Terms and Conditions

PARENT AGREEMENT

This is formal agreement between Bows and Arrows (a charity registered in the UK and referred to as 'the Nursery' and 'we') and the parent(s) or legal guardian (referred to as 'the Parent' and 'you') of a child (or children) that is or will become enrolled at the Nursery.

1. SECURING YOUR CHILD'S PLACE AT NURSERY
   • Availability of nursery places changes all the time, and your place is not reserved until the Nursery Manager is in receipt of the items below and has confirmed your booking and start date via email. You should allow at least 2-3 weeks between registering and the start date so that there is time for a Home Visit and Settling In Sessions. (Please see our separate policy on Settling In)
     1. this signed Registration Form and Agreement, and
     2. a Local Authority Parent Authorisation Form ('PAF'), if claiming funding - and,
     3. a Validity Code, Golden Ticket, Birth date evidence or other funding eligibility evidence if claiming funding.
   • Where demand for childcare is high, we operate a waiting list. Whenever a vacancy arises, it will be offered to families on the waiting list as detailed in our Booking, Fees and Funding Policy on the Bows and Arrows website.
   • For children aged under two years old (as at the date you have requested your child starts attending the nursery) we require you to pay a deposit when you submit your completed registration form. The deposit is a one-off payment to show your intention and commitment to take up a place. The deposit will be credited to your account to pay the consumable charge and other fees, or refunded if there are no charges to pay, this credit will be actioned after your child commences at the nursery and has attended the nursery for at least 4 weeks. We do not refund the deposit if you:
     1. no longer require a place as specified in your completed registration form   
     2. no longer require a place at all
     3. fail to confirm acceptance of a place within 14 days of the place being offered to you.
   • Subject to availability, we will email you confirming that we have reserved your child's nursery place. Once we confirm your child's place, we:
     1. enrol your child onto our system; reserving their place at nursery until he or she reaches school age (the end of the August before their 5th birthday).
     2. book dates for your home visit(s) and settling in sessions. These are free of charge.
     3. choose a key person for your child
     4. recruit additional staff to the team; if we have a number of new registrations
   • Children are entitled to a place in a school reception class from the September after their 4th birthday, so it is very unlikely that we will admit a new child if they are eligible for reception. Children who turn four years old after September (but are not of compulsory school age) are welcome to apply for a nursery place at Bows and Arrows.   
2. OPENING
   1. Our session times are as advertised. We reserve the right to change our session times, giving you at least 3 months' notice.
   2. We open Monday to Friday 8:00a.m. to 6:00p.m.
   3. We will be closed, and do not charge fees on
      1. all customary English Bank and Public Holidays,
      2. staff Professional Development days, advertised in advance (customarily one per term)
      3. 'Shut Down' weeks advertised in advance (customarily but not confined to one in the Summer Holidays, and one week at Christmas)
   4. If you have an ongoing booking for a date on which we will be closed, and funding is being or has been claimed, the Nursery Manager may offer you an alternative session(s) within the same term.
   5. In the rare event that the nursery is subject to interruption of service or temporary closure of the site due to significant events such as but not limited to unsafe premises, fire, flood, failure to water, power or heat supply, notifiable disease, or government or police instruction beyond our reasonable control, no refunds or other recompense will be provided and all fees for the period remain due (limited to no more than 4 weeks).
3. LATE COLLECTION
   1. You agree to contact the nursery by telephone at the earliest opportunity if you will be arriving late to collect your child.
   2. If you collect your child later than the end of the session, we will usually incur additional staff costs in order to still meet the legal ratios. Late collection is therefore charged on your next monthly bill. Late collection fees are as advertised on our website, plus the relevant hourly rate charged in 30 minute blocks.
   3. Because late collection is difficult to accommodate, if late collection were to persist we may decide that we need to cancel your child's place at nursery by giving you 7 days' notice in writing.
   4. We take our responsibility for your child's safety very seriously. You agree to notify the Nursery Manager if a person not on the Registration Form will be collecting your child. They must prove their identity to our satisfaction with photographic I.D. which we will copy and retain in accordance with our GDPR procedure, and a password will be used. We will not release your child to any person under 16.
4. CHANGING YOUR BOOKING OR ADDING SESSIONS
   1. When you register your child with us, you book an ongoing place. We will plan our nursery operation so that we can accommodate your child's attendance until the end of the August before their 5th birthday (i.e. when they typically leave for school).
   2. We understand that over time you may wish to change your booking pattern and subject to availability we will try to accommodate your request. Subject to availability, you may book additional sessions but we cannot swap sessions. The following notice and fee applies:

5. HOT LUNCH
   1. We believe that sharing a hot meal together at nursery is a positive social and educational experience. So, as a default, our Morning Session (for all children over 12 months) is booked with an additional charge for a professionally-catered hot lunch.
   2. If you do not want your child to have this meal each time they attend Morning Session, you may opt-out at the time you commit to your booking pattern. You agree to bring in a healthy packed lunch for your child instead.
   3. If you opt-out, you may order a hot lunch or lunches from time to time at least 2 weeks' in advance. The charge will be added to the appropriate month's Bill. Please note that such lunch bookings cannot subsequently be cancelled or swapped to a different day.
   4. We regularly review the cost of providing hot meals and the price will ordinarily rise annually. We will give you at least three calendar months' notice of this.
6. FEES & FUNDING
   1. We provide sessional care paid by fees or funding, or a mixture of both.
   2. Both cases, we charge on the basis of sessions booked, not sessions attended. Refunds or credits are not given for days where your child does not attend e.g. due to sickness or taking a holiday.
   3. Current fees are as shown on the Fee Schedule available on our website or on request from the Nursery Manager.
   4. Fees are reviewed every year and they will ordinarily rise annually with at least three calendar months' written notice being given.
   5. Families in receipt of funded childcare will be sent a monthly invoice for consumables to cover the costs of snacks, consumables and additional services. If you do not to pay the consumable charge these consumables and additional services may not be available to your child.
   6. also 8 (Local Authority Funding).
7. PAYMENT OF BILLS
   1. Bills for session fees, hot lunches and any extras (e.g. late fees or admin fees) are emailed out by Bows & Arrows' Finance team on or around the 14th of each month. The bill is for care in the following calendar month.
   2. We may send you an interim Bill for late fees, extra sessions, additional hot lunches or administration fees.
   3. Payment for your Bill must be received by Finance before 1st of the following month. E.g. your bill for May's sessions will be sent to you in mid-April and we must receive your payment no later than 1 May.
   4. Bill payment must be by bank transfer. We cannot take cash, cheques or credit or debit card payments.
   5. You should allow 7 working days for payments to be credited to your account. Your payment will normally be receipted on your subsequent Bill.
   6. If you have your Bill paid by a third-party e.g. an employer or other family member, the Parent(s) named on this Agreement remains liable for all fees due.
   7. At the time of writing, we can accept payments from your government Tax-Free Childcare account.
   8. If fees are not paid by the due date, the Nursery Manager or Administrator or Finance team will ask for prompt payment. You will normally receive an email payment reminder (sent out via Connect) at the beginning of the month, followed up by a phone call two weeks later, then if no payment is received your childcare will be suspended. Parents are encouraged to talk honestly with the Nursery Manager as soon as possible if they are likely to have difficulty paying on time. Once a debt accrues, we will ordinarily refuse to provide further care for any child you have registered at any other Bows and Arrows Nursery until the debt is cleared. When necessary we pursue debt via routes such as the County Court.
8. LOCAL AUTHORITY FUNDING
   1. The local authority (Suffolk County Council) fund early years care within strict terms and conditions set out to parents and providers (us). We will deduct the relevant number of funded hours from the bills of parents who have evidenced that they qualify for funding for their children. If you first claim funding in Spring or Summer Term you may not have enough hours to cover the remainder of the academic year or may not be able to use your full entitlement.
   2. To evidence that your child is qualified for funding you must:
      1. accurately complete & sign the local authority's Parent Authorisation Form ('PAF') every term, for each child you are claiming for
      2. apply for your unique validity code and pass it, or your 'Golden Ticket', to the Nursery before the start of the term

Failing that, we cannot apply to receive your child's funding and you will therefore be liable for fees for sessions at the prevailing rates shown on our Fee Schedule.

• If you provide a form or code which we subsequently find to be invalid or ineligible, you will be liable for fees for sessions booked at the prevailing rates shown on our Fee Schedule.

8. It is a condition of local authority funding that your child attend their place regularly and we keep attendance records for children in receipt of funding. Your Nursery Manager will wish to talk with you if your child is not attending their funded place regularly.

• ILLNESS POLICY
  1. Please advise the nursery prior to 8:30 am by email or telephone if a child will not be attending due to illness.
  2. Fees for your child's place at nursery remain due if your child cannot attend due to illness.
  3. If your child is ill (please see the policy on Ill or Infectious Children for further guidance on symptoms, diseases and illnesses that prevent your child from attending nursery) you agree that your child will not attend nursery, and your child will remain absent for the appropriate exclusion period, to protect their well-being as well as the health of other children and our staff.
  4. You agree that, if you are informed that your child has become ill whilst in our care, arrangements will be made to collect the child from nursery without delay.
  5. Children must not return to nursery until they have been symptom free for at least 24 hours for a fever and 48 hours for sickness or diarrhoea. In some cases, a Nursery Manager may require you to provide a note from your GP or other medical practitioner before care can continue.
  6. By signing this agree you are consenting to staff seeking any necessary emergency medical advice or treatment during their time at the nursery. Please refer to our Sickness Policy for more information about this topic.
• DATA PROTECTION
  • All personal and sensitive data about children and families is collected, stored and processed in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations. We are registered as data processors with the Information Commissioner's Office and for future information you may request our policy on Data Protection & Privacy

• SAFEGUARDING
  • The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 places a duty on us to follow specific child protection procedures should any concerns be made. Further information is available on our Safeguarding Children policy.
  • If in the reasonable opinion of the Nursery Manager it is considered that the continued presence of your child is detrimental to the health, safety or wellbeing of the child or other children in the nursery or our staff, we may require the child to be immediately removed from the nursery on a temporary (suspension) or permanent (exclusion) basis.

• LEAVING NURSERY
  • Due to the long-term commitment we make when reserving your child's place, you agree to make a similar commitment to us. We require a minimum of 1 calendar months' written notice, commencing from the first day of the month, to reduce or cancel your child's normal booking. E.g. if you wanted to finish nursery on 14th February, you need to give notice on or before 1 January. If you wanted to finish nursery on 1st September, you need to give notice on or before 1 August.