Terms and Conditions
Brightsparks Day Nurseries Terms and Conditions
NURSERY PLACES AND BOOKINGS
A signed and fully completed application form and deposit must be received by Brightsparks before a place can be considered. Full and part time sessions must fit in to the session times detailed on the application form; however, we will attempt to meet individual needs where necessary. A minimum of two sessions, ideally spread over 2 days, must be booked to commence at Brightsparks. This gives the child the best opportunity to settle at the nursery.
REGISTRATION AND DEPOSITS
A £110.00 deposit per child and a non-refundable £35.00 registration fee is required upon booking a place. This is payable at time of registration, and the deposit includes a £10.00 payment for a Brightsparks Bag. The ₤100.00 deposit is only refundable providing that one months notice has been given in writing that the child is leaving Brightsparks, and the child has been attending nursery for at least three months.
FEES AND INVOICES
Payment is payable by Standing Order on the 1st of each month. If payments are cancelled or returned by the Bank, a fee of £10.00 will be charged to cover costs incurred by us. If fees are not paid by 10th of each month, a late fee of £10.00 will also be charged. Any fees still outstanding at the end of the month will incur a £30.00 late fee. All invoices are calculated at a fixed monthly rate based on your child's normal weekly sessions, i.e. weekly sessions x 51 (weeks) + 1 weeks half fees when we shut ÷ 12 (months) = monthly invoice. Extra sessions or additional charges will be invoiced in arrears. Other than if we are in breach of these Terms and Conditions, all sessions booked must be paid for, regardless of whether the child attends. No refunds or additional sessions will be given for sessions missed due to holidays, sickness, Bank Holidays or for the closure of the nursery due to circumstances beyond our control. Failure to meet payments will result in the termination of the nursery place and in such circumstances the parents will not be entitled to a refund of any fees or deposit. We are not liable for collections from third parties, e.g. colleges, grant funding, voucher providers. The parent remains responsible for all outstanding fees. One months notice will be given before any fee increase is implemented. Fees are usually reviewed each April.
NURSERY HOURS
Brightsparks is open Monday to Friday from 7.45am to 6.00pm. Please inform the nursery before 9.30am if your child will be absent from nursery. Brightsparks closes for all Bank Holidays. We also close for 5 working days at Christmas when half fees are payable. We accept no responsibility for the closure of the nursery due to circumstances beyond our control, and no refund of fees will be offered. If you are late collecting your child from nursery, a late charge of £7.50 for every 15 minutes will be charged. If you have not collected your child by 7.00pm, we will follow our guidelines as set out in our Safe Guarding Children Policy.
TERMINATION / CANCELLATION / CHANGE
We require one months notice, in writing, should you wish to terminate your place for any reason. Parents still remain liable for fees throughout the notice period. If a parent withdraws their child during this notice period, the fees shall still remain payable. We reserve the right to terminate a place with immediate effect if any fees are not paid by the due date, or if a parent, carer or child displays abusive, threatening or otherwise inappropriate behaviour. In all other circumstances we will give you one months' notice, in writing, should we wish to terminate a nursery place for any reason. If a start date is postponed by the parent for any reason, we reserve the right to charge from the original start date stated on the application form. If a parent wishes to change the number of sessions taken at Brightsparks, one months' notice, in writing, must be given in writing. The swapping of sessions is only usually permitted on a permanent basis.
PERSONAL PROPERTY AND BELONGINGS
We cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage to children's property. Every reasonable effort will be made by staff to ensure the children's belongings are not lost or damaged. Brightsparks uniform or old clothes are recommended for children attending nursery as we encourage the children to engage in messy and art activities during which clothes may get dirty. Please do not send your child to nursery wearing jewellery, especially hooped earrings. It is the parent's responsibility to name all items of clothing, sheets, comforters, bottles and any other item sent to nursery.
INSURANCE
We have extensive Insurance cover - full details of the Insurance are available upon request, from the nursery manager.
BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT, CHILD PROTECTION AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
We may require parents to withdraw or remove their child from Brightsparks in the event that the nursery manager considers the child to be disruptive or displaying inappropriate behaviour. Full details on how we manage children's behaviour are given in our Behaviour Policy. We will not tolerate Brightsparks staff being spoken to in an abusive or threatening manner by parents, carers or children. Such behaviour may result in the termination of a nursery place. Brightsparks Day Nursery fully recognises its responsibilities for Child Protection and ensures that we follow the procedures set out by the Local Safeguarding Children Board and takes account of guidance issued by the Department for Education and Skills. Full details are given in our Safeguarding Children Policy. Brightsparks is committed to providing equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for all children and families. Full details are available in our Equality and Diversity policy.
LIABILITY
We accept no responsibility for any loss suffered by parents, arising directly or indirectly, as a result of the nursery being temporarily closed or the non-admittance of your child to Brightsparks for any reason, this applies to absence due to sickness, holidays and Bank Holidays. We accept no responsibility for children whilst in their parents care on Brightsparks premises, i.e. prior to arrival or after pick up. We will not be liable to parents and / or children for any economic loss of any kind, for damage to the child's or parents property, for any loss resulting from a claim made by any third party or for any special, indirect or consequential loss or damage of any kind. Liability for damage of such property is excluded except where caused by our negligence.
ACCIDENTS AND ILLNESS
We reserve the right to administer basic first aid and treatment when necessary. Parents will be informed of all accidents and will be required to sign an accident form. For accidents of a more serious nature, involving hospital treatment, all attempts will be made by Brightsparks to contact the parents but failing this, we are authorised to act on behalf of parents and authorise necessary treatment. We will administer prescribed medicines if parents complete a 'Medicine Consent' form; however, the first dose of medicine must be given at home and parents must take all medicines home at the end of each day. Non-prescriptive medication such as pain and fever relief will be administered, but only with prior written consent of the parent and only where there is a health reason to do so. It is the parent's responsibility to inform staff both verbally and in writing in the child's contact book of any medication that the child has received before starting their day at nursery. We may require parents to withdraw their child in the event that they require special medical care or attention. We may also ask parents to withdraw their child from Brightsparks, if we have reasonable cause to believe that they are or maybe suffering from or has suffered from any contagious disease/infestation and there remains a danger that other children at the nursery may contract such a disease/infestation. We accept no responsibility for children contracting contagious diseases/infestations. It is the parent's responsibility to read our Sickness and Medication Policy and beware of our policies on childhood illnesses. Parents are to inform us if their child is suffering from any illness/infestation/allergies before attending nursery.
SECURITY
Under no circumstances will a child be allowed to leave Brightsparks with anyone unknown to the staff unless the parent has previously arranged this. They must inform an appropriate member of staff who will then give them a consent form to sign and date. This form will give information about the name of the person who is collecting their child. The member of staff will also ask the parent the estimated time of collection and advise the parent to let the person know that they will need to produce a form of identity and set up a password system.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Parents are requested to inform Brightsparks of any food, medicine, activity or any other circumstances that may cause the child to have an allergic reaction / allergy. Parents must provide details, in writing, of the severity of the reaction/ allergy and must continue to inform Brightsparks of any changes/progress to the condition, in writing, when they become aware. Parents are requested to inform Brightsparks of any changes to all information kept in the nursery. Parents agree that they shall not at anytime, whether throughout the continuance of this agreement or for a period of six months after its termination, directly or indirectly (via agencies) employ/entice away an employee with whom they have had contact or dealings with at Brightsparks. In the event that a parent does directly or indirectly employ a member of staff, 25% of salary may be payable. We may require parents to withdraw or remove their child from the nursery, in the event that the parent is not completely honest about the child's condition or withholds or is found to have withheld important information.
AGREEMENT
These terms and conditions represent the entire agreement and understanding between the parents and the nursery. We reserve the right to update / amend these Terms and Conditions at anytime.
Updated March 2010.