Terms and conditions

Loughborough University Nursery Ltd is a subsidiary company of Loughborough University and registered in England under Company number 12085139. Our Finance Office is Burleigh Court Hotel, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU.

You are entering a contract with Loughborough University Nursery Ltd. These Terms and Conditions together with the Fee Sheet, Privacy Notice and Contract constitute your Parent Agreement with us regarding the provision of early years education and care.
 

Interpretation

The term “nursery” means Loughborough University Nursery. The term “Head of Nursery” means the person appointed to manage the nursery and its staff. The term “parent” means anyone with parental responsibility who signed the contract.
 

Registration, Bookings, Fees and Notice Periods

To register your child at the nursery, complete a enquiry form. Once you have received an offer and signed a contract, you must pay a non-refundable registration fee and settling in package to secure a place. This fee will not be refunded if the place is no longer required or not taken up. Before your child starts, you must complete all child and parent details, permissions, and consents on the Famly app including who has legal parental responsibility. Nursery places are allocated in accordance with our Admission policy.

To maintain our quality standards, we revise the nursery fees annually, and at least two month’s advance notice will be given before any changes are implemented.

Your child’s days cannot be swapped temporarily; however, additional sessions can be requested by speaking to the Admin Support team and will be charged at a daily rate and added to the monthly invoice.

We recommend a minimum of three days booking per week for continuity, if your child receives 30 hours of funded childcare. However, in some circumstances, we can offer a two-day booking per week.

The nursery sessions are 7:45am to 5:45pm or from 8:00am to 6:00pm. Children can be dropped off or collected at your convenience within the booked session times. If you wish to change your booking pattern, this is subject to availability. Reducing sessions requires a minimum of two months’ written notice. To cancel your child’s place, you must give two months’ written notice starting on the first of the month. Fees remain payable during the notice period even if your child does not attend.
 

Payments and Subsidies

All fees are charged monthly in advance and must be paid by the 10th of each month. Payments can be made by Bank Transfer, Tax-Free Childcare, Childcare vouchers, or salary sacrifice for Loughborough University or Imago employees. Both parents listed on the contract are jointly responsible for fees. Fees are calculated from the number of sessions booked to attend in the month, based on the fee structure. This means that the invoice amount will vary each month, depending on the number of days in the month. We do not accept cash or cheques.

Late payments incur a surcharge, and if fees remain unpaid, your child’s place may be withdrawn, and legal action may be taken.

University and Imago employees and students may qualify for a subsidy, but proof of eligibility is required. Subsidies do not apply to government-funded hours. If your circumstances change, you must inform the Nursery and University immediately. Any subsidies claimed falsely will be reclaimed.
 

Late Collection of a Child

If a child is collected after the agreed session end time, a late collection fee will apply. This fee is charged to cover additional staffing and operational costs incurred. Parents are expected to notify the nursery as soon as possible if they anticipate being late. Persistent late collection may result in a review of the child’s place at the nursery. See Nursery Fees for current charges.
 

Absences, Holidays and Closures

Fees remain payable during periods when your child is absent, including sickness and holidays. There is no charge for bank holidays or when the nursery closes between Christmas and New Year. Training days and exceptional closures will be charged at the full rate.

Children should attend regularly, and you must give prior notice on the Famly app for any holidays, appointments, or other absences. It is essential for the smooth running of the nursery that children are collected on time.

Parents must provide up-to-date contact details on the Famly app for themselves, and any emergency contacts permitted to collect their child. If neither the parent nor emergency contacts are able to collect your child at the end of the day, the nursery may contact Social Services. Parental permission is required in advance if a child is to be collected by someone other than a known parent. Anyone under the age of 16 will not be allowed to collect children from the nursery.
 

Government Funded Hours

Our nursery offers the Government’s 15-hour and 30-hour funding entitlement. The Department for Education provides these funded hours during 38 weeks of term time. For children who attend year-round, we “stretch” the funding across the year so that parents receive a number of funded hours each month. If your child starts midterm, please speak to the Admin Support team to confirm the number of funded hours available and the date the funding can be claimed from.

By claiming funding, you agree to allow us to stretch your entitlement. If, when your child leaves, they have used more funded hours than we have been able to claim from the local authority, we will charge you for any unfunded hours at our standard private rates. There is no refund for unused funding. If your child moves to another setting part-way through a term, the nursery will inform the local authority and stop claiming funding at the end of your notice period. Children joining mid-term, after the local authority headcount date, will be charged our standard rates until funding is confirmed.

Government funding does not cover the cost of meals, consumables, non-funded hours, or the educational enhancements that form part of our nursery provision. For this reason, we apply additional charges for food, health and hygiene supplies, and extracurricular activities. If you do not wish to pay these charges, you must notify the Nursery Manager in writing at least six weeks before the start of a term. Opting out applies for a full term, and additional charges will still apply during your notice period. If you have opted for Package 3 failure to provide the correct items may result in your child being unable to attend that day or additional charges being applied.

If your funded hours do not cover the full length of a session any unfunded hours will be charged at the non-funded hour rate shown in our Fee Sheet.

We are required to report absences to the local authority, and they may reclaim funding for missed sessions. Parents are responsible for paying any funding reclaimed due to absences. Missed funded hours cannot be carried forward or used later.

Funding can be shared between two providers, but this may affect the number of hours we can claim. Please inform us if you intend to split funding so we can advise you on the impact. Total funded hours cannot exceed the annual maximum set by the government.

It is your responsibility to apply or renew your eligibility code every 3 months on the Government Gateway portal. To claim funding, you must complete a Parent Statement of Undertaking form and provide the 11-digit eligibility code provided by the local authority. Failure to complete this form may result in loss of funding, and any unfunded hours will be charged at our standard rates for non-funded hours.
 

Safety and Wellbeing

Children who are unwell should not attend the setting. Specific exclusion periods are recommended for certain infectious diseases and can be found in official guidance:

If your child becomes unwell while at nursery, we will contact you or your emergency contact as detailed on the Famly app. If we feel your child is not well enough to remain at nursery, you may be asked to arrange collection. For the benefit of other children and adults, your child should remain at home until they have returned to full health. Any information communicated or advised to you by a medical professional must be shared with the nursery to ensure your child’s safety and health is suitably catered for.

If your child has a prolonged illness, please speak to the Head of Nursery to discuss your options.

We will work with you to cater for specific dietary and medical requirements. You must notify the nursery in writing if there are changes to a special diet or medical condition or changes to your child’s Health Care plan. Any advice from a medical professional must be shared with the nursery to ensure your child’s safety.

The university operates a parking charge for visitors’ students and staff on campus. There is a 30 minute grace period from entering to leaving campus for dropping off and collecting your child. It is your responsibility to ensure your car is registered on the parking portal if you are on campus for more than 30 minutes. The nursery is not liable for any parking charges.

The nursery cannot take responsibility for loss or damage to property and/or personal items. We recommend your child’s belongings are clearly labelled and toys kept at home.

The nursery will not tolerate, under any circumstances, behaviour towards staff which is deemed to be threatening, abusive or violent. Any such behaviour may result in termination of your child’s nursery place, or a refusal to allow the person back on the premises in the future.
 

Safeguarding and Data Protection

We have a duty of care to report any significant concerns about children to the Multi Agency Safeguarding authority and, where appropriate, Ofsted. We may note any incident or observation of a child where we deem the child may have been, or may be in the future, at risk of harm or neglect. In exceptional cases, this may be done without speaking to you first.

Parents must inform the nursery of any changes in parental responsibility, legal contact details or any court order affecting their child and provide a copy of the document

The nursery cannot take responsibility or liability for any services provided by our staff outside of our provision (such as babysitting). If you use any of our employees to provide services to you, you acknowledge and agree that this contract is kept entirely between yourselves and the individual.

We comply with data protection laws and handle your personal data responsibly. For more information, please see our privacy notice.
 

Complaints

If you have a complaint, speak to your child’s key person first, then the Team Manager. If the matter is unresolved, please refer to our complaint policy. You can also contact Ofsted on 0300 123 1231.

We may, at our absolute discretion, from time to time, update the terms of this Agreement and we will give parents no less than one month’s notice of any changes, unless we are otherwise required to amend the terms sooner by new or amended legislation or statutory guidance.

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