• Enrolment Policy
• Payment Policy
• Communication & Parental Involvement Policy
• Medical Policy
• Behaviour Management Policy

Enrolment Policy

Once Upon A Time offers open enrolment year round, based on availability.

• A non-refundable registration fee of €50 must be paid when initially booking a place at Once Upon A Time
• In addition, one month's deposit must be paid 3 months prior to a child starting at Once Upon A Time. This fee must be paid with the registration fee if the child is to start within 3 months of the enrolment date. This fee is held as a deposit for a child's place & may be used up only if one month's notice is given of withdrawal of a child from Once Upon A Time.
• Failure to give one month's written notice or attendance for less then 1 year will result in forfeiture of this advance deposit. In addition, please note that if the deposit is paid and a child does not commence attendance at Once Upon A Time, this money is not refundable. This is to ensure the commitment of our clients and to ensure that parents are not using our services as a short term, "quick fix" answer to their child care needs.
• The first month's fees are due on the first morning of the first day of your child starting with us and thereafter on that date, or if the date falls on the weekend on the nearest working day prior to that date every month.

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Payment Policy

• Fees are set in January every year
• All fees must be paid on a monthly basis by Standing Order after the first month's fees have been paid. We aim to spend as much time with your child and we can not do this if we are involved in the daily administration of collecting fees & driving to the bank.
• There is a 10% discount for each additional sibling attending Once Upon A Time.
• There is no reduction in fees for absenteeism or holidays.
• A late collection fee of €5 for every 5 minutes after our official closing time of 6pm will be charged.

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Communication & Parental Involvement Policy

We realise that good communication is essential to a quality child care centre. We endeavour to ensure good communication with parents by the following measures;

• Notice Boards: in the hall of Once Upon A Time contain any relevant information that you might may need to know including monthly menus and curriculums
• Newsletter; we issue parents with a newsletter every 3 months. Please do try to read this to keep up with our news, policies and forthcoming events
• Progress Reports - We keep ongoing progress notes on all the children attending Once Upon A Time.
• Monthly Montessori Reports
• Daily Pre Montessori Reports
• Daily Wobbler Reports
• Daily Baby Book Input
• In addition if you have any questions or feedback please do not hesitate to talk to us. We at Once Upon A Time pride ourselves on our openness and involvement with our parents. We believe in working in partnership with all our parents to ensure each individual child and parent is happy with the care we provide and that each child is successfully developing at their own pace.

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Medical Policy

We are aware that you as parents lead busy demanding lives and have additional stress & pressure when your child is sick. However, we know that you understand the importance of adhering to this medical policy, as the ongoing health and safety of all our children and staff is of paramount importance to all of us.

• Parents must always agree to collect their child or arrange to have their child collected by a pre-elected relative or friend within one hour of being requested to do so by the Management of Once Upon A Time
• Children with contagious conditions may not attend Once Upon A Time until the relevant number of days for exclusion have elapsed
• Children with a high temperature, i.e. over 100 Degrees may not attend Once Upon A Time or will be sent home from Once Upon A Time. Children under 2 years of age may occasionally present with a high temperature which may be "tooth" related. Staff will inform parents if this is the case and will administer Calpol or similar medication.
• Children who have ear, throat or long term chest infections will not be administered to the Nursery & Montessori school
• Once on an antibiotic, a child may not attend Once Upon A Time for a period of 48 hours, with no exceptions made.
• If staff are not happy with a child's ongoing health, we will request a letter from a doctor stating that the child in question in fit to attend Once Upon A Time, and does not require medication.

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Behaviour Management Policy

At Once Upon A Time Nursery and Montessori School a loving, affectionate and respectful attitude and manner are displayed towards children. We encourage them to be independent and self directing leading towards them eventually becoming truly responsible for their own behaviour.

Once Upon A Time believes that all children have a right to discipline that should not be confused with punishment. If a child is in an environment that provides positive behaviour, unacceptable behaviour will diminish in time as the child learns and grows. The staff at Once Upon A Time will work together with the parents in order to implement effective ways of managing and moulding children's' behaviour. Behaviour modification needs to involve all adults who have close contact with the child. This enables the rules to be consistently reinforced in both Once Upon A Time and in the home.

The staff of Once Upon A Time will endeavour to assist children in developing self esteem and positive behaviour patterns in the following ways;

• Praising or criticising the behaviour rather then the child.
• Encouraging and building a child's self esteem.
• Using play and games with rules to help the child learn and understand boundaries.
• Staff leading by example as children imitate behaviour.
• Being consistent by meaning "No" when they say "No".
• Clarifying rules and expectations of behaviour.
• Reinforcing positive behaviour at all times i.e. displaying paintings rewards etc.

In order for behaviour modification to work effectively rules must be established and the children need to be aware of them. Behaviour, which will not be tolerated in Once Upon A Time, is as follows;

• Physical aggression
• Verbal aggression
• Excessive temper tantrums

Such behaviour will be dealt in by using the three following stages;

1. A member of staff will speak to children displaying inappropriate behaviour.
2. A child will always be given several opportunities to change their behaviour before being asked to go on Time Out, therefore it is the child's decision to go on Time Out
3. If the unpleasant behaviour still continues the child will be removed from the situation in "time out" for an age appropriate length of time. This is one minute for every year, i.e. a 2 year would only ever go on Time Out for 2 minutes. "Time out" allows the child to calm down and regain control.

Once Upon A Time will inform parents of all action taken regarding the behaviour of their child. If a child continually displays any of the above mentioned behaviour, the management and staff of Once Upon A Time will work together to try and rectify negative behaviour patterns. However, if the negative behaviour continues to be displayed within the Nursery and Montessori school environment, it is at the discretion of the Management to ask the parents involved to take their child out of Once Upon A Time Nursery and Montessori School subsequent to a written warning.

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