Terms and Conditions

Fees

Fees are paid on the Monday of each week in advance. Fees are due for 52 weeks per year. Childs name must be the reference on any payment to avoid confusion. Fee must be paid even when your child is absent, sick days, public holidays, Christmas period & closures due to exceptional circumstances beyond our control e.g adverse weather.
PAYMENT Terms are by weekly Standing order.
Standard fees are based on a maximum of 9 hours per day.
Fees are calculated from the commencement date stated by the parents on the booking form.
Delaying commencement date without 2 month’s notice will result in fees being incurred from the original commencement date.
No reduction of fees will be made if your child is absent for any reason.
No fee concessions are given to parents who require their child to:
Take holidays throughout the year.
Take extended periods of absence throughout the summer months.
Shorten their hours at any time throughout the year (illness or other).
Normal fee is payable on sick days, occasional days off, mid-term breaks or bank holidays, or closure in exceptional circumstances (eg. weather warning / adverse weather conditions)
If your child is booked in full-time during the holiday periods i.e summer, Full-time rates apply.
Parents taking leave i.e. Parental, unpaid maternity leave or any other leave; pay their fee in full, to keep their place for their return.
An additional fee may be imposed for continuous late collection.
Arrears in payment of fees may result in termination of your Childs place.
Management reserve the right to increase fees on an annual basis. Any change in fees will be provided with one month’s notice.
If your holidays coincide with the payment of fee date, Please ensure that the fee is paid in advance to prevent outstanding debts.

Government Schemes & funding terms

Children who wish to participate in the ECCE & NCS schemes are entitled to a subsidy on fees once their application has been approved. Full fees must be paid until the subsidy is agreed. Any overpayment will be reimbursed to your bank account within 7 working days. If the subsidy (funding) is revoked for any reason e.g prolonged periods of absence (20 consecutive days or patterns of non-attendance on the agreed days over a 4 week period or longer, the difference between the payment and fee must be paid for by parents/guardians.

A ECCE booking deposit separate to the creche enrolment fee of €100 is required to hold a place on the ECCE scheme. This a non-refundable deposit if you do not cancel the place before June 30th (60 days notice in writing) . The annual value of the ECCE subsidy is spread over 52 weeks/12 months from Sept -Aug each year (full day care).

NCS subsidy deductions are worked out by totalling the weekly values of the subsidy from the commencement date until the end date of the award. This total value is then divided among the number of weeks within the award and applied to the child’s weekly invoice. This ensures that at the full value of the subsidy is given to during the time period of the award.

CHICK award (email/screen grab include CHICK number, validity date and subsidy amount) must be submitted to Management 10 days before commencement in order to be applied to the next week’s billing period. When a parent submits a CHICK to Care & Education Academy the following steps must take place:

CHICK details and agreed hours of attendance are inputted onto the NCS portal by Care & Education Academy
Parent will receive an email from NCS to accept the hours on the NCS portal
After the hours are accepted by the parent Care & Education Academy generate a parental agreement which is sent to the parent for signing with our fees policy
Parent returns signed agreement and subsidy is then activated and applied to weekly fees

The subsidy cannot be applied until all of these steps have been completed. Any delays will result in full fees being paid until the subsidy is activated.

Should an ECCE/NCS award end early or a child depart the service a reconciliation will be done and any outstanding subsidy under or overpaid will be included the child’s final invoice. Further details are available in our Policies & Procedures and detailed information on all government schemes is available on https://ncs.gov.ie/. Please note it is the parent’s responsibility to apply for NCS funding.

Deposit

One weeks fee is required when booking your child in to the service, only with this booking deposit payment is the place reserved. Once an enrolment fee is paid there will be no reduction in the number of days for the first 6 months.
The deposit is held for the duration of the child’s time at Care and Education Academy and is not part of ongoing childcare fees.
In the case of withdrawal of your child from the centre, you agree to give 30 days notice in writing that you do not wish to retain the reserved place.
The refunding of any deposit will be issued on the last working day of the month service ceases.
If your child changes from part-time to full-time or vice versa, the deposit must reflect that change.
A separate deposit is required for each child, including siblings and relations.
Cancellations or any change to the commencement date without 2 months written notice will result in a loss of deposit.
Changing commencement date may effect the availability of your child’s place.
Sibling discount will be offered to the youngest child at a rate of 5%. Sibling discount only applies to full time care options.

General Terms & Conditions

Care & Education Academy reserve the right to withdraw a place and issue a full enrolment refund with one month’s notice.
The Centre closes bank holidays, and the Christmas period (closes 23^rd December @ 2.00pm and reopens on the 1st working day of the new year)
Parents are requested to adhere to our healthy eating policy; Parents must inform staff of changes to their Childs dietary requirements.
If the service cannot meet the needs of a child in regular ratios, parents must engage with AIM to ensure their continued attendance. All children must feel safe and secure in the environment.
In the interest of health, parents are asked not to bring any child who is suffering from any illness which might be contagious to the centre, e.g. diarrhoea, measles, stomach bug etc. Please refer to illness policy.
If called to take a child from the centre because of illness, parents must come immediately, if requested by the manager. The manager will make the call using sound judgement and following our policy.
A child sent home because of illness must be kept out for a minimum of 24 hours or as per our exclusion policy.
It is regretted that no allowances can be made for the days/weeks lost due to illness/holidays.
Parents with young children in nappies and / or bottle fed must provide these items clearly marked. This includes wipes, creams etc and a spare set of clothes. Parents must replace the stock as requested by staff.
All personal belongings must be marked with the Childs name.
For insurance purposes, parents and persons nominated by a parent must bring the child directly onto the premises and collect them directly from the premises. For reasons of safety and security children must not be dropped in or collected by other children. Any person that collects the child must be over 16 years.
The management take no responsibility for loss or damage to the Childs property or belongings. Toys should not be brought into the service unless for planned occasions.