Fee-Charging Policy
Childminder Name: Mrs Denise Barrett
EY Number: EY397753
DFE Number: 537895
This fees policy should be read alongside/forms part of the contract with the parents/carer and Mrs Denise Barrett.
Fees will be discussed with parents during initial contractual discussions and will be set out in the ‘Contract’ between Mrs Denise Barrett and person with parental responsibility.
Opening Times
Monday - Thursday 7.30am - 5.30pm. Hourly childminding rate £5.00
Friday 7.30am - 5.00pm. Hourly childminding rate £5.00
Hours child minded outside contracted hours, occasional unsocial hours, occasional childminding, charges due to child illness, parent illness, occasional days off are all charged at £5.00 per hour for all contracted hours. No overnight care is available.
Invoicing and Payment
Payments are due 1st of the month - one month in advance. Payments can be made by bank transfer, through Tax Free Childcare, a childcare voucher provider or by cash.
Your invoice will clearly state which hours were taken as funded hours (the general extra contributions for services) and which were taken as additional hours.
Where possible I will be flexible to accommodate changing needs, so if hours need to be changed, reduced or additional hours required please contact me as soon as possible to discuss this. Four weeks’ notice must be given to reduce contractual hours. I am required to operate within statutory ratio’s (EYFS September 2021) and am unable to go over those numbers.
In the case of non-funded hours, my fees include the following: all trips and entry fees including those to playgroups attended. Parents are only responsible for paying for contracted hours at the rate of £5.00 per hour. No other charges apply.
Late payment fee
A fee of £15 will be charged if you do not settle your invoice by the end of the month it is due. The late invoice will continue to incur a £15 a month late payment charge until it is settled. This is in the ‘Contract, between Mrs Denise Barrett and person with parental responsibility.
Unpaid fees
If fees are unpaid the following procedure will take place:
Parents will receive a letter within 2 weeks requesting payment of outstanding fees.
Should the fees remain unpaid:
A second letter will be sent to parents, requesting payment of outstanding fees within 7 days. The ‘Contract’ will clearly state that non-payment of fees which have been outstanding for 60 days or for reoccurring late payment of fees will mean that I will terminate the ‘Contract’.
Payment by cheque will not be considered as payment until cleared.
Late Collection
A late collection fee of £1.25 for every 15 minutes will be charged if you are late collecting your child.
Holiday and Sickness
I am closed all Bank Holiday Mondays, Good Friday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the days between Boxing Day up to and including New Year’s Day, plus other Public Holidays. No fee is payable as my service is not available.
Mrs Barrett can take up to 2 weeks holiday a year (not including the days listed above), where no fee is payable because my service is not available.
A parent may take up to 2 weeks holiday a year from my setting where is no charge is made (that is 2 weeks of contracted hours and not 14 days). If you take your child out of setting for a longer period, the standard £5.00 per hour for all contracted hours is payable.
Full contracted childminding fees of £5.00 per hour are payable if your child is ill and unable to attend, or if you (parent) are ill and unable to bring your child.
Covid-19 and fees
As we learn to live with Covid-19 can I ask that if your child has possible symptoms could you please keep them home and take a PCR test and inform me of the result. Possible cases are advised to stay home and avoid contact with other people while they are waiting for their result. PCR tests (rather than LFD test) are recommended for people with the main symptoms of Covid-19. If the possible case cannot, or will not get tested but Covid-19 is suspected (e.g. one of the three main symptoms) I will not accept your child in setting for the period where they may reasonably be infectious to other children (e.g. for 10 days from symptom onset or until well). If the result is negative your child can return once they feel well and are at least 24 hours fever free (without medication). If your child tests positive, please keep them home. They are advised to isolate until well (fever free) and either: 10 days have passed, or they have produced negative LFD tests on two consecutive days with the first taken no earlier than day 5. Routine NHS Test and Trace contact tracing has ended and there is no longer a legal requirement for close contacts to isolate and they are no longer advised to test daily using LFDs. If a child tests positive in setting, my setting can remain open.
Full contracted childminding fees of £5.00 per hour are payable whilst your child is not attending Daisy Dolls, because they are self-isolating, or unable to attend because their family is self-isolating and cannot bring them to setting. If your child is receiving Early Education Funding for 2, 3 or 4-year-olds, 88p per hour contribution for all funded hours is payable whilst your child is self-isolating, or unable to attend because their family is self-isolating and cannot bring them to setting.
If I or a family member test positive, my setting will close following Covid-19 Guidance. Whilst my setting is closed there will be no fees payable.
Bad Weather Provision
Childminding fees are still payable when a parent decides not to send their child because of bad weather conditions, but I am still open and my provision is available.
Reservation Deposits
When I am requested to hold a place for a child, a reservation deposit is required. Details will be discussed during initial contractual discussions and details will be set out in the ‘Contract’ between Mrs Denise Barrett and person with parental responsibility. The legal difference between Reservation deposits and Payment deposits will be fully discussed bringing attention to section 9 of the guidance on completing the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years contract.
Termination of the contract
I reserve the right to terminate the contract immediately in the event of a child’s behaviour that endangers the safety of other children and adults around them, the unsuitable behaviour of parents or non-payment of fees following the non-payment procedure. In any other circumstances 4 weeks written notice can be given by either party.
Early Education Funding for Two, Three and Four-Old's
Please search BCP ‘Early Education Funding for Three- and Four-Years olds’, ‘Early Education Funding for Two Year olds’, ’30 Hours Childcare’ for lots of useful information in relation to Early Education Funding.
All 3 and 4 year old children get up to 15 hours of Early Education Funding towards childcare per week, and some 2 year old children are also eligible. The 30 hours Early Education Funding offer is for working families in England with 3 and 4-year-old children. Parents must be working and each earning at least £120 a week, but no more than £100,000 a year.
Up to 30 hours of Early Education Funding towards childcare is available for 38 weeks of the year (1140 hours, the same as school terms). I can also stretch your entitlement across more weeks by you taking fewer hours over each week (e.g. 23.75 hours over 48 weeks). This is referred to as the ‘stretched offer’.
Parents claiming 15 hours Early Education Funding can claim up to 15 hours in any one week; up to 10 hours in a day and a maximum of 570 hours each year, flexibly.
Although I can deliver all Early Education Funded sessions ‘flexibly’ the minimum length of a ‘session’ has been set by the Government as 2.5 hours and the maximum length set by the BCP Council as 10 hours in any one day and no more than two providers in any day.
For three and four-year old children, a child becomes eligible the term following their third birthday. For eligible two-year old children, the funding begins at the start of the term following a child’s second birthday.
Early Education Funding ceases on 1 September when a child enters the reception class of a school or academy.
For parents of children accessing additional hours above the funded entitlement they will be charged at the normal hourly rate of £5.00. Please note that sessions missed due to your holiday or sickness cannot be carried forward. If I am unable to deliver session/s through my sickness, I will endeavour to offer you other sessions, otherwise they will not be charged for.
What you pay:
Early Education Funding for Two, Three and Four Old's
Places will be fully funded and general extras charge will not apply to the following:
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If your child accesses Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)
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If you access 15 hours funding but your child attends 30.25 hours a week or more per week
If you do not fall under one of the above exclusions, there is an additional charge of 88p per hour on all funded hours. The 88p per hour is valid until end of March 2022. It will be reviewed for the academic year 2022/2023.
The general extra charge contributes towards outings, trips, entry to play groups, educational subscriptions like IXL, the Boogie Mites music programme, consumables and services such as Tapestry etc.
Please feel free to talk to me about the general extra charge if you are experiencing financial difficulties.