Why are the lessons on my package disappearing/why does my package say “lesson logged by another tutor”?

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Your package may be shared with another tutor, meaning another tutor is tutoring the client subjects other than the ones you are tutoring. The client will decide how the lessons on their package get split up, so all tutors sharing a package may not have the same number of lessons on that package. If you are on a shared package, it’s important to check the number of remaining lessons on the package before each lesson you do, to ensure that you do not conduct a lesson over the package. BrightSparkz cannot guarantee payment if this happens. 

Please note that when you are sharing a package with another tutor, you should also be sharing the same logsheet. Please leave the logsheet in an accessible place that both you and the other tutor(s) can sign, like on the fridge.

I’m sharing a package with another tutor – what does that mean?

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If you’re sharing a package with another tutor, you need to be aware of 3 important things:

  1. Both you and the other tutor(s) can log lessons on the package – so you need to check that there is an available lesson on the package before every lesson. A double lesson or lessons on a few days in a row with the other tutor will quickly use up any remaining lessons. Making sure you keep your shared lesson logsheet up to date will also help with this.
  2. The package will not necessarily be split equally between the tutors! The client will decide how to split the lessons based on what the student needs. Please do not assume the number of lessons that you will be conducting on a certain package.
  3. You will not be conducting the lessons with another tutor. You will be responsible for arranging lesson times for the subject(s) that you are tutoring, and the other tutor(s) will be responsible for arranging lessons for their subject(s).

For example, Jackie purchases a 10 x 1 hour lesson package for her son, to be split between 3 tutors – for Maths, Natural Science and English. This DOES NOT mean that each tutor will conduct 3.33 lessons! If Jackie’s son is struggling more with Maths and Natural Science, but just needs 1-2 lessons to recap his English, the lesson split might be: 4 lessons for Maths, 4 lessons for Natural Science, and 2 lessons for English. 

Tutoring before the package is loaded.

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A tutor may NOT go to a lesson, before the package has been loaded to the portal. If nothing has been loaded the morning of your lesson, please contact us as soon as possible, so that we can follow up for you.

There are exceptions to the rule though – if you have been tutoring for a family for a while now and they’ve had a few packages with you, you can inform us of a lesson that is going to take place (date and time), but there is no package loaded, after which we will tell you if they have booked a new package and that we are waiting for payment, etc. Sometimes, because the client has been with us for a while, we will allow the tutor to proceed with the first lesson on the package, but NO MORE than that. The tutor then needs to tell us when the next lesson is planned for, so that we can ensure payment for the package is received before then. You may only follow this process with our permission.

What if I need to cancel a lesson?

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You are welcome to do so, as long as there is a good reason for this cancellation. What you’ll need to do is contact the parent or guardian by any means necessary AND make sure that the communications were received i.e. if it’s an SMS, please ensure that you get a reply, and if no reply, please give them a call and if still nothing, then please let us know. Then let us know. You should aim to cancel a lesson no later than the morning of the lesson.

In the case of an emergency, please let us know ASAP, so that we can inform the client that you won’t make the lesson. You are welcome to ask someone to call us on your behalf as well. A doctors or dentist appointment are not seen as emergencies, as they are normally scheduled a few days before or if you’re feeling ill, the appointment is normally in made in the morning. If you do need to make an appointment within 2 hours of a lesson, then please request a doctor’s note and send it to us.
We do ask that the tutor reschedules the lesson for that same week, or for as soon as possible, or perhaps do a double lesson at the next lesson (should the client agree), to make up for lost time.

NB! Please inform us of frequent cancellations and ALWAYS confirm the cancellation with a parent / guardian / BrightSparkz Tutors, if the cancellation came directly from the learner. If you are struggling to fit in the lessons because of your own schedule or a clash in your and the learner’s schedules, it is best to let us know sooner rather than later, so that we can confirm either a temporary or permanent replacement. You’ll only be doing the learner an injustice and scare BrightSparkz’ reputation, if you keep cancelling the lessons from your end.

What if the client cancels the lesson before I leave for the lesson?

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You can accept this cancellation; the client does not forfeit the lesson and the tutor is not compensated. Any notice, before the tutor leaves their home/university for lessons, is sufficient notice, especially since you did not use any of your petrol for this lesson. You may say that you put time and effort into planning the lesson, which is true, however, that time and effort won’t go to waste as you can simply use it for the following lesson instead and in turn you don’t need to plan for the next lesson.

We do ask that the tutor reschedules the lesson for that same week, or for as soon as possible, or perhaps do a double lesson at the next lesson (should the client agree), to make up for lost time.

NB! Please inform us of frequent cancellations and ALWAYS confirm the cancellation with a parent / guardian / BrightSparkz Tutors, if the cancellation came directly from the learner.

What if a client cancels a lesson while I am on my way or already there?

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A tutor needs to log the cancelled lesson, by selecting either “on route” or “on arrival”, in order for them to be compensated 50% for their hourly rate. The client forfeits the entire lesson.

The tutor can also inform us of the cancellation, so that we can ask the client to compensate the tutor directly, so that the client does not need to forfeit the entire lesson.

NB! Please inform us of frequent cancellations and ALWAYS confirm the cancellation with a parent / guardian / BrightSparkz Tutors, if the cancellations comes directly from the learner.

If a client cancels a lesson, what do I do?

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You will need to assess what kind or cancellation it was:
1. Cancelled on route
2. Cancelled on arrival
3. Cancelled any time before you left your home/university (whether it’s 30 minutes or the day before)

Then log the lesson on the portal selecting the correct option. If it’s option 1 or 2, the tutor will be compensated 50% for their hourly rate. The client forfeits the entire lesson. The tutor can also inform us of the cancellation, so that we can ask the client to compensate the tutor directly, so that the client does not need to forfeit the entire lesson.

We do ask that the tutor reschedules the lesson for that same week, or for as soon as possible, or perhaps do a double lesson at the next lesson (should the client agree), to make up for lost time.

NB! Please inform us of frequent cancellations and ALWAYS confirm the cancellation with a parent / guardian / BrightSparkz Tutors, if the cancellation came directly from the learner. If you are struggling to fit in the lessons, it is best to let us know sooner rather than later, so that we can confirm either a temporary or permanent replacement. You’ll only be doing the learner an injustice, if you keep cancelling the lessons from your end.