At the heart of the successful placement of a child with an early years setting is the relationship forged between parents and provider, and a clear, understandable parent-nursery contract is crucial to ensuring that the partnership gets off to a good start.
'In law, when a parent entrusts the care of their child to a provider, a contract is formed, whether the parent pays directly or the place is Government funded,' says Christine Betts, senior lawyer in the schools and childcare team at Bristol-based firm Veale Wasbrough Lawyers.
'It is helpful for both provider and parent to have a written document setting out the "terms and conditions" of that contract and the mutual rights and responsibilities that arise. This reduces the possibility of misunderstandings and disputes.'
Early years consultant Laura Henry says, 'What you put in depends a bit on your own individual setting. But it does help build a positive relationship, when a child is joining the setting, for someone from the senior management or the child's keyworker to go through the terms and conditions and give a brief but clear overview of the contract and the policies and procedures.'
Clear and concise
'The most important thing is that the contract should be clear and readable,' says Anne Naylor, finance director of the National Day Nurseries Association. 'Draw up your own contract and then get it checked over by a lawyer but avoid legalese. Get both parents to sign, where both parents have responsibility for the child. If someone else, maybe Granny, is paying the fees, you need to get them to sign a form agreeing to pay promptly which can be attached to the contract.
'You can keep the contract very brief. It needs only be one page. The parents sign and date it, you sign it and you each keep a copy. Then you can have the parents sign a separate agreement to your terms and conditions.'
The contract issued by the Westminster Children's Society, entitled 'WCS and Parent Promise', lists the society's pledges, for example, 'to aim to provide a safe, stimulating and secure environment', as well as the key requirements on the parent, such as to pay fees promptly.
WCS reviews its agreement regularly and, says chief executive June O'Sullivan, 'When parents come in every six months to talk through their child's progress, the manager will ask, "Are we doing what we said we would? Are you comfortable with these arrangements?"'
Key issues
The contract covers the key issues of:
* hours the child is attending
* fees to be charged, how and when they are to be paid, plus any extra charges, including deposits. Many settings require an administration fee for handling the child's registration and a month's fees as deposit
* notice of termination of the contract plus notice of a reduction in the child's attendance hours. Most settings require between four clear weeks'
and two months' written notice
* collection arrangements and penalties for late collection
* circumstances in which the setting may require the child to be removed - for example, for non-payment of fees
* the parent's duty to inform the setting of any changes in the contact details for the child and family.
The contract also requires parents to accept and abide by the nursery's policies and procedures as covered in its terms and conditions. Usually parents are given a copy of this overview document in the nursery information pack. Some settings specifically ask parents to agree to:
* comply with the nursery's equal opportunities policy
* confirm their understanding that the nursery is under an obligation to inform social services if they feel the child's welfare is in danger.
Terms and conditions
Nathan Archer, of the Children's House Consultancy, says issues routinely covered by terms and conditions are:
* holidays - some settings charge full fees when the child is away on holiday; others charge a reduced rate or nothing for two weeks' leave after the child has attended for, say, a year, but will levy the full fee on bank holidays when the nursery is closed
* property and belongings - this makes clear that while every reasonable effort is made to ensure that children's belongings are not lost or damaged, the setting cannot be held responsible for loss or damage to children's property, unless due to staff negligence
* insurance - stating the setting has employer's and public liability policies
* accident procedure - reserving the setting's right to administer basic first aid when necessary. Parents will be informed of all accidents and required to sign their child's accident form. For accidents involving hospital treatment, every attempt will be made to contact parents/carers, but failing this, the setting is authorised to act on parents' behalf and authorise necessary treatment
* illness - settings request parents not to bring their children to nursery if they are suffering from any infectious diseases and reserve the right to contact parents if the child becomes ill while at nursery
* security - underlining the strict policy that under no circumstances is a child allowed to leave the nursery with anyone unknown to the staff unless previously arranged by the parents, when the nursery will require the person's name, address and telephone number, and proof of identity.
Enrolment form
A nursery-parent contract often runs alongside an admission or enrolment form, asking for information such as:
* contact details, including the child's name, date of birth, home address and telephone number, contact details for the child's parents/carers/guardians, including where and when they work and emergency telephone numbers
* details of any other person authorised to collect the child from the setting
* the child's health record, including details of the family GP, the child's vaccinations, any allergies and special dietary requirements for health or cultural reasons
* details about the child, including their daytime sleep routines and whether they have a special toy or comforter
Consent forms
Parents are usually asked to sign various consent forms, for example, on data protection or allowing staff to apply suntan cream if necessary, including giving permission for the child to:
* have their photograph taken
* go on local outings
* receive appropriate emergency treatment in the parent's absence
* be given, at the parents' request, prescribed medication - but the parent will be asked to sign a medicines log.
CASE STUDY: THE GROVE, ISLINGTON
The Grove, Islington is ideally placed for parents working in the City of London. The parent-nursery contract drawn up by Rebecca Browne and Elaine Catchpole underlines the importance of tailoring your agreement to your setting and the children and parents who use it.
'It is a standard contract which we personalised,' says Ms Catchpole. 'All our policies and procedures are in the parents' information pack which they are given when the child starts with us. We were close to the Kings Cross bomb on 7 July last year so we have a policy explaining what happens if there is a bomb scare.
'The parents sign in the contract that they agree with our terms and conditions.
The contract explains: 'Our opening times; the fees structure, how we want fees to be paid, that we want a month's deposit and two months' notice in writing and the deposit covers that last month; the security arrangement for the collection of children and it can only be done by an authorised person; the fact that we need to be informed about emergency contact numbers and if they change; that the staff are qualified first aiders and what would happen if there were an accident; parents must notify us if the child is going to be absent, and should not bring in a child who is infectious; we will not administer medicines unless prescribed by the GP and then the parent has to sign the medicines form; parents can enter into a private agreement, which is nothing to do with us and for which we have no liability, with the staff to do babysitting.
'A couple of years ago we added a clause about parents headhunting our staff. It says if a parent takes on a staff member within six months of them leaving our nursery they have to pay us 2,000.
'Another thing we had to change was the penalty fee for late collection. We used to charge an hourly rate but people were abusing it. We could be here until 8pm. Parents were only paying 7 to 8 an hour and thought nothing of it. It was unfair on us and the staff. Now the charge is made after the first five minutes at the rate of 20 for every 15 minutes and the late collection has stopped.'
