On registration of your child you will receive a letter confirming your child’s nursery fees unless they are accessing free 15 hour entitlement only. It is parent/carers responsibility to ensure that nursery fees are received and paid by the due date.
Monthly fees are calculated by the daily charge, multiplied by the number of days attended per week, multiplied by 51(weeks of the year the nursery is open) and then divided by 12 (months of the year). This calculation then means that you pay the same amount regardless of how many weeks are in each month.
Fees must be paid in advance by standing order or bank transfer on the first day of each month. It may be possible with agreement from the director to pay fees on a weekly or daily basis. Fees must then be paid in advance for that week or day PRIOR to leaving your child at nursery. If payment is not received in advance we may refuse to let your child attend nursery until fees are paid and may also terminate your child’s nursery space requiring you also to pay the months’ notice period. Please note that it sometimes can take up to five days for payments to reach our account once they have been sent from your account.
It is important that you pay the exact and correct figure along with using the correct fee payment reference as stated in your acceptance letter or when we have had a
fee increase.
Invoices
Little Learners DO NOT invoice parents/carers on a monthly, weekly basis for nursery fees as you are advised the amount of your nursery fees in your acceptance letter and these should not change unless you have increased or decreased your sessions, in which case you will receive an amended acceptance letter. If fees are not paid by the due date a late payment fee of £20.00 will be added and an invoice will be raised incurring an administration fee of £10.00.
Tax Credits / Universal Credit
Please note that the HMRC do check with the nursery from time to time what days your child attends nursery and how much parents are required to pay for their child’s space, so please keep them informed of any changes for example a reduction in sessions or entitlement to early years funding which will mean a reduction of nursery fees. We have a legal obligation to share information with them. Should you require any letters to confirm payment of nursery fees, please note that we will require for you to bring in your original request letter, text or email. We will then forward the letter to them direct within 7 working days. Any tax credit, invoice or letter requests should be sent to accounts@little-learners.net
College / University / Care to Learn and any other funded payments
We are happy to accept funded payments from colleges and universities, however will need confirmation that they will be paying the correct amount PRIOR to reserving a space for your child. When we need to complete funding forms for colleges and universities we will need to be the LAST person to complete this form and we will complete, copy for the file and return this form to the college or university DIRECT within 7 working days. Should your funding provider fail to pay your child’s nursery fees for whatever reason (i.e. non-attendance at college) then please note YOU will be liable for payment of fees including a one month’s notice period. You will be responsible for any shortfall in payments from your funded payments.
Vouchers
We are happy to accept nursery vouchers and are registered with most voucher companies. Should you make an overpayment by voucher and do not wish to carry it over to the next month, please note that we have to return any voucher payments direct to the voucher company. When you first register with a voucher company please advise us which voucher company you will be using and how much you will pay each month.
Late Payment
Payments not received by the due date will incur an invoice administration fee of £10.00 plus surcharge of £20.00 as a late payment fee. We may withdraw your child’s place from nursery until payment is received and may terminate your child’s space should we not receive funds within a reasonable amount of time. Any outstanding fees, additional charges and notice in lieu not received within a period of one month will automatically be dealt with through the county court or small claims court and may be forwarded onto a debt collection agency. Additionally court fees, legal fees and agency charges will be added until the debt is paid off in full or an alternative agreement has been made.
Absenteeism
If your child is absent from nursery due to sickness, long term holidays, family holidays or any other reason full payment is required and no refunds will be given. Fees are due in advance and for the duration of any holidays. This is because we still have to pay for staff salaries, utility bills etc whilst your child is absent from nursery.
Statutory Holidays and Other Closures
Payment is required in full for 4 staff training days per annum, Bank holidays and statutory holidays. The nursery will be closed from 12.30pm on Christmas Eve and will re-open the second working day of the New Year, the first working day being staff training day. You are not charged for the week at Christmas as fees are calculated on 51 weeks of the year.
Should the nursery have to close for a short period of time due to unforeseen circumstances such as severe weather conditions, riots, acts of god etc, no refunds will be given.
Sibling Discount
Sibling discount is offered on permanent sessions fees only and not additional sessions booked and is 10 percent off the older child’s fees. The sibling discount does not apply to registration fees.
Reducing/Changing sessions
If you wish to reduce the number of days/sessions your child attends we require one calendar month’s written notice. It is your responsibility to ensure we receive the correct written notice. Once we have received your notice we will inform you of space availability as it is not always possible to choose the days or sessions that you require as we have a certain amount of full time and part time spaces and sessions. Please note that under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are we able to swap sessions, unless this is a permanent request and we have availability.
Notice of Leaving
If you wish to terminate your child’s space for any reason at Little Learners Day Nursery we require one calendar month’s notice in writing or one month’s fees in lieu. If we do not see your child at nursery and fees have not been paid for a period of two weeks and we have been unable to reach your via telephone/email, we will then write to you to ask you to let us know the current situation and we will give you a date to respond. If you fail to respond by this date we will assume that you no longer need your space so your one month’s notice will take effect from that date. You will then be invoiced and liable for the outstanding amounts including your one month’s notice period. If your child has left nursery and you have failed to cancel your nursery fee payments or nursery voucher payments, please note that there will be a £35 charge for each payment that we have to refund. If your account is in arrears we may terminate your child’s space with immediate effect and you will be invoiced the outstanding balance, failure to pay the outstanding by the date given will result in the outstanding amount being transferred to court or a debt collection agency.
Additional Sessions and Early and Late Fees
Please note that these additional sessions should be paid for IN ADVANCE prior to the session and no invoice will be raised. Failure to pay in advance will mean an invoice will be processed with an administration fee being added along with a late payment fee. Once you have booked additional days or sessions these cannot be cancelled as you have prevented someone else from having that session.
Late Collection of Children
For insurance purposes and in order to ensure that the staff do not exceed their contracted hours, you will be charged should you be late to collect your child at the end of their session. You will be charged £10.00 for collections between 1 minute and 15 minutes late, thereafter £10.00 for every 15 minutes or part thereof. So if you are due to collect at 1.00pm and arrive at 1.20pm then you will be charged £20.00. Payment of late collection fees are due within 7 days from the date you collected your child late or will incur further late payment fees.
Recruitment Fee
Should you offer any of our staff team employment within a period of 12 months of your child leaving our setting, then we will charge a recruitment introduction fee of £4,000 for a member of staff holding a nursery nurse position with us, £4,500 for a member of staff holding a room leader or third in charge position with us and £5,000 if you offer a member of our management team employment. For safeguarding and data protection reasons, the nursery staff are NOT permitted to babysit for nursery children.
Annual Fee Review
In July there is an annual fee review of fees and you will be notified of any changes, which will take effect from the beginning of September. If you fail to amend your standing order or bank transfer payments to the correct amount then you will automatically be issued with an invoice, which will incur a £10 administration fee plus a £20 late payment fee, this will continue for subsequent payments each time until you have amended your payment to the correct amount.
15 Hours Funding for 9 Months - 2 Year Olds
The government is offering working parents of 9 month olds - 2 year olds 15 hours free nursery education from April 2024. Parents will need to apply via Childcare Choices.
30 Hours Funding for Working Parents from 9 Months + (September 2025)
The government offers working parents of 9 months old and above 30 hours free nursery education. Parents need to apply for the funding online at HMRC/Childcare
choices. If your application is successful then you will be given a reference number which needs to be given to the nursery.
In order to receive the funding the code needs to be given to nursery the term before funding begins and will be subject to eligibility checking via Croydon Early Years.
September to December – code needs to be given to the nursery by the middle of August
January to March – code needs to be given to the nursery by the middle of
November
April to July – code needs to be given to the nursery by the middle of March
Please be aware, it is parents’ responsibility to ensure that their details and reference numbers are updated and checked every 3 months in order to continue to receive 30 hours funding. Should your funding cease for any reason, sessions attended will be payable at our usual rate. Furthermore, if you decide to leave Little Learners and move to an alternative childcare provider, the usual one month notice in writing is required.
Refer a Friend
We have a refer a friend scheme in place as a thank you for any parents that you recommend to us. The nursery will credit you £25 for an EYF funded space or £50 for a paying space. The credit will be made once the child has started and completed their first three months with us.
Please ensure that you email accounts to advise who you have referred so that we can credit your nursery account.