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Family First Terms and Conditions
INTRODUCTION
The following terms and conditions apply to Family First Topco Limited, trading as “Family First,” located at Suite 3, Wentworth Lodge, Great North Road, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 7SR.
In these terms and conditions, “Family First” refers to Family First Topco Limited and all its subsidiaries.
All subsidiaries are bound by these terms and conditions. Please review them carefully, as they apply uniformly across the entire Family First group.
To assist you in understanding these terms and conditions we have included a definitions/glossary page at the end. For any clarification/queries please do not hesitate to contact the Nursery Manager.
By signing the Registration Form this will create a legally binding contract between us (Agreement). Please therefore raise any queries with the Nursery Manager before you sign the Registration Form.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Parents or Legal Guardian(s) signing the Registration Form (attached to these terms and conditions) need to read the following carefully before signing the Registration Form. The Registration Form does form part of our Agreement with you.
Please also take the time to review our current Fee Schedule which is also attached to these terms and conditions and also forms part of our Agreement with you.
The following terms and conditions constitute your agreement with Family First regarding the provision of early years care and education for your child at our Nursery (“Agreement”).
In these terms and conditions, the Nursery and/or Family First may be referred to as “we” or “the Nursery” being the location specified on the registration form and the Parent(s)/Legal Guardian(s) may be referred to as “you”.
1. Services Family First provides childcare and education services to children, delivered under the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, and governed by Ofsted.
2. Admission
2.1 The Registration Form must be filled in and returned to the Nursery Manager with a non-refundable Registration Fee and a refundable Deposit as specified on the Fee Schedule.
2.1.1 A nursery place will not be confirmed until both the Registration Fee and Deposit have been received.
2.1.2 Failure to provide these payments may result in the loss of your nursery place
2.2 The Deposit will be held on account and refunded when a child leaves Nursery providing that the required notice is given (as set out in these terms and conditions) unless paragraph 2.3 below applies.
2.3 Please note that we reserve the right to offset the Deposit against outstanding fees when a child leaves the Nursery.
2.4 You can defer your child’s start date once, for a period of up to 30 days, by providing at least four weeks’ notice in advance. If this notice is not provided, fees will be charged from the original start date. Should the deferred start date extend beyond the 30-day period, the request will be subject to availability, and we cannot guarantee that a place will be available for your child.
2.5 Parents are required to disclose any SEND (Special Education Needs and Disabilities) to the Nursery Manager at the point of admission. We have a duty of care to meet these needs and the Nursery Manager will review and assess if your child’s needs can be fulfilled by the Nursery.
3. Attendance
3.1 The Nursery is open Monday to Friday and is closed for all public holidays, one week at Christmas and may be closed for other designated days.
3.2 You will be given as much notice as possible regarding any designated days when the Nursery will be closed.
3.3 To find out the Nursery’s current opening hours please speak to the Nursery Manager. You will be given as much notice as possible regarding any changes to opening hours. This is only likely in the event of exceptional circumstances such as operational limitations and if possible a place will be offered temporarily at another local nursery of Family First.
3.4 Only you or authorised contacts who are over eighteen years old can collect your child from Nursery.
3.5 If your child remains in Nursery after the specified closing time and the Nursery has not been able to reach you or an authorised contact to agree your child’s collection, we will follow our safeguarding policy. Our safeguarding policy is available to you upon request.
3.6 If you are late collecting your child, we will charge you a late pick-up fee as further described below in paragraph 11.9.
3.7 If your child is unable to attend the Nursery for any reason, please notify the Nursery Manager as soon as possible.
3.8 Refunds will not be given in the case of absence or holidays.
3.9 We reserve the right, at any time, to refuse admission to and/or require you to collect or arrange collection of your child/children. We will expect you to be able to arrange collection on short notice.
3.10 Some examples of when we would need to send a child home and for you to arrange immediate collection would be:
3.10.1 contagious illness
3.10.2 unacceptable behaviour
3.10.3 safeguarding concerns
3.10.4 in the best interests of your child, other children at the Nursery or members of staff.
4. Health & Care requirements, Illness, allergies, medical conditions, and dietary requirements
General
4.1 Prior to your child starting at the Nursery, you are requested to notify the Nursery Manager in writing of all relevant health and care requirements for your child including contact with any infectious diseases, any allergies/intolerances, medical conditions, or special dietary requirements.
4.2 It is your responsibility to notify the Nursery Manager of any changes or additions to this information on an on-going basis.
4.3 The Nursery reserves the right to refuse entry to any child the Nursery Manager considers is, or may be, unwell or suffering from any contagious or infectious complaint or has an allergy or chronic condition or a dietary requirement with which the Nursery is unequipped to deal with.
4.4 Children cannot attend Nursery if they are suffering from sickness, diarrhoea, an infectious illness or have any non-specific rashes until they are symptom free or cleared to return to Nursery by a doctor.
4.4 We have the right to take such acts, on your behalf as if a parent of the child, as reasonably required and in the case of any illness, accident or emergency, the Nursery Manager and staff can take the necessary action they think fit.
4.6 Such action could include:
4.6.1 administering first aid;
4.6.2 requiring you to collect early; or
4.6.3 obtaining medical assistance, if necessary, whether or not the parents, next of kin or emergency contact has been informed.
4.7 Every possible effort will be made to contact parents or emergency contact in the case of emergency.
Registered Company: Family First Topco Limited Registered Number: 14452930 Registered Office: Suite 3, Wentworth Lodge, Great North Road, Welwyn Garden City AL8 7SR
Medicines
4.8 You will need to complete the Medication Parent Consent and Administration Form prior to the Nursery administering any prescribed medication to your child. The Medication Parent Consent and Administration Form can be obtained from the Nursery Manager. You can withdraw your consent at any time in writing.
4.9 The Nursery may give your child certain types of non-medically prescribed medication, for example:
4.9.1 to reduce your child’s temperature;
4.9.2 respond to an allergic reaction; or
4.9.3 as the Nursery deems appropriate, acting reasonably.
This can only be done if you have previously consented to such actions by completing Medication Parent Consent and Administration Form. You can withdraw your consent at any time in writing.
4.10 We will:
4.10.1 keep a written record each time a medicine is administered to a child;
4.10.2 inform you if any medicine has been given to your child on the day it was given or as soon as reasonably practicable.
4.11 Your child’s attendance at Nursery whilst on medication will be at the Nursery Manager’s discretion.
4.12 We have policies and procedures in place regulating the administration of medicines and copies of these can be obtained from the Nursery Manager.
4.13 Training will be provided to staff where administration of medicines requires medical or technical knowledge.
4.14 Prescription medicines will not be administered unless they have been prescribed for a child by a doctor, dentist, nurse or pharmacist (this includes aspirin which can only be given to a child if prescribed by a doctor).
4.15 The Nursery Manager reserves the right to refuse to administer medicine to a child if the Nursery Manager has not been provided with the necessary consent from you or has not received the necessary confirmation as to how the medicine has been prescribed.
Sunscreen
4.16 The Nursery may apply sunscreen to your child before going outside.
4.17 If you wish to supply your own sunscreen, it must not contain any allergens which may cause risk to other children.
4.18 You may request in writing for the Nursery not to apply sunscreen, however, in such cases, your child may not go outside in sunny weather without some form of sun protection such as long sleeve clothing, sun hat etc.
5. Change of contact details
5.1 You must inform the Nursery Manager of any change of address or contact numbers, including those of emergency contacts.
6. Excursions & photography
6.1 It is common practice for staff to take children on walks, to the local park or other activities in the local area such as the library.
6.2 You may request in writing that your child does not participate in these activities.
6.3 Photographs of your child will be taken in connection with these activities.
6.4 Children will be photographed by staff as they play and take part in Nursery activities.
6.5 These images are used to support learning outcomes, however, occasionally may be used for marketing purposes in our prospectus, website, or social media platforms.
6.6 Your permission for the taking of photographs is required prior to starting the Nursery which you can give on the EY app that we will give you access to.
6.7 Your permission in respect of photographs may be withdraw at any time on written notice to the Nursery Manager. Please note that photographs already used in printed materials will remain in circulation until a new print run is produced or the material is no longer in use.
7. Loss and damage
7.1 The Nursery cannot take responsibility for loss of or damage to clothing or property including pushchairs, prams, and car seats.
7.2 Please dress children in hard-wearing, washable clothing which will stand up to Nursery life.
7.3 Children should not bring money or expensive or treasures/irreplaceable toys to the Nursery.
8. Notice period
8.1 A minimum of four weeks' written notice is required to terminate your child's place at the Nursery. Notice must be given by completing the official leaver form - https://familyfirstnurseries.co.uk/leave. Any notice communicated directly to the Nursery Manager will not be considered valid, and you will be asked to complete the form.
8.2 If less than four weeks' notice is provided, fees equivalent to the usual four-week period will be payable based on your regular monthly charges.
8.3 From time to time we will need to make changes to the terms of this Agreement, for example:
8.3.1 to comply with laws and regulations
8.3.2 to comply with any health & safety or safeguarding requirements
8.3.3 for reasonable operational purposes
8.3.4 To reflect changes in the services, educational approaches, or facilities provided at the Nursery
8.4 In the event that we need to make changes to the terms of this Agreement we will provide you with as much notice as we can of the change and when the change will take effect. In the event that a change relates to the amount of fees payable by you then if you do not accept the changes you can give us four weeks’ notice to terminate this Agreement.
8.5 You can terminate your child’s place with immediate effect and without notice if we are in material breach of this Agreement, and in the case of a breach that can be remedied by us, we have failed to remedy that breach within a reasonable period of time.
8.6 The Nursery reserves the right to terminate your child’s place with immediate effect and without notice if:
8.6.1 you are in material breach this Agreement, and in the case of a breach that can be remedied by you, you have failed to remedy that breach within a reasonable period of time.
8.6.2 there are outstanding Nursery fees owed;
8.6.3 the Nursery is permanently closing for any reason and prior notice cannot be given – we will endeavour to give prior notice of such an event; or
8.6.4 if we consider termination of your child’s place to be in the best interests of the Nursery and/or the welfare of your child, other children at the Nursery or staff – we will act reasonably in such circumstances and provide you with details of why this is considered necessary.
8.7 If this agreement is terminated for any reason and you do not owe us any money then any fees paid for any period after the date of termination will be refunded to you.
8.8 Any fees due to us during a notice period will be calculated on the usual monthly fees invoiced to you.
9. Extra sessions, Emergency sessions and booking pattern changes
9.1 You may increase or decrease your child’s booked sessions (as set out on the Registration Form) however this is subject to availability and the Nursery’s minimum session requirement.
9.2 You will need to give us at least four weeks’ notice in writing if you wish to reduce your child’s attendance at the Nursery.
Registered Company: Family First Topco Limited Registered Number: 14452930 Registered Office: Suite 3, Wentworth Lodge, Great North Road, Welwyn Garden City AL8 7SR
9.3 If you do not give us at least four weeks’ notice in writing to reduce your child’s attendance at the Nursery then four weeks’ fees will still be payable on the original attendance basis rather than the reduced basis.
9.4 Emergency sessions (these are where you require additional sessions of attendance on short notice of less than 5 working days) must be paid for at the point of booking and are non-refundable.
9.5 Sadly we may not be able to accommodate all requested emergency session as we need to ensure that we do not have too many children at the Nursery at any one time. We will, however, do our best to accommodate your request. If requests become regular, then we will need to agree an increase to the booked sessions (as set out on the Registration Form).
9.6 We are unable to accommodate swapping your child’s booked sessions from one day to another as we need to ensure that we do not have too many children at the Nursery at any one time. However, if extra sessions outside of your child’s normal booking pattern are required and can be accommodated then you will be charged for such sessions as per the Fee Schedule.
9.7 You must give the Nursery at least 7 days’ advance notice to cancel any extra sessions booked to avoid being charged for them. If you do not give us at least 7 days’ advance notice, then you will be charged for the extra session even if not used. This is because we will not be able to offer that place to another parent on such short notice.
9.8 You will be refunded extra session fees if you cancel your booking by giving more than 7 days’ notice.
10. Government Funded Childcare Hours
10.1 Funded hours are provided to children based on eligibility criteria set by the Local Authority.
10.2 Parents must provide all required information, including eligibility codes and supporting documentation, by the deadlines specified by the nursery or Local Authority.
10.3 Funded hours are allocated on a termly or stretched basis, depending on the funding model selected.
10.4 Unused funded hours cannot be carried forward to subsequent terms.
10.5 Any hours used beyond the funded allocation will be charged at the nursery’s standard rates, as outlined in the Fee Schedule.
10.6 Parents must complete and submit a Parent Declaration Form to claim funding.
10.7 Funding allocation is dependent on the accurate completion of this form and timely submission to the nursery.
10.8 If the Parent Declaration Form is not submitted by the specified deadline, funding cannot be claimed, and parents will be charged the full cost of childcare.
10.9 Funded hours cover the cost of basic childcare only. Additional charges will apply for Essential Extras, including but not limited to meals, specific activities, and consumables. These additional charges are outlined in the nursery’s Fee Schedule.
10.10 Funded hours must be used within the nursery’s designated session times. Hours outside these designated sessions will be charged at the nursery’s standard rates
10.11 Specific days and times for funded hours are subject to availability and cannot be guaranteed.
10.12 Parents must promptly inform the nursery of any changes in circumstances that may affect their funding eligibility, such as changes in employment status or address. Failure to provide accurate or complete information may delay or invalidate funding claims, resulting in charges for unpaid hours.
11. Fees
11.1 Nursery Fees are dependent on your child’s booking pattern and age.
11.2 Fees are paid monthly in advance.
11.3 Fees must be paid by direct debit (GoCardless), Tax Free Childcare, or Childcare Vouchers. To ensure continuity of payment, a direct debit via GoCardless must be set up. This direct debit will be used to collect fees if these payment methods fail. Otherwise, the registration is incomplete, and the child cannot start at the setting.
11.4 Fees are outlined in our Fee Schedule and form part of these terms and conditions.
11.5 Fees are subject to review, usually on an annual basis but we may amend them at any time by providing you with four weeks’ advance notice.
11.5.1 As mentioned above in paragraph 8.4, if you do not accept the change in fees then you can terminate this Agreement on four weeks’ notice. During such notice period the fees payable will be those before the change of fees notified to you in our notice.
11.6 Fees may change depending on the age of your child as set out in our Fee Schedule. If the fees are due to change because of your child’s age, the new fee rate will apply from the first of the month following that change.
11.7 One non-refundable Registration Fee and refundable Deposit is required per child and must be paid at the time of registration.
11.8 There is no reduction in fees for public holidays, family holidays and child sickness.
11.9 In addition to the fees, we reserve the right to charge a late pick-up fee of £20 per half hour or part thereof.
11.10 If fees are not paid by the specified due date, a late fee of £25 will be charged and we reserve the right to exclude your child from further sessions until the fees are paid.
11.11 If fees or any other sum payable to the Nursery are unpaid or outstanding after more than 15 days, your child will be required to leave the Nursery following written notice.
11.12 If any fees are outstanding for over 15 days once a child has left, the Nursery reserves the right to use a debt recovery firm to recover the full fees payable to the Nursery.
11.13 The full fees plus any late charges and the debt recovery firm fees will be calculated and invoiced to you accordingly.
11.14 Childcare vouchers and HMRC Tax Free Childcare payments must clear in our account by the date fees are due, otherwise we will automatically apply payments to the next month’s fees, and we will consider the current month’s fees outstanding, and late fees will be applied.
11.15 If the fees are paid by a third party on your behalf, e.g., through a salary sacrifice scheme, we may require you and/or the third party to enter into a supplementary agreement to deal with payments and other matters.
11.16 We will not refund any fees already paid if your child is absent due to illness, holiday, or as required under the Nursery’s policies and procedures under our Sickness and Medication policy (a copy of which is available on request from the Nursery Manager).
11.17 In addition, the Nursery will not refund any fees if we have to close due to events beyond our control, such events include without limitation ‘acts of God’, fire, war, acts of terrorism, strikes or other industrial action, infectious diseases, epidemics/pandemic, inclement weather (such as snow or flooding), unforeseeable repairs or any failure of public or utility services, (such as highway and public transport delays or failures).
11.18 We will not be liable to you for any loss incurred by you in respect of such closure including any loss incurred arising from the cost of any alternative childcare arrangements that may need to be made by you because of such closure.
12. Discounts and offers
12.1 Any discounted rates are detailed in our fee sheet. No discounts outside of those listed on the Fee Schedule are permissible.
12.1.1 Discounts and promotional discounts, including multi-child discounts and long-term agreements, are conditional upon timely fee payments.
Registered Company: Family First Topco Limited Registered Number: 14452930 Registered Office: Suite 3, Wentworth Lodge, Great North Road, Welwyn Garden City AL8 7SR
12.1.2 Family First reserves the right to withdraw, amend, or remove any discounts or promotional discounts at any time without prior notice.
12.1.3 If fees are overdue beyond 7 days or if agreed conditions of long-term contracts are not met, Family First will notify parents in writing, and revised fee arrangements will apply from the date of notice.
13. Recruitment of Nursery staff
13.1 You agree that you will not, in any circumstances, make an offer of employment or engagement to any employee of the Nursery or in any other way (either directly or indirectly) to encourage any such employee to leave the employment of the Nursery.
13.2 If you decide to employ or engage any Nursery staff (in breach of this clause 12) on a full or part-time basis between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, a Recruitment Fee based on 20% of the staff member’s annual salary plus VAT at the standard rate is payable by you to the Nursery.
13.3 Any employment arrangements or engagements made between you and staff during their non-working hours will not be sanctioned by the Nursery and are solely between you and the staff member.
13.4 The Nursery and Family First are not liable for any employment arrangement or engagement made with staff.
14. Complaints
14.1 If you have any concerns at any time, the Nursery Manager is always available to discuss them in person at the Nursery as the first port of call.
14.2 An appointment may be made to discuss more detailed matters with the Nursery Manager and the staff concerned.
14.3 Details of this meeting will be recorded in the “Complaints Log” and every effort will be made to address the problem as soon as possible.
14.4 If any matters remain unresolved, a senior member of our support team will conduct a review and notify you of the outcome.
14.5 In certain serious matters the concern and the measures taken to resolve the concern will be reported to Ofsted.
14.6 For your information, the contact details for the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) are:
14.6.1 National Business Unit, OFSTED, 5th, 6th & 7th Floors, Piccadilly Gate, Store Street, Manchester M1 2WD
14.6.2 Complaint’s contact number: 0300 123 1231
14.7 If you'd would like to share any feedback or raise a complaint with Family First’s Customer Care team, you can do so via:
14.7.1 Phone: 0330 333 1080,
14.7.2 Email: [email protected] ,
14.7.3 or visiting our website at: www.familyfirstnurseries.co.uk.
15. Privacy Notice / GDPR
15.1 Here at Family First we take your privacy seriously and will only use your personal information to manage your account, administer first aid/medical care, comply with government regulations, staff training and development and market research but most importantly to provide tailored care to your child.
15.2 We process personal data including but not limited to special category data, such as name; address; telephone contacts; date of birth; email addresses; authorised and medical contacts; employment information if relevant; gender; physical conditions; disabilities or allergies; dietary requirements; child photographs and care, learning and development records (Personal Data).
15.3 From time to time, we will need to contact you, via phone, post, and email to provide you with Nursery updates, share relevant news and send your invoices.
15.4 We will input your data into a software system which helps us manage the administrative aspects of our Nursery smoothly. Your data is held in a secure data centre and can only be accessed by authorised personnel.
15.5 We may share Personal Data under the following circumstances:
14.5.1 if you receive government funding the Nursery will share Personal Data with the funding provider
15.5.2 with any other setting your child attends or may attend
15.5.3 as required by Court Order, law, or regulation
15.5.4 if the Nursery suspects child abuse and/or neglect, it will report these concerns to the relevant authorities in accordance with its Safeguarding policies and procedures (copies of which are available upon request from the Nursery Manager) and regulatory requirements.
16. Liability
16.1 We have obtained insurance cover in respect of our legal liability in operating the Nursery.
16.2 Nothing in this clause 16 shall limit your payment obligations under this Agreement.
16.3 Nothing in this Agreement limits any liability which cannot legally be limited, including but not limited to liability for: death or personal injury caused by negligence; or fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
16.4 Subject to the paragraph below, our total liability to you shall not exceed the fees payable by you for a 12-month period.
16.5 We do not compensate you for all losses caused by us or our services. We will be responsible for losses you suffer caused by us breaking this Agreement unless the loss is:
16.5.1 unexpected – it was not obvious that it would happen and nothing you said to use before you signed the Registration Form meant we should have expected it (so, in law, the loss was “unforeseeable”);
16.5.2 caused by a delaying event outside our control – for example please see the events listed in paragraph 11.17.
16.5.3 avoidable – something you could have avoided by taking reasonable action.
17. General
17.1 This Agreement, together with the Fee Schedule and Registration Form are amended from time to time represent the entire agreement between you and Family First.
17.2 This Agreement will be governed by English Law and is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
17.3 We can transfer our Agreement with you, so that a different organisation is responsible for supplying your service. We'll tell you in writing if this happens and we'll ensure that the transfer won't affect your rights under this Agreement.
17.4 Nobody else has any rights under this Agreement. This Agreement is between you and us. Nobody else can enforce it and neither of us will need to ask anybody else to sign-off on ending or changing it.
17.5 If a court invalidates some of this Agreement, the rest of it will still apply. If a court or other authority decides that some of these terms are unlawful, the rest will continue to apply.
17.6 Even if we delay in enforcing this Agreement or any of its terms, we can still enforce it later. We might not immediately chase you for not doing something (like paying) or for doing something you're not allowed to, but that doesn’t mean we can't do it later.
17.7 Family First reserves the right to terminate the contract immediately if parents engage in abusive behaviour towards staff. Abusive behaviour includes, but is not limited to, verbal abuse, threats, harassment, or any conduct that creates a hostile or unsafe environment for our staff. This also extends to the misuse of social media to disparage the nursery or the company. Should termination occur, parents or carers will be notified in writing, and all outstanding fees will become immediately due.
Registered Company: Family First Topco Limited Registered Number: 14452930 Registered Office: Suite 3, Wentworth Lodge, Great North Road, Welwyn Garden City AL8 7SR
GLOSSARY/DEFINITIONS
Agreement - The contract between us, comprising the Terms and Conditions, the Registration Form, and the Fee Schedule.
Consumer - You are a “consumer” as you are acting in your individual capacity and not on behalf of a business. As a consumer you have certain statutory rights including the right to cancel our Agreement in the first 14 days – please see the Information Sheet at the beginning of the terms and conditions for further details.
Deposit - The amount paid when registering your child at the Nursery to secure their place.
Fees - The charges for using the Nursery, as outlined in the Fee Schedule. This includes Subsidiary Fees.
Fee Schedule - The Fee Schedule outlines the nursery fees. A copy is available at any time from the Nursery Manager.
Registration Fee - A non-refundable fee paid when registering your child at the Nursery.
Recruitment Fee - A fee payable if you employ or engage any of our employees, as detailed in the Terms and Conditions.
Registration Form - The form you complete to register your child for a place at the Nursery.
Leaver Form – The form you must complete to withdraw your child from the nursery. It is available on the website or from your Nursery Manager.
Nursery - This is the nursery that your child will be attending as set out on the Registration Form.
Nursery Manager - The Nursery Manager is your first point of call for any queries you may have.
Subsidiary Fees - Additional charges outlined in the Terms and Conditions, such as late pick-up charges and Surcharges for late payment of invoices.
Surcharge - A fee applied if your monthly fees are paid late.