For the purposes of this document Wise Owls Day Nursery shall hereinafter be called ‘The Nursery’ and those wishing to use the services of Wise Owls Day Nursery, shall hereinafter be called ‘The Client’.

The Nursery will only undertake business on these following Terms and Conditions, each of which shall be incorporated or implied in any agreements between The Nursery and The Client. No variations of these Terms and Conditions shall be binding unless expressly confirmed by The Nursery in writing and signed by the Director of The Nursery. The Client is bound by these Terms and Conditions once they commence using the services of The Nursery. The Nursery reserves the right to vary these Terms and Conditions and the latest version is available on The Nursery’s Website. The Client shall be bound by these Terms and Conditions on acceptance of a childcare place. You will be informed via email if these Terms and Conditions are updated and it is your responsibility to view them.

Operating Hours

• The Nursery acts as a registered childcare facility for children between the hours of 07.45 and 18.15, from Monday to Friday, during 51 weeks of the year.

Registration

• The Client pays a registration fee and deposit for each child upon Registration.
• On registering for a childcare place with The Nursery you are required to pay a registration fee of £95.00 which is non-refundable. This covers administration and the cost of settling in sessions. You will also be required to pay a deposit of £250 which will be refunded when you give notice to leave The Nursery.
• Once your booking has been confirmed it is for the booked time only. To change this we require 3 months’ notice and we cannot guarantee your childcare place if you reduce the number of days from your original booking request. You must contact our head office directly to make any booking change requests. The Nursery will then determine if we are able to keep your child’s place or if we will issue it to another child.
• The Client may have preferences for the sessions/ days their child attends, however, it is not always possible to allocate places on this basis. If the days offered are not satisfactory, then The Client may request to be removed from the waiting list.

Childcare Fees

• Nursery fees are paid in full for one month in advance of care. The Nursery must receive full payment by 1st of each month. The Client is to send payment via Standing Order with the child’s first name initial, surname name and SR as a reference e.g.: John Smith is JSmithSR
• Fees are payable for the entire month. Payment, including voucher payments, should be set up as a Standing Order for 1st of each month to cover the entire invoice.
• Fees are charged for full periods, including bank holidays and inset days if they fall in the week. We do exclude the week over the Christmas break from our charges. The fees are calculated by the daily rate x 51 weeks / 12 months.
• If your child’s care starts after the 1st of the month,you will be charged a day rate for the days attended that month. Your bill in the following month will be annualized. In this case, if your child is in receipt of childcare funding, this may be the full amount excluding funding if it is too late in the funding period to obtain it.
• If The Nursery closes due to circumstances outside The Nursery’s control (for example, bad weather, diseases, health and safety issues, an Act of God etc.), The Nursery may not be able to operate and will contact The Client by e-mail in the first instance. Under no circumstances will The Nursery operate if by doing so, the health and safety of children or staff within the care of The Nursery are at risk. No refund of the fee will be given under these circumstances

Paying by Childcare Vouchers

• If paying by Childcare vouchers/Tax Free Childcare it is important to set these up the month before attending to ensure the funds are available to you to pay your invoice directly to the nursery on the 1st of the month. If there are any changes to the original payment methods please ensure you email The Nursery (shurlockrow-dn@wiseowlschildcare.co.uk) to confirm the payment arrangements, method, time and voucher company. The amount paid must match the amount on the invoice unless otherwise discussed with the office and agreed in writing.
• The Nursery accepts payment via all Childcare vouchers. We will require the reference as above to be correct to link your payment correctly and we will need to know which voucher. For the government tax-free childcare scheme please advise us of your reference as these are not changeable. The Client will also agree to set up a standing order so all payments are received in full for your childcare on the 1st of each month.
• If fees are not paid on time, a £5.00 charge per week will be added to the next invoice. If The Client has difficulty paying on time The Client must contact The Nursery ASAP and before a late payment. Failure to do this could result in a ‘money claim online’ in order to retrieve the payment due and/or the child not being accepted at The Nursery, and no prior notice will be given.
• The Nursery fees are reviewed twice a year based on operational cost. The Nursery undertakes to advise The Client of revised fees a minimum of two (2) months in advance.

Childcare Funding

• For business and financial sustainability, we set a quota at management discretion, on the number of 30 hours a week extended entitlement and 15 hours universal entitlement we allocate, so we reach capacity and also meet the needs of our children. To obtain funding you would need to attend a minimum of 2 full days for 15 hours and 3 full days for 30 hours. Funded only sessions must be discussed solely with head office, we would engage if we had availability and we also hold a waiting list process. 2-year-old funding follows the same process.

Changing your booking

• When The Client makes a booking for The Nursery, the child must attend the agreed booking, any changes to this must be agreed via our office.
• If your child attends The Nursery, we require two (2) months’ notice to change your booking unless stated otherwise in writing via our office.
• If your child is due to start, if you wish to change your booking before your child attends, we require three (3) months’ notice and any changes to your original booking could result in not having a space within the setting. If you wish to cancel your booking with the nursery before the child attends the nursery, we require three (3) months’ notice in writing via our office team.

Booking an extra session

• If The Client wishes to book an extra day/ session for the child to attend The Nursery as well as the days already booked, they are to make the request via ParentZone, this will only be available if there are spaces on the day requested. The Client may not exchange sessions/ day and once booked, no refund will be given for non-attendance. We will confirm the extra session 14 days prior to the attendance. Any extra days/ sessions booked, will be added to The Client’s next invoice. The Nursery requires seven (7) days’ notice to cancel the booked extra day.

Cancelling your childcare booking

• The Client must give The Nursery two (2) months’ notice in writing if the child is being withdrawn from The Nursery completely, which will be acknowledged by The Office. If The Client fails to receive such acknowledgement, The Client must contact the office. If sent by e-mail, the address is info@wiseowlschildcare.co.uk. If this process is not followed, The Client will be charged for the booked session(s).

Collecting your child

• The Client must collect the child by the end of the booked session but should The Client be unable to do so in unforeseen circumstances, The Nursery must be notified of the revised collection time. There is then an additional late fee charge of £5.00 per15 minutes per child. Staff must be kept advised as to The Client’s expected arrival time. These terms have been devised in recognition of the fact that The Nursery’s staff have other commitments after their working day.

Reporting Absence

• If The Client’s child is unable to attend a session due to illness or other activities, The Nursery should be notified by phone or email. You must ensure to follow our policy and exclusion policy with regard to infectious diseases and sickness.

Withdrawing childcare services

• The Nursery reserves the right to withdraw its services if The Client’s child is disruptive and/or aggressive in such a manner as to pose a safety risk to the other children/ staff at The Nursery. A verbal warning will be given to the Client and if matters do not improve, The Nursery will demand the immediate removal of the child. The deposit will not be refunded.
• Equally if a parent is aggressive or rude to our staff at The Nursery or a child within our care, this behaviour will not be tolerated,and The Nursery reserves the right to withdraw its service. No refund of care or deposits will be received. If a parent is rude or aggressive towards our office team during a phone call, we will end the call as it is not tolerated.

Liability

• The Nursery endeavours to maintain the highest standards of health and safety at all times. We have vigorous checks in place; however, The Nursery cannot be held liable for unforeseen accidents which are out of our control. We accept no responsibility for children whilst in the care of their parents whilst on The Nursery premises i.e. prior to arrival or after pick up.
• It is The Client’s responsibility to ensure the child has all their belongings. The Nursery cannot be responsible for loss or damage to items brought to The Nursery from home. Lost property will be taken to charity shops one (1) week later. You must remove all belongings each day from the nursery.
• It is The Client’s responsibility to read all communications from The Nursery sent out via Connect, email and ParentZone. Communication will be sent to Parent/Carer 1 and invoices will be sent to the named Bill Payer.

Provisions

• The Nursery operates on the following staff to child ratios: 1:3 for under 2 year olds, 1:4 for 2 year olds, 1:8 for 3-5 year olds, our level 6 staff operate at 1:13. Should the Client’s child require a 1:1 ratio, the child may attend The Nursery in the normal way accompanied by his/her carer (which may be arranged through the resources of the Local Authority).
• We will provide a breakfast, morning snack, lunch and tea for your child during The Nursery day.

Photographs

• It is The Nursery’s practice to use photographs of children attending The Nursery for advertising, displays and website and other promotional purposes, and their name(s) may accompany any such images used. The Client should indicate appropriately on ParentZone if permission for their child to appear in such images is withheld. The images will remain after the child has left The Nursery.

Contact information

• The Client is required to update changes to the contact details on Parent Zone immediately in order to protect the safety of the child. Failure to do this could result in The Nursery not being able to contact The Client in an emergency, Social Services maybe contacted in these circumstances.
• The Nursery will contact the Client by the parent 1 & 2 e-mail addresses on Connect and it is therefore vital that this information is correct at all times and that email communication from The Nursery is read without delay.

Recruitment

• Clients are not able to employ any staff member of Wise Owls Childcare unless they have left our employment a minimum of 3 months prior. If you do so a fee of 20% of their salary will be payable which is the cost to employ a new member of our team.