Terms & Conditions

Bookings

1. A non-refundable registration fee of £100 per child is payable in respect of all prospective new starters. This fee should be paid by cheque, debit card or bank transfer when the completed application form is submitted to us. Please include your child's full name as the payment reference.
2. A completed application form must be sent to us with the registration fee before availability of your requested sessions can be confirmed.
3. Sessions requested upon registration will be treated as a permanent booking and one quarter's (or one term depending on how you pay fees) notice will be required to increase or decrease these permanent hours.
4. There is no minimum number of sessions that can be booked on permanent basis.
5. Morning part-time sessions are from 8 am to 1 pm-3:30 ONLY available at the absolute discretion of the Nursery and by prior agreement.
6. Afternoon part-time sessions are only available at the absolute discretion of the Nursery and by prior agreement in writing.
7. Part-time places will be offered subject to availability.
8. If a child is unable to attend nursery for his or her usual part-time session(s) it is not possible to change the permanent session to another part-time session that week.
9. Full day sessions are from 8 am to 6 pm.
10. Any changes to permanent booking sessions must be requested by giving a least one complete quarter (if your child is aged 7 to 30 months) or term (if your child is aged over 30 months) notice of your request in writing to the Manager. Such requests will be accommodated wherever availability permits and it is commercially viable for us to do so. Any such changes to permanent booking sessions will take effect from the start of the quarter/term (as applicable) following the changes being agreed by us. Any changes to the agreed starting date will have to be notified with at least one-month notice otherwise the full invoice payment will be required.
11. A deposit of £900 is payable by all new starters. The deposit will be invoiced to parents when an offer of placement ("an Offer") is made by us and accepted by the parents. The availability of the place stated in the Offer is not confirmed until the deposit has been paid. The deposit will be returned strictly in compliance with the terms of clause 35 inclusive but is non-refundable if the child does not take up the place detailed in the Offer.
12. Extra sessions required on an ad hoc basis in addition to your child's permanent booking can be requested in advance by parents and will be agreed by us subject strictly to availability. Once an extra session has been booked it cannot be swapped to another day if your child is unable to attend for any reason.

Payments and fees

13. Fees are payable in full and in advance either quarterly or termly depending on your child's booking. Generally fees in respect of children aged 12 to 30 months will be payable quarterly in advance in August, November, February and May of each year and fees in respect of children aged over 30 months will be payable termly in advance in September, January and April of each year.
14. Fees must be paid promptly as they fall due by cheque, bank transfer or debit card using your child's full name as a payment reference.
15. We will calculate your fees for the year based on the Offer and issue an invoice to you once a year. The invoice will provide for payment dates for each instalment, whether quarterly or by term. Once the invoice is issued it is your responsibility to ensure that each instalment is paid promptly on the date it falls due. Reminders will not be issued.
16. If any payment is not made on or before the date it falls due, interest at the rate of 4% per annum above the base rate of HSBC Bank Plc will accrue on the amount unpaid from the date on which it fell due until the day on which payment is made inclusive.
17. If any payment is not made within 30 days of the date on which it fell due, notwithstanding our entitlement to charge interest on the sum(s) outstanding, we are entitled to refuse to take your child for his or her permanent booking sessions and are entitled to refuse any extra sessions requested until payment has been brought up to date.
18. No deductions from fees will be made in respect of sickness, holidays, or any other reason for the child's absence or as a result of nursery closures due to circumstances outside of our control.
    1. In the event that the nursery is required to close as a result of a nationally or locally enforced "lockdown" as a result of COVID-19, 50% of the fees usually payable will be payable by you for the period of such lockdown closure in order to save your child's place at the nursery upon reopening. These reduced fees will be payable by you in the same manner and at the same times as required by these terms and conditions. Any refund in respect of fees paid in advance will be applied to your account and processed by us within 60 days of the lockdown closure starting, or within 30 days of the lockdown closure ending whichever is later.
19. Payment for extra sessions will be invoiced separately in arrears at the end of each month in which an extra session was booked.
20. If a booked extra session is cancelled for any reason within 24 hours of the start time for that extra session 100% of the fee payable for the extra session will be charged and is payable by you. If the extra session is booked more than 24 hours but less than 48 hours before the start time for that extra session, then 50% of the fee payable for the extra session will be charged and payable by you. If the extra session is cancelled more than 48 hours before the start time, then you will not be required to pay for the extra session.
21. Unless you have agreed otherwise with us in writing, you are required to ensure that your child is collected from nursery before or promptly at the time your child's session ends or, in respect of afternoon sessions, the nursery closes. If you are late to collect a child at the end of a session a late collection fee of £20 per half an hour after the session ending will be applied. This will be invoiced to you in arrears at the end of each month in which such late collection charge is applied.
22. As a child's fees change with age, the new fee rate will apply from the first invoice date after the relevant date.
23. Sibling discount is applied at the rate of 10% and where more than one child from the same family attends the Nursery, applies only to the oldest child's fees. In the case of twins, sibling discount will only be applied to one child's fees. Sibling discount will only be applied to sessions included in a permanent booking and will not be applied to any extra sessions booked for the child whose fees are eligible for the discount.
24. Where sessions are funded wholly or partly by any form of government funding, the offered regular sessions will need to be confirmed on a termly basis in advance with the Nursery Manager to ensure that there is still availability.
25. Where sessions are funded wholly or partly by any form of government funding, you are solely responsible for completing any requisite eligibility forms or questionnaires and for reconfirming your eligibility for such funding with the government direct. Failure to do so may result in your government funding being withdrawn in which case you will be required to pay us the full fees and to reimburse us for any fees in respect of which we are unable to claim government funding.
26. Where sessions are funded wholly or partly by any form of government funding, you are solely for reporting to the government any changes in your circumstances that may affect your eligibility for such funding and must do so immediately.
27. Fees are subject to an annual review and increase. We will usually give written notice of such fee increases in May each year and the fee increases will apply with effect from the following September.

Illness and medicines

28. Children who are ill should remain at home and should not be brought to nursery. We reserve the right to refuse to allow any child who appears to be ill or is displaying any symptoms of illness to enter the nursery whether for a permanent booking session or for any other reason or purpose.
29. Children suffering from sickness and/or diarrhoea must remain at home for at least 24 hours after the symptoms have ceased.
30. If your child falls ill whilst nursery, we will telephone you to come and collect him or her and you must do so as promptly as possible.
31. Prescribed medicines, including inhalers, may be given to children if necessary. These medications should be handed in to a member of staff and the medicine book should be signed.

Termination

32. You may end this agreement by:
    1. giving at least three full calendar months' notice to terminate if your child is aged 12 months to 30 months inclusive; or
    2. giving at least one complete term's notice to terminate if your child is aged over 30 months.
33. All notices given under clause 32 must be given in writing to the Manager.
34. Failure to give the correct notice period as specified in clause 32 will result in one term or one quarter's (as appropriate) fees being charged in lieu of notice.
35. The deposit referred to in clause 11 will be refunded on expiry of notice to terminate given in compliance with clause 32. The deposit will not be refunded if any one of the following applies:
    1. you fail to give proper notice as required by clause 32; or
    2. your child has not attended nursery for at least 12 months from your first child's first day on a permanent placement prior to you giving notice to terminate in accordance with clause 32; or
    3. we terminate this agreement pursuant to clause 36.
36. We may end this agreement with immediate effect if:
    1. you, your child or any other person connected with you who has dealings with us as a result of your child attending the nursery behave unacceptably towards a member of staff, any other child(ren) or any other person during nursery hours or whilst on nursery property;
    2. you have failed to pay your fees within 30 days of the due date
    3. you have breached your obligations under this agreement and do not (or cannot) correct that breach within a reasonable period of time once the breach has been brought to your attention; or
    4. the nursery is closed on a permanent basis. We will give you as much notice as practically possible in such circumstances.

General

37. It is your responsibility to notify us of any changes to personal circumstances, e.g. contact details, medical conditions, allergies etc.
38. We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions with 4 weeks' notice.
39. Please note that any outstanding/unpaid monies owed to Queensberry Nursery at the end of your contract will result in the loss of the deposit paid on registration.

Nursery Closures Dates

• Queensberry Nursery is open 49 weeks a year:
• closing time 10 working days - 2 weeks during Christmas time
• during all public bank holidays (England).