If you are a parent looking for advice on choosing a nursery for your children, please click here.
For FAQs relating to nurseries, please read below.
1. What should I pay my staff?
Currently there are no official pay scales for day nurseries in the private and voluntary sector. According to Laing and Buisson in 2010 averages were: - Qualified nursery manager £9.32
- Qualified nursery nurse £6.75
- Unqualified nursery assistant £6.30
- Domestics and administrators £6.02
2. I have a complaint about Ofsted, what should I do?
Contact the Ofsted complaints helpline on 0845 601 4772 or check out their website at www.ofsted.gov.uk for further information. 3. Are there any publications which provide samples of job descriptions, person specification, contracts, etc?
NDNA has produced a publication called Your Essential Guide to Recruitment and Selection which is available to buy. It contains samples of adverts and job descriptions for members of staff, as well as job offer letters, contracts, interview short-listing matrices and interview questions. Please click here for further information. 4. I've received a letter informing me that I need to register with a Data Protection Agency. Is this necessary?
Nurseries should deal directly with the Data Protection Register (DPR) and not with any other agencies claiming to carry out data protection registration. Most nurseries will need to register and information on the DPR website will help you find out if you do need to.
All nurseries with CCTV need to notify the DPR. Notification can be carried out online or by post. Further information can be obtained from the DPR on 01625 545 745 or www.dpr.gov.uk
5. I have a parent who has taken a child out of the nursery without giving notice. I have tried to contact them with no response, and there are now four weeks of outstanding fees. What are my options?
You should have good communication and clear financial arrangements with parents to reduce the chances of this happening, however, if it does: - You can go through the small claims court. There is a charge for this and you may have to pay for order to be enforced even if the court finds in your favour. However, this can be reclaimed if you get your money back
- Contact a solicitor. Sometimes a letter from a solicitor will result in payment
- You will have to decide if costs are appropriate for any action or whether the debt will have to be written off.
6. I need to increase the fees. I don't however want to jeopardise any relationships with the parents. How can I do this in the most effective way?
Show your parents what you hope to achieve with the additional money, eg new resources, rewarding staff by increasing salaries. You should highlight the funding available to parents eg. Tax credits and plan what you will do if parents face difficulties paying.
You should have a business plan that you review regularly so that you can plan ahead and give parents as much notice as possible of any fee increases. Many nurseries keep to an annual increase, so parents can plan their own budgets.
7. What fee information should be included in the nursery contract?
Clearly state in your contract what the fees are for eg. registration and childcare sessions, places and if you charge parents a late collection fee for picking up their child. Also include details as to what the fees cover, eg. sickness, nappies, lunches holidays. A clause about outstanding payments should also be included so that parents are aware that their child could be excluded from the nursery if fees remain outstanding for a specified amount of time.
If you have a question that is not answered within this section, why not fill out an online enquiry form and submit your question to NDNA? Alternatively, you can call NDNA on 01484 40 70 70.
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