Amendments and Variations

Puddleducks Nursery reserves the right to unilaterally amend or vary these Terms and Conditions at any time and without any notice. If you do not agree to any material changes, you may contact us to end the contract and receive a refund for nursery services you have paid for but not received. 

Opening Times

Our standard nursery day is 8am to 6pm Monday – Friday, 51 weeks of the year. 

Nursery Sessions

We will work with you to agree your child’s nursery sessions based on your requirements and our availability. The minimum sessions we will offer are 2 half day sessions or 1 full day. For children who only attend 2 sessions a week, 1 or more of these sessions may be on a Monday or a Friday. 

The benefits for children are greater if they attend more than 2 sessions a week, forming stronger bonds with their key person and enjoying a higher level of wellbeing, however, we do respect the uniqueness of every child, so we will leave this decision with parents and carers. 

We also have a limited number of Term Time only and fully funded places available so please discuss these with us if this is an option you would like to explore. 

Closures

Please note that we are closed on Public / Bank Holidays, 3 days at Christmas and INSET days. You will still be charged for these days. 

Availability and Registration

Please contact us to discuss availability of our nursery sessions and to book in to come and see the setting.  

To request a nursery place for your child, please complete the registration form. We will need to know certain information about your child including: date of birth, the month and year that you would like them to start, for how many sessions you would like them to attend and any medical conditions.

An administration payment of £20.00 secures a place on the waiting list. This does not guarantee that a place will be available, however if you chose to accept a place this fee will be transferred to your child’s refundable deposit.

If you chose not to accept a place when it becomes available, then the administration fee is non-refundable. 

If you are applying for a Term Time only, fully funded place please let us know before you complete the registration form as your fees may be different from those charged. 

Nursery places are allocated in advance of the start date requested and cannot be held open unless the appropriate fees are paid. 

We know that family’s requirements change so please keep our team updated to enable places to be offered swiftly and accurately. We may contact you from time to time,  requesting updates on your requirements and we kindly request that you confirm your requirements by the deadline provided otherwise we will deem you no longer require the place. 

Allocation of places

Places are offered based on the following order of priority: 

  1. Existing children looking to increase sessions (Internal Waiting List), 
  2. Siblings of existing children (External Waiting List), 
  3. The date of registration on the waiting list, in conjunction with whether your child’s age and stated preferences matches with the available space (External Waiting List). 

Children who only wish to attend 2 sessions or 1 full day a week will be obliged to take the days they are offered through the admissions process, which will normally be a Monday or a Friday. Should a child reduce their days to 2 sessions or 1 full day a week then it is likely they will be required to swap days to a Monday or a Friday. 

Availability

Availability is assessed on an ongoing basis taking into account any leavers or room moves and places are allocated based on the above order of priority. If your child does not receive a place to start on their requested start date, they will remain on the waiting list until a place becomes available or until you request for them to be removed. If you request for them to be removed the £20.00 administration fee is refundable. 

Securing a nursery place

If we are able to offer your child a nursery place we will get in touch and send you an Offer Letter that confirms the details of your child’s nursery place, an agreed start date and incorporation of these terms and conditions. Once you have received your offer letter we request that you e-sign and agree to these terms and conditions, as well as paying a refundable deposit and your first month’s nursery fees. Your £20.00 administration fee for joining the waiting list will be transferred to your deposit as well. 

You will be given an acceptance date by the administration team, by which the offer should be accepted by returning the signed offer letter and by paying the appropriate fees. 

You will also be required to bring your child’s birth certificate before or during their first session so it can be checked by our team. 

If you would like to delay your start date and someone else wishes to take the place from an earlier date, we reserve the right to offer them the place, unless the appropriate fees are paid to hold the place. 

You have a legal right to change your mind within 14 calendar days of accepting your child’s nursery place and receive a full refund. However, if you have started using the nursery services then the relevant fees associated with the service will be applied. After 14 days of accepting the place our standard cancellation terms will apply (see below).   

Nursery Fees and Charges

We will notify you of the relevant fees in the offer letter we send to you. 

Our fees are calculated from booked attendance, based on our fee structure. The weekly charge is calculated and multiplied by the number of weeks of the year that we are open (51 weeks) and then divided by 12 (months) to create a monthly charge. 

Fees remain payable during periods of absence, including sickness and holidays. This is because the nursery must reserve a place for the child with appropriate staffing in advance. 

Fees include all meals, snacks, day trips, cow’s milk and sun cream. Additional activities may also be available such as Forest School, Beach School and Music Classes and you should speak to your nursery to find out if these are available. 

* For children on historical contracts (prior to September 2023) or children who are fully funded, items included in their fees may be different from those stated in these Terms and Conditions. 

If there are fee rate changes between different age groups, for example, when a child turns 2 these will be automatically applied from the 1st of the month following their 2nd birthday. 

Fees are based on the nursery’s running costs and are subject to change.  

Additional Sessions

Extra days and sessions outside of your regular nursery booking pattern may be available and can be booked on an ad hoc basis. We require 7 days notice for any amendments or cancellation of booked additional sessions. If 7 days notice is provided the additional session can be amended to another date or refunded. 

If you would like to permanently change your child’s nursery sessions please get in touch. If we don’t have immediate availability we can add your request to our internal waiting list. 

Early drop offs and Late Collection

We request parents and guardians to respect the start and end times of the sessions their children are booked in for. There is an early drop off and / or late collection fee of £15.00 for every 15 minutes, which may be charged to your account from data collected at registration.  

Discount

There is a 10% discount available if you have two or more siblings in the nursery at the same time. The discount is applied to the oldest child. 

There is a 10% discount available if your child attends for 5 days a week. This is automatically applied to your invoice. 

Only 1 type of discount is available per family. The most beneficial discount will be applied, when it becomes available.

Funded Early Education

For more information on our Funded Early Education offering please see our Funded Early Education Policy available from the nursery. 

Payment of Childcare Fees

Nursery fees are payable monthly by the 3rd of the month in which they are due. Invoices will be issued by email to contact details provided. 

Payments should be made by Direct Debit, which can be set up in the Famly application.

If payments are not made by Direct Debit, then they should be made by Childcare Vouchers or Tax Free Childcare payments. 

Debit and Credit Card payments can be made, however you will be charged the processing fee, which is between 2 – 3.5% of the transaction value. Please contact the nursery to request a link. 

Arrears

If you are having difficulty paying your fees please get in touch, we may be able to set up a payment plan. 

If there are outstanding fees, the Nursery reserves the right to immediately suspend or terminate childcare services for the child until the position is rectified. The Nursery will apply a charge of £25.00 for any late collection of fees, that have not been notified in advance. 

We may also charge for all other associated costs related to non-payment or recovery of nursery fees. Please note that we use a third party agency to recover any unpaid fees. 

Cancellation / Termination

We request the following notice period for cancellation. 

Cancelling more than 3 months prior to starting: Should you wish to cancel your child’s place less than 3 months prior to starting at nursery we will refund any advance fees you have paid. Your deposit will not be refunded and will become an administration fee. 

Cancelling less than 3 months prior to starting: We ask that you inform us as soon as possible. We will not be able to refund either your deposit or any advance fees. 

Serving notice once your child has started: We require 8 weeks notice to reduce your child’s days or withdraw your child from nursery. You will be responsible for paying fees during that time and all outstanding fees will need to be paid in full. 

However, if you are ending the contract for the below reasons, our contract with you will end immediately and we will refund you in full for any nursery days which have not been provided. 

  • A material change to our nursery services or these terms which you do not agree to,
  • We have notified you of an error in our fees and you do not wish to proceed,
  • You have a legal right to cancel our nursery services because of something we have done wrong. 

Our rights to cancel your child’s nursery place and end the contract with you

We reserve the right to cancel your child’s nursery place and end the contract with you at any time in writing if: 

  • You do not make payments to us when they become due and / or you have outstanding nursery fees, 
  • You knowingly provide false or inaccurate information about your child at any point during our care of them, 
  • You or your child’s behaviour is deemed threatening, abusive or violent and / or in consideration of the protection of other children and staff and the well-being and smooth operation of the nursery. 

Policies

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. As such, we have a number of policies and procedures in place which are available from the nursery on request. They will also be made available on our website from the 1st August 2023. 

Privacy Notice

Our privacy notice can be viewed on our website at https://puddleducksdaynursery.com/privacy/ . Individual copies are available upon request. 

Employment of staff

The parent or guardian of the nursery child, hereby agrees that during the term of this agreement and for a period of six months after the termination not to employ, entice or attempt to entice away from the employment of Puddleducks any team member who has had contact with your child under this agreement. 
 
If a Puddleducks team member leaves our employment in order to work for you, you agree to pay Puddleducks a figure representing 20% of the relevant team member’s gross annual salary at the time they left our employment.  This figure represents the costs to Puddleducks of the recruitment of another member of staff. 

Events outside of our control (Force Majeure)

If an extreme, unforeseeable event occurs (for example, severe adverse weather, acts of terrorism, government stipulations) that prevents us from performing our contractual obligations, we will not be liable for this event and will not issue refunds for forced closures. If however, there is a risk of prolonged closure we will contact you to discuss a temporary reduction or suspension of fees.