Introduction

ePraise offers cloud-based software, accessed via a website or application (hereafter referred to as 'the platform') to educational establishments and organisations (hereafter referred to as 'schools') on an annual subscription basis. The platform is designed to support schools in a wide variety of areas, including activities, attendance, assessment, behaviour management, data analysis, homework, parental engagement, recognition and rewards amongst others. ePraise offer support for the platform via phone, email, web and video conferencing. The service we offer comprises of both the platform and the support we offer to schools.

Schools using the platform must confirm that they have read, understood and agree with all of the terms included in this service agreement.

It is the responsibility of the person(s) in charge of the platform at the school to ensure that any person(s) taking over their role in the future are made aware of this service agreement.

This agreement was last updated on 14th December 2022.

Data protection & security

As a UK company, we are registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) with registration reference ZA079765. Our data centres are in the UK and Ireland. We work with a limited number of trusted third-party service providers that enable us to offer the service, of which we keep an up-to-date list in our Data Protection and Security Policy. This list is also included in our Privacy Policy, which is publicly available on our website.

GDPR statement

The General Data Protection Regulation states that whenever a controller uses a processor it needs to have a written contract in place. This service agreement, and its related policies, form that contract.

Epraise Limited (the processor) processes data on behalf of the school that purchased the subscription (the controller). The purpose of the platform, is to motivate, engage and support teachers, students, parents, leaders and employees through a variety of educationally focused tools. We will not pass any personally identifiable data onto any third parties, except where necessary to provide the service.

For details of the types of data we process, duration of the processing, data deletion protocols, third-party sub-processors and other related matters, please see our Data Protection and Security Policy.

As per ICO guidance we have included the following terms:

• We will only act on the written instructions of the school as defined in this service agreement and related policies (unless required by law to act without such instructions).
• We will ensure that people processing the data, and selected third party sub-processors, are subject to a duty of confidence through vetting, training and enforcement of policies.
• We will only engage a sub-processor (third party organisation) with a written contract containing equivalent processor obligations.
• We will take appropriate measures to ensure the security of processing as detailed in our Data Protection and Security Policy.
• By approving this service agreement, you authorise us to engage with sub-processors as defined in the Data Protection and Security Policy in order for us to provide the service.
• We will assist the data controller in providing subject access and allowing data subjects to exercise their rights under the GDPR.
• We will assist the data controller in meeting its GDPR obligations in relation to the security of processing, the notification of personal data breaches and data protection impact assessments.
• We have defined how personal data will be deleted at the end of the contract in our Data Protection and Security Policy.
• We will submit to audits and inspections and provide the data controller with whatever information it needs to ensure that it is meeting its Article 28 obligations. We will tell the data controller immediately if it is asked to do something infringing the GDPR or other data protection law of the EU or a member state.
• We will notify the relevant school of any identified personal data breech to enable the school to notify the breach to the competent supervisory authority (e.g. the ICO in the UK), as per Article 33 of the GDPR.
• Please note that nothing within this contract relieves the data processor of its own direct responsibilities and liabilities under the GDPR

Service availability

We are proud to have one of the best uptime rates in the industry and will endeavour to provide access to the service at all times. The exceptions are in the case of planned maintenance (which will be completed outside of UK school hours where possible), or an unforeseen event that causes the service to be unavailable.

In the event of planned maintenance that is expected to cause significant disruption and last more than 30 minutes, we will endeavour to make sure schools are made aware of the expected downtime at least one week in advance of that downtime, via the main contact’s email address.

In the case of an unforeseen event that is expected to cause significant disruption to the service and last more than 30 minutes, we will endeavour to let schools know what is happening as soon as possible, via the main contact’s email address.

For less serious or shorter duration disruptions to the service, we may update our website and/or social media with further details if necessary.

Data restoration

The platform allows you to permanently delete data. We keep daily backups to protect against data loss from unforeseen issues, however restoring data is a time-consuming process and we may need to charge a fee if a restoration is requested as a result of a user error. Data restoration is only available for a limited time because we can only hold data backups for a limited period.

Supported systems

As a cloud-based system, the platform has few requirements and can run in most browsers on most hardware platforms. However, there may be out-dated or seldom used hardware/software platforms that we cannot support. We will aim to support most common browsers (i.e. Edge, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera) released in the past 3 years. We recommend all schools run the latest version of the browser of their choice, in order to get the best experience. Cookies must be enabled.

Please ensure you are running the latest operating system version if you wish to use our mobile apps. Although it is likely the apps may still work as expected, we will not provide support for iOS/Android devices running outdated operating systems released 12 months ago or more.

Certain features of ePraise rely on more than just a browser to work, such as the MIS link and Single Sign On (SSO). Because schools have a wide range of data and network configurations, we cannot guarantee these additional features will always be compatible and may not work for you.

If you’re concerned about whether the platform will run on your hardware and/or software, contact us for more information.

School contacts

ePraise will use email as our primary form of communication with our school contacts. When a school contacts us via phone, we may ask for the school's phone authentication code to help us confirm the contact's identity. This can be found under Admin > Help and contacts in the school's site.

Schools must always have at least one main contact and can add additional contacts if they wish to be included. Schools must inform us of a change of a main contact via email, but may change any other contacts themselves within the platform.

Listed finance contacts will receive communications relating to payments. All other contacts will receive communications relating to things such as updates, new features, disruptions, special events and feedback requests. We aim to restrict these email communications to no more than once every two weeks, unless in exceptional circumstances.

Customer support will be provided to the main contacts at the school. Enquiries from other teachers, parents and students are likely to be referred back to the main contacts, unless the enquiry relates to a suggestion or a problem with the platform.

Updates and improvements to the service

The platform is constantly improving and evolving and as such features are often added or removed. We will aim to keep our users informed of any upcoming changes that may have a significant impact on the way they use the system.

Suggestions and feature requests

We are always keen to hear what our users think of the service and how they think it could be improved. From time to time, we’ll send out a questionnaire to help us gather data on this, however please feel free to send in feedback or suggestions at any time.

We receive numerous suggestions each year, meaning we unfortunately can't include all of them. However, we log and track every single suggestion so they can be prioritised based on the needs of our users, their potential impact and the resources required to implement them.

Signing up for the service

Schools wishing to sign up for the service must provide a purchase order number which will allow us to set up their subscription and provide them with an invoice. Where it is not possible to provide a purchase order, we will not normally release login details until payment has been received.

Renewals

Subscriptions are automatically renewed each year unless cancelled (see below). Invoices will be generated and sent to schools in the month before the renewal date, or earlier if renewing immediately after the summer holidays.

Cancellations

Schools must inform ePraise that they wish to cancel their subscription a minimum of 30 days before their renewal date. If they do not inform ePraise 30 days before the renewal date, the full cost of the annual subscription will be due.

Payment terms

Schools have 30 days from an invoice's due date to make payment, after which statutory interest on the invoice may be charged.

Limits and liability

Whilst we are very careful to ensure data security and system compatibility, it is important to note that there is no such thing as a completely secure system and reliability or compatibility problems can occur in all software.

Schools using the service and running any related software on their own systems, do so in the knowledge that we will not be held liable for more than the original sum paid to ePraise, in the event of any issues that arise, however they are caused.

Complaints and refunds

Should schools be unhappy with the service and feel that we have not met the terms of this service agreement, they should write to customersuccess@fireflylearning.com, detailing their complaint. A refund may be applied, on a pro rata basis, depending on the nature of the complaint. Refunds are not available for early cancellations.

Changes to this agreement

From time-to-time, we may need to update this service agreement to include more information or clarify existing statements. Schools will be informed of the change via their main contact's email address. A copy of the updated terms will be made available to all administration users, under the 'Contracts and compliance' link (or equivalent).