 40% (as the booking fee). If rescheduled the booking fee is transferable. The booking fee is only transferable once. A second cancellation or rescheduling over 14 days will be treated as an ‘under 14 day cancellation’ except in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the assessor.
Cancellation Under 14 days – 100% of fee
Reschedule under 14 days - 40% - also a new booking fee will be required to reschedule. Only 40% of the booking fee will be deducted from the final amount due.
The assessor may cancel the assessment due to ill health, sever weather or other unforeseen circumstances. Where this is necessary no rebooking fee will be required and the assessor will endeavour to rearrange the appointment at the earliest possible convenience for both parties.
The assessor reserves the right to cancel the assessment and retain the booking fee if the client breaks the terms and conditions as set out in this document.
During an assessment:
The assessor will conduct him or herself with professionalism at all times during the assessment.
Parents are welcome to observe the assessment but in order to ensure an accurate assessment must not prompt or assist a student during an assessment task.
The student is expected to behave in a respectful and responsible manner appropriate for their age during the assessment.
If parent wish to leave their child for the duration of the assessment, a phone number will be left with the assessor that will be contactable during the period of the assessment.
Should a child become unduly distressed or is not fit to continue an assessment the assessor reserves the right to pause or postpone the assessment.
Payment
Payment of a full assessment is £500.00 (or £300.00 after the initial deposit of £200 is taken following the initial phone consultation. The last payment of £200 is then due within two weeks of you receiving the final report. The final report will not be released if the initial payments have not been received.
The assessment date cannot be held if the deposit has not been paid by / at the initial telephone consultation.
Payment can be made by bacs, cheque or cash. Checks for the deposit and assessment will need to clear before the final report can be released.
After the assessment
The report will be completed within 4 weeks of the assessment date and supplied to the client via email.
The report will be written to the standards and guidelines set out by The SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC).
The assessor may need to seek clarification to background information up to 30 days after the assessment.
Clients have 30 days after receiving the final report to raise concerns regarding the report. During this 30 day period, clients may also request an online meeting to discuss the findings of the report with the assessor. This meeting is included in the fee of the assessment and needs to be requested within 10 days of receiving the final report (by phone, email or in person at the assessment).
Recommendations in the report may refer to specific resources; It should be noted that these are suggested examples. Many different brands of resources for dyslexic students exist on the market today and schools may already have access to a resources that will clearly meet the recommendation.
Whilst the report will clearly recommend any support and provision required by the child, it will not be possible to quantify this in precise times.
Further clarification on any of these points may be sought by emailing karen.bull@sweetchestnut.uk prior to assessment.
Code of ethics:
Karen Bull is a member of the British Dyslexia Association and abides by their code of ethics.
Compliments, Concerns and Complaints.
Compliments are always welcome and it is appreciated when the quality of service is acknowledged.
When a client has a concern, this should be initially raised with the assessor and discussed. Hopefully, this will be addressed at this point and resolved to our satisfaction.
Please see complaints procedures from the British Dyslexia Association to escalate complaints beyond Sweet Chestnut Consulting.
Privacy Policy.
Who we are.
Sweet Chestnut consulting is an organisation that carries out diagnostic assessments for dyslexia. It was founded and is managed by Karen and Andrew Bull.
Data collected.
When a client contacts Sweet Chestnut Consulting for an assessment, a range of information is collected by the company to fulfil the requirements of an assessment.
All personal information is processed and stored in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). These regulations require registration with the information commissioner’s office (ICO). This company is registered with the ICO.
Information may be requested through email, questionnaires via Microsoft Forms or in a hard copy format by the assessor. Contact with schools will be through parents and with their permission.
How and when we collect information.
Information is collected to plan and provide specialist support and assessment on a child. This could be at any point in the process: in person, via email, on the phone or via questionnaires.
How data is stored and for how long.
Sweet Chestnut Consulting will hold personal data for as long as it is required to provide the commissioned service or for the period required to retain this information applicable by UK tax Law (currently 6 years).
Test papers and accompanying information will be retained for 6 months after an assessment. These documents will be stored safely by Sweet Chestnut Consulting and will be shredded or deleted six months after the date of the assessment. Reports will be password protected and stored electronically for six years or until the assesse reaches 24 years of age, whichever is longer.
Who the information is shared with.
Once the assessment report is completed, a password protected copy will be emailed to the person who has commissioned the report and the parents (if they are different).
The assessment will not be shared with any third party without written permission from the child’s parents and (if different) the person who commissioned the report).
Whilst unlikely, occasionally a report will need to be shared with The British Dyslexia Association as part of the Assessment Practicing Certificate Renewal. If this is the case, all information will be fully anonymised to protect the identity of the individual that has been assessed.
All people working with children have a duty of care to safeguard. As part of this, there is a legal duty on the assessor to inform relevant authorities if they believe a child is unsafe or being abused. In such an instance personal information ill be shared as appropriate.
Accessing personal information.
You are intitled to view, amend or delete personal information that is held on you.
Please Email your request to karen.bull@sweetchestnut.uk
Review.
This policy was written on the 28th May 2024 and will be reviewed at least annually and as required by the legislation set out by the ICO.
