The Pre-preparatory Department consists of:
The School: Form 1, Reception and Nursery, where attendance and payments are termly
The Day Nursery: Pre-Nursery and Toddlers, where attendance is year-round and payments are monthly

Basis of charges

• A non-refundable £80 registration fee is payable when completing our registration form and being added to our waiting list.
• A deposit is payable on acceptance of a place prior to a child starting. This deposit is refundable after that child leaves provided that a minimum of one complete term's written notice has been given and all fees have been paid. The deposit is either £2000 (for full-time children) or £1200 (for part-time Nursery). A deposit of £1200 will have to be topped up once a child becomes full time. On no account should parents deduct the deposit when settling outstanding fees.
• From September 2012 the deposit will be £4000 for a full time place and £2000 for any siblings. When the older child leaves the school, the lower deposit will be refunded and the higher one held for the remaining child. The deposit for a part time Nursery place will be £1500 to be topped up to £4000 when the child becomes full time.
• Fees are due on or before the first day of term for all term-time only children. Fees for all other children are due on the first day of the month.
• If payment of fees is not made by the due date, interest of 10% is added and a child may be refused attendance until the fees are paid.
• There is no reduction in fees if a child is absent for any reason, including an 'act of God' e.g. an unusually heavy snowfall
• If a parent is more than 10 minutes late collecting a child at the end of a session, an extra £15 per 15 minutes will be charged.
• After 6.00pm, there is no 10 minute grace period. Parents who arrive to collect children after 6.00pm will be charged £40 per half hour, or part of a half hour, per child.
• Fees are subject to an increase at the start of each academic year i.e. in September.
• The Day Nursery and Nursery School are closed on Bank Holidays and no refunds are given for Bank Holidays.
• The Day Nursery and Nursery School are open for 48 weeks this year.

Hours of attendance

• Children in Form 1 and Reception attend full time i.e. 8.30am to 3.30pm term time only. There is a separate, optional playscheme during the school holidays.
• Children in the Nursery Class must attend for a minimum of 5 mornings i.e. 8.30am to 1pm, including lunch. They may also attend for full days i.e. 8.30am to 3.30pm. Nursery children are not permitted to attend for afternoons only.
• In the Day Nursery, there is a minimum attendance of 3 sessions per week which must be regular and repeating. A morning (8am to 1pm) constitutes one session. A whole day (8am to 6pm) is two sessions.
• The number of sessions may be increased at any time, given notice and subject to availability, in consultation with the head of early years.
• If a part-time child is absent from his/her usual session/day, it is not possible to change to another session/day that week instead.

Uniform

• All children in Nursery, Reception and Form 1 are expected to wear the full correct school uniform. Each item of uniform must be clearly labelled with the owner's name. Any unlabelled uniform is automatically placed in the lost property.
• Children in the day nursery are required to wear a grey polo shirt and the school red track suit. They are also required to purchase a school painting smock, wet weather trousers and cagoule.

Illness and medicines

• Children who are ill should not come to school. Children who appear ill may be refused attendance on arrival at the school at the discretion of the head of early years.
• Children suffering from sickness and/or diarrhoea should stay away from school until 48 hours after the symptoms have ceased.
• If a child comes to school with prescribed medication, including inhalers, the appropriate form must be completed in the school office to allow such medicine to be given at school. We will not accept any medicine that is not in the original container complete with prescription label.
• If a child has an allergy of a serious nature the head of early years will arrange a meeting with parents to discuss this.
• Children should remain at home for the first 48 hours after starting a course of antibiotics.
• Parents must inform the school secretary of any accident that a child has had at home in the 24 hours before coming to school.
• Parents must telephone the school secretary to let her know if their child will be absent that day due to illness.

School Policies

• Parents and children are expected to accept and abide by the school's policies and procedures. A list of policies is available in our prospectus, on our website and on school noticeboards. Individual copies are available on request.

Notice period

• For reduction of sessions/days in the nursery, one complete calendar month's notice must be given in writing to the head of early years; this notice may not be given during a month which has already been invoiced.
• For the removal of a child who is under 2 years of age, one complete month's notice must be given in writing to the nursery manager. Failure to give the required notice will result in one month's fees being charged in lieu of notice.
• When a child reaches 2 years, this period of notice extends to one term*. Parents must give one term's written notice of withdrawal of a child from the school. Failure to do so will result in one term's fees being charged in lieu of notice.
• In the event of the cancellation of a confirmed place, one full term's notice must be given to the headmistress. Once a place has been accepted and the deposit paid, failure to take up the place will incur a full term's fees less the deposit.

* for children in the day nursery, where attendance is year-round and payments are monthly, one term is equivalent to 4 months i.e. 4 months' written notice must be given.

NB The school reserves the right to collect fees by direct debit in the near future and all parents would be expected to transfer to this method of payment.