My kids have their music lessons at school, through Leicestershire Arts in Education, for which we pay a termly fee, in advance. (Fortunately subsidised by my son's school but not my daughter's) If the teacher is off sick or misses a lesson for any reason, we get a refund, but if the kids miss a lesson for ANY reason, we still have to pay. We don't find this unreasonable, though we do grumble occasionally. It's much more reasonable for a private teacher and i would expect to pay for lessons missed by us, as I would expect the teacher not to charge for lessons missed by him/her. If I were teaching like this, I would definitely charge for a certain number of lessons, in advance.

Love Lynne