- 1. Registration
- 1.1 No deposit is required to secure a government funded place only. If you require more sessions, then a £30 non-refundable deposit is required to secure the additional sessions.
- 1.2 We also require a completed registration form. This should be completed as fully as possible before the child starts.
- 1.3 Parents will also need to provide proof of child’s name and date of birth. This is to help verify for when children become eligible for government funding.
- 1.4 By signing the registration form you accept the settings nursery policies and procedures and terms and conditions.
- 1.5 A minimum booking of two sessions is required.
- 1.6 We require 3 contact numbers for the event of an emergency.
- 1.7 It is your responsibility to inform the nursery of any changes to your personal information relating to your registration such as telephone numbers, change in address, other contact details etc. Failure to do so could result in the setting informing police/social care of an accident/incident should one occur.
- 1.8 You will be offered two 1 hour settling in sessions before your child starts. You can take them individually or combine them. We can offer a further 2 sessions at the hourly rate of £7 per hour.
- 1.9 We will hold your place until the start date. If you need to move your start date you can move it once for up to a further 3 months. After this your place we will be withdrawn.
- 1.10 If the setting has been unable to make contact with you and your expected start date has lapsed, we will take it as you no longer require the place and your details will be removed in guidance with GDPR. See 9.14.
- 1.11 All bookings are first come first serve basis.
- 1.12 The nursery offers places to children from 6 weeks to 4 years. A child may extend their stay with us until the term after they turn 5 based on the following:
- 1.12.1 the nursery has the space to do so
- 1.12.2 the nursery see’s it as in the best interest of the child
- 1.12.3 there are no other extenuating circumstances that need to be taken into account.
- 2. Fee's
- 2.1 Fees will be paid on the 1 st working day of the month in advance. Fees can be paid by either standing order, childcare vouchers, tax free childcare. Cash will be accepted if no other way is available.
- 2.2 Failure to pay by the due date will result in withdrawal of your child’s placement.
- 2.3 A payment plan may be set up to help clear any outstanding fees at the discretion of the nursery. If payments are late for a repayment plan, then your place will be terminated with immediate effect. A Debt collection agency may be engaged to facilitate the collection of any remaining fees.
- 2.4 The debt collection agency fee will be added on to the outstanding amount and any legal fees will be added to the total amount owned.
- 2.5 The nursery reserves the right to reduce or cancel any sessions whilst you are in debt to the nursery.
- 2.6 Fees are calculated by adding the number days you do by the daily amount, then times that by 50 weeks (minus 1 week we close for Christmas and 1 week of holidays) then dividing it by 12 months of equal payments.
- 2.7 We offer term time places for fee paying parents. These calculations are days calculated by daily amount for 39 weeks then ½ fee for 12 weeks holidays. Divided over 11 months (no payment will come out in August).
- 2.8 No refunds will be made for unfilled sessions due to illness or other circumstances.
- 2.9 Additional sessions paid for in advanced, no refunds unless 4 weeks’ notice see 4.1.
- 2.10 You must advise the nursery as soon as possible if your child is unable to attend for any reason. Sessions cannot be taken in lieu. If you wish to change your normal sessions 4 weeks’ notice is required but we will endeavour to accommodate your request whenever possible.
- 2.11 Fees are normally reviewed on an annual basis.
- 2.12 All funded places are charged for all meals. This is payable to the room your child attends in cash or via bank transfer. You may provide a packed lunch (nothing that needs warning up) instead. This must fall inline with the settings healthy eating policy (this can be found on the nursery website). Failure to pay for your childs meals may result in your place being terminated.
- 2.13 When a child is in receipt of government funding and fee paying, we will always start the sessions as funded, and any remaining sessions, parents will pay for.
- 2.14 You will be charged the hourly rate of £1 for every minute you are late collecting your child. The same applies for dropping a child off before their start time.
- 2.15 All bank holidays are payable.
- 2.16 Invoices will be issued on or around the 25th of each month for the following month. Your invoice will show your monthly fee, funding hours (if applicable), consumables (is applicable) and any additional charges (if applicable). If you have any additional charges during a month they will be added on to the next months invoice. Any deductions that need to be taken off will be taken off your next invoice.
- 3. Suspension of place
- 3.1 We may suspend the provision of childcare for your child, on 1 months’ notice, at any time if:
- 3.1.1 You have failed to pay any fees.
- 3.1.2 Your child’s behaviour at the nursery is deemed by us to be unacceptable or endangers the safety and wellbeing of the other children at the nursery. The suspension shall continue whilst we try and address these problems with you.
- 3.2 If your child is suspended part way through a month, under the conditions stated in clause 3.1.2, we shall give you a credit for any fees you have already paid for the remaining part of that month, calculated on a pro-rata basis. This credit may be offset against any sums payable by you to us.
- 3.3 If the period of suspension exceeds 1 month, either of us may terminate this contract by written notice.
- 4. Termination of contract
- 4.1 Four weeks’ notice is required to cancel your contract with the company or to reduce the sessions attending.
- 4.2 Termination of a place must be made in writing to the nursery office or finance department.
- 4.3 Your final invoice will be sent to you with the amount remaining owed.
- 4.4 If your child attends through the government funding, then 1 terms notice is required.
- 4.5 Your place may be terminated by us if:
- 4.5.1 You have failed to pay your fees.
- 4.5.2 You have breached any of your obligations laid out in this contract, and you have not or cannot, put right that breach in a reasonable time frame of us asking you too.
- 4.5.3 You behave unacceptably, as we will not tolerate any physical or verbal abuse towards staff.
- 4.5.4 Your child’s behaviour is unacceptable and endangers the safety and wellbeing of any other children at the nursery.
- 5. General
- 5.1 We carry a wide range of toys and equipment at our nursery. Unless we specifically request otherwise, your child should not bring any of their own toys to nursery. If they do bring toys with them, we accept no responsibility for any loss or damage to those toys or personal property.
- 5.2 We have a duty of care to give all children the same opportunities. To do this, we need to be made fully aware of any SEND and/or medical needs for your child. Failure to inform us of your child’s needs could result in us being unable to offer your child a place at our nursery.
- 5.3 You must inform the nursery as soon as reasonable and provide a description if someone unfamiliar is to collect your child. They must have the password and will not be allowed in the building or take the child until we are satisfied, they are eligible to collect. We reserve the right to refuse the collection if the collection policy is not followed. No one under the age of 16 years can collect children from the nursery.
- 5.4 If a child becomes ill whilst at nursery, you or your nominated contact will be asked to collect them as soon as possible. You must not send your child to nursery if they are obviously ill.
- 5.5 You may use the drive to drop off/pick up your child. You park your vehicle at your own risk. The nursery will not accept any liability for any damage to vehicles whilst on the premises.
- 5.6 You may store your pushchair in our outdoor shelter. We accept no liability for any damage/lost or stolen equipment.
- 5.7 Please make sure you label all your child’s belongings. We accept no liability for any lost or damaged clothing.
- 5.8 You must ensure that you do not drop your child off before the beginning of their session. Your child will not be admitted into the nursery until it is their time. You must collect your child on time 10 minutes before the session ends so you can receive a pass over. The nursery closes promptly at 6pm. See 2.14
- 5.9 If your child attends another provision, you must inform us immediately when you sign up at registration. If you decide to split funding with another provision you must inform us before the start of a term. If it is a school provision, they will take the early education funding and we will receive the extended funding. If your child attends more than funding hours, you will have to pay for any additional sessions.
- 5.10 We will try and meet all dietary requirements wherever possible. However, our kitchen is not a commercial kitchen, and we have limited space. If we feel we cannot meet the needs of a child, then the parents must provide appropriate food for their sessions.
- 5.11 You are expected to send your child with enough nappies/wipes/cream for their session. Failure to do so will either require us to ring you so you can send more or if we have to provide them for your child you will be charged £1 for every nappy change we have to use our resources for.
- 6. Employment of staff
- 6.1 For a period of 6 months following the termination of a child’s place (however terminated) the parent/guardian will not seek to employ (directly or indirectly) an employee of the company. In the event that a parent does directly or indirectly employ a member of staff, a finder’s fee of up to £1000 may be charged.
- 7. Emergency/unforeseen closure
- 7.1 If the nursery has to close, or we take the decision to close due to events or circumstances which are outside our control, (heating, water, weather etc) we shall be under no obligation to provide alternative childcare facilities to you.
- 7.2 If the closure exceeds 3 days in duration (excluding any days when the nursery would otherwise be closed), we will credit you with an amount that represents the number of days the nursery is closed in excess of 3 days.
- 8. Safeguarding
- 8.1 We have an obligation to report any instances where we consider that a child may have been neglected or abused to the relevant authorities. We may do so without your consent and/or without informing you.
- 8.2 We must be notified immediately of any court orders or situations of risk to the child for when special measures or precautions may need to be put in place. You must provide us with a copy upon request.
- 8.3 Parents will be asked to sign a accident form confirming they have been informed of any accidents their child has had whilst at nursery.
- 8.4 It is the responsibility of the parent to inform us of any accidents/incidents that have taken place outside of nursery and record this on our home accident form.
- 9. Data Protection
- 9.1 On 25th May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (the “GDPR”) came into effect in the UK. Where we receive any personal data (as defined in GDPR), we shall ensure that we fully comply with theprovisions of the GDPR and will only process the personal data to fulfil our obligations under this contract. We will:
- 9.1.1 be lawful, fair and transparent in relation to how personal data is collected, stored and processed.
- 9.1.2 ensure we only collect personal data for specified explicit and legitimate purposes.
- 9.1.3 use our best efforts to ensure all personal data that we hold is accurate and correct.
- 9.1.4 ensure we do not hold personal data for longer than is necessary for the purposes it was collected (being the fulfilment of our contractual and legal obligations to you and your child).
- 9.1.5 take appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect personal data.
- 9.1.6 take all reasonable steps to ensure all partners, contractors and third parties who process any personal data on behalf of Little Acorns, do so in accordance with the requirements of the GDPR.
- 9.1.7 process personal data in a manner that ensures such personal data is kept safe and secure, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction, or damage.
- 9.1.8 ensure all personal data provided to us shall only be used for the purposes of fulfilling our obligations under this contract, fulfilling our legal obligations and any other express instructions you provide to us. We shall not process or disclose any personal data you supply to us in any ways without your explicit prior consent.
- 9.1.9 process personal data in line with your rights under the GDPR and in accordance with the terms of our privacy policy (available on our website www.littleacornshull.co.uk) Our privacy policy explains what your rights are under the GDPR and how you can exercise those rights in relation any personal data we hold about you or your child.
- 10 Government funding
- 10.1 We will support parents / carers by offering the Early Years Entitlement flexibly, Early Years Entitlement only or as part of a broader booking pattern (fee-paying nursery place).
- 10.2 We have the right to limit how many funded places we have in the setting to remain sustainable. The setting reserves the right to offer limited spaces on both stretched and term time offers, as well as how many sessions we can make available.
- 10.3 Our term time only offer is 15/30 hours per week for 38 weeks. Our stretched off is 10/20 hours per week for 51 weeks. We can only offer our sessions in blocks of 5/10 hours.
- 10.3 The Early Years Entitlement funding is intended to deliver high quality, flexible childcare. It is not intended to pay for the costs of meals, drinks, snacks, other consumables, extra hours or additional activities.
- 10.4 Parents can choose one of the following options, pay for all morning meals (including breakfast, snacks, and lunch) and/or tea (including snacks and light tea). If a parent chooses not to pay, they must then provide for all the food needed for that session for their child. Fees can be found on our website.
- 10.5 We reserve the right to ask for all or contributions for anything else. If parent does not want to pay, then they can either choose for their child not attend or may be placed in another room depending on availability.
- 10.6 Any child that is in receipt of Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) will not have to pay any additional costs.
- 10.7 It is the duty of the parents to make sure that they make their claim within time for the setting to be able to validate their code. Parents are responsible for their own code and renewing every 3 months. It is not the duty of the setting to chase parents up.
- 10.8 If a parent falls out of the grace period, then they may lose their funding. Any sessions already taken, not covered by the funding, will need to be paid in full by the parent.
- 10.9 If you fall out of grace period, we have the right to decide which sessions a child can take from the universal 15 hours for 3 and 4 year olds. If your child is younger than this then you will either lose your place or you will have to pay the nursery at the setting rates until you are able to renew your code.
- 10.10 Any parent in receipt of the 2 year old deprivation funding will incur no additional charges.
- 10.11 All funding starts the term after the child’s birthday.
- 1st January to 31st March
- 1st April to 31st August
- 1st September to 31st December
- If you are claiming for a under 1 year old, it will begin the term after they have turned 9 months old.
- 10.11 All parents must fully complete all funding forms for the nursery to complete their registration and to claim funding. Any delays may result in the funding not being claimed and either the place cancelled, or parents will have to pay any costs.
- 10.12 Invoices are not given for families in receipt solely of government funding.
- 10.13 We can introduce further consumable charges at a months notice.
- 11 Consumables
- 11.1 Funding is to cover the childcare and is not designed to cover the cost of other services which include but are not limited to cost of meals, other consumables, additional hours, or additional services, extra activities such as music, dance, creative, physical skill sessions etc, suncream, nappies, wipes, trips, nursery events such as farm days, stay and plays, Christmas parties etc.
- 11.2 Additional funds are voluntary therefore if you wish not to pay for meals or other consumables, you must provide your own or you may opt out your child from events.
- 11.3 Children who are in receipt of disadvantaged 2 year funding will receive no charge for consumables.
- 11.4 EYPP (Early Years Pupil Premium) will be used to support disadvantaged 3 and 4 year olds.
- 11.5 Parents who choose to send their child with a packed lunch etc must follow our healthy eating policy see 2.12.
- 11.5 Consumable charges apply to funding hours only.
- 11.6 Should parents decide they want to pay for meals then they must sign up for the meals the week before so we can plan accordingly.
- 11.7 If a parent does not supply their own meal and the nursery is forced to provide this then the parent must pay the cost.
We reserve the right to amend the terms and conditions and policies and procedures without notice. The current terms and conditions and policies are published on the nursery website.