Where children have fun, learning

Terms and Conditions

Mama Bear’s Day Nursery Ltd. - Terms and Conditions of Sale

Age of admittance

Children are welcome from ages 3 months to 5 years. Children are required to be registered for a minimum of 2 sessions per week (i.e. one full day or 2 mornings / afternoons). All parents / carers must complete a registration form, detailing in full any health, dietary, medical, medicinal, allergic or other special needs, the sessions required and Direct Debit details.

Fee schedule

Fees are payable in accordance with the published tariff. Fees quoted are per child. Reductions in fees as a result of a change in age or a sibling joining the nursery will take effect at the beginning of the month following the event.

Fees are due on the first day of each calendar month in advance, payable by Direct Debit. Payment by other methods are welcome but a valid Direct Debit is required for all accounts (including early years entitlement only), except those who pay in full through the Tax Free Childcare scheme. Not having a valid Direct Debit in place will incur an administration fee of £5 per month. Debit and credit card payments should be made by phone by calling Mama Bear’s Finance office on 0117 958 2030/32.

Invoices are sent electronically by email. If you would prefer to receive a paper invoice by post we will make a monthly charge of £5 to cover the additional cost of this (this includes Early Years Entitlement-only places).

It is essential that you quote your Bill Payer Reference for all payments, especially bank transfers and childcare vouchers. If paying by Tax-Free Childcare please advise us in advance of your TFC payment reference number. This will help us identify your payment and credit the correct account. Your Bill Payer Reference can be found on your invoice and your Tax-Free Childcare payment reference number can be found on-line.

Monthly fees are calculated by multiplying the weekly fee by 52 weeks and dividing by 12 calendar months (unless in receipt of EYE, in which case fees are calculated on a sessional basis). No charge is made for the working days (i.e. non-bank holidays) when the nursery is closed over Christmas. There is no reduction for other holidays or child absence (see ‘Holidays’ below). To register for a place (excluding EYE-only sessions), a fee of £50 per child is payable with the completed Registration Form. This non-refundable fee secures the place in the nursery or on the waiting list, depending on availability. Where a child does not subsequently take up their place the registration fee is non-refundable. The Registration Fee does not apply to EYE-only sessions but will be charged if additional sessions are booked.

Mama Bear's Day Nursery Limited reserves the right to recover costs in full and to charge interest (both before and after any judgement) on overdue accounts at the rate of 2% per month until payment is made in full. Any payment returned by the bank or cancelled by yourself will incur an administration charge of £10.

Early Years Entitlement (EYE) for 3 and 4 year olds and qualifying children from nine months old

It is Mama Bear’s policy to support parents / carers by offering the Early Years Entitlement flexibly, either as stand-alone sessions (Early Years Entitlement-only) or as part of a broader booking pattern (fee-paying nursery place). Please note that in order to manage demand and to do this sustainably, we no longer offer term time only sessions and now only provide EYE sessions on an all year round (47.5 weeks p.a.) basis. Availability for funded places is given first to children already in our care, their siblings and then to new clients on a first-come-first-served basis. The dates of the funded weeks vary from year to year and are published in advance.

Under the Universal Entitlement the first 12 hours per week are funded for 47.5 weeks of the year. The funded hours per week are doubled to 24 for those qualifying for the Extended Entitlement. Parents / carers may choose from any of our available sessions, with a maximum of 10 funded hours in any one day.

The Early Years Entitlement funding is intended to deliver free, high quality, flexible childcare. It is not intended to pay for the costs of meals, drinks, snacks, other consumables or additional activities. To cover this a consumables charge of £2.50 per hour is made for funded sessions across all age groups. This is reduced to £2.25 if the child qualifies for a sibling discount. This charge is waived for parents / carers in receipt of the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) or where the child is funded through the low / no income route.

Any hours that fall outside of the funded entitlement are charged in line with our standard tariffs. Under scheme rules, parents / carers registering for Early Years Entitlement-only sessions are not required to pay a registration fee, however a registration fee will be required to access all other sessions. Early Years Entitlement sessions are offered in line with the DfE and Local Authority’s Codes of Practice and are subject to their terms and conditions.

Please note that it is the parent’s responsibility to ensure that their application for Early Years Entitlement funding is made in line with the LEA’s requirements. Late, incomplete or invalid applications may result in nursery fees being charged at our normal rates for these sessions.

Holidays, absences and notice to terminate

The nursery is open for 51 weeks of the year. We are closed between the Christmas - New Year period and on all statutory bank holidays. Our quoted fee schedule has factored in these days to give a flat-rate throughout the year, except for December when no charge is made for the non-bank holidays when we are closed. Fees are payable at the full rate for all periods of child absence, including holidays, bank holidays and sickness. A calendar month’s notice in writing or a month’s fees in lieu of notice is required from the parent / carer to terminate a child’s place in the nursery or reduce the number of hours normally taken by that child. Where a child’s place is terminated by the nursery due to non-payment of fees or other dispute a charge equivalent to one month’s fees will be made by the nursery in lieu of notice.

Disruptions to Service (Force Majeure)

In cases of disruption to service Mama Bear’s will do everything in its power to operate the service where it is safe to do so. However, severe disruptions may require the closure of the nursery or reduction in service. In such cases fees remain payable during any period of closure. Examples of force majeure include but are not limited to extreme weather (including snow and ice), other acts of God or third parties outside of the nursery’s control including disruptions to highways, public transport, utilities and industrial action.

Sickness and illness (for more information please see Policy No. 05-408)

Any child who has, or develops, an infectious illness must be kept at home. This includes conditions such as vomiting, diarrhoea, discharges, conjunctivitis, sore throat and obvious rashes. In order to prevent the spread of illness, any child suffering from vomiting or diarrhoea must be kept at home until clear of symptom for a minimum of 48 hours. Fees are payable at the full rate during the period of sickness absence from the nursery.

Late collection charges

Mama Bear’s supports working families and understands the difficulties of balancing work and family commitments. To this end we do not charge parents for occasional late collection of children for up to 15 minutes after the agreed collection time. However late collection does cause significant disruption and increased staff costs. Therefore repeated late collection or collection beyond 15 minutes after the end of the session will be charged at £10 per 15 minutes or part thereof. Parents who have difficulty collecting by 6.00pm can pre-book a late collection (up to 7.00pm) but please note that a minimum of 48 hours notice is required in order for us to arrange appropriate staff cover.

Data protection

Mama Bear’s Day Nursery Ltd. is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 (Reg. No. Z8008837) to process personal information pursuant to the provision of child care.