Terms and Conditions

2. About This Contract

This contract is between the businesses identified above ("us", "we", "our", "the setting") and the parents/legal guardians ("you") of the child ("your child") who is registered to attend our setting.

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By clicking to accept the contract you agree to the terms and conditions as set out below. If you have any questions or concerns please contact the setting.  If you do not wish to agree to this contract, your child's place will be forfeited and allocated to another family on our waiting list.

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We reserve the right to make changes to this contract without notice.

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3. Admissions

i. Age of Admission

Upham: 3 months - 5 years old

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Due to registration and insurance constraints we are unable to accept children outside of these age bands.

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ii. Registering Your Child

Only a parent or guardian who has parental responsibility for a child can register that child for a place with us.  We will ask to see a copy of your child's full birth certificate, (that names their parents) or other legal documentation, to confirm you have parental responsibility for the child. We will not be able to confirm your place within our setting without this.

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iii. Confirmation of Attendance

We will confirm, in writing (usually e-mail) if your application has been successful.  You will be required to confirm the days and times on offer within 7 calendar days from the date of the confirmation message.  Failure to confirm your spaces will result in your child being removed from our waiting list, and the spaces being allocated to another child.

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Your child's starting date and the days and times we have available, may be affected by our obligations to Hampshire County Council and The Department for Education which enable us to receive government funding (the 15/30 hours funded childcare).  We are contractually obliged to offer "empty" spaces to a child who is able to attend immediately if they are in receipt of government funded childcare, even if the space is being filled by another child due to start later in the academic year.  In the rare instance that your child may be affected, we will notify you at the earliest opportunity and inform you of your options.

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iv. Supply of Emergency Contacts and Medical History

Before your child can be left at the setting, we will need to have received at least 2 emergency contacts and a medical history for your child.  These can be completed on our online nursery management system.  You will receive a link during your Pre-Start visit.

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For insurance reasons, you will not be able to leave your child at the setting until we receive this information.  You will still be charged for your booked sessions as we will have organised the staff and resources based on your child's attendance.

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4. Fees and Funding

i. Government Funded Hours

We are registered to accept 2 year old funding, 15 hour funding for all 3 and 4 year olds and 30 hour extended entitlement funding.  There are strict criteria for eligibility for some of this funding, which is explained on the Parrywood Childcare website, at www.beststartinlife.gov.uk and in the fees and funding leaflet given to you during your Pre-Start visit.

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2 year old funding:  We will need to see the email which confirms your child is entitled to receive this funding, along with the funding code (which usually starts TYF).  We will need to register this information with Hampshire County Council in order to claim the funding.  Your child will not be able to be left at the setting until we can confirm the funding code with Hampshire County Council.

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This code entitles your child to receive 15 hours per week (capped at 570 hours per academic year) of government funded childcare.  We will let you know at the earliest possible opportunity should your child exceed this funding cap.  Should you exceed the annual funding cap you will be offered the choice of forfeiting sessions, as selected by the setting or paying the full private fees for the time not covered at £6.40 per hour.  Likewise, if you wish for your child to attend for more than 15 hours per week, you will be expected to pay our full private fees at £6.40 per hour for time not covered by the funding entitlement.

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3 & 4 year old funding:  Every 3 and 4 year old is entitled to 15 hours of government funded childcare, regardless of circumstance.  This is capped at 15 hours per week (570 hours per academic year). We will let you know at the earliest possible opportunity should your child exceed this funding cap.  Should you exceed the annual funding cap you will be offered the choice of forfeiting sessions, as selected by the setting or paying the full private fees for the time not covered at £6.40 per hour.  Likewise, if you wish for your child to attend for more than 15 hours per week, you will be expected to pay our full private fees at £6.40 per hour for time not covered by the funding entitlement.

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30 hour funding: Some 3 and 4 year olds may be eligible to receive an additional 15 hours of funding per week, (capped at 30 hours per week, 1140 hours per academic year).  We will need to see the email which confirms your child's eligibility to receive 30 hour funding, as well as the funding code (which usually starts 500).  We will need to register this with Hampshire County Council to claim the funding.  Your child will not be able to be left at the setting until we can confirm the funding code with Hampshire County Council. This  code must be renewed every 3 months.  Failure to renew this code, or if your child looses entitlement to claim 30 hour funding, will result in sessions being forfeited, or the full hourly fee at £6.40 per hour will be charged for sessions no longer covered by funding.  This funding is capped at 1140 hours per academic year.  We will let you know at the earliest opportunity should your child exceed this funding cap.  Should you exceed this annual funding cap you will be offered the choice of forfeiting sessions, as selected by the setting, or paying the full private fees for the time not covered at £6.40 per hour.  Likewise, if you wish for your child to attend for more than 30 hours per week, you will be expected to pay our full private fees at £6.40 per hour for time not covered by the funding entitlement. 

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All funding:  You must declare to the setting if your child is attending another childcare provider and using all or part of their funding entitlement with them.  You must provide us with the days and times your child attends the other childcare provider, along with their business name and contact information. Failure to do so may result in the forfeiture of your child's spaces with us.

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You cannot claim more than your weekly entitlement, regardless of how many childcare providers you attend.  You may split this entitlement with no more than 3 providers. Should you use all or part of your child's entitlement with another provider, you will be expected to pay full private fees at £6.40 per hour for time not covered by any funding entitlement at our setting.

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If you falsely claim more than your child is entitled to, and we are unable to secure the funding entitlement to cover the hours your child has attended our setting, an administration fee of £10.00 will be charged, as well as full private fees of £6.40 per hour for time which is not covered by any funding entitlement.

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ii. Private Fees

If your child is not eligible to receive government funded entitlements, then you will be expected to pay full private fees at £6.40 per hour booked.  An invoice will be sent to you via our nursery management system within a week of the start of term, or if you change your child's hours of attendance.

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Private fees are payable in advance of the session taking place.

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We accept payment by bank transfer or tax free childcare.  Receipts for payments will be issued via our nursery management system.

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We are sorry but we do not accept payment by cash, cheque, debit or credit card.

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​Payments that are re-presented ("bounced back") incur a charge for the setting from our bank.  We will charge a £10.00 administration fee per re-presented payment.  If you are late in paying your fees because of a re-presented payment, then our Late Payment Policy will also apply.

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We reserve the right to change our private fees and payment methods without notice.

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iii. Late Payments

We appreciate that sometimes unexpected costs or other problems creep up in life that affects your ability to pay your child's fees at Pre-School. We understand, and we want to work with you at the earliest possible stage to prevent you falling into debt.  Please talk to either Claire Parry or Stacey Parry in the strictest of confidence and we will arrange a suitable payment plan to ensure the outstanding balance is paid off.

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Failure to notify us if any problems paying our invoice will trigger our Late Payment Policy.

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If you continue to miss payments or not agree a repayment plan, it will result in the forfeiture of any sessions covered by your private fees and the debt will be sent to a debt collection agent.

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iv. Late Collection of Your Child

If you fail to collect your child at their expected collection time, without prior notification, you will be charged £6.40 per 15 minute period you are late.  If, after 30 minutes, we are not able to make contact with any of your child's emergency contacts we will contact the Duty Social Worker at Hampshire Services for Young Children and follow their advice.

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You will be invoiced any late collection fees via our online nursery management system.

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v. Absences

Whether your child is unwell, or you are on holiday, full fees will still be due for the hours your child is missing.  For government funded entitlement, these hours will be lost.  We are unable to "make up" the hours elsewhere.  There are no exceptions to this, as we book staff hours and purchase resources well in advance of your child's attendance.

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You must report any periods of absence for your child via our online nursery management system, via WhatsApp, or telephone call directly to the setting.  If you do not report your child's absence, we will call you and your child's emergency contacts until we are able to verify their safety and well-being.  This will be done within 30 minutes of child not attending at their expected start time.  If we are unable to satisfactorily verify you and your child's safety and well-being, we will report your child as missing to the Duty Social Worker at Hampshire Services for Young Children.

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vi. Setting Closure

There are rare instances the setting may have to restrict the number of children who can attend or close completely as it is unsafe for us to remain fully operational.  In these instances, we will enact our Emergency Closure Policy.  The action we take will be determined by a number of operational factors, including the number of staff available to work.

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We will endeavour to give you the maximum amount of notice should either of these policies be enacted, but please bear in mind we sometimes find out very last minute of any chances we need to make to our operations.  We will notify you via WhatsApp/Text Message, e-mail and via our social media pages. We will not be able to telephone all our families, but may be able to accommodate telephoning you if you specifically requested.

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In the event of a partial closure, we will allow, on a first come, first served basis, the children who meet the criteria as set out in The Department for Education document "Emergency planning and response for education, childcare and children's social care settings." (October 2022)

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In the event we are not able to accommodate your child due either to a full or partial closure, we will refund any private fees paid for the time we are closed within 14 calendar days of the missed session.  For government funded entitlements, the funding will be returned during the next adjustment period. We will not be able to "make up" the time lost as we are obliged to return the funding and fees paid.

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5. Booking Patterns

i. Hours of Opening

Upham: 7.30am - 5.00pm

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We are open Monday - Friday, term time only.  We are open a total of 190 days (38 weeks) over an academic year (1st September - 31st August) with closures for bank holidays, school holidays and staff training.

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We provide childcare facilities for your child during these times.  We reserve the right to change our operating hours, with as much as possible given. Where possible, we will work with you to agree changes to your child's hours of attendance.

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ii. Shift Patterns

We have a limited number of spaces in the setting where we can accommodate changing hours due to parents/guardians working shifts.  Please speak with Claire Parry on claire.parry@parrywoodchildcare.co.uk if you need to book one of these spaces. We can only accommodate this if the sessions you require are available.

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iii. Changes to Your Booking

If you wish to increase the number of hours your child attends, we will require at least 24 hours notice.  We can only accommodate this subject to session and funding claim availability.

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If you wish to reduce your child's attendance or withdraw your child completely then we will need 4 weeks notice, in writing, or payment of private fees in lieu of notice.  This does not apply to government funded hours, but we would appreciate any notice you can give us so we can ensure we stop our funding claim for your child on the correct date.

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iv. One Off Sessions

Where we have availability, we are able to accommodate requests for one of sessions.  These will be charged at £6.40 per hour booked, and will not be covered by any government funding.

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6. Medical Information and Consents

i. Emergency Contact Information

Your child will not be able to be left at the setting until we receive at least 2 emergency contacts.  It is your responsibility to keep this information up-to-date.  This can be done via our nursery management system.  If the information we hold is found to be out of date, or we repeatedly cannot contact your child's emergency contacts, your child will not be able to be left at the setting until such a time we receive updated information.  You will still be charged for your sessions as we will have staffed and purchased resources in advance.

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ii. Emergency Treatment

All our staff are trained within 3 months of their joining Parrywood Childcare in an appropriate Paediatric First Aid qualification.  If a child becomes unwell or injured whilst in our care, they will receive immediate first aid treatment.  Should it be apparent that the child requires more acute medical attention we will arrange onward care directly by dialling 999 and following the call handler's instructions.  An Ofsted registered person will accompany your child to the hospital.  A member of the Senior Management Team will contact you as soon as reasonably possible to inform you of the situation.

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Please ensure that you give us consent to authorise emergency treatment on behalf of your child.  Failure to do so will result in us being unable to admit your child to the setting.

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iii.  Accident Reporting

Please inform us of any accidents or injuries which occur within the home environment.  We will need to log these in the child's records for safeguarding purposes.  If we notice a child has injuries which have not been sustained within the setting, we will log these as Unreported Accidents at Home.

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For any accidents which occur at the setting, we will complete and send you a report via our online nursery management system, as soon as reasonably possible and inform the person collecting your child of their accident.

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iv. Sickness

We will make every effort to notify you through the emergency contact information you have provided, if your child becomes unwell whilst at the setting.  We would appreciate it if you could promptly arrange the collection of your child to help minimise everyone's exposure to their illness.  There are exclusion periods which apply to many illnesses; these are covered within the "Sickness at Pre-School" leaflet in you Pre-Start Pack.  If your child becomes unwell at home, please do not send them into the setting.  We have both staff and children who are clinically extremely vulnerable, and we must protect their health, as well as the health and well-being of all our staff and children. We reserve the right to refuse entry to any child we believe to be unwell, and until such a time we are satisfied that they are well enough to return.

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If your child has any symptoms you are doubtful of, please keep your child at home and seek appropriate medical advice.

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We may have to enact our Emergency Closure Policy in the event of significant staff absences due to illness, or an outbreak of an illness being declared by the UK Health Security Agency.

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You must report any periods of absence for your child via our online nursery management system, via WhatsApp or telephone call direct to the setting.  If you do not report your child's absence, we will call you and your child's emergency contacts until we are able to verify their safety and well-being. This will be done within 30 minutes of your child not attending at their expected start time.  If we are unable to satisfactorily verify you and your child's safety and well-being, we will report your child as missing to the Duty Social Worker at Hampshire Services for Young Children.

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v. Medical Conditions and Medications

It is reasonably expected that you will declare any medical conditions, and subsequently any medication (even if they do not take this whilst at the setting, we may need to inform emergency medical practitioners of this in your absence) you are aware that your child has during the registration process.  This includes any investigations that may be taking place.

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It is your responsibility to keep us updated on your child's health and well-being, including any changes to their medication.  There are some medical conditions which require staff to receive additional training, or for us to notify our insurers.  Please help us to work together to keep your child safe and well during their time with us.

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If your child is prescribed antibiotics then you will not be able to leave your child at the setting until 48 hours have passed since their first dose, and they are not experiencing any symptoms or side effects.

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7. Child Protection

i. Child Protection Policy

All children and adults who attend and work in the setting, regardless of age, race, gender, identity, sexual orientation, health and/or disability, religion or cultural background has the right to protection from abuse.  It is, and always will be, our priority to protect the well-being and safeguard those in our care.

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We have Safeguarding and Child Protection Policies available to view in summary on our website at www.parrywoodchildcare.co.uk/safeguarding, available in full via our parent area or directly from the setting

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ii. Social Media

We respectfully ask that you do not post photos and videos from your child's online journal onto social media, whether the account is public or private.  This will be considered a breach of General Data Protection Regulations and will result in prosecution.

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We may have children who are in hiding.  By posting photos and videos on social media you will be exposing their location, and putting both them and everyone at the setting in danger.  We will never reveal if we have these children, or who they are to protect their identity.

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iii. Dropping off and Picking Up

Dropping Off:  Please do not leave your child until a member of staff has come to collect them.  DO NOT JUST LIFT THEM OVER THE FENCE AND ASSUME WE KNOW THE CHILD IS AT THE SETTING OR LEAVE THEM UNSUPERVISED AT THE GATE.  For safety and safeguarding reasons we need to know your child is at the setting, so we can ensure they are signed-in.  Unless pre-arranged by Claire Parry or Stacey Parry, we will not admit children early to the setting. We must maintain staff:child ratios and can only have a limited number of children on site at any given time.

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Picking Up:  Please wait for a member of staff to open the door to let your child out. PLEASE DO NOT JUST LIFT THEM OVER THE FENCE AND ASSUME WE KNOW THEY HAVE BEEN COLLECTED.  This will trigger our Missing Child Policy and will result in safeguarding action being taken if we cannot locate the child.  Please collect your child on time, and inform us of who is collecting, if it is not the normal adult.  We will not release a child to the care of an adult if we cannot be sure they are legitimately at the setting to collect them.  It is our policy not to release children to the care of anyone under the age of 18 years old, who does not have parental responsibility/legal guardianship.  If you are late collecting your child, without prior notice, then our Late Collection (Section 4, part iv of this contract) clause applies.

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iv. Behaviour Management

We have a Behaviour Management policy, which is available to view in full on our parent area on the website, or via the setting.

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The use of any form of physical chastisement, verbal humiliation or aggressive handling of a child is not acceptable within the setting. We do not support the exclusion of any child on the grounds of their behaviour, however, if your child's behaviour repeatedly endangers the safety and well-being of themselves, and other children and adults in the setting, it may be necessary to suspend our offer of childcare whilst we work with you, and other agencies to address the cause. The decision to suspend your child will always been taken by Claire Parry and Stacey Parry and in agreement with Hampshire County Council. If your child is suspended by the setting, we will credit any unused fees paid.

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8. Property and School Premises

i. Personal Property

The setting does not accept responsibility for the loss or damage of any personal property bought onto the premises by children or parents.

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Please help us by naming items we recommend brining (such as clothing, drinks bottles and lunch boxes).  This will ensure we can return the right items when you collect your child.  We respectfully ask that children do not bring toys or other items from home, as we cannot store them or guarantee to keep them safe from loss or damage throughout the day, nor are they always appropriate for the developmental needs of all the children who attend the setting.  The safest place for your children's special toys is at home.

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ii.  Clothing

Parents/Guardians are requested to send children into the setting in appropriate clothing for the day (i.e sunhat and t-shirt/shorts when sunny, raincoats and wellies when its raining).  We do not have space to store spares of these kinds of items "just in case".  Please ensure these items are clearly named.  Please bring in a small bag with spare clothes, just incase we need to change your child throughout the day.

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iii. Pre-School Premises

The premises which the setting operates from is approved for use by Ofsted. We hold the appropriate insurance, the details of which are available from Claire Parry on claire.parry@parrywoodchildcare.co.uk

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We risk assess every toy and piece of equipment, and routinely review these risk assessments based on the needs of the children.  Daily risk assessments are also carried out before the children arrive each morning and any equipment identified as faulty either then, or throughout the day is either removed or secured until it can be made safe.

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We respectfully ask that you assist us in continuing to maintain a safe environment by respecting our rules; this includes singing in and out if you are visiting our setting, and not opening any locked doors or gates unless a member of staff is present.

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9.  Food and Drink

i. Drinking During the Day

We encourage children to have their own drinks bottles, which they can freely access throughout the day, and will be topped up by the setting with fresh tap water. We will ensure children take regular drinks breaks during the warmer weather.

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ii. Snack

We will provide a snack during the morning and afternoon.  We will take into account the special dietary requirements of the children in attendance. We will notify you of the days snack choice via a notice on the door/gate of the setting.  Snacks can change at short notice depending on availability, so we may not be able to notify you in advance.  If you would prefer your child to have a snack from home, you are more than welcome to supply these, but this must be healthy.  We will not serve sweets, biscuits, crisps or chocolate bars for snack, even if these are supplied from home. This is not fair on the other children who will not have this option through the setting supplied snack.  We will not reduce your private fees should you choose to bring your own snack.  We usually serve toast, cereals, fruit or vegetables, cheese or yoghurt depending on availability.

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iii. Mealtimes

Children who are staying for lunch should bring a packed lunch from home (which can be something we are able to reheat in a microwave if it is a hot dinner).  We ask that the lunch should be healthy and portion sizes appropriate for your child.  Please do not include nut products (including Nutella).  We may restrict other items depending on allergies within the setting.  Please respect our request as we are trying to keep children and staff safe and well.  Please ensure your child's lunchbox is named and has a frozen ice pack inside as we are unable to store lunchboxes in the fridge.

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iv. Milk Feeds and Bottles

We will use the brand of formula your baby consumes at home within the setting, should your child still be bottle fed.  We are happy to use expressed breast milk if this is what you prefer, and will give it in accordance with your written instructions.

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v. Allergies

Please inform us if your child has any allergies or intolerances.  We will accommodate these to the best of our abilities.  It is of vital importance you inform us so we can ensure that prompt emergency care is received should exposure to an allergen occur.

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We cannot be held responsible if you do not inform us of your child's allergies or intolerances and do not supply us with appropriate medication or information to help manage and treat your child's condition.

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10. Other

i. Settling In Sessions

We offer settling in sessions for every child.  Children usually need only 2-3 sessions before they are confident in being left.  If you would like to take up settling in sessions, please speak with the setting manager who can arrange these.

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ii. Updates on Development

You will receive fortnightly updates via Nursery in a Box on your child's development at Pre-School.  You can contribute to this record by adding things you do outside of the setting as well.  You will also receive regular parent-key person meetings and a yearly report on your child's development.

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iii. Nursery Management System

We use a nursery management system called Nursery In A Box.  You can access and update your child's medical and contact information, send us notifications of your child's absence, view and receive invoices and receipts and see your child's attendance. We are activating new features all the time, and will be making further use of this system as we adapt to it.  You will not be able to attend the setting unless you consent to you and your child's information being stored securely on this system.

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iv.  Policies and Procedures

We have over 140 policies and procedures at the setting.  These dictate our operations and are created inline with statutory guidance and best practice.  These policies are available to view in full on our parent area of the website, or can be obtained from the setting.  We will provide electronic copies free of charge, but there will be an administration fee of £10.00 to provide paper copies.  This is to help cover the cost of printing the policy documents.

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v. Photographs

From time to time we may take additional photographs to use on social media and marketing campaigns. We will always seek permission before these photographs are used.

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vi. Changes to Your Information

If there are any changes to your information, such as phone numbers, addresses etc, please inform the setting as soon as possible so we can ensure this information is up-to-date.  Failure to do so will result in your child being unable to attend until such a time we receive the correct information.  You will still be charged for your child's sessions as we will have staffed and purchased the resources needed in advance.

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vii. Court Orders

It is your responsibility to inform us and provide us with full, certified copies of any court order documents which relate to your child.  Failure to provide these mean we cannot uphold the terms of the court order, and that your child's place within the setting is forfeit..

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viii. Nappies

We will provide nappies, wipes and appropriate disposal of nappies.  Should your child require nappy cream or you wish us to use a specific brand of wipes or nappies you will be expected to provide these.  We will not reduce your private fees if you choose to bring your own nappy changing supplies.

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ix. Off Premises Visits

Occasionally we will make visits to other places such as local shops or the library.  By agreeing to the terms of this contract, you consent to us taking your child with us on one of these visits.  We will only undertake these visits if we can maintain staff levels both on the trip and within the setting for those who remain.

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x. Mobile Phone Use

We operate a strict policy where no personal mobile phones can be used within the setting, this extends to the visitors of the setting.  You will be asked and expected to surrender these devices upon arrival and they will be handed back when you leave.  The staff will have their own devices, supplied by the setting, which are used to capture moments throughout the day for the children's learning journals.

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xi.  Complaints or Concerns

We have a Complaints Policy which is available upon request from the setting, or can be found on the parent area of the website.  We ask that, in the first instance, if you have any complaints or concerns please speak directly with your setting manager.  If you feel that your complaint has not been resolved you can escalate this to Claire Parry on claire.parry@parrywoodchildcare.co.uk or Stacey Parry on stacey.parry@parrywoodchildcare.co.uk. If we are unable to resolve your complaint within the setting, you can escalate this to Ofsted, our regulatory body.  Their contact information can be found at www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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11. Termination of Contract

i. Termination of Contract by You

We require, in writing, the following notice periods to terminate the contract by you:

Private Fees: 4 calendar weeks.  This also applies if your child is in receipt of government funded entitlement, and you top up their hours.  You may pay for the time in lieu of notice.

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Government funded entitlement:  As much notice as you can give.  We will apply a stop to the funding from the date we are notified your child is no longer attending our setting or will no longer be attending our setting.  If you take up your child's entitlement with another setting and we are not notified of your intention to not attend our setting, and we are unable to claim the funding entitlement for the time you have booked, you will be charged private fees to cover this time, even if your child does not attend our setting.

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ii. Termination of the Contract by the Setting

We reserve the right to terminate this contract, without notice period, in the following circumstances:

• You fail to pay your child's fees

• You breech any obligations as set out in this contract and you cannot put right that breech

• You behave violently or aggressively towards the staff or parents of the setting

• We take the decision to close the setting permanently

• We feel that we are no longer able to meet your (the parent/guardians) reasonable needs or expectations

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We will notify you in writing of our decision to terminate your contract and the reason why.

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iii. Unable to Meet Your Child's Needs

It may become apparent that the support we can offer your child is not sufficient to meet their needs, or keep them safe and well in the setting.  Under these circumstances we will work with you, and Hampshire County Council and other welfare and support agencies as needed to identify the best support and setting which is more appropriate.