Terms of entry
1. Registration
1.1. You are required to pay a non-refundable registration fee, which guarantees a place on our waiting list.
1.2. The current rate of the registration fee can be found on our website.
1.3. We will notify you as soon as a place becomes available.
1.4. The registration fee is not part payment of fees.
1.5. No space is reserved until the registration fee has been paid
1.6. Registration is subject to this contract. The Company Directors reserve the right to resign the charge of any child.
1.7. This contract remains in place for the duration of your child’s time at nursery and any future period for which fees remain outstanding.
2. Baby room registrations
2.1. To confirm sessions booked in our Baby Room, we will require a deposit to be paid four months before the bookings start.
2.2. The deposit will equate to the fees of one week of your bookings.
2.3. The deposit will be held as a credit on your account. The value of this will be deducted from your first month’s fees.
2.4. In the event of the place being cancelled in the three months prior to the booked start date, the deposit will be non-refundable.
2.5. If the bookings are reduced in this three-month time period, the value of the reduced days will be charged to your deposit. e.g. if you reduced your bookings from five days per week to three within the three-month period, then the equivalent of two days’ fees will be deducted from your deposit value.
3. Fees
3.1. For the purpose of this contract, a full day session consists of a maximum of ten hours of childcare between the hours of 08:00 and 18:00. Half day sessions are a maximum of five hours. Please refer to your Nursery Manager for information on more bespoke sessions.
3.2. Fees are calculated at the end of each month for the month ahead. Your fees comprise of the exact sessions booked for that month.
3.3. We do not charge you for the week that we are closed between Christmas & New Year. For nurseries closed on bank holidays, no charge will be administered.
3.4. If children cannot attend nursery for any reason, including emergency / statutory closure, charges will apply.
3.5. Full payment of fees is due by the fifteenth (15th) day of the month.
3.6. Fee increases may occur throughout the year. If there are any changes to your nursery fees, you will be given at least a month’s notice of these.
3.7. Monthly invoices will be sent to your registered email address unless you provide an alternative.
3.8. A discretionary sibling discount is available when two or more children attend for at least three full days each. This discount is applied to the child with the lowest monthly fees.
3.9. Infant formula milk, nappies and fragrance-free wipes are included in the fees. This does not include follow-on milk or pull-up nappies. If there is a brand that you prefer to use, you may be asked to supply these items.
3.10. The nurseries will be closed for two training days per year, dates will be provided before the start of the year. These will be chargeable.
3.11. You are required to give one month’s notice in writing when reducing sessions or leaving the nursery and normal monthly fees apply for the notice period.
4. Late payment charges
4.1. Fees that are not paid by the due date will incur a late payment charge of £10.00.
4.2. Fees still unpaid at the time of the next issued invoice will incur an additional surcharge of £10.00.
4.3. Re-presented or returned payments will incur an additional charge of £5.00 per cheque.
4.4. We may exclude children from the nursery if fees remain unpaid after more than one month.
5. Term-time only places
5.1. Term-time only places are charged on a separate fee structure which includes a term-time only retainer.
5.2. Term-time only contracts do not offer any holiday entitlement. Any unattended sessions will be charged at full rate.
5.3. Term-time only places are a legacy offering and are no longer available for new bookings as of June 1st 2023.
6. Early drop-off / Late pickup fees
6.1. It is possible to pre-book children to be dropped off between 07:30 and 08:00 or 18:00 and 18:30. Regular bookings of such sessions will incur a charge of £5.00. One-off bookings of such sessions will incur a charge of £7.00.
6.2. Children that are collected late, without pre-arrangement, at the end of their session will incur a late pickup charge of £7.00.
6.3. For children who are still not collected fifteen minutes after the end of their session, a further charge of £15.00 will be administered.
6.4. For children who are still uncollected thirty minutes after the end of their session, a further charge of £1.00 per minute will be administered.
6.5. In the event of a child being uncollected by 18:30 without contact by either a parent or carer, it may be necessary to implement nursery procedure as detailed in the “Arrival & Collection of Children” policy, involving the contact of the police.
7. Tax deduction schemes
7.1. If you subscribed to a Childcare Voucher scheme through your employer before October 2018, you can use childcare vouchers to pay for any part of your childcare fees. Please make sure you use your child’s name as reference. Although this scheme is being phased out, we will continue to accept Childcare Vouchers as payment if parents are in receipt of them.
7.2. We accept payment from the government Tax Free Childcare account. You will find us as a payee on the Tax-Free Childcare account portal. Further information can be obtained from your Nursery Manager, from our Accounts Team or at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.
8. Early Years Entitlement (“EYE”)
8.1. The term after their third birthday, children are entitled to up to 30 hours per week of government funding for 38 weeks of the year. The number of funded hours your child is eligible for will depend on parent’s work circumstances.
8.2. Funded hours are mostly spread across the year and will equate to up to 24 hours for 47.5 weeks. More details can be obtained from your Nursery Manager or our Accounts Team.
8.3. We are not obligated to transfer any remaining funding allocation to a new setting should a child leave the nursery.
8.4. The provision of the EYE requires the Nursery Manager to see the original copy of your child’s birth certificate. The EYE will not be offered without this.
8.5. If parents are eligible for 30 hours of funding, they must inform us of this as soon as it is confirmed to ensure that the correct funding is applied.
8.6. It is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that their 30-hour entitlement code is valid and renewed with HMRC within the three-month timescales when they are reminded to do so.
8.7. 30 hours funding will not be passed on to parents for the term if this code is not valid.
8.8. An Additional Services Charge is applied to all funded hours delivered. This hourly charge covers the cost of all consumables, nappies, wipes, drinks, breakfast, snacks, cooked lunches, tea, all craft supplies and resources. This fee is subject to annual review. An up to date fee information sheet, relevant to your specific nursery, can be obtained from your Nursery Manager or from our Accounts Team.
8.9. There will be no refunds of additional charges for unattended sessions
8.10. Additional Services Charges will be recalculated when there is a change in your child’s booking pattern. One month’s notice is required.
8.11. There are a small number of sessional spaces available that attract no additional service charge. Please speak to your Nursery Manager to find out more.
8.12. Some families may also be entitled to two-year old funding. Please speak to your Nursery Manager or refer to our website for more information as to whether you would be eligible.
9. Employees
9.1. We do not accept responsibility for employees carrying out babysitting for parents. Employees are acting independently in these cases and all arrangements must be made outside of employee working hours.
9.2. If a member of staff, within six months of leaving us, is employed by a parent of a child who was previously registered at the nursery, then the parents will be liable to pay us the equivalent of six months’ salary for the employee at the time that their employment ended.
10. Child illness
10.1. We have an illness and exclusion policy in place for children suffering from contagious diseases. Reference to this policy is available either in the nursery office or on our website and offers more information on specific illnesses.
10.2. Parents are required to notify us on the day if their child is absent from the nursery through illness.
10.3. Parents are required to notify the nursery if their child or a member of their immediate family suffers from a rare or contagious disease that may require the nursery to implement its own procedures.
10.4. Parents are required to inform the nursery of any medication that their child has been administered at home, up to and including 24 hours prior to attending nursery.
11. Health & safety
11.1. Any queries should be addressed to the Nursery Manager who is responsible for this area.
11.2. All parents should ensure that doors are closed behind them when entering or leaving the nursery and that they do not allow other adults to enter the nursery. This is for the safety of all the children and the staff.
12. Daily drop off / collection
12.1. We will not accept responsibility for a child until a member of the Snapdragons team has been made aware of your child’s arrival and signed them in on the daily register.
12.2. We will only release custody of a child to a named person under the authority of the parent or guardian.
12.3. Other collectors must be pre-arranged with the nursery and enough information provided. If the information is not sufficient, the child may not be allowed to leave with the collector.
13. Contact details
13.1. Parents have a responsibility to update the nursery within 24 hours of any change in address or contact details.
14. Policies & procedures
14.1. Our policies, including Special Educational Needs & Disability, Safeguarding, Behaviour & Well-Being and the Complaints Procedure are available in the office and you may request to see these at any time.
14.2. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for information regarding how your data is stored and used.
14.3. By agreeing to this contract, you agree to abide by our policies and procedures. Copies of these can be seen at the nursery or can be requested.
15. Contract terms
15.1. We reserve the right to change these conditions at any time with one month’s notice.
15.2. You will be notified of any such changes via email.
15.3. The latest version of this contract can be found on our website at www.snapdragonsnursery.com/contract
Last updated: 27/07/2023