Wimbledon Terms & Conditions

Last updated: 1^st August 2023

Reason for update/Change: Review of payment terms, removal of card payment and updated with all families required to pay direct debit unless arrangements are in place to pay via an alternative method.

Joining our Waiting List

There is a one-off fee to register your child/ren onto our waiting list of £30.00 per family. This fee is non-refundable and covers the administration of maintaining the waiting list, updating child/parent/carer’s details and communicating with parents/carer’s via email and/or telephone. Once payment has been received children are placed on the waiting list in accordance with the date of payment. Automatic entry onto the Kids Club (After-School Only) waiting list will take place on your child’s first day in the nursery and then the April before your child starts reception, you will be given the opportunity to validate your place on the Kids Club waiting list by paying a £15.00 non-refundable administration fee.

Basis of Fee Calculation

Fees are calculated on an annual basis and then divided by 12. This allows for a consistent amount payable per month regardless of variations in the number of days in each month, planned closures and for our Kids Club, school holidays.

Sibling Discount

To assist parents with more than one child under five years, we offer a 10% discount off the fees of the older child, (all children must attend a minimum of two full days per week). There are no reductions for siblings in the Kids Club.

Review of Fees

Fees are reviewed annually. If any changes are deemed necessary, parents/carers are informed no later than the last week of February. Implementation of new fee structures would then begin for April’s fees.

Planned Closures

We are closed for one week between Christmas & New Year (including Christmas Eve), a Staff Inset Day (usually during the Autumn Term; Sept – Dec) and all Bank Holidays.

Regrettably, refunds, re-allocation of days and deductions cannot be made if your child is ill, on holiday or for any other reason does not attend the setting.

Deposit

When you have been offered and accepted a place with us you will be required to pay a deposit to secure the place.

£200 for 1-2 days

£500 for 3-5 days

Deposits are refunded 4 - 6 weeks after your child’s last day at Building Blocks Blocks subject to all fees and other liabilities to the setting having been paid in full. If a child leaves without full notice, we will offset the fees that are due in lieu of notice against the deposit.

Please note: Once your deposit has been received, should you then decide not to start with us unfortunately your deposit will not be returned.

Payment Terms

The fees are to be paid monthly in advance by Direct Debit on the 25^th of the previous month or the next banking day thereafter. Invoices are issued and emailed on the 10^th of each month (or first working day thereafter) for the following month, and the amount to be collected by direct debit is clearly communicated on the invoice. Your password will be the first four letters of your child’s name and their date of birth (all lowercase) E.g. jane03042015. You will receive a subsequent notification 4 working days prior to your direct debit being collected advising of the amount to be taken. This is the last day any amendments can be made. Unless you have arranged to pay via childcare vouchers or through the government tax free childcare scheme it is a requirement of our terms and conditions that all parents pay by direct debit.

Sessions (Beautiful Babies/Outstanding Ones Only)

Half day sessions are offered within our Beautiful Babies and Outstanding Ones room only. Children are welcome to attend either a morning (8.00am-1.00pm) session or an afternoon (1.00pm-6.00pm) session. Children can attend a mixture of full and half days. There is a minimum attendance requirement in this room of 2 half days or 1 full day.

Sessions (Top Toddlers, Premier Pre School, Nursery School & Kids Club)

Beyond the Beautiful Babies and Outstanding Ones room, children will be required to attend full days with a minimum attendance requirement of one full day. For children attending Kids Club there is no minimum attendance requirement.

Holiday Club

We welcome children to our Holiday Club from Reception until the end of Year 2, this includes the Summer Holidays before they start Year 3. All children can attend our Holiday Club irrespective of whether they attend our Kids Club. To join our distribution list parents/carers are required to complete and return the enquiry form via our website www.buildingblocksnurseries.co.uk when offering Holiday Club places, priority is given to those families with children attending our Kids Club during term time and then to all external families by the date that the booking forms are returned.

Payment for Holiday Club

Once Holiday Club places are confirmed parents/carers will receive an invoice via email for all dates booked.

For children who regularly attend our Kids Club, these dates will be added to your Direct Debit which is maintained at all times throughout the year, however, parents/carers are NOT responsible for additional fees, outside of their usual monthly payment, if their child(ren) does not attend during school holidays.

For children who attend ‘Holiday Club Only,’ fees must be paid in full one week prior to your child’s first day at the Holiday Club. Payment can be made by bank transfer, childcare vouchers and government funded scheme.

Cancellation of Holiday Club Places

Notice to cancel your Holiday Club booking altogether or to cancel particular dates must be given in writing (email is fine) to the manager of the Kids Club two weeks prior to the date(s) you are wishing to cancel. Failure to adhere to the cancellation policy will result in fees being charged as normal.

Extra Sessions

Extra sessions can be booked with the setting directly and will be granted only if there is space within your child’s room on the day(s) requested. Extra sessions will be charged at the daily rate for your child’s room and will be added to your subsequent months’ invoice and will be collected by direct debit on the 25^th of the following month or the first banking day thereafter. Please note: Extra sessions will only be allocated if your account is up to date.

Notice of Changes to Children’s Attendance

Any correspondence regarding your child’s attendance must be made in writing (email is fine) to info@buildingblockschildcare.co.uk and you will receive an acknowledgement of your request via email.

We require at least 4 weeks’ notice if you wish to make changes to your child’s attendance including; a request to change days, reduce days or increase your child’s attendance. Any changes or increases to attendance will of course be dependent on availability and if your request cannot be accommodated at the time of preference then you will be placed on our internal waiting list and informed of this in writing.

For families in the nursery accessing our extended hours (7.30am to 8am and 6pm 6.30pm) at least 2 weeks’ notice must be given in writing if you wish to reduce these elements of the day. This does not apply to children attending Kids Club.

Notice to Leave Building Blocks

Notice that a child is leaving Building Blocks must be given in writing at least 8 weeks before your child’s last day.

As above, notice to leave must be given in writing to info@buildingblockschildcare.co.uk and an acknowledgement of this notice to leave will be made in writing confirming your child’s last day with us.

Late Collection

Any parent/carer who is unable to collect their child at the correct time needs to inform the setting immediately to allow us to staff the setting accordingly. If you collect your child after 6.00pm (6.30pm if you pay for the extended hours or attend Kids Club) you will be required to sign our late book. Should you be late again, following a polite warning, any subsequent lateness will be charged at a rate of £20 per 15minutes and will be added to your subsequent months invoice and will be collected by direct debit on the 25^th of the following month or the first banking day thereafter. Please note: This procedure will be applied on a three month rolling time frame. Whilst we have a legal responsibility to ensure that a child is looked after if a parent/carer is late to collect a child, we are only registered to have children on the premises from 7.30am in the morning to 6.30pm in the evening. Early drop-offs or late collections impact on our statutory ratios and our registration.

Staff Recruitment

We expend a significant amount of effort and investment in recruiting, training and retaining our staff to ensure that we select and develop individuals who can offer the highest quality of service and continuity of care to our families. We would like to think that we would have a long partnership with our families, however, we can appreciate that circumstances can change. If you do leave us and have taken a member of our staff to work for you on an individual basis, you will be charged an agency fee of 15% of their current annual salary, which will go some way to covering our costs for re-implementing this extensive process. 

Temporary and Emergency Closures

Building Blocks endeavors to remain open at all times aside from Bank Holidays, the week between Christmas and New Year and our annual Staff Inset Day (held within our Autumn Term; Sept – Dec). In the event of a breakdown of essential services (e.g. heating failure, electrical failure, loss of water supply), severe weather conditions or where the setting has to close totally or partially due to an illness epidemic it is important that you are familiar with the following procedures.

As far as possible, parents/carers will be contacted by the setting via phone, email or text message, asking them to collect their child/children. Where the setting has closed due to inclement weather, loss of essential services or an illness epidemic, please ensure that you have confirmed that we will be open the following day before bringing your child back in. 

In the event of heavy snow where transport services are badly affected, the setting will open providing staff are able to get to work, but we may have to offer a limited number of spaces, based on available and expected staff. This we do on a first come, first served basis. Sometimes we may ask parents/carers to wait with their child until staff members may be able to get in to the setting, or to take children home and return at a later time, once we have confirmation that staff are on their way. We may also need to ask parents/carers to make arrangements to collect their children early in such an eventuality.

In the unlikely event of excessive staff sickness / lateness that directly impacts staff arriving for their shift in the morning, parents/carers will be asked to wait with their child until staff members are able to get in to the setting. The health and safety of the children is paramount and exceeding government ratios is not permitted during this time.

Building Blocks cannot provide refunds to parents/carers for emergency closure as we still need to pay staff who cannot get in to work, and such events are deemed to be force majeure. We understand that it is enormously inconvenient, and potentially costly, to parents/carers if the setting is forced to close or temporarily stop accepting children. If you are concerned that this could impact you, we would suggest that you consider taking out an insurance policy to cover such an eventuality.

Accounts in Arrears

Should, at any point, your account become in arrears, any requests for additional days, extra sessions (including Holiday Club) or activities will be declined until your account is brought up to date.

In the unlikely event your account is in arrears for more than 2 consecutive months and no contact has been made with our accounts department to rectify this, Building Blocks reserves the right to give parents/carers one months’ notice, with immediate effect.

Review of Terms and Conditions

We reserve the right to alter our terms and conditions at any time. In this instance, you will receive written notification regarding any amendments.

Unacceptable Behaviour towards Staff

Building Blocks are committed to promoting and improving a safe and secure environment for those who work within the setting so that that the highest standards of care and education can be made available to all children and their families. We have a duty and responsibility to ensure that all staff and volunteers can go about their work without fear of being subject to unacceptable behaviour. Building Blocks and its staff will always seek to act according to the principles of fairness, honesty, integrity and respect and expect that our parents/carers will uphold these principles also. Building Blocks has a zero tolerance approach to any verbal or physical abuse including the use of inappropriate words or behaviour which could cause distress and/or constitute as harassment. Such behaviour can be either in person, by telephone, letter or email.

Termination or loss of place at Building Blocks

Building Blocks Childcare reserves the right to terminate your child’s place immediately in the event that any fees remain unpaid, where any of the terms and conditions are breached, or if termination of a place is considered to be in the best interests of the setting.