Frequently asked questions

To provide the best care for your child we require a registration and consent form to be completed. We ask that all parents notify us if any circumstances change. This policy works in conjunction with our diversity, equality and inclusion policy and should be read together.

All information shared is confidential and only shared with those directly caring for your child, except where there are concerns for a child’s safety and welfare. In this instance, information may be shared with authorities in accordance with the Local Regulatory Body guidance.

We offer settling in sessions for all children joining us, to ensure your child grows in confidence and adjusts to their new surroundings, and you feel happy when leaving them. Our setting manager will agree the best settling in process for you and your child, as each family is different.

In our nurseries, your child will meet their key worker during all settling in sessions to start to build their bond and become familiar with one another. During these sessions we will discuss routines, needs and interests to ensure we provide the right care for your child.

No, although we do actively encourage that your child is fully immunised as they will be mixing with other children and for some this will be for the first time.

As part of our admissions policy, we request a health questionnaire to be completed, providing us with your child’s immunisation record.

We took the decision not to supply milk as parental preference is so broad. We ask that breast milk is provided in the bottle and formula milk either a carton, or a pre-measured powder container so we can make up feeds when required.

Please ensure you provide enough sterilised bottles for all feeds due. Milk feeds are served cold or to the right serving temperature. Simply let our team know what’s best for your baby.

We ask that breast milk is provided in the bottle for each feed due whilst in care. Milk feeds are served cold or to the right serving temperature. Simply let our team know what’s best for your baby.

Please check at the setting whether we have refrigerated conditions and where we don’t please ensure you provide in a suitable insulated carrier.

At our My Ohana Houses, nappies, wipes and cream are included, there's nothing to pack. If your little one gets on better with a particular brand, or needs a specific cream, send them in labelled and we'll use those instead.

At our other nurseries, we ask families to provide their own. Your nursery team will confirm which applies when you join.

Our team applies it through the day in warmer months with your consent. If your child has sensitive skin or you'd rather we used a particular brand, send in a labelled bottle and we'll use that.

Just give us a call so we can ensure that your child does not get upset when others get collected and reassure them. If we do not hear from you, we will always try to contact you and your emergency contact prior to proceeding to our uncollected action plan and procedure.

Within our nursery settings, if you wish for someone else to collect you must inform us in advance and provide their full name and share the password you have provided them. On collection, they will be required to show us some ID and confirm the agreed password.

Within our crèche settings, the same person who signed the child in to care must be the person to come and collect — a signature match will take place.

All visitors must report to the main reception where they are subject to identity checks. Our visitors are accompanied at all times whilst on the premises and have to sign in and out.

This includes prospective parents touring the nursery, anyone who works for us where the setting is not their main place of work, and all contractors and inspectors.

All visitors will be required to sign in and leave mobile phones or any other electronic devices securely within our reception area to safeguard the children in our care.

To provide the very best care for your child, it’s a must that we work in partnership with you. We like to get to know you and your child and we do this in a number of ways.

We want you and your child to be happy and would ask that if you have a query, concern or cause for complaint of any nature, please speak to the setting manager in the first instance, as often matters can be worked through. If a matter is not resolved, please contact our Operations Director.

We have an open-door policy and like to be clear, honest and transparent in our communication.

If a complaint is made, it is our procedure to record the complaint and notify you of any outcomes within 48 hours if possible. For complaints that need further investigation, we commit to responding within 28 days. If at this stage you are still unhappy with the outcome, complaints may also be escalated to the regulatory body for your area.

Yes, we have a number of places in our nurseries to accommodate funded children. Please ask our nursery manager when applying if we have a space.

Yes, we are registered for Universal Credit, please speak to our nursery manager who can help and guide you through the process. Find out more about the Universal Credit.

Yes, we have a number of workplace nursery partners. Please call our Central Support on 020 7384 6099 to find out if your company is signed up or to find out more about how to sign up.

There are varying levels of support available to fund childcare and these depend on your personal circumstances. Review the government schemes and see what’s right for your family.

With more employers recognising the challenges of family life, it’s worth checking if your employer provides any childcare schemes or incentives.

In all of our nurseries we stretch funding which means you are able to access 11.18 hours (universal funding) or 22.35 hours (extended funding) each week for 51 weeks of the year.

Every child is eligible for 15 hours of funding the term after your child’s third birthday, working parents may also be entitled to 30 hours

Eligible working parents may be entitled to 30 hours of funding from the team after their child turns 9 months. Some families who receive additional support from the government may also be entitled to two year old funding. Please note, that families eligible for both the working element and the 15 hours for families receiving support, you cannot take up both offers and should apply for the 15 hours for families receiving support.

Funding eligibility can be found here

More information regarding Early Years Funding can be found here

Each funding entitlement scheme has different rules. Our nursery managers will guide you, however its imperative that you provide the funding scheme with the documentation they require and provide our nursery manager with the right eligibility criteria. Failure to provide this may result in the Nursery being unable to claim the funding, and in this instance, you would be wholly responsible for any fees incurred at the standard daily rate.

It is worth noting that should your child leave us mid-term then it is possible that the Local Authority will claim back part or all of the allocated funding which may result in you having an outstanding balance with us. The Local Authority in some cases will contact you directly to claim back overpayments.

Payments are received on a termly basis - Autumn, Spring and Summer over a total of 38 weeks. Dates and weeks vary throughout the year; however, this information is readily available from your Nursery Manager or your Local Authority.

A consumable charge covers the cost of physical items your child uses during their funded sessions, specifically food and drinks (including formula milk), essential non-food consumables such as nappies, wipes, nappy cream and sun cream, and the extra-curricular activities that take place at nursery. These items are not covered by government funding, which is why we charge for them separately.

No. In line with DfE guidance, the consumable charge is entirely voluntary. You are welcome to provide your own food, nappies, wipes, sun cream and any other consumables for your child. If you prefer to do this, simply let your Nursery Manager know and ask for a copy of our food from home policy. Opting out of consumable charges will never affect your child's funded place with us.

This is detailed on each nursery's fee sheet and is broken down as:

- Food (all meals, snacks, drinks including formula milk):
- Non-food consumables (nappies, wipes, nappy cream, sun cream, emergency medication): £2.00
- Activities (extra-curricular activities at nursery):

If your child attends 2 funded days per week, the monthly charge is shown clearly on the nursery fee sheet.

If your child attends 3 funded days per week, this charge is equally clear on the nursery fee sheet (the third funded day is a partial day, so the consumable charge for that day is less). These amounts are calculated over 51 weeks and spread equally across 12 months.

No. We do not charge top-up fees for funded hours. The government funds the cost of your child's care; we do not charge more than the funding rate for that care. The consumable charge is a separate, voluntary charge for the physical items your child uses, which government funding is not designed to cover. The funded hours themselves remain completely free.

Yes. Your invoice will clearly show the consumable charges as separate line items:

- Food charges
- Non-food consumable charges
- Activities charges

This is in addition to the deduction shown for your funded hours and any balance owed for private (non-funded) hours. Private hours remain fully inclusive of all meals and activities.

If you accept the consumable charge, you will pay the applicable monthly amount as detailed on the nursery fee sheet. If you choose to opt out and provide your own items, there is no charge.

Please speak to the Nursery Manager about your preferred arrangement before your child's funded hours begin.

Yes. Fees for private sessions, which are any hours you pay for above your funded entitlement, remain fully inclusive of all meals, snacks, drinks, and activities. The consumable charge only applies to government-funded hours.

The consumable charge will be applied from the start of your child's funded hours. You will receive an updated invoice showing the charges as separate line items. If you have any questions, please speak to your Nursery Manager.

All of our nursery settings provide a full menu which includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and rolling snacks, should your child need them. We work very hard with our catering suppliers to ensure that your child receives a balanced diet. We accommodate all diets and special requirements.

As part of our sign-up process, we capture your child’s individual dietary requirement. We recognise that your child’s requirements may be due to a medical condition, cultural preference or during weaning, and ask that you notify us immediately if any requirements change, in writing, to ensure our records are kept up to date.

Whilst children are eating, they are encouraged to sit and enjoy their food and try new foods. We use snack and meal times as an opportunity to create conversation with their peer group and our colleagues. During meal times we have a colleague sitting and eating with the children to encourage good eating habits.

Cultural differences in eating habits are respected and you will be informed of what your child has eaten either on collection or via our nursery software app.

Simply through repetition, helping children form lifelong habits. Through our routines we reduce the risk and spread of infection. Handwashing, nose wiping and frequent cleaning are just a few of our daily habits.

Throughout all care routines, our team wear suitable PPE.

As part of our sign up process your child’s allergies will be shared with us and we will ask for a care plan to be completed. We ensure that the team looking after your child are made aware of their allergies and severity, and allergy information is displayed whilst your child is in care.

We ask that you inform us immediately of any allergy changes, in writing, to ensure our records are kept up to date.

Whilst we do not use nuts in any of our menus, and we ask parents and our colleagues not to bring nuts or nut products into any of our settings, many foods are labelled with “may contain”. Therefore, whilst we cannot guarantee that our settings are completely free from specific allergens, we do ensure, through our policies, that those children with allergens do not come into contact with them.

We ask that you keep us updated if your child develops an allergy or their reaction to an allergen changes, and that you notify us of the severity of reaction to ensure we manage the risk accordingly.

We will contact you and ask you to collect your child. Whilst we await your collection, your little one will be cared for, monitored and comforted by a first aider.

If your child’s condition worsens such that it causes concern to the first aider, then suitable medical treatment will be arranged in the form of a GP or ambulance, and a colleague will escort your child and notify you immediately.

Yes, to avoid the spread of infection for the welfare of all children and our colleagues. If your child is feeling unwell or showing signs of an illness, we ask that you keep them at home. This includes but is not limited to a temperature, diarrhoea and/or vomiting, a rash, or conjunctivitis. These symptoms can all be signs of infectious illnesses.

If your child has a case of vomiting and diarrhoea, we adhere to the strict 48 hour exclusion period outlined by Public Health England.

If your child has an infectious illness such as chicken pox, mumps or measles, they cannot attend even if they feel well, due to the risk to other babies and pregnant mothers.

If your child has a rash or is suffering from a non-specific virus, they will not be accepted into care without first having received medical advice.

We reserve the right to refuse admission to your child temporarily on the grounds of ill health if it is likely to cause possible harm to your child or other children, without discriminating against your child’s rights.

We use the Infection Control in Schools and Other Childcare Settings document from Public Health England, Public Health Wales and NHS Health Scotland for reference.

In our full day care settings we will give medication to a child if they have a long-term medical condition, or if they are completing prescribed medication but are well in themselves. With all medication the first dose must have been administered at home at least 24 hours before entering care.

Our setting manager will provide you with a medication form and take you through our procedure on accepting, administering and storing your child’s medication. If your child requires lifesaving medication please speak to our setting manager, so we can fully understand your child’s condition, and who will take you through the steps we undertake before accepting your child into care.

When dealing with medication of any kind, strict guidelines will be followed and only those trained in First Aid will administer medications. All medication must be provided in the original packaging and must be prescribed to the child in question. Please note that should your child be prescribed an inhaler and spacer pump, both will be required to be left at every visit. We also follow NHS guidelines with regards to the expiry dates of epi-pens.

In our nursery settings we would administer medication to relieve a fever above 38˚C, as a febrile convulsion is more likely in a child under 5 years.

You would be contacted before the medication is given and we would ask that you collect your child from the setting as soon as possible.

Safety is of the utmost importance to us, and we have a number of policies and procedures to ensure safety measures are upheld through regular risk assessments and monitoring. In this section there are a few of the common questions we get asked, but if you can’t find the answer, please speak to our setting manager who can share our full suite of policies.

Our health and safety statement is displayed within every setting, along with our insurance certificate.

Yes. The welfare of children is paramount to us and forms the basis of all of our policies. Our entire team attend regular safeguarding training and our setting designated safeguarding officer is available at all times should anyone have concerns for a child’s safety. All colleagues can inform you of who the designated safeguarding officer is at each setting.

Our Operations Director is the company DSL (Designated Safeguarding Lead).

Usually, any referrals would be discussed with you prior to being made, unless we felt we could be putting a child at greater risk.

All of our colleagues are subject to a rigorous recruitment process and full recruitment and background checks are conducted. Our full policy is available on request.

We run regular practices with the children to ensure your child and our team are always prepared. If the alarm sounds, we ask that you meet us at the fire point, ensuring your, your child’s and our team’s safety. We will only release children back to you and outside of the setting if the fire marshal deems the building unsafe to re-enter.

Regular maintenance and checks are carried out on all equipment to minimise the risk of fire.

Each setting varies; however, we like to take children outside and on trips as often as we can to help children learn about the natural world and cultural capital. Of course we take safety seriously — all trips are risk assessed in advance and we seek your consent in advance of taking your child away from our settings.

Your child will be cared for and assessed by one of our first aiders. Depending on the severity, and in most cases, you will be notified on collection; if however we felt further medical attention was required we would contact you immediately.

In both cases you will be provided with a full record of how the accident occurred, the injury and treatment received. We take all accidents very seriously and review our processes and the environment to avoid re-occurrence where possible.

If your child has had an accident within 48 hours of attending care, or has an injury from a previous incident, we ask that you inform us on signing your child in so that we can record the details and closely monitor them.

We operate several different systems, based on the type of care your child is attending and our location. We ask that you comply with our procedure to safeguard your child. Please ask at your chosen setting for their specific procedure.

Our team have the right to refuse collection of your child if they are unsatisfied with the identification of the person collecting. The child will remain in our care until contact has been made with the known carer.

Yes, we do, as we like to take photos of the children and share their experiences with you through our nursery software and in some cases social media channels.

We ask your permission during the registration process and of course you can change your preferences at any time. We will not use an image on any channel where permission has not been sought, and if your child is in a group picture, we will blur their image.

We respect your privacy and treat your data with the greatest care. Should you have any questions about how data is collected and stored, please refer to our Privacy and Data Protection Policy on our website.

Some of our settings have CCTV and our setting managers can notify you where this is the case. We also advertise that CCTV is in operation (where applicable) at the front door.

In compliance with ICO guidance and our policy, the footage is only viewed and retained for 31 days; only in cases where an incident has occurred and requires further investigation is it held longer.

We work to the following ratios: 1 adult to 3 babies (3 months to 2 years), 1 adult to 4 toddlers (2–3 years) and 1 adult to 8 pre-schoolers (3–5 years).

Yes, all of our nursery settings are on the Ofsted Compulsory Register and all have been rated as Good, Good with Outstanding features, or Outstanding.

Whether on the compulsory or voluntary register makes no difference to us — we set the bar high and work to the same standards in all of our settings. Whether your child is with us for full time care or for one hour, they are extremely important and we feel privileged to be trusted to care and provide for your child. We don’t wait for inspections; we frequently inspect and audit our settings and ensure our policies are not only compliant but, more importantly, are implemented and work in practice for our colleagues.

At least 50% of our teams at each setting are qualified to Level 2 or above. Those who are not qualified all have previous experience of caring for children, either in a setting or looking after their own, or are studying towards their qualification.

Yes — the checks depend on where our colleagues work.

We actively reinforce positive behaviour through offering praise, body language and tone of voice. We frequently use active gestures, such as high fives, clapping and thumbs up, and share a child’s achievements on our proud cloud.

It’s an area within all of our settings where children’s and our colleagues’ achievements and behaviours are displayed and celebrated. All children get on the proud cloud, but the reasons and frequency vary greatly.

We recognise that from time to time, children may display behaviour that is classed as inappropriate. If this occurs, we will use positive re-enforcement, including re-direction to a suitable activity or area. We always speak to children in a calm and controlled manner.

If behaviour deemed inappropriate is frequent, we will discuss this with you to help find the right management for your child and those around them.

Whilst not uncommon in young children, it can be very upsetting for the person who is harmed. We work with you to agree preventative measures and to ensure we are consistent in our approach between all parties.

We work closely with you to ensure we can provide the right environment for your child. Depending on your chosen setting, our manager will work with you and guide you through our procedure.

We ask you to share information so we can ensure your child’s care plan enables us to provide a safe environment and the best and right support and care for your child.

In our nurseries we have a named Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) who will support you and your child and devise an Individual Education Plan, whilst also liaising with professionals or agencies beyond the nursery.

Yes. Our aim is to provide for all children irrespective of their race, gender, cultural beliefs and ability, to help them be their best. We are very inclusive and work with you to understand your child’s specific needs to ensure that they feel included and supported.

We celebrate cultural diversity and actively promote positive images and positive role models to the children. We are aware of, and have respect for, cultural or religious sensitivities related to aspects of intimate care. All of our colleagues know how to care for children in intimate situations such as toileting and show respect for every child. Where possible your child will be encouraged to undertake as much of the procedure for themselves.

All children are treated as individuals, appropriate to their age and stage of development.