Acceptance of Terms and Conditions of Childcare
Sunday 1. September 2024 at 08:00 - Saturday 30. August 2025 at 17:00
Free Spirits Education & Childcare • Free Spirits Education & Childcare, SP5 1NH West Tytherley, England, United Kingdom
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CHILDCARE
1. A non-refundable registration fee of £50 (per family, not per child) is due by the time the child has attended three term-time childcare sessions. This fee covers the admin, insurance, Ofsted and legal costs associated with providing regulated childcare, and covers making all the registration arrangements for your child.
2. We cannot look after your child until we have received a completed Registration & Permissions form.
3. In order to use our services, customers must book and pay for all session types at least 24 hours in advance using the Fienta booking platform. Please use this automated system whenever possible, rather than direct contact, in order to relieve staff administrative burden.
4. Tickets are non-refundable. You may transfer your booking from one session to another within the same term provided you give 7 days' notice.
5. No refund will be given in the event of a child’s absence due to illness, holiday or for any other reason. This is because we have to reserve a place for the child with appropriate staffing in advance.
6. Please drop off and collect your child at the agreed times. You will be charged for one hour's wrap-around childcare if your child is collected more than 10 minutes late. This is because staff have to be paid to work additional, unexpected hours. Please contact the Duty Phone to inform us of child absences or any other issues relevant to the day: 07375 229926
7. Once your child has been registered for a childcare place at Free Spirits, we will assume regular ongoing attendance until withdrawal, for which we require one month's notice by email.
8. Parents utilising the Government 15/30 hours' free childcare are encouraged to authorise at least 12 hours of funding per week (equivalent to two days' core hours attendance). This is due to the ongoing administrative burden of applying for such funding and the below-cost fees offered by the funding.
9. Adults on the premises must behave in a manner that is calm, gentle, polite and worthy of imitation. Please refrain from using potentially offensive language (this also extends to your children).
10. Children are expected to treat everything on the premises with responsibility and respect.
11. Please do not leave children who are too unwell to cope with our ordinary day-to-day activities as we cannot provide 1:1 care.
12. Parents may stay with their child for up to an hour during the child's first three settling-in sessions if necessary. Thereafter, parents dropping off children must leave the premises within 5 minutes in order to prevent a build-up of separation anxiety. Our experienced staff will care for your child and send you updates on their wellbeing if requested.
13. Please send your child with a suitable lunch, drinks bottle, a change of clothing (named), appropriate footwear and seasonal hat if the weather is very hot or cold.
14. Children may not bring toys or other precious items from home into Free Spirits, as monitoring of such items places an additional burden on staff.
15. Free Spirits cannot be held liable for the loss or damage of any item belonging to the public on the premises.
16. As the ethos of Free Spirits is child-led holistic development, as long as children are complying with our conduct expectations and their welfare is not compromised, we allow children to respond to their natural instincts for example removing their own clothes for outdoor water play in warm weather (in the private Free Spirits gardens only), barefoot exploration of risk assessed areas, sensory exploration and 'messy play' such as with mud, sand, paint etc.
17. By utilising childcare at Free Spirits, you understand and permit that, as part of their development, we may allow your child to engage in risky activities such as climbing, balancing, jumping, cooking etc. and using potentially dangerous equipment such as scissors, knives, saws, hammers, fire, sticks, ropes etc. Children may experience other elements of risk such as contact with animals, exploration of the natural world and crossing roads. All risky activities will be risk-assessed either formally or informally, and will be suitably supervised.
18. By utilising childcare at Free Spirits, you give consent for your child to be taken on foot to other areas of the Norman Court estate and village of West Tytherley.
19. By presenting your child for any kind of session offered at Free Spirits, you and all those with parental responsibility over your child release and discharge Free Spirits from any and all liability, claims or causes of action, in the absence of gross negligence, that may arise during or as a result of your child's attendance and participation.
20. All our policies can be viewed on our website at www.freespiritseducation.com.
Free Spirits Education & Childcare, SP5 1NH West Tytherley, England, United Kingdom
