TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS
OF
Emma’s Day Nursery
1 DEFINITIONS
The following expressions shall have the following meanings:
1.1 “Nursery”, “Day Nursery”, “Pre School”, “Emma’s Day Nursery and Emma’s Day Nursery Pre School” mean Emma’s Day Nursery Ltd, Company number 9966820 registered in England at 46 West Way Bournemouth, BH93EB;
- “Customer” means any party who enters into a contract for Services with the Nursery; “Parent” or “Carer” are interchangeable with “Customer” and each other and have the same meaning;
1.3 “Child” means the child who shall attend the Nursery and for whom the day care services are to be provided;
1.4 “Application Form” means a booking document, registration form, letter of engagement, quotation or other written instruction describing the Services and requesting a contract for those Services;
1.5 “Services” means the nursery day care services as described in the Application Form and these Terms and Conditions;
1.6 “Fees” mean the payment for Services as outlined in these Terms and Conditions and the Application Form;
1.7 “Terms and Conditions” means the terms and conditions of supply of Services as set out in this document and any subsequent terms and conditions agreed in writing by the Nursery;
1.8 “Agreement” means the contract between the Nursery and the Customer for the provision of the Services incorporating these Terms and Conditions.
1.9 “Fees sheet” means a document the Nursery produces to advertise fees charged under this agreement, which may change from time to time.
1.10 “Curriculum + Meal Time” – means the supplementary services we may provide in full or part beyond the standard Early Years Curriculum including food and drink, other consumables, and extended curriculum, such as Forest School or other specialist activities, from time to time.
1.11 “Period of Pandemic” – This is a period during which the UK Government defines a state of Pandemic in the UK and which will be confirmed by the Nursery in writing.
2 GENERAL
2.1 These Terms and Conditions shall apply to the Agreement for the supply of Services by the Nursery to the Customer and shall supersede any other documentation or communication between parties.
2.2 Any variation to these Terms and Conditions must be agreed in writing by the Nursery.
2.3 Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall prejudice any condition or warranty, express or implied, or any legal remedy to which the Nursery may be entitled in relation to the Services, by virtue of any statute, law or regulation.
3 APPLICATION FORM
3.1 The Application Form is attached to these Terms and Conditions, and incorporates our various permission forms from time to time and included here.
3.2 The Application Form must be accepted by the Customer in its entirety.
3.3 The Agreement between the Nursery and the Customer, incorporating these Terms and Conditions, shall only come into force when the Nursery confirms acceptance in writing to the Customer.
4 SERVICES AND DELIVERY
4.1 The Services are as described in the Application Form and in these Terms and Conditions.
4.2 Any variation to the Services must be agreed by the Nursery in writing.
4.3 The Services shall commence on the date the Customer receives notification that the Child has been awarded a place at the Nursery and continue until terminated by either party according to the terms of this Agreement.
4.4 Dates given for the delivery of Services are estimates only and not guaranteed. Time for delivery shall not be of the essence of the Agreement and the Nursery shall not be held liable for any loss, costs, damages, charges or expenses caused directly or indirectly by any delay in the delivery of the Services.
4.5 Description of our services is as follows:
Emma’s Day Nursery will provide OFSTED registered Early Years child care.
In addition we provide Curriculum + Meal times which are an integral part of our child development service. Separate charges are made for Curriculum + mealtimes and in taking up a place at the Nursery or Pre School you agree to these charges voluntarily.
In order to access our services, parents/carers are required to provide, amongst other things agreed from time to time, the following:
- Slippers (Day Nursery only)
- Wellington boots
- Spare clothes
- Summer hat
- Nappies (if required)
- Wipes (if required)
- Waterproof trousers
- Admissions
The Nursery Reserves the right of admission. Eligibility for allocation of a Day Nursery place is based upon the availability of suitable places and as per our inclusion and equality policy. A waiting list in date of order of application received is held and is used when considering the offer of vacant places. Full day care applications may take precedence, as may applications from siblings. The Nursery operates a restriction on the total number of free hours it is able to provide under the Early years single funding formula. The final decision is reserved with the Nursery Manager.
In order to ensure continuity for each child at Emma’s Day Nursery, we do recommend each child to attend a minimum of two sessions a week. Some children may attend the nursery who have special needs and a copy of our policy document is available.
6. Opening Times
The Day Nursery is open 8 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Monday to Friday. As well as full day care, we offer morning sessions 8 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. and afternoon sessions 1.30 p.m. to 6.00 p.m (from April 2023). The Nursery will be closed during all Public and Bank Holidays and you will not be charged your usual daily rate for these days. The Nursery closes between Christmas Eve and New Year, for the last two weeks of August each year and for one week at Easter (specific dates will be confirmed in January each year), during which time you will not be charged.
The Day Nursery Pre-School is open 8 am to 2.45pm Monday – Friday for 38 weeks each year – which will be confirmed on the fees sheet each year. Pre-School provision may take place at either setting.
In both settings, parents are required to ensure that their children are collected and have left the Nursery prior to the finish times for all sessions and that children are not dropped off prior to the start time of each session to enable the Nursery to ensure standards are maintained. In addition the Nursery reserves the right to close at other times for operational reasons and charges for these periods will not be made where this is the case, other than in the event of closure due to bad weather, where normal charges will apply.
7. Fees
- Fees paid directly by parents / carers:
Invoices are raised in advance of service period and will be for the full term’s fees. Term durations will be advised by the Nursery in advance in line with Council funding terms.
Fees are payable by schedule throughout the period of the term and the schedule will be confirmed on the invoice or will be required by equal payment on the 1st of each full month within the term. Required payments must be made in advance of these schedule dates.
The invoice will record hours due to be provided in the term.
Prior to the first month of provision fees for the first schedule period are due one month in advance.
Late fees will be subject to an administration charge as per our fees sheet. Additionally, returned cheques / payments will incur an administration charge also as per our fees sheet. A late collection of a child will incur a charge as per our fees sheet.
Full fees are payable during children’s holiday and sickness and if the Nursery is closed for bad weather.
Fees may be paid by cheque or by direct bank transfer. Cheques should be made payable to “Emma’s Day Nursery”. Please request our bank details should you wish to make direct bank payments. Payments from third parties, such as childcare voucher providers are acceptable but must comply with our payment requirements and you are required to inform us of any third parties involved in payments for your child.
Fees will be confirmed by the Nursery from time to time on our fees sheet, will typically be reviewed on an annual basis and will be available for view at the Nursery premises and are available for your perusal at any time. Changes to fees will be notified at least one month in advance.
- Fees paid as part of the Early Education Funded (EEF) provision
Fees for eligible children may be paid under the EEF. Current funding extends to either 15 or 30 hours per week over a minimum period of 38 weeks per year, subject to eligibility. Funding terms and flexibility options are set by Bournemouth Borough Council and Emma’s Day Nursery’s offer within the Borough’s broader offer is outlined in a separate Parental agreement which must be signed should a parent wish to access the EEF. For current EEF guidance please contact Bournemouth Borough Council.
8. Registration
A completed application form should accompany all applications for a nursery place and forms part of this agreement. When the nursery has received this, and subject to acceptance, you will receive written notification if a place has been allocated and from when. Once offered a place you will be required, within a period of one week, to confirm acceptance by completing and signing these terms and conditions and send the required deposit as stated in our fees sheet. This deposit will be returned to you when your child leaves the nursery provided that the Terms and Conditions have been met and that there are no fees outstanding. Deductions from deposits will be made on return should any funds be owing to the Nursery. Should funds owing to the Nursery be in excess of deposits paid, the customer agrees to pay over all such sums within one month of termination of this agreement. The nursery reserves the right to make any further claims for outstanding fees or charges incurred and the deposit shall not act as a limit to parental liability for fees. In addition, parents are required to settle first month’s fees, net of any EEF funding due, one month in advance of start date, in order to secure the place. Invoices will then be issued at the start of each following term as per 7 above.
- General Policies and Procedures:
It is a condition of admission that signatories to this agreement and parents, carers and children accessing the services of the Nursery abide by the various policies and procedures of the Nursery as confirmed from time to time. A full list of current policies and procedures is available at the Nursery and as listed below:
List of Policies, Procedures and Statements available
Policies:
Policies:
001-Children’s Application form
002-Parental Contract
003- Fees sheet
004-E.E.F. Application form
005-Settling in
006-Inclusion and Equality
009-Health and Safety
011-Promoting positive behaviour
012-Biting
015- Staff contracts
016- Staff Handbook
018- Recruitment, Selection and Suitability of Staff
020 – Supervision
021- Acceptable use of Internet
022a) – Nursery – Fire safety /Emergency evacuation procedures
022b) Pre-school- Fire safety /Emergency evacuation procedures
023- Early Learning Opportunities
024- Assessment
026- Accidents and First Aid
027- Respectful Intimate care
031-Separated Family
032- Bereavement
034- S.E.F.
035 – Annual Quality Action Plan
037- Transition
038- Access, Storage and Retention of Records Policy
039a)- Nursery – List Nursery Operational plan
039b) – Pre-school- List Nursery Operational plan
040- Blue parent folder
041- Parent General Information sheet
042- Supervision of visitors
043- Risk assessment
044- Medication policy
045- Special consideration for employees
046-Infection control
047 – Sickness and Illness
048-Supervision of children
049- Outdoor play
050a) Nursery–Operational Plan
050b) Pre-school – Operational Plan
051- Safety checks policy
052- Mobile Phone and Electronic devices use
053-Social Networking
054-Whistleblowing
055- GDPR Privacy notice
058- Monitoring staff behaviour
059- Online safety
061 – Confidentiality and Data protection
063- Sleep Policy
064 – Lone Working
065- Well- being in the nursery
066- Staff Well-being
067- Students
068 – Critical Incident Policy
069- Looked after Child
070- Fire safety-
071- Health and safety in the office
072- Lockdown
073- Manual Handling
074- Allergies and Allergic reactions
075- Managing extreme weather
Procedures:
007-In the event of an unaccompanied child
008-Late and non-collection procedure
010a) -Nursery -Safety and Health procedures
010b) -Pre-school- Safety and Health procedures
019 – Staff Induction
025a) Nursery -Food Handling and preparation
025b) Pre-school – Food Handling and preparation
028- Nappy changing procedure
030-Lost child from nursery
033-Complaints
062- Procedure to inform Ofsted
Statements:
013-Parents as Partners
014- Special Educational Needs
017- Volunteers, Students and parent involvement
036 -Safeguarding Children
Appendices
Appendix 1 – Facebook Agreement
Appendix 2 – Learning Book
Appendix 3 – Photos
Appendix 4 – Child Collection Policy and Procedure
Appendix 5 – Parental permissions – Activities
Appendix 6 – Supplementary Definitions, Pandemic Policies and Procedures (incl. Covid 19)
Appendix 7 – EEF Terms and Conditions
In addition to the above policies and procedures the following policies and procedures apply:
Safety at collection time
In order to protect your child throughout the day we have a strict security procedure that prevents unauthorised access to the nursery. Our nursery staff will not release your child to anyone other than those listed on your child’s registration form. Details, including an up to date passport sized photograph is requested of each of these people on our appendix to this agreement – Child Collection Policy and Procedure. Should it be necessary for your child to be collected by someone not on the list, in the event of an emergency, then you must contact the Nursery Manager or Deputy Manager.
Safety in the sun
We do require that parents provide sun hats during the summer months. For children who attend Nursery for half a day we ask that suntan lotion be applied at home. For children who attend all day we require that this is applied at home prior to Nursery and we will re-apply suntan lotion after lunch that has been provided and clearly named by the parent.
Sickness and Medication policy
At Emma’s Day Nursery we work very hard to reduce the spread of illnesses and infections. To help us please do not bring your child to the nursery if they are unwell. Parents are asked to contact us if they require advice on this. Should your child become unwell during the day we will contact you to advise you of the problem and ask you to collect your child if necessary.
If your child is unable to attend please telephone the nursery as soon as possible to advise us of the problem.
We require permission from the parents to administer any form of medication your child needs whilst they are with us. Parents are asked to fill in a form on arrival to nursery, detailing the child’s medication requirements and then to acknowledge the administration at the end of the session. If your child is asthmatic the appropriate form must be completed and an inhaler, clearly labelled, must be provided.
Should your child fall ill or suffer an accident whilst at nursery every effort will be made to contact the parents. However, if contact is not possible we reserve the right to take whatever action we deem necessary. We ask for parents’ authority regarding this in the Application form. No liability for actions taken by nursery staff in such circumstances will be held against Emma’s Day Nursery. All accidents or incidents that occur to a child are recorded and the parent will be notified and then asked to sign this.
As a result of illness / new medical condition, should your child begin to take medication prescribed by a doctor, we require they do not return to Nursery until 24 hours after first taking the medication. You must advise us of all medication administered prior to the child entering Nursery.
The Nursery accepts no liability for the contraction of any illness transmitted at the Nursery.
The Nursery shall not be held responsible for any negative effects caused by the administration of any medication supplied by the Customer for the Child.
Personal Hygiene
Children who are in nappies will be changed and cleaned when this is required. From time to time children who use the toilet may need assistance and this will be given when needed.
Use of the Garden
At Emma’s Day Nursery, we take great pride in the learning opportunity we provide in our garden.
Outdoor space is important in enabling children to develop their gross motor skills, carry out role play activities, work in groups and generally explore the world around them.
The outside area at the Nursery is designed to allow different types of activities, all selected by the children themselves. These activities are always monitored by staff, however, due to the nature of outdoor activities and in particular the independence and risk taking we wish to engender, there will always be an element of risk in children’s play in the garden. Below are the features of the garden and what sort of play we might expect from the children:
Day Nursery:
- The patio area – a hard ground area for trike play.
- The rabbit hutch area – play with and care of the rabbit
- The canopy area – a covered play area for art work
- The pirate ship – a purpose built wooden construction, which is filled with sand.
- The climbing frame and slide- for active climbing and exercise play
- The garden area – for running and ball games.
- The planks and tyres area – for balance, team games and invention
- The playhouse area – for role play and quiet time
- The decking area and shed – for games storage and selection
- The plant beds – for exploring and hide and seek games
- The vegetable patch – to watch, participate and wonder at the science of growing plants and vegetables.
Pre School:
- Stepped Garden area – brick steps leading up to the grassed area
- Play logs and planks – for balance, team games and invention
- Sandpit – for role play, fine and gross motor skills
As part of your visit to the Nursery you will have been shown the garden and its opportunities.
- PERSONAL PROPERTY
The Nursery shall not be liable for any loss or damage to any personal property brought onto the Nursery premises or any damage or injury resulting from any such items.
All clothing must be clearly marked with the name of the Child.
- Parental Permission
We request your permission for certain activities at the Nursery and will send to you a separate permissions form, which will form part of this agreement.
- Child Records and Data Protection
At Emma’s Day Nursery we recognise that we hold sensitive/confidential information about children and their families and the staff we employ. This information is used to meet children’s needs, for registers, invoices and emergency contacts. We store all records in a locked cabinet or on the office computer using third-party cloud-based systems such as Microsoft or Learning Book, with files that are password protected in line with data protection principles. Any information shared with the staff team is done on a ‘need to know’ basis and treated in confidence. This policy will work alongside the Privacy Notice, which is published on our website from time to time, to ensure compliance under General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR).
Records will be kept by the Nursery for quality purposes, including after your child has left the Nursery. In addition, we may be required to pass information regarding your child to primary school settings as part of the transfer process or the LEA, Ofsted or the Department for Education for various reasons in connection with the appropriate care of your child. In particular, Emma’s Day Nursery is a signatory to MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences) and reserves the right to share information with Multi Agencies under the general principles of Information Sharing, details of which are available at the Nursery on request
Legal requirements
- We follow the legal requirements set out in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 2017 and accompanying regulations about the information we must hold about registered children and their families and the staff working at the nursery
- We follow the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 with regard to the storage of data and access to it.
Procedures
It is our intention to respect the privacy of children and their families and we do so by:
- Storing confidential records in a locked filing cabinet or on the office computer / Microsoft / Learning Book cloud services with files that are password protected
- Ensuring staff, student and volunteer inductions include an awareness of the importance of confidentiality and that information about the child and family is not shared outside of the nursery other than with relevant professionals who need to know that information. It is not shared with friends and family, discussions on the bus or at the local bar. If staff breach any confidentiality provisions, this may result in disciplinary action and, in serious cases, dismissal. Students on placement in the nursery are advised of our confidentiality policy and required to respect it
- Ensuring that all staff, volunteers and students are aware that this information is confidential and only for use within the nursery and to support the child’s best interests with parental permission
- Ensuring that parents have access to files and records of their own children but not to those of any other child, other than where relevant professionals such as the police or local authority children’s social care team decide this is not in the child’s best interest
- Ensuring all staff are aware that this information is confidential and only for use within the nursery setting. If any of this information is requested for whatever reason, the parent’s permission will always be sought other than in the circumstances above
- Ensuring staff do not discuss personal information given by parents with other members of staff, except where it affects planning for the child’s needs
- Ensuring staff, students and volunteers are aware of and follow our social networking policy in relation to confidentiality
- Ensuring issues concerning the employment of staff remain confidential to the people directly involved with making personnel decisions
- Ensuring any concerns/evidence relating to a child’s personal safety are kept in a secure, confidential file and are shared with as few people as possible on a ‘need-to-know’ basis. If, however, a child is considered at risk, our safeguarding/child protection policy will override confidentiality.
All the undertakings above are subject to the paramount commitment of the nursery, which is to the safety and well-being of the child.
General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) compliance
In order to meet our requirements under GDPR we will also undertake the following:
- We will ensure our terms & conditions, privacy and consent notices are easily accessed/made available in accurate and easy to understand language
- We will use your data only for the reasons laid out in our privacy statement. We will not share or use your data for other purposes.
- Everyone in our nursery understands that people have the right to access their records or have their records amended or deleted (subject to other laws and regulations).
13. Complaints Procedure
A full complaints procedure is available from the Nursery, however, the following summarises the key elements:
Should a parent become concerned about any aspect of nursery life, care or procedure then they should raise this matter immediately and in the first instance with the Nursery Manager. Any such matter will be swiftly addressed, in accordance with our complaints procedure, available on request. Contact details of OFSTED are available on request and are also listed in the full complaints procedure and are displayed at the Nursery.
- Termination of or changes to the agreement
Prior to commencement:
Should a customer decide not to take up the place once confirmation of a start date has been offered by the nursery and the terms and conditions returned as acceptance, then a minimum charge of the deposit will be forfeit. Should a parent advise the Nursery that a place will not be taken up more than 3 months prior to the start date, the deposit will be forfeit. Should a parent advise the Nursery that a place will not be taken up within three months of start date, the deposit and one month’s fees will be forfeit.
The Nursery may, for operational reasons, withdraw a place of a child at any time prior to commencement in which case the deposit will be returned in full and no further liability will attach to the Nursery or the parent / carer.
Once a place at the Nursery has commenced:
A minimum of three months’ notice, in writing, is required to withdraw a child from the nursery or request a reduction in the number of sessions to be attended, otherwise fees will be payable in lieu of notice. In addition, any child who is in attendance during the summer term from 1st April each year is required to provide notice of no less than 3 months or to the end of the summer term on 31st August each year, whichever is the longer. These timescales are necessary to ensure that adequate notice can be given to those parents who remain on the waiting list and to facilitate effective and viable planning in the Nursery. A request to reduce sessions will be considered a request to terminate the agreement and Emma’s Day Nursery reserves the right of re-admission as above, although due consideration will be given to any request to amend agreed sessions and parents will be given the opportunity to discuss this openly and informally prior to any formal request with the Nursery Manager with whom the final decision rests. The Nursery Manager may, in exceptional circumstances and at her discretion amend or waive the notice period and in doing so, no precedent shall be set for future decisions.
In the event of a serious or ongoing breach of terms and conditions by the customer, Emma’s Day Nursery reserves the right to terminate the agreement with immediate effect. A serious breach will be considered such where the well-being or safety of staff and children is considered at risk. Non-payment of fees may be considered a serious breach.
In any event this agreement will conclude at the start of the August Nursery holiday period immediately prior to a child’s September start date at school, or prior to the child’s fifth birthday.
In the event that Emma’s day Nursery is unable to offer places to children booked the limit of liability upon the Nursery shall be the return of fees paid in advance of the date of curtailment of place.
Amendments to the Terms and Conditions:
The Nursery may amend the terms and conditions providing one month’s notice.
15 WARRANTY
Both parties warrant their authority to enter into this Agreement and have obtained all necessary approvals to do so.
16 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
16.1 The Nursery shall not be liable under any circumstances to the Customer or any third party for any indirect or consequential loss of profit, consequential or other economic loss suffered by the Customer howsoever caused, as a result of any negligence, breach of contract, misrepresentation or otherwise.
16.2 Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall exclude or limit the liability of the Nursery for death or personal injury, however the Nursery shall not be liable for any direct loss or damage suffered by the Customer howsoever caused, as a result of any negligence, breach of contract or otherwise in excess of the sum insured under the insurance policy held by the Nursery in the insurance year in which the Customer’s claim is first notified.
17 INDEMNITY
The Customer shall indemnify the Nursery against all claims, costs and expenses which the Nursery may incur and which arise directly or indirectly from the Customer’s breach of any of its obligations under these Terms and Conditions.
18 FORCE MAJEURE
Neither party shall be liable for any delay or failure to perform any of its obligations if the delay or failure results from events or circumstances outside its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, strikes, lock outs, accidents, war, fire, breakdown of plant or machinery or shortage or unavailability of raw materials from a natural source of supply, and the party shall be entitled to a reasonable extension of its obligations.
19 ASSIGNMENT
The Customer shall not be entitled to assign its rights or obligations or delegate its duties under this Agreement without the prior written consent of the Nursery.
20 THIRD PARTY RIGHTS
Nothing in these Terms and Conditions intend to or confer any rights on a third party.
21 SEVERANCE
If any term or provision of these Terms and Conditions is held invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason by any court of competent jurisdiction such provision shall be severed and the remainder of the provisions hereof shall continue in full force and effect as if these Terms and Conditions had been agreed with the invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision eliminated.
22 WAIVER
The failure by either party to enforce at any time or for any period any one or more of the Terms and Conditions herein shall not be a waiver of them or of the right at any time subsequently to enforce all Terms and Conditions.
23 NOTICES
Any notice to be given by either party to the other may be served by email, fax, personal service or by post to the address of the other party given in the Application Form or such other address as such party may from time to time have communicated to the other in writing, and if sent by email shall unless the contrary is proved be deemed to be received on the day it was sent, if sent by fax shall be deemed to be served on receipt of an error free transmission report, if given by letter shall be deemed to have been served at the time at which the letter was delivered personally or if sent by post shall be deemed to have been delivered in the ordinary course of post.
24 ENTIRE AGREEMENT
These Terms and Conditions supersede any previous agreements, arrangements, documents or other undertakings either written or oral.
25 GOVERNING LAW
These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and the parties hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
I have read, and agree to abide by the Terms and Conditions. I confirm that I have parental responsibility for the Child to which this agreement relates.
This form is to be read in conjunction with the Application Form and allied documents, the fees sheet and the Early Education Funding Agreements
Name of Child:
Names of person signing
(with parental responsibility):
Signature:
Date: