nursery notice to leave.

xxvickixx

I am thinking of chaning DS to another nursery. It said in the info I collected just before he started that it was free for 5 sessions. Now I have been charged for activities that my literature states is free and I am being asked to pay for even more for this term. There are several other things that they have failed to deliver on.

I a a bit concerned that if I try to switch this term they will insist on notice of a term and I will have to pay even more money I wasn't expecting to.

Could this fall under breach of contract and would I be able to avoid giving notice due to that?

Is there anyone I could speak to for advice before I go upsetting the nursery.
And also surely I don't have to pay retrospectively for the previous term for which they said there would be no cost? i can understand if they need to start charging for certain things then they have rights to do this but I would have expected some notice of this.

McKneff

Did you sign a contract and did you read the Terms and Conditions

xxvickixx

Hi, yes and yes, and the t&c state that there are no charge for activities at the moment.

kingfisherblue

The terms and conditions should state how much notice is required. It should also state whether activities are charged and if they are not, I would query this. Are the five sessions free because they are government funded? Are the chargable amounts for items that have to be replaced (cookery is the first activity that springs to mind, but not many nurseries offer this). Ask the nursery where in the literature does it state that you will be charged for these activities.

You can ask for any charging policy that the nursery has - I deal with a local community nursery and all policies are displayed in the area where parents wait to collect their child.

If you feel that you are being unfairly charged, ask for a breakdown of costs. If you want to challenge it, do so in writing. Also ask for a copy of the complaints procedure.

I am assuming that the nursery is registered with OFSTED. You can always contact them if the nursery is breaking its own terms and conditions or if you do not feel that your concerns have been dealt with fairly or answered properly.

betsie

If you are going to move him I would do it now as head count week (for govt funding) is 1st wk in May. You may find it hard to find a place at this time of year though and you may have to wait till the start of the new school year in Sept. From the term after your childs 3rd birthday either the sept, Jan or April the govt pay for 15hours which is normally, 5 three hour sessions. Some places do change small amounts for other things. I work for a pre-school which is a registered charity and we charge a resource payment for every term (6 a year) on top of session fees to help cover costs (approx £15 a 6 week term) but any money left at the end of the year goes back into the pre-school. They may have to charge for small extras as many nursery/pre-schools only just cover costs.

smithyjules

Hi there, I have worked in Nurseries and also have my two children in two different Nurseries and just wondered what activites you have been charged for? the 5 free sessions are term time only and do not include lunch, just the sessions am and pm. if you could let us know exactly what you have been charged for and why you feel they have breached their contract then we can advise a bit more fully.

Jules

choccymoose

Ofsted will not get involved in charging structures, their role as the regulatory body is for the Statutory side of the Early Years Foundation Stage which fees do not come into.

The best people to contact to discuss the matter with, if you have not had a suitable response direct from the nursery, is the Local Authority department that administers what was the Nuresery Education Grant can't remember for the life of me what its called now!! having mind freeze. If you contact your local family information service they should be able to point you in the right direction, explain the situation to them and if there are any discrepencies they are usually able to follow up quiries with regards to fees

the administering of the free entitlement is now differnent in each local authorities since the flexable 15hrs came in, you will need to speak to the department that handles the headcount (as above) to find out what their terms and conditions are too

where i'm from the entire allowance is added up and divided by 3 (terms) and then it is up to parents when that allowance is used over that term. Parents who use ful day care usualy have the amount deducted equally off the bill at the end of the month, parents with children in pre-schools take their free sessions only or pay for extra sessions etc, really depends on how the Local authroity allow parents to use the allowance

Hope this makes sense have had a really hectic day,

pm me if you need further help -its part of my day job

Choccy

xxvickixx

Thank you for your replies. Sorry I was deliberately being a bit vague as I didn't want the nursery to be identifiable IYKWIM. But this seems to have been unhelpful so...

The 5 free sessions are fine, they are free.

On the last day of the spring term I was asked for money for the Spring and Summer term for one activity (like jo jingles type thing) that when I enrolled DS in January I was told in writing was free and had naver been told otherwise.

Yesterday I was told that they are going to be charing eveyone for the other activity they do. These are not small amounts to subsidise the classes, they are the full cost so to go from free to fully paid for by parents I think is quite a hike especially as it has not been communicated effectively.

There were two reasons that we chose this nursery over our local ones, their healthy eating policy and the free classes both of which are not the case any more. I feel that if we looked at them all now we would not have chosen this one.

I'm going to look into a availibility of a place at one near me tomorrow and take it from there.