FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions)
Please click on the headings below to view further information.
When to apply to Nursery
We offer an exceptional level of care and education at our Nursery which is supported by our multiple awards. As such, we do experience a high demand for our Nursery places and therefore we recommend looking for and securing your Nursery place as soon as possible. For expectant parents, we recommend securing your Nursery place before your baby is born, or at the latest, as soon as your baby is born. We strongly advise not to wait until the end of your maternity leave to apply as we cannot guarantee we will have availability.
Places are allocated by our Nursery Admissions Committee and all prospective parents are required to complete a Registration Form as a first step before being invited to visit our Nursery.
For further information on our Admissions process, please click here.
Viewing our Nursery
We do not offer general Open Mornings, but instead, prospective parents are invited to a 1-2-1 personal tour with our Nursery Manager or Deputy Nursery Manager upon receipt of a Nursery Registration Form. Our Registration Form is to understand your requirements in more detail and to ensure that we have a place that is suitable. We only conduct individual tours rather than Open Mornings as we understand that finding the right Nursery for your child is a personal and important decision and that every parent has different requirements and questions. We do recommend that parents always visit our Nursery to ensure that it meets all your and your child's needs.
To arrange a viewing of our Nursery, please contact us via our Admissions Portal here. The form helps us understand your needs in more detail. If we have a place available then we invite prospective parents for a 1-2-1 tour. There is no fee to register. Please note that we are unable to offer a tour of our Nursery without completion of a Registration Form.
How to Accept the Offer of a Nursery Place
Our Nursery places are allocated by our Nursery Admissions Committee and a formal offer will be sent in writing via our Admissions Dept. Typically parents are given around 10 days to accept the offer of a place. If you wish to accept a place, then a £100 non-refundable Administration Fee is due which covers the cost of settling-in sessions and setting up your child on our systems. An Acceptance Fee of £250 is also due which is a deposit which is refunded at the end of your child's time with us at Nursery providing your account is up to date. A signed Acceptance Form is also due by the deadline date to formally accept an offer.
Should either the £100 Administration Fee, £250 Acceptance Fee or Acceptance Form not be received by the offer deadline then it is regarded that the place has been declined.
Normal monthly fees are then due monthly in advance by the first of the month. Our notice period to change sessions or leave our Nursery is two full calendar months. (Please also see our 'Notice Period' section.
Opening Hours
We are open from 07:30hrs to 18:00hrs, 51 weeks a year.
We offer highly flexible drop-off and pick-up times to fit in with busy parents. For Nursery 1 and 2, our drop-off times are 07:30hrs, 08:00hrs or 08:30hrs and pick-up times are 15:30hrs, 16:45hrs or 18:00hrs. For older Nursery children receiving 30 hours Government funding, drop off times are limited to 07:30hrs or 08:30hrs.
Parents can also choose from a 51 weeks a year contract (we close for the Christmas week) or a term time only contract. Please note that children receiving 30 hours funding can only join us on a 51 week contract (term time only contract is not available).
For families with children at school, our Nursery session choices mean that you can drop-off and pick-up your Nursery children and school children at the same time - one of our booking options is an 08:30hrs start and 15:30hrs finish, term time only.
Holidays, Bank Holidays etc
We are open from 07:30hrs to 18:00hrs, 51 weeks a year. We are only closed for the Christmas week and on Bank Holidays.
Fees during absence, holidays, extended leave and periods of sickness
In order to guarantee a child’s place when they return, fees are still due as normal if a child is absent for any reason (illness, holiday or extended leave). If fees are not paid during time away then it is regarded that the family has left the Nursery and the place will be offered to a family on our waiting list.
Morning Only / Afternoon Only Sessions
We do not offer morning only or afternoon only sessions. The shortest available session available at Waverley Nursery is 08:30hrs to 15:30hrs. We do this as it enables children to keep to their daily routine, helps children settle better and also helps them build friendship bonds with the other children in their class. It also helps us to get to know your child better so that we can more easily spot if your child is poorly and to enable us to properly monitor that your child is growing, developing and flourishing.
For Foundation children, we do offer the option for children to attend just their Government funded sessions.
Fees
Fees are due in full, in advance, by the first day, monthly in advance. For our fees, please visit our fees page here.
Fees are charged on the actual days each month that your child will be attending. Depending on the number of days in a month, your invoice may vary slightly from month to month.
Fees can be paid by bank transfer, tax-free childcare or childcare vouchers. Please ensure that payment has cleared by the first of the month (when fees are due by).
Please note that we charge a late pick-up fee for children not collected by the end of their pre-booked session.
The Acceptance Fee ('deposit') cannot be used as part payment for a child's final invoice before they leave Waverley Nursery.
Fee payments while off sick or on holiday
Fees are still due as usual in full for all absences, including sickness and holidays. We are unable to offer fee reductions or payment holidays.
Sibling Discount
We offer a discretionary sibling discount for children attending our Nursery for 40 hours or more per week. Please contact Mrs Carole Barke, our Bursar, for more information.
Notice Period
Changes Prior to Starting at Nursery. Should parents wish to make any changes to their booking as indicated on their Acceptance Form before their child has physically started at Nursery, then Waverley requires 3 full calendar months’ notice. This means that should parents wish to change a booking for March, then we require notice to be given by end of November at the latest, with December, January and February being the 3 full calendar months.
Changes Once Started at Nursery. Once a child has started at Nursery, then we require two full calendar months’ notice of any changes. ‘Two full calendar months’ means that if parents give notice mid-September, then the two full calendar months are considered as October and November and parents are therefore liable for fees until end of November.
Please note that parents are liable for fees until the end of their notice period irrespective of whether their actual last physical day at Nursery is prior to the end of their notice period.
The Acceptance Fee ('deposit') cannot be used as part payment for a child's final invoice before they leave Waverley Nursery.
Please consult our Terms and Conditions for further information.
Start Dates and Deferring Your Start Date
When a place is accepted, parents are required to state their required start date on their Acceptance Form. Please think carefully when stating your required start date. Please note that once a place has been accepted, we do not allow deferments of start dates of more than 4 weeks from the date indicated on the Acceptance Form. This is due to the small number of baby places available, the high demand of our Nursery and the careful planning required for each baby that joins. Should parents wish to defer their start date by more than 4 weeks, then parents will need to reapply for a Nursery place and this will depend on availability.
Ad Hoc Sessions
We offer ad hoc sessions for our parents requiring additional care on an ad hoc basis. These are available subject to availability. Please contact Mrs Helen Jenkins, our Head of Admissions via admissions@waverleyschool.co.uk, should you wish to book ad hoc sessions. Our fees for ad hoc sessions can be viewed here.
If parents would like to cancel an ad hoc session already booked, please note that we require 5 working days' notice otherwise the ad hoc session fee will be due in lieu of notice.
Childcare Vouchers
We accept all major childcare vouchers if you are already signed up to a scheme. It is now no longer possible to sign up to new childcare voucher schemes. To read our 'Funding Explained' guide click here.
Government Funding (FEEE) - Free Early Educational Entitlements
We provide care for children entitled to Government funding. When your child turns 3, we deduct your Government funding from your monthly invoice. We will need parents to sign a form and bring in your child's birth certificate for us to arrange your Government funding. We provide reminders to parents to do this when it is time to apply.
For further information about Government Funding, Childcare Vouchers and Tax Free Childcare, please read our 'Funding Explained' guide here.
What's Included
Our fees make it easy for parents with our all-inclusive package.
Fees include all snacks and food if you are attending the sessions when these are served. In Nursery 1 and 2, nappies and formula milk are also included. If you have a specific brand of nappies or wipes that you require us to use, then we ask that parents provide these.
Food and Menus
Our food is cooked on site every day by our in-house chefs and includes meat and vegetarian options, as well as options for babies and children weaning. We also cater for allergies and dietary requirements, including gluten-free, non-dairy, vegan and vegetarian. We do not offer halal food.
Please note that food may not be brought in from home for children.
We are a nut-free school and Nursery - all our food is prepared with nut-free ingredients in a nut-free environment.
To see our current lunch menu, click here.
Sickness
If your child is poorly and will not be attending Nursery, please message our Nursery Team on 07920 268735 or by email to fiona.harding@waverleyschool.co.uk by 09:00hrs. Please inform us each day that your child will be off.
To protect our Nursery children and staff, and the rest of our Waverley family, the following applies:
• Diarrhoea and Vomiting. For children who have suffered diarrhoea and vomiting, they must have had 48 hrs clear of any episode before they can return to Nursery.
• High Temperature. We can offer Calpol if a child has a temperature of over 38 but this is only to keep the child comfortable until parents arrive, not so children can stay at Nursery. Children with a high temperature should not attend Nursery until they have had a normal temperature reading for 24 hours.
• Hand Foot and Mouth (HFM). Children are required to stay away from Nursery for 5 days. If we suspect a chid is suffering from HFM whilst in our care, parents will be required to collect their child immediately and seek a GP diagnosis. Children may return after 5 days as long as their blisters are hardening over. Whilst some children may be well in themselves, please note that HFM is highly contagious and some children can be very poorly so the 5 day rule applies to all children suffering from HFM.
• Medication. Please do not medicate your unwell child then bring them into Nursery as this can mask their symptoms. Once the medication wears off, dhildren can then become very unwell, very quickly.
• If your child is poorly and needs to go home, we will phone you. We follow all NHS guidelines for exclusions which means that parents are expected to collect their child within one hour.
• Please refer to the Nursery for further advice and consult our Nursery policies via our Nursery website https://www.waverleynursery.co.uk/Nursery/Policies-Nursery-Specific/
Medication
We are able to administer medication but need written permission from parents to be able to do this.
Children with Special Needs
We are able to cater for all children's individual needs.
Bedding
Your child will have their own set of bedding that is washed onsite weekly or as required. Parents are more than welcome to provide their child with a sleeping bag if they feel that this will support them sleeping.
Buggies and Car Seats
Parents are more than welcome to leave buggies and care seats at Nursery. These will be kept in the cloakroom of your child's room.
Contacting our Nursery - Finding out how your child is...
At Waverley, we operate an open-door policy. We encourage our parents to call us, text us or email us to talk to us at pick-up or drop-off about your concerns at any time. If you would like a longer face to face meeting, please let us know so we can arrange a mutually convenient time. You are also welcome to call the Nursery during the day to speak to your child's key worker to keep you updated on their day.
Uniform
Children in our Foundation class are required to wear our Foundation uniform. Our Nursery 3 children are required to wear our Waverley Nursery sweatshirt.
Some uniform items are available from all good uniform suppliers, other items can only be purchased from our official uniform suppliers, Stevensons, in Reading. Our uniform list indicates which items are only available from Stevenson.
To view a full list of the Waverley uniform and for contact details of Stevensons, click here.
Your Child's Key Worker
When joining our Nursery, your child will be allocated their own qualified key worker to take care of your child's needs and to liaise with you on a regular basis.
Activities
At Waverley Nursery, we offer a wide variety of indoor and outdoors activities which are both time-tabled and extra-curricular. For further information, please visit our dedicated 'Activities' section here and also view the individual activity pages in the drop-down menu for a more detailed explanation of what's on offer at Waverley.
Settling-in sessions
We normally offer our new families joining us three settling-in sessions. However, we hold as many settling in sessions as we feel are reasonable and appropriate to ensure that your child is happy and settled. The first visit is a chance for parents to come into the Nursery, meet the Educators and fill in all the necessary paperwork, while your child explores their new environment. This normally takes around 45 minutes.
On the second visit, we will ask parents to leave your child with us for a one hour period to see how they get on in their new environment. We then have a third visit for two and a half hours for your child to begin to form relationships with their new Educators and peers.
Settling in sessions take place in the two weeks prior to your child starting and we always ensure that your child is 100% settled before they start. We like to hold settling in sessions close to your child's starting date to ensure that it is fresh in their minds and there isn't a long gap between settling in sessions and their actual start date.
The cost of the settling sessions is included in the (non-refundable) £100 Administration Fee which is due when you accept a place.
Communication, Updates and Parent Evenings
We hold termly 'Stay and Play' sessions but parents are also welcome to book one at any time with your child's key worker.
In addition, we issue a weekly Parent Communication to our School and Nursery parents which contains important information and updates for the week ahead.
To keep a track of your child's individual learning journey, we share with each family their child's updates and learning via the secure Tapestry system. In this way, we are able to share, monitor and track your child's development and learning journey.
Child to Staff Ratios
Our staff ratios vary depending on the age of the children in each Nursery room and are in accordance with recommended Government EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) guidelines. For example, in Nursery 1, our staff to child ratio is 1:3. In our Nursery 2, it is 1:4. In Foundation, we also have two fully qualified EYFS teachers to ensure that our pupils are ready and well-prepared for starting school. We always ensure high levels of staffing.
Parking
We have our own large, one-way car park with plenty of parking. We are located at the end of a quiet residential street with no through traffic. There is plenty of parking space for parents to drop off and pick up their children. We always ask our parents to be considerate of other road users when parking and to observe our disabled parking spaces.
