Fees | Waterloo Road

Fees Policy

Agreed On: January 2025

Review Date: January 2026

This fees policy forms part of the contract with the parents/carers and Waterloo Road Community Pre-school.

Waterloo Road Community Pre-school operates a service which is fair and competitively priced. We aim to offer a high quality, safe and stimulating environment that provides a service that is good value for money. Opening times of the setting are 9.00 – 3.45 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We offer an optional start time of 8:30am which must be booked in advance and will be added to your invoice as required.

Fee Rates From April 2025

Per hour - £5

Per AM or PM session (3 hours) - £15

Lunchtime (0.75hr) - £3.75

All day (6.75 hours) -£33.75

8:30am start (0.5 hours) - £2.50

Bookings, Fees and Invoicing:

Services incorporated into the hourly rate are drinks and snacks provided in café.
We do not add on any separate additional charge nor ‘top-up’ fee to funded places for these or for materials, consumables, registration or business running costs.
Fees are still payable if your child does not attend the setting due to a family holiday.
Fees are still payable when a child is absent due to sickness on a short-term basis.
Longer periods of absence will be considered on an individual basis.
We do not charge for bank holidays or inset days. Advance notice of 1 term will be given to parents of any inset days.
Fees will still apply if the pre-school is unable to open due to unforeseen circumstances.
Where the closure is related to a public health issue such as Covid-19 we will charge in accordance with current Early Years Government Guidance.

Invoices are issued at the beginning of each term. These will indicate the hourly rate and number of sessions booked, and the total number of hours (if applicable) that are funded. Fees are to be paid by the dates stated on the invoice either in monthly instalments or the full balance.
All invoices will need to be paid for by the end of term to ensure your child keeps their place at pre-school the following term.
Payment can be made either by BACS payments or cash. Details can be found at the bottom of the invoice.
We are able to accept some employer childcare vouchers as payment, please let us know if this is relevant to you.
Any change of hours needs to be agreed with the Pre-school and will require one month of notice.
Parents are required to give 1 months’ notice for leaving Pre-school or decreasing hours, and 1 month’s fees are payable in lieu of notice.
Late Collection charges: there will be a charge of £10 for the first 10 minutes then £5 for every 5 minutes thereafter.

If fees are not paid on time: Late payment of fees results in additional administrative work and will incur charges as noted below:
A reminder letter will be given if payment is not received by the date on the invoice.If payment is still not received within the time frame stated on this reminder a £10 late payment charge will be added to the fees and a second letter issued.
If the payment remains outstanding 7 days after the second reminder a further £10 charge will be added
Failure to pay within 1 week following this will risk suspension of the child’s place at manager’s discretion.
If a cheque is returned by our bank unpaid (‘bounced cheque’) an administrative fee of £5 will be charged.
If no payment is received, we will seek legal advice and commence proceedings with the HM Courts & Tribunals Service, to recover the amount owed to the setting.
Should you encounter any difficulty in paying please speak to our Administrator or Pre-school Manager as soon as possible.
We will at all times respect confidentiality and aim to work with parents/carers to reach a realistic solution.

Funding Entitlement

Every child is entitled to 15 hours funding once they are 3 years old. The funding commences the term after their 3rd birthday.

If your child is born:

1st Sept – 31st Dec they will receive funding from January

1st Jan – 31st March they will receive funding from April

1st April – 31st August they will receive funding from September.

This funding will be applied automatically once the child is registered at our setting.

There are 570 hours of funding available across the year (with a maximum of 242 to be used in the Summer Term).Some terms are longer than what the funding covers, which is when a shortfall occurs.The sessions not covered by the funding will be invoiced to you.
Some 2-year-olds are also entitled to 15 hours funding; the eligibility criteria are based upon parent income or working hours.
Some working parents of three- and four-year-olds are entitled to an additional 15 hours of funded childcare per week, so 30 hours per week in total.
From September 2025, eligible working families of two-year-olds will also receive 30 hours of funding.
Up to 10 hours can be claimed in a day (please note our day is 6.75 hours long, or 7.25 hours if using our early start service) and up to 15 hours per week. If you wish your child to attend for more hours, spaces permitting, you will be charged at the above rate.
To find out if you meet the criteria for funding, you’ll need to apply online at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk.
If your application is successful, you’ll receive an eligibility code which we will need to check to enable us to claim the funding for you.We are required to gain consent from you before submitting the eligibility code check.
Any hours not covered by funding will be charged for at the same rate set for non-funded children.
To retain Working Families funded childcare you will need to check your details are up to date every 3 months. This is the parent’s responsibility. If you cease to meet the eligibility criteria, you will be able to retain your child’s place for a short time.This is referred to as a grace period, to allow continuity for the child and also give the parent some time to regain employment.Somerset County Council will inform us of the grace period end date, depending on the date you ceased to be entitled.This will usually be the end of the term following the one in which eligibility ended.

We are able to share your child’s funding entitlement with another provider.
If a family joining the pre-school is currently in their grace period, we unfortunately will not be able to offer them the extended entitlement hours until their entitlement is confirmed.
Working Families funding begins from the term after which the application has been approved. The deadlines are: 31st August for Autumn Term, 31st December for Spring Term and 31st March for Summer term, although we recommend families apply as early as possible.
To claim any funding, we need to have received the completed Somerset County Council form enclosed in your Parent Pack, along with the birth certificate when your child is enrolled at pre-school. unless your child is aged 3 or 4 and receiving the Universal 15 hours of funding, this form alone will not guarantee funding, as outlined above parents must apply for this themselves through the links provided on www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
Each term we will also require eligible parents to sign a funding declaration form to indicate that the hours being claimed match with those booked. The form will come to you by via email from a provider called Funding Loop, although paper copies are available on request.

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