Fees Policy                                                                              

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Agreed On: January 2024

Review Date: July 2024

                                          

This fees policy forms part of the contract with the parents/carers and Waterloo Road Community Pre-school.

 

Waterloo Road Community Pre-school operates a service which is fair and competitively priced.  We aim to offer a high quality, safe and stimulating environment that provides a service that is good value for money.  Opening times of the setting are 9.00 – 3.45 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We offer an optional start time of 8:30am which must be booked in advance and will be added to your invoice as required.

 

Bookings, Fees and Billing:

• From April 2022 we charge £4.70 per hour

• Services incorporated into the hourly rate are drinks and snacks provided in café

• Fees are still payable if your child does not attend the setting due to a family holiday

• Fees are still payable when a child is absent due to sickness on a short term basis

• Longer periods of absence will be considered on an individual basis

• We do not charge for bank holidays or inset days. Advance notice of 1 term will be given to parents of any inset days

• Fees will still apply if the pre-school is unable to open due to unforeseen circumstances

• Where the closure is related to a public health issue such as Covid-19 we will charge in accordance with current Early Years Government Guidance.

• Invoices are issued at the beginning of each term; fees are to be paid by the date stated on the invoice

• Payment options: on the invoice there will be the option of paying either termly or by set monthly instalments.

• Fees may be paid by cash or cheque made payable to ‘Waterloo Road Community Pre-school’ or by bank transfer to our account shown on the invoice.

• Any change of hours needs to be agreed with the Pre-school and will require one months’ notice.

• Parents are required to give 1 months’ notice for leaving Pre-school or decreasing hours, and 1 months fees are payable in lieu of notice.

• Late Collection charges: there will be a charge of £10 for the first 10 minutes then £5 for every 5 minutes thereafter.

 

• If fees are not paid on time: A reminder will be given if payment is not received by the stated date on the invoice.  If payment is still not received within 7 days of the reminder a late payment charge will be added to the fees as noted below.

• Late payment of fees results in additional administrative work and will incur a £10 charge; failure to pay within 1 week following this initial charge will risk suspension of the child’s place at manager’s discretion.

• If a cheque is returned by our bank unpaid (‘bounced cheque’) an administrative fee of £5 will be charged.

• If no payment is received we will seek legal advice and commence proceedings with the HM Courts & Tribunals Service, to recover the amount owed to the setting.

• Should you encounter any difficulty in paying please speak to our Administrator or Pre-school Manager as soon as possible

• We will at all times respect confidentiality, and aim to work with parents/carers to reach a realistic solution.

 

Funding Entitlement

 

• Universal Funding of up to 15 hours per week is available to all children, from the term following their 3rd birthday.

• There are 570 hours of funding available across the year.Some terms are longer than what the funding covers, which is when a shortfall occurs.The sessions not covered by the funding will be invoiced to you.

• Some 2 year olds are also entitled to the above 15 hours funding; the eligibilty criteria is based upon parent income or working hours.

• Any hours not covered by funding will be charged for at the same rate set for non-funded children.

• Since September 2017, some working parents are entitled to an additional 15 hours of funded childcare per week, so 30 hours per week in total. To find out if you meet the criteria, you’ll need to apply online at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.If your application is successful you’ll receive an eligibility code which we will need to check to enable us to claim the funding for you.We are required to gain consent from you before submitting the eligibility code check.

• To retain your 30 hours funded childcare you will need to check your details are up to date every 3 months.If you cease to meet the eligibility criteria, you will be able to retain your child’s place for a short time.This is referred to as a grace period, to allow continuity for the child and also give the parent some time to regain employment.Somerset County Council will inform us of the grace period end date, depending on the date you ceased to be entitled.This will usually be until the end of the term following the eligibilty ending.

 

• We are able to share your child’s funding entitlement with another provider.

• If a family joining the pre-school is currently in their grace period, we unfortunately will not be able to offer them the extended entitlement hours until their entitlement is confirmed.

• In order to claim the funding we need to receive the completed Somerset County Council form along with the birth certificate when your child is enrolled at pre-school.

• Each term we will also require eligible parents to sign a funding declaration form to indicate that the hours being claimed match with those booked. This is sent by via email from a provider called Funding Loop, although paper copies are available on request.

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