Alphabet house day nursery Terms and Conditions

This document and the terms and conditions within it govern the basis on which Alphabet house day nursery (referred to here as ‘we’ / ‘our’ / ‘us’ agree to provide childcare services to parent(s)/guardian(s) (referred to as ‘you’).

Only a parent/guardian with parental responsibility for a child can register that child for a childcare place with us. We will ask to see your child’s birth certificate, or other relevant documentation, to confirm that you have parental responsibility for the child as part of our registration process.

Childcare terms and conditions

The following terms and conditions govern the basis on which we agree to provide childcare services to you.

1.0 Our obligation to you

1. We provide agreed childcare facilities for your child during the official opening hours. If we change the opening hours, we will give parents as much notice as possible, and, if necessary, will work with you to agree to a change to your child’s hours of attendance.
2. We will try to accommodate any requests you may make for additional sessions and/or extended hours of childcare.
3. We will notify parents as early as possible when the setting is closed.
4. We will provide you with regular updates about your child’s progress verbally and an annual assessment as close as possible to your child’s birthday.
5. We will try to make a place available to any of your other children. However, we cannot guarantee that a place will be available.

2.0 Your obligation to us

You are required to fully complete the Childcare Registration forms to us before your child can start.
You are required to inform us immediately of any changes to your contact details or other changes to the information on your child's registration form.
The Childcare Registration form includes medicine consent, dietary requirements and emergency treatment authorisations which you are required to complete before your child attends.
You are required to immediately inform us if your child is suffering from any contagious disease, or if your child has been diagnosed by a medical practitioner with a notifiable disease. We need to protect other children and staff at the setting so you cannot bring or allow your child to attend at these times. When your child is contagious, they pose a risk to other children and staff during normal daily activities. This is in line with our Health Protection exclusion table, which is displayed on the parents noticeboard. A copy is available on request.
You are required to inform us of the identity of the person who will be collecting your child. We will require a password if a person collecting your child is not usually responsible. You should let us know in advance about these changes. If we are not reasonably satisfied that the person collecting your child is expected, we will not release your child into their care until we have checked with you.
You are required to inform us immediately if you cannot collect your child by the official collection time. You should make arrangements for an authorised person (recorded on your registration form and over the age of 18 years,) to collect your child as soon as possible and confirm who they are. A late collection charge will be applied. Please refer to the current fee schedule for details. If you fail to collect your child by the official collection time and we have reason to be concerned about your child's welfare we will contact the local authority.
You are required to inform us as far in advance as possible of any dates when your child will not be attending. If your child is sick and not attending nursery then you must inform us of the intended absence on the day, with details of the sickness and the reason for any absence.
You are required to provide at least one month’s notice of your intention to decrease the number of hours your child attends and similarly, should you decide to withdraw your child completely and end this Agreement. If you give insufficient notice, you will still be required to pay full fees for one month from the date of notice. Four weeks’ notice is required for all termination of funded places. If you would like to end this Agreement, please speak to the setting manager.
If your child is the subject of a court order, you are required to inform us and provide a copy of the order on request inline with current local safeguarding procedures.
You should read our policies and procedures provided for parents, a paper copy is available in nursery.

3.0 Payment of fees

Our fees are calculated from the 1st day of the month to the last. Before your child starts, we will notify you of the fee and funding structure. We may review the fees at any time but will inform you of the revised amount at least one month before it takes effect. If you do not wish to pay the revised fee, you may end the Agreement by giving us one month’s notice.
Fees are required to be paid by the 10th of each month. Invoices are sent by the end of the previous month. Discounted rates do not apply to funded places or part-funded places. Additional hours will be charged at hourly rate.
All payments made under this Agreement should be made by bank transfer or by cash where agreement in advance is made with the setting manager. If the payment is made by cash, it is your responsibility to obtain a receipt from the setting manager as proof of payment. Late payments will incur a late payment fee of 5%. In addition. If further action is required to recover unpaid fees, additional charges may be made in lieu of any costs of recovery incurred.
If the payment of fees referred to in 3.3 is outstanding for more than 14 days, then we may terminate/freeze the Agreement. Once the contract has been terminated/frozen, the child will cease to be admitted until the debt is cleared. If the debt remains unpaid for 3 months your place will be terminated.
If you require additional sessions or have been unable to collect your child by the official collection time, we will inform you of the extra amount payable and add these additional charges to your regular fees. In the event of late collection of your child, we reserve the right to charge a late collection fee of £15 for every 15 minutes or part of.
No refund will be given for periods when children do not attend a session due to illness or holidays. Please note that we are closed on bank holidays and this period is chargeable, which are included in our invoice. Parents can request a half fee week to cover a holiday taken once a year where sessions are paid at our private fees rate. Please request this in writing with at least a month’s notice
Where we offer a reduced fee rate for a sibling 2 children must attend the setting together a 10% discount is applied for the eldest child. No discount is applied for children attending funded sessions.
If you are in receipt of any funded entitlement, you will not be charged for the funded hours taken. Funded entitlement will be offered between 8am - 3.30pm. 15hrs term time, 30hrs all year round.
Additional and extra charges are invoiced to cover consumables, extracurricular activities, enhancements to our core provision and experiences for the children. Opting out of these additional charges can be discussed with management. If the decision is made to opt out parents will then be responsible for providing all resources to enhance the child’s provision in nursery.
Any part of your booking, including any extended hours above your funding entitlement, our hourly rate or session rate will be applied.
Meals during funded times are invoiced or a pack lunch is provided by yourself, which must be in line with our pack lunch policy.
Where your child is in receipt of funded entitlement the full weekly fee is payable during periods where the early years funding does not apply unless you have stated term time only attendance.
On registration of your child, we will require further information to apply for funding.

4.0 Suspension of a child

We may suspend providing childcare to your child at any time if you fail to pay any fees due.
If the period of suspension for non-payment of fees exceeds one month, either of us may terminate this Agreement by giving written notice. This takes effect on receipt of the notice.
We do not support the exclusion of any child on the grounds of behavior. However, if your child’s behavior is deemed to endanger the safety and well-being of your child and/or other children and adults, it may be necessary to suspend childcare while we try to address these issues with you. It may also be necessary to share our concerns with other external agencies as appropriate. The decision to suspend your child will be made with the agreement of the owners.
During any period of suspension for behavior-related issues, we will work with the local authority and where appropriate other welfare agencies to identify appropriate provision or services for your child.
If your child is suspended part-way through the month, under the conditions stated in clause 4.3, we will give you credit for any fees you have already paid for the remaining part of that month, calculated on a pro rata basis. This sum may be offset against any sum payable by you to us.

5.0 Termination of the Agreement

You may end this Agreement at any time, by giving us at least one month’s notice.
We may immediately end this Agreement if:
1. You fail to pay your fees.
2. You breach any of your obligations under the Agreement and you have not or cannot put right that breach within a reasonable period of time.
3. You behave unacceptably; we do not tolerate any physical or verbal abuse or threats towards staff or other parents.
4. We take the decision to close. We will give you as much notice as possible in the event of such a decision.
It may become apparent that the support we can offer your child is not sufficient to meet his or her needs. Under these circumstances we work with you, the local authority and other welfare agencies as per our procedures to identify appropriate support, at which point we may end this Agreement.
You may end this Agreement if we have breached any of our obligations under this Agreement and we have not or cannot put right that breach in a reasonable period after you draw it to our attention.

6.0 General

If we close or take the decision to close due to events or circumstances beyond our control such as extreme weather conditions, the weekly fee will continue to be payable in full. We will be under no obligation to provide alternative childcare for you. However, if the closure exceeds three consecutive days in duration (excluding any days when we would otherwise be closed), we will credit you with an amount that represents the number of days closed more than three days.
If you have any concerns about the childcare we provide, please discuss them with your child’s key person. If your concerns are not resolved to your satisfaction, please contact the setting manager. Your satisfaction with our service is very important to us and any concerns or complaints will be reported to the appropriate line manager for review.
From time to time, we may take images or video of the children who attend. These images or videos may be used by the setting for promotional purposes. If you do not wish your child to be included in these images or videos, you should record this when you complete the registration form.
While food and drink are provided on the premises, we are not a commercial kitchen and may not be able to cater for the individual needs of every child. We provide a meat and vegetarian option. Every effort is made to follow recommended food preparation guidance and to ensure that all setting staff involved in the preparation and serving of food are suitably trained.
Normally we will seek your consent before sharing information about your child with another professional or agency. We are required to share any information with the local authority and other relevant agencies if there are any safeguarding concerns about your child. In certain situations, we may not seek consent prior to sharing information, or we may, in certain specified circumstances, override a refusal to give consent in line with our safeguarding policy.
An integrated review at 2yrs is a legal requirement in line with the early years statutory framework. This will be completed for all children. This involves the nursery sharing a child’s development profile with the healthy family’s team. A full 2 yr report is written by your child’s key person and is available for you to also share at their review.
You must avoid making any social media communications that could damage our business interests or reputation, even indirectly or link us to any political movement or agenda.
You must not use social media to defame or disparage us, our staff or any third party; to harass, bully or unlawfully discriminate against staff or third parties; to make false or misleading statements; or to impersonate staff members of the setting or other related third parties.
Staff are not permitted to have families linked to their personal social media accounts.
We reserve the right to vary the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement giving at least one month’s notice.
This Agreement contains the full and complete understanding between the parties and supersedes all prior arrangements and understanding whether written or oral regarding the agreement except to the extent that we vary terms from time to time.
Acceptance of a place will be deemed as acceptance by you of these terms and conditions.

For an illustrative example of the sessions you require, please find these within your information pack or speak with the manager.