Altair Subscription Terms

Altair by First Principles

Last updated: [PLACEHOLDER: date] · Version [PLACEHOLDER]

Please read these terms carefully. Clauses that limit our liability, place risk on you, or require you to do something are shown in bold (see clauses 13.6 and 16). The Consumer Protection Act requires us to draw your attention to them.

1. Who we are

1.1 Altair is run by [ALTAIR ENTITY NAME] (Pty) Ltd, registration number [REG NO] ("Altair", "we", "us").

1.2 Our details:

Address for legal notices: [ADDRESS]
Email: [PLACEHOLDER: support email]
Phone / WhatsApp: [PLACEHOLDER]
Website: [PLACEHOLDER: URL]
VAT number: [PLACEHOLDER, if registered]
Directors: [PLACEHOLDER] [VERIFY: ECT Act section 43(1) information list — this clause aims to cover it]
Information officer: [NAME, EMAIL]

1.3 "You" means the parent, guardian or other adult who opens the account. "Your child" means each child you add to your account.

2. What Altair is — and what it is not

2.1 Altair is a learning app and programme for children in Grades 1 to 12. It gives children lessons, videos, notes and worksheets, and offers in-person "Altair Lab" sessions at partner tuition centres.

2.2 Altair is an enrichment programme. Its content is aligned with topics in the national Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS).

2.3 Altair is NOT a school. It does not:

(a) replace your child's school or schooling;

(b) register your child for home education, or act as a home-education provider;

(c) issue school reports, grades or qualifications recognised by the Department of Basic Education or any provincial department;

(d) satisfy your legal duty to make sure your child attends school or is registered for home education.

2.4 Stars, progress charts and similar features are for motivation only. They are not formal assessments.

3. Who can sign up

3.1 You must be at least 18 years old and be the parent or legal guardian of each child you add, or have the parent or guardian's permission to act for the child. [DECISION: Whether to allow other "grown-ups" (e.g. grandparents) to be account holders.]

3.2 Children may not open their own accounts. Your child uses Altair under your account and your supervision.

3.3 When you add a child, you give the consent required by law for us to process your child's personal information, as described in our Privacy Notice and the Altair consent forms.

3.4 You are responsible for keeping your login details safe and for all activity on your account.

4. Plans and prices

4.1 All prices are in rand, include VAT [DECISION: confirm VAT registration; if not registered, delete "include VAT"], and are per child per month unless stated otherwise.

Plan	Price
App only	R99 per month, or R899 per year
Family app plan (up to 3 children)	R149 per month
App + monthly 3-hour Saturday Lab Day	R299 per month
App + weekly 2-hour Lab	R649 per month
App + two 2-hour Labs a week	R1,099 per month

4.2 Lab plans depend on a place being available at a partner centre near you. We will confirm the centre, day and time before we charge you for a Lab plan.

4.3 [DECISION: Whether Lab plans can be combined with the Family app plan, and how Lab pricing works for siblings.]

4.4 Kits. [DECISION: Confirm whether Lab materials and kits are included in the Lab plan prices. If any are charged separately, state the price before purchase.]

5. Free taster

5.1 You can try Altair free. The free taster gives you the first unit of Term 1 in every subject.

5.2 No payment card is needed. We will not charge you unless you choose a paid plan.

5.3 When the taster ends, your child keeps their saved work for [DECISION: X months], so you can pick up where you left off if you subscribe.

6. Founding-family offer

6.1 Who qualifies. You are a "founding family" if you choose a paid plan by 23:59 on Friday 11 December 2026. Using the free taster alone does not make you a founding family.

6.2 No charge before launch. Founding families reserve their plan and pay nothing until the app fully opens on 13 January 2027. You may cancel free of charge at any time before then.

6.3 Founding prices. The prices in clause 4.1 on the day you reserve are your "founding prices". We will keep them for 24 months from your first payment.

6.4 All plans. Founding prices apply to every plan in clause 4.1, monthly or yearly. During the 24 months you may change plan, or add a Lab plan when a place is available, and keep founding prices on the new plan.

6.5 Brothers and sisters. A child added to your account during the 24 months also gets founding prices until your 24 months end.

6.6 Pausing. Pausing your plan for up to two months in any 12-month period does not affect founding prices. [DECISION: links to the pause rule in clause 11.2.]

6.7 Cancelling. If you cancel and re-subscribe within 60 days, you keep founding prices. After 60 days, the normal prices apply.

6.8 Not transferable. Founding prices belong to your account. They cannot be transferred or sold and have no cash value.

6.9 When the 24 months end. We will give you at least 30 days' notice of the new price before it starts, and you may cancel before then.

7. Referrals

7.1 Your link. Each account has a personal referral link and code.

7.2 Free month. When a family joins through your link, makes its first payment and stays past the 7-day cooling-off period in clause 10, you get one free month of your own plan for each such family, credited to your next bill. Yearly plans get one extra month added to the end of the year instead. The family that joins does not get a free month through this programme.

7.3 Before launch. For referrals made before 13 January 2027, the free month is earned after the referred family's first payment on or after that date.

7.4 Limit. Each family can earn up to 12 free months in any 12-month period.

7.5 Exclusions. Referring yourself, a member of your own household, or an account paid with the same card or bank account does not count. We may remove free months from accounts set up only to collect them.

7.6 No cash value. Free months cannot be exchanged for cash or transferred, and are lost if the account is cancelled.

7.7 Changes. We may change or end the referral programme on 30 days' notice, but we will honour free months already earned.

8. Billing and payment

8.1 Monthly plans are billed in advance on the same date each month, starting on the day you subscribe.

8.2 Annual plan (app only, R899): billed once in advance for 12 months.

8.3 Payments are processed by our payment provider, [PAYMENT PROVIDER]. We do not store your full card details.

8.4 If a payment fails, we will tell you and try again. If payment is still not made within [DECISION: 7] days, we may pause your access until it is paid. Your child's saved work will not be deleted during that time.

8.5 Lab places are held only for paid-up accounts. If a Lab plan is unpaid for [DECISION: 14] days, we may release your child's place.

9. Price changes

9.1 We may change prices for new subscriptions at any time.

9.2 For existing monthly subscriptions, we will give you at least [DECISION: 30 days] written notice (email, WhatsApp or in-app) before a price increase applies to you. If you do not agree, you may cancel before the new price takes effect, at no charge.

9.3 Price changes do not affect an annual plan already paid for, or a founding-family price during its two-year lock.

10. Cooling-off period

10.1 If you subscribe online, you may cancel within 7 days after the agreement is concluded, without giving a reason and without penalty. We will refund all payments within 30 days of your cancellation. [VERIFY: ECT Act section 44(1)(b) and (3).]

10.2 The law allows some services that have started with your consent to be excluded from this right [VERIFY: ECT Act section 42(2)(d)]. [DECISION: Recommended: do not rely on that exclusion, and give a full refund within 7 days regardless of use. Alternative: charge pro-rata for Lab sessions attended within the 7 days, only if the attorney confirms this is lawful and clearly disclosed.]

10.3 If you signed up as a result of direct marketing (for example, a call or in-person approach by our agents), you also have a 5-business-day cooling-off right under the Consumer Protection Act [VERIFY: CPA section 16]. You get whichever period is longer.

10.4 To cancel in the cooling-off period, use the "Cancel" button in your account settings or email [PLACEHOLDER: support email].

11. Cancelling, pausing and switching

Monthly plans

11.1 You can cancel a monthly plan at any time in your account settings or by emailing us. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the month you have already paid for. You keep access until then. We do not charge cancellation fees on monthly plans.

11.2 [DECISION: Whether families may pause (e.g. over school holidays) and for how long.]

11.3 You may switch plans at any time. Upgrades start immediately and we charge the difference pro-rata. Downgrades start at your next billing date.

Annual plan

11.4 The annual plan is a fixed-term agreement. Under the Consumer Protection Act you may cancel it at any time by giving us 20 business days' notice in writing [VERIFY: CPA section 14(2)(b)(i)]. If you do, we will refund the unused months, less a reasonable cancellation charge of [DECISION: e.g. the difference between what you paid and the monthly price (R99) for the months you used, or a fixed charge — must comply with CPA Regulation 5 [VERIFY]].

11.5 At least 40 and no more than 80 business days before the annual plan ends, we will remind you that it is ending and tell you about any changes on renewal [VERIFY: CPA section 14(2)(c)]. Unless you tell us otherwise, the plan will then continue [DECISION: month-to-month at the then app-only monthly price / renew for another year]. You may cancel at any time after the original term ends.

Ending by us

11.6 We may end your subscription on [DECISION: 20 business days'] notice if we stop offering the plan, and refund any prepaid amount for the unused period.

11.7 We may suspend or end your account immediately if you or your child seriously breaks clause 12 (acceptable use), or if we reasonably believe this is necessary to keep children safe. We will give reasons and refund any prepaid amount for the unused period, unless the law allows otherwise.

12. Acceptable use and children's safety online

12.1 You and your child must use Altair only for personal, non-commercial learning.

12.2 You must not, and must make sure your child does not:

(a) share account access with people outside your household [DECISION: or beyond the number of children on your plan];

(b) copy, download, record, share or sell lessons, videos, worksheets or other content, except printing worksheets for your own child's use;

(d) try to hack, disrupt or reverse-engineer the app;

(e) use Altair to bully or harass anyone.

12.3 Children's safety. We design Altair with children in mind:

(a) children use Altair under a parent's account;

(b) there is [DECISION: confirm — no chat or messaging between children, and no public profiles];

(d) parents or other grown-ups on the account review and mark their child's worksheets;

(e) we ask you not to let your child type their full name, school, address or other identifying details into worksheet answers or drawings.

12.4 You remain responsible for supervising your child's use of devices and the internet.

12.5 To report a safety concern, contact [PLACEHOLDER: safeguarding email] at any time. Concerns about a Lab are handled under our safeguarding policy.

13. Altair Lab sessions

13.1 Labs are run at partner tuition centres. Depending on the centre, the Lab is run by an Altair facilitator or a centre tutor trained and approved by Altair. Every adult working with children at a Lab must have a police clearance and child-protection register checks.

13.2 Before your child attends a Lab, you must complete the Altair parental consent form, including emergency contact details.

13.3 You must drop off and collect your child on time. Children will only be released to adults named on your consent form or whom you authorise in writing on the day.

13.4 Missed sessions. If your child misses a Lab, we [DECISION: offer a make-up session at the same or another centre where space allows / do not refund]. If we or the centre cancel a session, we will offer a make-up session or a credit or refund for that session.

13.5 If a partner centre stops running Labs, we will offer you another centre, an online option, a move to the app-only plan, or cancellation with a pro-rata refund.

13.6 We and our partner centres take reasonable care for your child's safety at Labs. Lab activities may involve hands-on materials (for example, tools or small parts) that carry some risk of minor injury. You must tell us about any allergies or medical conditions that may affect your child's safe participation. [Note: CPA section 49 — risk notice; must be drawn to the consumer's attention and acknowledged.]

14. Our content and your child's work

14.1 We (or our licensors) own all rights in the Altair app, lessons, videos, notes, worksheets, the Altair name and logos. Your subscription gives you a personal, non-transferable right to use them for your child's learning while your subscription is active.

14.2 Your child's work (typed answers and drawings) belongs to you and your child. You give us permission to store, process and display it within your account so the app works, for example to show progress and stars.

14.3 We will not use your child's work in marketing or publish it outside your account unless you give separate consent on the Altair photo/video and media consent form.

14.4 [DECISION: Whether Altair may use anonymised, aggregated answer data to improve lessons. If yes, say so here and in the Privacy Notice.]

15. Availability of the app

15.1 We aim to keep Altair available at all times, but it may be unavailable for maintenance, updates or reasons outside our control (for example, internet or power outages).

15.2 If the app is unavailable for more than [DECISION: 72 consecutive hours] for reasons within our control, we will give you a pro-rata credit for that time on request.

15.3 We may update or improve content. We will not make changes that materially reduce what your plan offers without notice and the right to cancel with a pro-rata refund.

16. Liability

16.1 We are responsible for losses caused by our breach of these terms or our negligence, to the extent the law makes us responsible.

16.2 We are not responsible for:

(a) indirect losses that were not reasonably foreseeable when you subscribed;

(b) problems caused by your device, internet connection or power supply;

(c) losses caused by you or your child not following these terms or Lab safety instructions.

16.3 Except where clause 16.4 applies, our total liability to you for any claim about the app is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. [DECISION: confirm cap.]

16.4 Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury, gross negligence, fraud, or any liability that cannot be limited under the Consumer Protection Act [VERIFY: CPA sections 48, 51 and Regulation 44], and nothing limits your rights under that Act.

17. Complaints

17.1 If you are unhappy, please contact us first at [PLACEHOLDER: complaints email]. We will acknowledge your complaint within [DECISION: 2] business days and aim to resolve it within [DECISION: 10] business days.

17.2 If we cannot resolve it, you may refer it to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud (CGSO) [PLACEHOLDER: contact details — VERIFY] or the National Consumer Commission [PLACEHOLDER: contact details — VERIFY]. Privacy complaints may go to the Information Regulator (see our Privacy Notice).

17.3 This does not affect your right to approach a court or any other body allowed by law.

18. Changes to these terms

18.1 We may update these terms, for example to reflect new features or changes in the law.

18.2 We will give you at least [DECISION: 20 business days] notice of changes that materially affect you. If you do not agree, you may cancel before the change takes effect and receive a pro-rata refund of any prepaid amount.

19. General

19.1 These terms, together with our Privacy Notice and the consent forms you complete, are the whole agreement between you and us.

19.2 These terms are governed by South African law.

19.3 If any clause is found invalid, the rest remain in force.

19.4 We may send you notices by email, WhatsApp, SMS or in the app, to the details on your account. You may send us notices at the email or address in clause 1.

19.5 You agree that agreements and notices may be concluded and given electronically.

Questions: hello@altairkids.com