Admissions and fees Policy
Admissions
The Nursery is open to every family in the village community and beyond.
No child will be rejected on grounds of age (subject to the usual limits of
all admissions), gender, family status, disability, colour, ethnic origin,
culture, religion or belief.
Before your child starts you will be asked to complete a registration form
and sign to say you have read and understood the information along with
the terms and conditions of the setting.
N.B. KCC guidelines state: Children who receive Early Years
funding must attend regularly on the days booked, or KCC Officers
will investigate and may recall any funding made in respect of any
period that the child was not using their free entitlement. Parents
must inform the Nursery of absence due to sickness or holiday.
Under normal circumstances, only 10 school days holiday per year
are allowed to be taken.
If we are over subscribed, children will be admitted in accordance with
Kent County Council guidelines i.e. three and four year olds eligible for a
free Nursery Education Place will be given priority over younger children.
We will next offer places to siblings of children at Nursery, then on a first
come, first served basis.
If we are oversubscribed with children requiring a free Nursery Education
Place, (and have fewer places to offer eligible children than parents/carers
require), we shall offer fewer parents/carers their full entitlement of 15
hrs per week before offering more children less than 15 hrs per week.
If you wish to use your child’s full free entitlement and we are unable to
offer your child this we will advise you in writing.
Fees
Little Acorns Nursery is a committee run charity that strives to provide a
safe, warm and friendly childcare environment, where children can
develop, grow and achieve their maximum potential mentally, physically,
educationally and socially.
We deliver our service in return for an agreed fee from parents and
carers. The nursery understands that the cost of registered child care may
seem expensive to a parent. However, providing a high quality, safe and
stimulating service for children is not cheap and to ensure the continued
high standards and sustainability of the nursery, it must ask that parents
adhere to its policy in respect of fees and ensure prompt payment in line
with the policy set out in this document.
We hope that parents understand the importance of regular fee payments
as late fees can result in difficulty in paying the many overheads incurred
by us as a business.
Non payment of fees will be dealt with promptly, according to our
‘Collection of Unpaid Fees Policy’ details of which are found within section
2 of this document
1) Collection of Fees:
a) Before your child starts nursery a deposit of two weeks fees is
required.
b) Towards the end of each term parents/carers will be given a fees
invoice for the following term with payment dates and amounts due.
They will, in addition to this, be asked to complete a session update
form and be asked how they would like to pay their invoice. Fees
will be calculated so that all payment is due by the week before the
end of half-term. E.g. fees are divided into 5 weeks in a 6 week
term.
c) Fees can be paid by either cheque or cash. Standing order
payments can also be arranged.
d) Payment of fees should be made on a weekly, half-termly or termly
basis.
e) Fees should be paid to the nursery on your child's first session of
attendance of each week if paying weekly or on the first day of
attendance that term if payment is made half-termly or termly.
Whether paying weekly, half-termly or termly payment must be
made no later than the first week of a new term.
f) Fees must still be paid if children are absent for a short period of
time, e.g. illness or holiday. This is because the setting will still
have a requirement to meet the cost of rent, wages and other
overheads. If your child has to be absent over a long period of time,
please talk to Samantha Hall who is the Nursery Manager or Gina
Burton who is the Fees Administrator.
g) The level of fees will be set by the Nursery Committee and reviewed
annually each April, in the light of the nursery's financial position
and any broader economic or social considerations deemed
relevant. A term’s notice will be given to all families of any increase
agreed.
h) A charge of £8.00 cash will be payable to Little Acorns Nursery for
each cheque returned by a bank as unpaid. If the situation reoccurs then cash payments only will be accepted in the future.
i)
j) In accordance with the nurseries terms and conditions a ‘late pickup’ charge will be applied to your fees if you are more than 10
minutes late in collecting your child (unless you have previously
arranged with the manager e.g. emergency) The charges are as
follows: 10 minutes 90p, 15 minutes £1,20, 20 minutes £1.50, 25
minutes £1.80, 30 minutes £2.10, 35 minutes £2.40
2) Collection of Unpaid Fees:
a) Parents are encouraged to speak to the Fees Administrator if they
have any query regarding the fees policy, or if, for any reason, they
are likely to have difficulty in making a payment on time. Parents
are strongly advised to arrange a meeting at the earliest
opportunity to enable the Nursery to come to an agreement
regarding payment. Confidentiality will be assured at all times.
b) If fees are not paid at the agreed time then the Fees Administrator
will notify the parent in writing and request payment at the earliest
opportunity. The Manager has the right to issue a formal warning to
the parent/carer and inform them that continued late payment may
result in the loss of their child's place at the nursery.
c) If no payment is made within three working days of receipt of such
a letter the nursery reserves the right to apply a “late Payment Fee”
to any outstanding amount owed at a rate of £5.00 per day until
such time as payment is made.
d) If fees are paid consistently late or not at all with no explanation the
nursery will be forced to terminate the child's place. Under
exceptional circumstances, the Manager may agree to allow the
child to continue attending the nursery if an agreed payment plan is
put in place.
e) In certain circumstances individual payment arrangements can be
negotiated.
f) Four weeks notice is required in writing if your child is leaving Little
Acorns Nursery, along with payment of four weeks.
3) Free Early Years Education Entitlement
a) Little Acorns Nursery are in receipt of government funding for three
and four year olds. This is available the term following your child’s
third birthday.
b) For an eligible child Early Years Entitlement funds up to a maximum
of 15 hours per week across 38 weeks per year. To access funding
you need to complete a registration form and provide a copy of your
child’s birth certificate.
c) Further hours over the free entitlement are charged at the rate of
£4.50 per hour; this rate also applies to fees for children not yet
eligible for the funding.
d) All ‘additional charges’ (formally communicated as the ‘top-up’ fee)
will relate to that part of a session or those days not covered by the
funding amount or are for services not linked to a funded place. E.g.
the lunchtime period. Please refer to table below:
Session
Start Time
Session End Non-Funded
Time
Child –Full
Nursery Fees
SESSION 1
9:00am
11.30am
£11.25
Funded 3 & 4 Year
Olds
(Max. 15 hrs per
week)
2.5 HOURS FREE
Lunch
11.30am
1:00pm
£6.75
NOT FUNDED
SESSION 2
1:00pm
3:30pm
£11.25
2.5 HOURS FREE
FULL DAY
9:00am
3:30pm
£29.25
5 HOURS FREE
e) It is important to note that the government funding amount is not
equal to that of the nursery’s hourly rate, this is therefore reflected
accordingly as an ‘additional charge’ on invoices, where necessary.
f) The structure of these fees is applicable to Little Acorns Nursery and
will not necessarily be comparable to that of other settings. This is
because settings vary in their fees and sessions structures.
This policy was adopted at a meeting at Little Acorns Nursery
Date to be reviewed
______________________
Signed on behalf of the management committee ___________________
Name of signatory
______________________
Role of signatory (e.g. chair/owner)
______________________