Policies | The Learning Meadow

Policies and Procedures

Policy 10.13 Childcare Terms and Conditions

Policy Statement

The document and the terms and conditions within it govern the basis on which The Learning Meadow (referred to here as ‘we’) 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.

Our details:

The Learning Meadow LTD, Foxholes, Crockerton, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 7DU

Telephone: 07927269248, Email: info@thelearningmeadow.co.uk

Ofsted URN: 2509653, Company registration number: 11202372

Insured by: The Pre-school Learning Alliance

Insurance policy number: 204193

Terms and conditions

1.0 Our obligation to you

1.1 We will inform you as soon as possible whether your application for a place has been successful. You must confirm within one week of receiving notification that you still wish to take up a place. If you do not then the offer of a place may be withdrawn. Once you have confirmed the place, a deposit payment will be required to hold the place for your child. If no deposit is paid any places you have requested cannot be held. The monetary value of the deposit will be published as part of our schedule of fees which can be obtained on request. A portion from your deposit will be used as part payment within your first terms fees.

1.2 We will provide the agreed childcare facilities for your child at the agreed times (subject to any days when we are closed. If we change the opening hours, we will give you as much notice of our decision as possible and, if necessary, will work with you to agree a change to your child’s hours of attendance.

1.3 We will adhere to the principles of the General Data Protection Regulations (2018) when collecting and processing information about you and your child. All paper based information is locked away in a filing cabinet. No surnames are published anywhere in the public areas of the setting.

1.4 We ask you to read and sign our EY Log registration and consent form to allow us to share your child’s learning with you.

1.5 We will try to accommodate any requests you may make for additional sessions and/or extended hours of childcare.

1.6 We will notify you as soon as possible of any days we will be closed.

1.7 We will treat your child with the utmost respect and dignity. We will never use or threaten any type of punishment that could adversely affect a child’s wellbeing.

1.8 We will publish regular updates on EY Log when your child is ‘focus child’ and updates whilst your child is settling in.

1.9 We will provide you with a verbal update as to your child’s progress once a term and we will agree times to discuss with you the progress of your child or any other aspects of our childcare services as and when required.

1.10 We will comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and our Ofsted registration in regards to the childcare services we provide for your child.

1.11 We will provide you with details of our policies and procedures available in the setting or on our website, which outline how we satisfy the requirements of the EYFS in our everyday practice; and we will notify you as and when any changes are made to our policies and procedures. We will be available to discuss or explain our policies and procedures, and/or any relevant changes, at a mutually agreed time.

1.12 We will maintain appropriate insurance to cover our childcare activities.

1.13 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

2.1 You will need to complete and return our Notice of interest form to be considered for a place in the first instance.

2.2 You must then fully complete an Ey Log registration form that will be sent to you. This must include emergence contacts, password and photo’s. This must be completed before your child can start with us

2.3 You must notify us immediately of any changes to the information you have provided to us and keep us informed of any other necessary information that may affect the childcare that we provide for your child.

2.4 The Ey Log Registration Form includes medicine consent and emergency treatment authorisations which you will need to complete prior to your child attending.

2.5 You will read and abide by our policies and procedures. These are found in the setting or on our website.

2.6 You will make yourself available as and when required to discuss the progress of your child or any factor relating to their childcare place with us at mutually agreed times.

2.7 You must 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. For the benefit of other children attending you must not allow your child to attend whilst they are contagious and pose a risk to other children during normal daily activities. For highly contagious diseases we ask the child does not return for 48 hours.

2.8 You must keep us informed of the identity of the persons who will be collecting your child. If the person who is due to collect your child is not usually responsible for collecting them we will require proof of identity or our agreed password. If we are not reasonably satisfied that the person collecting your child is who we were expecting, we will not release your child into their care until we have checked with you.

2.9 You must inform us immediately if you are not able to collect your child by the official collection time. You must make arrangements for another authorised person to collect your child as soon as possible. A late payment charge will be applied; please refer to the current fee schedule for details.

2.10 You will inform us as far in advance as possible of any dates on which your child will not be attending.

2.11 You will provide us with at least one month’s notice of your intention to decrease the number of hours your child attends or to withdraw your child. If insufficient notice is given you will be responsible for the full fees for your child for one month from the date of notice or if in receipt of local authority funding the end of the current funding block. If you are ending this Agreement, notice must be given by completing our Notification of Leaving Date form which is available on request.

2.12 You must inform us if your child is the subject of a court order and provide us with a copy of such order on request.

3.0 Payment of fees

3.1 Our fees are based on a morning, afternoon and all day rate as per our fee schedule found, on our website or available from the setting. We may review these fees at any time but shall 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 this Agreement by giving us one month’s notice or if in receipt of funding the remainder of the current funding block, by completing our Notification of Leaving Date form which can be obtained from our setting Manager or Deputy Manager.

3.2 All fees are payable if your child is absent or the setting has been forced to closed through no fault of their own.

3.3 Fees must be paid on a monthly basis, in advance. Fees are calculated through Ey Log and sent out on the first of every month or the nearest working day. They must be paid in full within 7 days of receiving your invoice by BACS or voucher schemes. Ey Log will send an automatic reminder if they are not paid on time. Your invoice may be different each month depending on the number of days and weeks your child attends in each month. These weeks and days could be different to take into account closures such as bank holidays and holiday dates.

3.4 The details of how your 15/30 hour funding is applied, additional service fee, lunch fees and non funded hours are itemised clearly on your invoice.

3.5 If you access holiday club in the summer, you will be invoiced in advance for the sessions you have requested and all fees will be payable before your child attends.

3.6 Late payments incur a late payment fee of £50. In addition, daily interest will be charged on all outstanding amounts at the rate of 3% above the Bank of England base rate.

3.7 If the payment of fees referred to in 3.3 is outstanding for more than 14 days then we may terminate this Agreement by giving you 14 days’ notice in writing. Upon termination of this contract the child shall cease forthwith to be admitted, and the notice to so terminate shall be regarded as a formal demand for outstanding monies.

3.8 If you have requested additional sessions or have been unable to collect your child by the official collection time and we have as a result provided you with additional childcare facilities, we will raise the applicable charges under a separate invoice for payment.

3.9 No refund will be given for periods where the place is unfulfilled due to illness or holidays on the part of either party. We are open term time only and close on bank holidays. We do run a holiday club for the first 4 weeks of the summer holidays subject to demand. We accept no liability for other costs which you incur if we are unable to provide childcare for any reason.

3.10 Where we offer a reduced fee rate after a child’s birthday, that reduction will take effect from the following day.

3.11 In the event of late collection of your child, we reserve the right to charge for each additional 15 minutes, or part thereof, on a pro-rata basis.

4.0 Suspension of a child

4.1 We may suspend the provision of childcare to your child at any time if you have failed to pay any fees due.

4.2 If the period of suspension for non-payment of fees exceeds one month, either of us may terminate this Agreement by giving written notice, which will take effect on receipt of the notice.

4.3 We do not support the exclusion of any child on the grounds of behaviour. However, if your child’s behaviour is deemed by us to endanger the safety and well-being of your child and/or other children and adults, it may be necessary to suspend the provision of childcare whilst we try to address these issues with you and external agencies as appropriate.

4.4 During any period of suspension for behaviour-related issues we will work with the local authority and where appropriate other welfare agencies to identify appropriate provision or services for your child.

4.5 If your child is suspended part way through the month, under the conditions stated in clause 4.3 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 sum may be offset against any sums payable by you to us.

5.0 Termination of the Agreement

5.1 You may end this Agreement at any time, giving us at least one month’s notice by completing the ‘Notification of Leaving Date’ form. However, if you claim funding a terms notice or the remainder of the current funding block is required. This will only be waivered if your circumstances meet one of the criteria set by Wiltshire Council found on their website.

5.2 We may immediately end this Agreement if:

5.2.1 You have failed to pay your fees;
5.2.2 You have breached any of your obligations under this Agreement and you have not or cannot put right that breach within a reasonable period of time after we have drawn it to your attention;
5.2.3 You behave unacceptably, as we do not tolerate any physical or verbal abuse or threats towards staff;
5.2.4 We take the decision to close or are forced to close.. We will give you as much notice as possible in the event of such a decision.

5.3 It may become apparent that the support we are able to offer your child is not sufficient to meet his/her needs. In these circumstances we will 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.

5.4 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 within a reasonable period after you have drawn it to our attention.

6.0 General

6.1 If we have to close or we take the decision to close due to events or circumstances beyond our control (e.g. extreme weather conditions) the fees will continue to be payable in full and we shall be under no obligation to provide alternative childcare to you.

6.2 If you have any concerns regarding the services we provide, please discuss them with our Manager. Customer satisfaction is paramount and any concerns/complaints will be dealt with in line with our Making a Complaint Policy.

6.3 From time to time we will take photographs and video recordings of the children who attend. These photographs are used for on-going recording of our curriculum and for children’s individual development records. They are stored on our EyLog system or computers whilst your child is with us. The photographs are used for display and for your child’s records within the setting. If we wished to use any image of your child for training, publicity or marketing purposes, we would always seek your written consent for each image we intend to use, as indicated on our EyLog Registration Form.

6.4 We reserve the right to refuse to admit your child if they have headlice, a temperature, sickness and diarrhoea or a contagious infection or disease on arrival at our setting, or to ask you to collect your child if they become unwell whilst in our care, in line with our Managing Children who are Sick, Infectious or with Allergies Policy.

6.5 Whilst food and drink is provided on the premises, we are not a commercial kitchen and may not be able to cater for the individual needs of every child. As cross contamination cannot be ruled out, a risk assessment is conducted for children with any known allergies. Every effort is made to follow recommended food preparation guidance and to ensure that all staff involved in the preparation and serving of food are suitably trained.

6.6 Any personal information you supply to us will be collected, stored and used in accordance with the principles of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) (2018) and our Confidentiality and Client Access to Records Policy. We will always seek your consent where we need to share information about your child with any other professional or agency. We are required by law to override your refusal to give consent only in specific circumstances where the child or someone in the family may be in danger if we do not share that information.

7.0 This Agreement

7.1 We reserve the right to vary the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement

7.2 This Agreement contains the full and complete understanding between the parties and supersedes all prior arrangements and understanding whether written or oral relating to the subject of this Agreement except to the extent that we vary terms from time to time.

7.3 Acceptance of a place will be deemed as acceptance by you of these terms and conditions.

Acceptance of our offer of a childcare place

Please sign on the EY Log Registration consent form to indicate that you have read and understood the above terms and conditions.

For parent(s)/guardian(s) under the age of 18, a guarantor aged over 18, must also sign the contract on your behalf. The contract would therefore be between The Learning Meadow, you and the guarantor.

This policy was initially adopted by The Learning Meadow in October 2018 and is reviewed annually

Dawn Pirie (Owner/Manager)

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