Q. What policy do other settings have on reserving a nursery place? Is it acceptable to ask for a holding deposit, and should this be returned when the child starts attending? I don’t want to deter new families but also am fed up with people not taking up places.
Paul Tucker, operations manager, ABC Nursery, Oxford
‘Our 64-place nursery was hit hard by Covid-19. We’ve been operating for 25 years, but from September 2020 we had zero children and had to build up the business again. As a result, we put a system in place whereby prospective parents must book a nursery visit via our online system within a week of getting in touch. If, after the visit, they want to reserve a place for their child, they pay a non-refundable £50 deposit. That puts them on a waiting list for a guaranteed place, but not a guaranteed start date.
‘Often these days we have people approaching us even before their child is born.
‘Three months before a child’s start date, we ask the parents to pay their first month’s invoice. At this stage, if they’ve changed their minds, we have time to offer the place to another child.
‘In our experience the deposit has never put off any parents. We’re a family-run business based in a converted house. It’s a home-from-home-style setting and we are in high demand from families.
‘People are aware places are limited. Some parents tell us they are still considering other settings, but they pay our deposit anyway just in case.
‘The fee goes towards our administration costs. So far, we haven’t been in the situation where any parents have changed their minds.’
Justyna Ogrodniczek, nursery manager, Elmscot Day Nursery and Nursery School, Chester
‘We ask for a deposit to secure a nursery place. We think this is acceptable, as we would otherwise need to turn away other future applicants for that place.
‘The deposit is £50 for every day a week the child is booked to attend. We return this deposit after the child has left the setting. This gives us some financial security. We expect parents to give us a month’s notice if they plan to leave. If they were to leave suddenly, they would forfeit that deposit, but it would go some way to covering the impact of the financial loss to the setting.
‘I can understand why this nursery manager might be worried that some families would be unhappy about paying a deposit. But if families change their mind about a placement, and don’t pay, this can have a negative impact on a nursery.
‘However, we rarely have this problem because we work hard at building relationships with parents before their child even starts attending. We were joint winners of the Nursery World award for working with parents this year.
‘Our approach during a show-around is to demonstrate the different activities we do. We also explain how parents and children will become part of our community from the day they enrol. Once a parent has registered and paid their holding deposit, they start receiving our information bulletins. They can contact us with any questions.
‘As a result, our parents rarely change their minds.’
Josie Mapes, head of education, The Lime Trees, Nottingham
‘As a community interest company, we value people over profit. It’s our policy never to charge parents an administration fee or deposit. All of our funded places are free at point of access because we work with some of the most vulnerable and deprived families.
‘If this practitioner is having problems with people not taking up places, my advice would be for them to review their enquiry process. Look at the experience from beginning to end. Maybe even look into going through a mystery shopper kind of process to get some subjective feedback.
‘For example, when prospective parents call the nursery, are they getting consistent messages from different members of staff? Does the nursery sound busy when they call, or calm and organised? Are staff passionate about the setting, and professional when they speak to parents? Does the nursery look well presented?
‘From that first point of contact, you need to sell your nursery as the best possible place for that person’s child. You never know how many other nurseries a parent is visiting.
‘In order to keep parents loyal, we keep in touch regularly once they have registered before their child starts. We invite them to events, such as a Mother’s Day lunch.
‘Ultimately, if a person doesn’t feel that their nursery is the right place for them in the end, a £50 deposit isn’t going to change that.’
