Teddington Terms & Conditions

Last updated: 01/02/2025

Reason for update/Change: Full company review including change to minimum attendance requirement 

The Provision

Only someone with parental/guardian responsibility for a child can enter into an agreement with Building Blocks.

Building  Blocks provides quality day care and education between 8:00am – 6:00pm Monday to Friday. Extended hours from 

7.30am – 6.30pm are available upon request. Our Kids Club is open until 6.30pm with our Holiday Club programme running from 7.30am - 6.30pm and is organised around the Richmond school terms. 

Sessions (Beautiful Babies/Outstanding Ones Only)

Morning and afternoon sessions are offered within our Beautiful Babies & Outstanding Ones room only. Children are welcome to attend either a morning (8.00am - 2.00pm) or an afternoon (2.00pm - 6.00pm). There is a minimum attendance requirement of 4 mornings/afternoons or 2 full days. 

Sessions (Top Toddlers, Premier Pre School, Nursery School)

All children will be required to attend full days with a minimum attendance requirement of two full days. 

Planned Closures

We are closed for one week between Christmas & New Year (including Christmas Eve), a Staff Inset Day (usually during the 

Autumn Term; Sept – Dec) and all Bank Holidays. 

Regrettably, refunds, re-allocation of days and deductions cannot be made if your child is ill, on holiday or for any other reason 

does not attend the setting.

Siblings Places

To assist families with more than one child under five years, we offer a 10% discount off the fees of the older child, or in the instance 

of twins off one child’s fees. There are no reductions for siblings in the Kids Club.

Children's Attendance

If you wish to change days or increase days, these requests must be made in writing to Early Years Admissions 

info@buildingblockschildcare.co.uk and will be granted dependent on availability. If this request cannot be accommodated, children 

will be placed on the internal waiting list. 

For families in the nursery accessing our extended hours (7.30am to 8am and 6pm 6.30pm) at least 2 weeks’ notice must be given 

in writing to reduce these elements of the day. 

Extra Sessions

Children must attend the same days each week. We do not allow swapping days due to holiday/illness etc. Extra sessions can be 

requested via the Room Lead and/or Early Years Manager at the setting who will check room availability. Extra sessions are charged 

at the daily rate and will be added to your subsequent months’ invoice. 

Holidays/Periods of prologned Absence

Families wishing to take a prolonged leave of absence are required to maintain their direct debit throughout the time they are away 

from the setting in order for their child’s place to be guaranteed upon their return. Building  Blocks is unable to allow for the 

freezing of fees at any time. You may request, in line with our terms and conditions, a reduction in days whilst away from the 

setting, however please note that we are unable to guarantee that the days will be there upon return. 

Changes to Family Information

Families are required to notify us immediately of any changes to their personal information e.g. change of address, email, contacts 

numbers including emergency contacts etc. 

Shared Vision

Here at Building  Blocks we acknowledge, embrace and celebrate difference. Our children are all unique individuals with 

unique capabilities, strengths, interests and skills. Differences come in many forms, some of which are hidden, but all need our 

understanding and support. We will always support children who learn differently, understand and see the world differently, play 

differently and experience life differently. They are all respected, validated, understood and supported here at Building  Blocks.

and it is our expectation that this is to be the case across the whole of our Building  Blocks community. 

Communication

Building  Blocks’ main method of communication is via email. Distribution lists are created for each room to share monthly 

newsletters and any other important information the setting feels need to be communicated with you. We also use a texting service 

from time to time to notify you of important emails to look out for or other relevant information. Your email address and 

telephone numbers will be automatically added to these lists when your child joins the setting.

Safeguarding

Building  Blocks have a statutory duty to report any concerns that a child may be at risk of serious harm to the Local Authority. This may be reported with or without parental or guardian consent as per the terms set out within our Safeguarding Policy and Procedure. (To read this in full please refer to our Parents Area on our website.)

Basis of Fee Calculation

Fees are calculated on an annual basis and then divided by 12. This allows for a consistent amount payable per month regardless of variations in the number of days in each month, planned closures and for our Kids Club school holidays. Families who have children attending our Kids Club during term time will be expected to maintain their direct debit during all school holidays irrespective of their child attending our holiday club or not.

Payment Terms

The fees are to be paid monthly in advance by Direct Debit on the 25th of the previous month or the next banking day thereafter. Invoices are issued and emailed on the 10th of each month (or first working day thereafter) for the following month and the amount to be collected by direct debit or other payment method is clearly communicated on the invoice. It is advised that invoices are checked and any discrepancies raised immediately with accounts accounts@buildingblockschildcare.co.uk

Payment for Holiday Club

Once Holiday Club places are confirmed parents/carers will receive an invoice via email for all dates booked. For children who regularly attend our Kids Club, these dates will be added to your Direct Debit which is maintained at all times throughout the year, however, parents/carers are NOT responsible for additional fees, outside of their usual monthly payment, if their child(ren) does not attend during school holidays.

For children who attend ‘Holiday Club Only,’ fees must be paid in full one week prior to your child’s first day at the Holiday Club. Payment can be made by bank transfer, childcare vouchers and government funded scheme.

Cancellation of Holiday Club Places

Notice to cancel your Holiday Club  booking altogether or to cancel particular dates must be given in writing (email is fine) to the manager of the Kids Club two weeks prior to the date(s) you are wishing to cancel. Failure to adhere to the cancellation policy will result in fees being charged as normal.

Fee Review

Fees are reviewed annually. Parents/carers are informed no later than the last week of February. Implementation of the new fee structures would then begin for April’s fees.

Accounts in Arrears

Should, at any point, your account become in arrears, any requests for additional days, extra sessions (including Holiday Club) or activities will be declined until your account is brought up to date. In the unlikely event your account is in arrears for more than 2 consecutive months and no contact has been made to rectify this, Building Blocks reserves the right to give parents/carers one months’ notice, with immediate effect. If there is an agreement in place that fees will be covered by a third party, a child’s parent/guardian will still be liable to cover fees in the event of nonpayments from the third party.

Late Collection

Any parent/carer who is running late and will not be on time to collect their child must inform the setting immediately. Persistent lateness will be monitored and charges may be incurred. Whilst we have a legal responsibility to ensure that a child is looked after if a parent/carer is late to collect a child, we are only registered to have children on the premises from 7.30am in the morning to 6.30pm in the evening. Early drop-offs or late collections impact on our statutory ratios and our registration.

Staff Recruitment

We expend a significant amount of effort and investment in recruiting, training and retaining our staff to ensure that we select and develop individuals who can offer the highest quality of service and continuity of care to our families. We would like to think that we would have a long partnership with our families, however, we can appreciate that circumstances can change. If you do leave us and have taken a member of our staff to work for you on an individual basis, you will be charged an agency fee of 15% of their current annual salary, which will go some way to covering our costs for re-implementing this extensive process.

Temporary and Emergency Closures

Building  Blocks endeavors to remain open at all times aside from Bank Holidays, the week between Christmas and New Year and our annual Staff Inset Day (held within our Autumn Term; Sept – Dec). In the event of a breakdown of essential services (e.g. heating failure, electrical failure, loss of water supply), severe weather conditions or where the setting has to close totally or partially due to an illness epidemic it is important that you are familiar with the following procedures.

As far as possible, parents/carers will be contacted by the setting via phone, email or text message, asking them to collect their child/children. Where the setting has closed due to inclement weather, loss of essential services or an illness epidemic, please ensure that you have confirmed that we will be open the following day before bringing your child back in.

In the event of heavy snow where transport services are badly affected, the setting will open providing staff are able to get to work, but we may have to offer a limited number of spaces, based on available and expected staff. This we do on a first come, first served basis. Sometimes we may ask parents/carers to wait with their child until staff members may be able to get in to the setting, or to take children home and return at a later time, once we have confirmation that staff are on their way. We may also need to ask parents/carers to make arrangements to collect their children early in such an eventuality.

In the unlikely event of excessive staff sickness / lateness that directly impacts staff arriving for their shift in the morning, parents/carers will be asked to wait with their child until staff members are able to get in to the setting. The health and safety of the children is paramount and exceeding government ratios is not permitted during this time.

Building  Blocks cannot provide refunds to parents/carers for emergency closure as we still need to pay staff who cannot get in to work, and such events are deemed to be force majeure. We understand that it is enormously inconvenient, and potentially costly, to parents/carers if the setting is forced to close or temporarily stop accepting children. If you are concerned that this could impact you, we would suggest that you consider taking out an insurance policy to cover such an eventuality.

Unacceptable Behaviour towards Staff

Building  Blocks are committed to promoting and improving a safe and secure environment for those who work within the setting so that that the highest standards of care and education can be made available to all children and their families. We have a duty and responsibility to ensure that all staff and volunteers can go about their work without fear of being subject to unacceptable behaviour. Building  Blocks   and its staff will always seek to act according to the principles of fairness, honesty, integrity and respect and expect that our parents/carers will uphold these principles also. Building  Blocks has a zero tolerance approach to any verbal or physical abuse including the use of inappropriate words or behaviour which could cause distress and/or constitute as harassment. Such behaviour can be either in person, by telephone, letter or email.

Complaints

Building  Blocks will endeavour to respond to all concerns/complaints fully and promptly and do a thorough investigation if required. There are a number of avenues available to those who may wish to raise a concern or make a more formal complaint (Please refer to our complaints procedure, available at the setting)

Notice to Leave  Building  Blocks

Notice that a child is leaving must be given in writing (info@buildingblockschildcare.co.uk) at least 8 weeks before your child’s last day and an acknowledgement of this notice to leave will be sent to you confirming your child’s last day. A 4 week notice period applies to any hours which are funded, although you can choose to extend this notice period to align with any fee paying hours.

Termination or Loss of place at  Building Blocks

We reserve the right to terminate your child’s place immediately in the event that any fees remain unpaid, where any of the terms and conditions are breached, or if termination of a place is considered to be in the best interest of the setting.

Review of Terms and Conditions

Building  Blocks reserve the right to alter our terms and conditions at any time. In this instance, you will receive written notification regarding any amendments.

Deposit Return

Deposits are refunded 4 - 6 weeks after your child’s last day at Building  Blocks providing there are no outstanding payments on your account to settle.



Please note: Once your deposit has been received, should you then decide not to start with us we reserve the right to retain your deposit.