·        All fees are payable in advance on the 1st of every month

·        All fees are collected via direct debit.

·        All invoices will be generated monthly in advance on 13th, or the nearest working day, sent via email and accessible on your parent zone app clearly detailing the use of your entitlement and funding. These will be sent from finance@chestnut-nursery.com. 

·        All families are required to have an email address to be registered for Parent Zone and receive communications.

·        No cash or cheque payments are permitted.

·        Failure to ensure sufficient funds are available on 1st of each month will result in a returned direct debit charge of £30.00 and your child’s place will be suspended.

·        Failure to pay outstanding fees after being reminded could result in your debt being passed on to our debt collectors and your deposit forfeited. A £30.00 late payment charge will be added to your account.

·        Fees are reviewed annually in April. Families will be given a 6-week notice period to allow the parents/carers a choice to decide if the new amount is acceptable and given the opportunity to discuss their options.

·        All fees are payable during nursery closure days (including Bank holidays) and if your child is off sick or on holiday.

·        A £260.00 deposit is charged when the child starts the setting and is accessing private paid hours beyond their funding entitlement of which £160.00 will be returned to you when you provide notice to leave. This is refundable once the child leaves and the terms and conditions of the contract have not been broken. This will be refunded to the original method it was received within 2weeks of your end date, or it will be deducted from your final bill.

·        Where families have agreed a contract for additional hours outside of the early education entitlement a deposit is required and this will be returned when the contract is terminated, and any outstanding fees have been paid in full.

·        During a period of long absence (over 2 weeks) it is usually not possible to claim funding so your funding will be stopped, and you’ll have to re-register at the nursery.

·        One month’s written notice is required should you wish to terminate your child’s space or increase/decrease their sessions. It is not guaranteed that you will be able to increase the number of sessions your child attends, this all depends on the current occupancy, but a reduction should be straight forward.

·        Children are unable to swap sessions under any circumstances.

·        We accept vouchers and Tax-free childcare payments. These need to be released from your tax-free account by the 19th of the month to reach our account before the direct debit cut-off date.

·        Senior management will oversee finances and negative balances through the finance@chestnut-nursery.com with sending out monthly bill reminders.

·        Current vouchers we accept are:

-Eden red
-Computershare
-Bravo Benefits
-Care 4
-Co-Op
-Flexible Benefits
-Enjoy Benefits
-Fideliti
-Wider plan
-SODEXO

·        We also accept workplace schemes such as workplace benefits, enjoy benefits if your voucher/workplace benefit scheme is not listed above please let us know and we will be happy to discuss this with you.

·        The entitlement place is offered free. Parents will not be charged a top up fee to recoup the difference between the amount received from the local authority and the nurseries current hourly rate.

·        Where a time lapse has occurred between the point of enquiry and their child’s start date, families should check that the information shared about funding and fees remains current so that any applicable charges can be checked / finalised before the childcare arrangement is formalised.

·        A deposit is not charged if you are only accessing the nursery using your funded only entitlements.

·        A registration fee is not charged for families only accessing their free funded entitlements.

·        All invoices will be generated monthly in advance on 13th, or the nearest working day, sent via parent zone and accessible in the finance section of the app clearly detailing the use of your entitlement and funding hours received weekly along with any additional costs that have been applied. These will be sent from finance@chestnut-nursery.com.  if you have opted to pay for meals or have purchased additional days/hours fees are to be paid on the 1st of each month via direct debit in advance or alternately by the 19^th of the previous month in advance if using tax-free childcare.

·      The cost of a lunch meal is £3.60, and the cost of a tea meal is £1.70. These charges apply to children aged 9 months to 4 years attending on their funded session/day. Meal charges are optional. If you choose not to opt in for meals, you must provide a suitable packed lunch or tea for your child, in line with our packed lunch/tea guidance.

·        A £30.00 late fee will be charged when invoices are not paid within the payment terms, and an outstanding balance remains on the account.

·        A £15 late collection fee for every 15mins will be charged that a child/ren are not collected on time at the end of their session.

·        Families wishing to terminate their childcare contract must provide 4 weeks’ notice in writing to the nursery Manager via email. Any funding entitlement claimed beyond the notice period is transferrable to your new childcare provider via the local authority where the funding criteria is met.  Where a child leaves the setting before the end of the agreed notice period, we will seek authorisation from the local authority to claim any funding applicable to your entitlement up to the end of the notice period, together with any additional fees which formed part of your childcare arrangement.

·        Charges for additional services such as trips will be agreed in advance with families these additional activities/services are optional.

·        Additional hours will be charged at £10.00 where hours are not funded as Early Education by the Local Authority these are subject to availability. Should you take up additional sessions outside of the funding these are private paid hours charged at the daily rate.

·        No session to be longer than 10 hours.

·        Sessions are offered as full days or half days sessions.

·        No minimum session length

·        Not before 6.00am or after 8.00pm

·        A maximum of two sites in a single day, we will ensure a smooth transition for the child and will work closely with families to discuss and agree how a child’s overall care will work in practice.

·        Children accessing a disadvantaged 2year old space will continue to receive a funded space until they transition to 3-4 funding, even if family circumstances change.

·        Children accessing a disadvantaged funded space are not required to pay for meals.

·        During a period of long absence (over 2 weeks) it is usually not possible to claim funding so your funding will be stopped, and you’ll have to re-register at the nursery.