Information for Parents

Parent communication

Here at Dolphin Day Nursery and Out of School Club we are proud of our relationships with parents and the regular communication we have between ourselves.

We hold regular parents' evenings as well as less formal drop-in sessions where we can discuss the progress of your child. We have an open-door policy, so whenever you feel the need to approach us to discuss any matter concerning the care of your child, a member of the management team or one of our key workers will be pleased to see you. We have suggestion boxes in the foyer where you can let us know if you have any ideas on how we can improve on what we do and welcome any other form of feedback.

Parents are invited to attend our social evenings and our Stay and Play sessions, which allow you to really see what your child gets up to each day. We encourage parents to get involved in the running of the nursery should they so wish and often have parents helping with arts and crafts, gardening and cooking activities. ​

Opening hours

Dolphin Day Nursery and Out of School Club is open from 07.30 to 18.00 hours, Monday to Friday all year round except for one week at Christmas. We are closed on the usual bank holidays.

Sessions

Here at Dolphin Day Nursery and Out of School Club we are able to offer you a range of sessions, including morning sessions (8am to 1pm), afternoon sessions (1pm to 6pm), short days (8am to 3pm), full days (8am to 6pm) and extended days (07.30 to 6pm). We encourage you to book a minimum of three sessions a week so that your child can settle in and become used to the setting.

Prospectuses

We have a bound prospectus for each of our four classrooms, explaining more about the activities that are carried out in each class, information on what to bring, and Terms and Conditions, as well as details on pricing and registration requirements. Should you require a copy of the prospectus, please contact the nursery office and we will either email or post you a copy.

Terms and Conditions

You will find that here at Dolphin Day Nursery and Out of School Club that we are approachable and flexible in meeting your childcare requirements. However, to enable the smooth operation of the nursery and to be fair to all parents, we do have a number of Terms and Conditions which we will ask you to adhere to when accepting a place. A full copy of these Terms and Conditions will be send with your registration pack

Forms and Fees

In order to confirm a place at the nursery we ask that you complete in full the registration form contained in your prospectus. We will require all details asked for and any omissions may delay the confirmation of a place. We also ask that a non-returnable registration fee of £30 (£10 for Out of School Places) is paid on registering. We ask that fees are paid on the 1st of every month, ideally by bank transfer, and there is a late payment charge for those paying late.

Funded Entitlement

The nursery is registered to offer the government funded entitlement programme for all three and four year olds. This is available to all children of this age and entitles you to claim 15 hours of childcare which is free at the point of delivery to you. This is offered during term time only.

In addition to this, should you be eligible, this same funding entitlement is now available for children aged two years. As certain conditions apply, you will need to check if you are first eligible and this can be done on the website of Northamptonshire County Council at:

http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/children/early-learning-childcare/pages/free-childcare-for-2-year-olds.aspx

Workplace Vouchers

In order to help you finance your childcare sessions, we are pleased to say that we are able to accept various workplace voucher schemes. Should your employer offer such a service, these are a tax efficient way of paying for your childcare directly from your employer. Schemes we currently accept include: Edenred, Care-4, Sodexco, Computershare, Co-op Benefits, and RG Childcare. Should your employer offer a different scheme, do let us know and we can arrange to join the scheme and offer this for you.

Discounts

We are currently able to offer a 10% discount against all full-time sessions (all day sessions for 51 weeks of the year) and a discount for siblings of a child already attending the nursery.

Periodically, we also offer certain discounts on registration fees and other fees for new starters in promotions and local advertising so keep your eye out for these!

What do you need to bring:

• Nappies, wipes, cream (younger children)
• Change of clothing
• Outdoor wear - i.e. waterproofs and wellington boots, or sunhats and sun cream (weather dependent)
• Indoor shoes
• Lunchbox (if your child is funded or not having a hot meal)