Your child is accepted at Little Bookham Preschool
subject to the following:
Opening Days / Hours of the Preschool
The Preschool is open for the following hours:
Monday: 9.00am to 5.00pm
Tuesday: 9.00am to 1.00pm
Wednesday: 9.00pm to 5.00pm
Thursday: 9.00am to 3.00pm
Friday: 9.00am to 5.00pm
We are open for 38 weeks per year, and closely follow the Surrey County Council school term dates. We are closed for bank holidays and when the hall is required for use as a Polling Station.
If we change the opening hours of the Preschool we will give you as much notice of our decision as possible. We will also notify you as soon as possible of any days on which the Preschool will be closed.
There may be occasions when we will need to close the Preschool at short notice due to situations beyond our control. This may include severe weather where members of staff are unable to get to the premises, or we conclude the premises unsafe for running a preschool session.
There may also be occasions where Surrey County Council will require the use of the hall for emergency polling days at short notice.
Unfortunately we will not be able to give refunds or offer additional sessions when closures are caused by situations beyond our control.
Attendance and Fees
Children must attend Preschool for a minimum of two sessions per week, This is to ensure that the children get the most out of their time at preschool. A session must be for a minimum of 3 hours, and a ‘full day’ must be for a minimum of 7 hours. A ‘full day’ will count as two sessions. In children's last year before they start school we recommend that children attend a minimum of four sessions per week. This can be a mixture of full and half day sessions. Any exceptions must be previously agreed with the Preschool Management.
Fees are payable in advance on a half-termly basis at the start of each half-term, and must be paid within 14 days of receiving the invoice.
The Preschool cannot maintain your child's place if fees are not paid. A late payment fee of £10 will be charged every 7 days that the payment is overdue. Continued late payment of fees will mean that parents will be given a written warning informing them that this will result in their child’s place being withdrawn from Preschool. The letter will state the final date by which outstanding monies must be paid. If payment is not made by this date, the Preschool will withdraw your child’s place.
The Preschool understands that at times parents/carers may have or anticipate having difficulty in paying and it may be possible to arrange an individual payment plan. This must be negotiated with the Preschool Manager, preferably in advance. Any family in this situation should contact the Manager at the earliest opportunity to arrange a confidential meeting.
Fees will not be refunded or waived for term time absence through sickness or holidays which are taken without 6 weeks written notice, or if the Preschool is forced to close in extreme bad weather conditions or circumstances which are beyond control and the safety of children is at risk. We cannot offer additional sessions in place of sessions missed through illness.
Our Fee structure will be reviewed annually, and parents will be given at least one month’s written notice of any fee increase.
6 term time weeks written notice is required for withdrawal of a child from the Preschool or fees for half a term are payable at the rate of your child’s previously agreed attendance hours in lieu of notice.
6 term time weeks written notice will also be required if parents request any decrease in their child’s attendance hours, or fees for half a term are payable at the rate of your child’s previously agreed attendance hours.
No refund will be given for periods where your child’s Preschool place is unfilled due to illness or term time absences.
If parents
wish to take the child out of Preschool during term time for family holidays,
you will not be charged for these sessions if you are able to give the
Preschool six term time weeks written notice of the child’s absence. If six term
time weeks’ notice is not given for holiday absences sessions will be charged
as normal.
It is appreciated if you can inform us as far in advance as possible of any dates on which your child will not be attending the Preschool.
Please contact the Preschool immediately by either text, email,
phone call or voicemail to inform us if your child cannot attend for any
reason. If you child has not arrived within 20 minutes of their session start
time we will make contact with you.
Free Early Education
We are registered to provide Free Early Education for 3-4 year olds. This means that from the term after your child turns 3 they will be eligible to receive 15 hours of funded care per week. Children can attend for up to 8 funded hours per day. Parents can only take the full 15 hours over a minimum of two days.
We are also registered to provide Free Early Education for Two Year Olds who meet the criteria set out by Surrey Early Years and Childcare Service. Eligible children will be able to receive 15 hours of funded care per week. Children can attend for up to 8 funded hours per day. Parents can only take the full 15 hours over a minimum of two days.
We
can offer Free Early Years Education flexibly across the week (please see our
website for examples)
We cannot give additional sessions when your child’s Preschool place is unfilled due to illness or term time absences taken without notice.
Please
inform us if your child is likely to be absent for more than two weeks as we
will need to inform the Free Early Education team.
Arrivals and departures
Children are your responsibility until handed to a recognised member of staff at the start of their session. At the end of each session they will be handed back to you or your named trustee after they have been signed out by a member of staff.
Late Collection of Children
Please note that it is important for the children and staff that children are
collected promptly. Whilst we appreciate that delays are sometimes
unavoidable, unless arranged with staff prior to the child’s collection time, we
do reserve the right to charge £5 per quarter of an hour to cover our costs
when parents are late, as two members of staff will need to stay, and may have
to be paid overtime.
For example if your child was due
to be collected at 4.00pm, £5 will be charged for the period from 4.00pm until
4.15pm, and an additional £5 would be charged starting from 4.15pm running
until 4.30pm. For the purposes of this example if you arrived 20 minutes late
to collect your child £10 would be charged.
Policies
Our Preschool policies are available to view on our website www.littlebookhampreschool.co.uk
By signing these Terms and Conditions parents
confirm that they have read and understood our policies. If you have any
questions regarding our policies please speak to the Preschool Management.
Personal Property
No responsibility can be accepted for loss or damage to clothing and for this
reason we recommend suitable clothing should be worn to preschool. Children are
encouraged to wear aprons at messy activities, but clothes may become soiled by
paint and outdoor play, although we will try to avoid this. Preschool T shirts
are available at the cost of £3.50.
When bringing in nappies, spare clothes, wipes etc. please have them clearly marked with the child’s name.
Sun cream and sun hats must be provided in the summer months. During winter months we require you to provide suitable footwear, water proof coats, hat and gloves as outdoor play is encouraged throughout the year.
Pushchairs/car seats can be left outside the preschool entrance;
however this is at your own risk. We cannot accept responsibility for loss or
damage to personal property.
Please do not allow children to bring toys into preschool (unless it is their show and tell day – no valuables please!) as we cannot accept responsibility for them should they get lost or broken. Parents will be informed in advance when their child’s allocated show and tell day will be.
Additional sessions or changes to your child’s Preschool place
Extra ‘ad hoc’ sessions may be prearranged with the management team subject to availability and can be payable by cash on the day.
Parents
are welcome to request any increases or
changes to their child’s attendance hours, however 6 term time weeks written
notice must be given if you wish to decrease your child’s attendance hours, or
fees for half a term are payable at the rate of your child’s previously agreed
attendance hours in lieu of notice.
If your wish to decrease your child’s attendance hours we may need to offer you alternative sessions, for example on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday priority is given to children who will be attending a full day, whereas on Tuesdays and Thursdays we offer sessional places only.
6 term time weeks written notice is required of withdrawal of a child from the Preschool, or fees for half a term are payable at the rate of your child’s previously agreed attendance hours in lieu of notice.
Children receiving Free Early Education must claim their funded hours on a termly basis, at the start of every term. We can request that funded hours are adjusted, but it is not always possible that these changes can be accommodated. Extra hours for 3/4 year olds outside the free entitlement are charged at £4 per hour, and are subject to availability.
If you wish to decrease your child’s funded hours part way through a term please note that if we are unable to fill your child’s place the preschool is entitled to keep the funding and it cannot be used elsewhere.
You are required to immediately inform us of any changes to your family details, especially contact numbers as we may need to contact you in an emergency. Any changes must be notified to us in writing.
Health & Wellbeing
A medicine consent form will need to be completed if you require our staff to administer any medicines to your child (whether they are prescribed or over the counter medicines)
Please keep your child at home if they are suffering from any of the following: - Diarrhoea, nausea, conjunctivitis, any unknown rashes, coughs, runny noses or ear ache combined with a temperature. If your child has an infectious disease you may also be required to keep your child at home. Their absence should be until all symptoms have disappeared or until discharged by G.P or hospital
If a child has sickness or diarrhoea they must not attend for a period of 48 hours from the last time they had the symptoms. Please refer to the Preschool’s Health Policy for more details.
We aim to keep the Preschool NUT FREE. We ask that parents do not give children food that contains nuts for their packed lunch, or empty food packaging which has contained nuts into the setting.