These terms and conditions form part of the Contract and the Admissions Form which are both required to be signed before any place offered at Arcadia Nursery can be fully confirmed.

Joining Arcadia Nursery

  1. To secure and guarantee a place a £150.00 deposit is required. Undergraduate students from The University of Edinburgh are exempt from paying a deposit. Payment is required within 14 days of the place being offered or Arcadia Nursery reserves the right to withdraw that offer.

The deposit will be held until the child leaves Arcadia Nursery at which point it will be refunded in full provided appropriate notice has been given.

  1. Once confirmed, if a place is subsequently declined before the child starts at Arcadia Nursery then the deposit will not be refundable.
  2. Once a place has been offered it will be available until the child leaves for full time schooling or sooner subject to 3 months written notice being given. This is based on a permanent contract, if you are on a temporary contract your place will end on the date stated in your contract.

Amendments to Contract

  1. Once you have signed and returned your child’s contract, any reductions to sessions within the 6 months from the start date of the contract will not result in any reduction in fees due even if a child does not attend one or more of the sessions to which your child was contracted. .
  2. Arcadia Nursery reserves the right to cancel the contract before the start date if any request to reduce the sessions is made.
  3. Requests for increases in sessions will be considered on a case by case basis however Arcadia Nursery cannot guarantee that any additional sessions will be available.

Fees

  1. Our flat fee structure is based on charging for 52 weeks a year – the two week closure over Christmas and New Year plus In Service days have been taken into account when setting the daily charges.

From 1st August 2023 to 31st July 2024:

Arcadia @ Kings Buildings: Full day rate £63.00

Arcadia @ Easter Bush: Full day rate £61.00

  1. Current fees are published on the Arcadia website and these are subject to change on the 1st August each year, but Arcadia Nursery reserves the right to make changes at any time.
  2. Notice of any fee increases will be given at least 3 months in advance. Payments will be automatically updated whenever fee increases occur.
  3. Should Arcadia Nursery, through no fault of its own, be forced to close or curtail its services unexpectedly on any day then no refunds are due.
  4. Should Arcadia Nursery ever decide it has to close on an additional day or days other than those shown on the fees schedule then notice will be given and refunds made in proportion to the original fee paid.

Paying Your Fees

  1. As per the start date on the signed contract, charges will be due from that date regardless as to whether the child actually starts on the agreed contract start date.
  2. Fees are payable by Direct Debit in 12 monthly instalments, and are due monthly in advance. You will be contacted by Accommodation, Catering and Events' Finance Department regarding the payment of fees to be charged.

Based on a child’s contracted start date the direct debit payment will be taken as follows:

A               First day of attendance up to and including 14th of the month – Direct Debit will be

taken in advance on the 1st day of the month in which the contract commences

B               First day of attendance between 15th and the end of the month – Direct Debit will be taken in advance on the 15th day of the month in which the contract commences

Childcare Voucher Schemes

  1. Parents should provide the Accommodation, Catering and Events' Finance Department with information on the Childcare Voucher Scheme Provider and the amount involved, as soon as possible.  This should be sent to nurseryfinance@ed.ac.uk 
  2. A reduction in the fees collected each month, will be adjusted going forwards. All childcare vouchers or other payments must be received at least 5 working days before the applicable Direct Debit date, to enable the voucher to be allocated against the next instalment.
  3. It is the guardians’ responsibility to set up the childcare vouchers in time for the first Direct Debit payment run, otherwise the full monthly instalment will be taken.

Partnership Funding

  1. A child will be entitled to up to 1140 hours partnership funding beginning the term following the child’s 3rd birthday.
  2. Partnership funding is paid to Arcadia in advance. The billing will be split between funded and chargeable days. Instalment plans will be calculated based on the non-funded days.

Attendance

  1. Children are required to be collected from Arcadia Nursery by 13:00 for an AM session or 18:00 for a full day or PM session. Failure to do so will result in additional charges being made to cover extra staffing costs. These are shown on the fees schedule as published on the Arcadia Nursery website.
  2. Arcadia Nursery reserves the right to exclude a child as a result of any of the following conditions:

A               Fees have not been paid (normal monthly fees or any due for extra charges for late collection or for any extra sessions)

B               If collection of a child occurs persistently after 18:00.

C               If reasonable care is not shown in preventing a child from attending the Nursery whilst ill

D               A child’s presence in Arcadia Nursery through their behaviour becomes unacceptably disruptive to the running of Arcadia Nursery and/or impacts negatively on other children or staff.

Leaving Arcadia Nursery

  1. We require 3 months written notice of a child leaving Arcadia Nursery, or payment in lieu of notice. Such notice will be required at whatever time the child leaves Arcadia Nursery.
  2. The guarantee of a place at Arcadia Nursery is dependent upon payment for that place continuing without break. No breaks in payment or payment holidays are allowed. Should a break take place then Arcadia Nursery reserves the right to withdraw that place. A new application and deposit will then be necessary should a replacement place be required. However we will not accept applications for places to start within 6 months of leaving Arcadia Nursery and there is no guarantee that a suitable place will be available on the days or times required.

Staff

  1. All staff at Arcadia Nursery have the right to be treated with consideration, dignity and respect and we will not tolerate any instances of verbal or physical abuse by a parent or carer towards our staff. Should there be a case of abuse towards a member of staff, action will be taken and could result in the exclusion of your child from nursery and a criminal prosecution.

Complaints Procedure

  1. In the first instance we would expect that most problems that arise can be dealt with satisfactorily between the Arcadia Nursery Management, staff and parents.
  2. In the event that any problems are not resolved or a decision is made to exclude a child then, in the first instance, the matter should be discussed with the Arcadia Nursery Management and, if required, an appeal made to the Arcadia Nursery Management in writing.
  3. Should a resolution still not be found and a parent/guardian wishes to then lodge an appeal against the Manager’s decision then this should be done in writing to:

The Director of Accommodation Catering and Events, University of Edinburgh, Pollock Halls, 18 Holyrood Park Road, Edinburgh, EH16 5AY.