Admissions Policy

At Blue Butterfly Montessori we care for all children between the ages of 3 months to 5 years.

We take the following matters into account when prioritising and deciding on admissions:

• Availability of places, considering deployment of staff: child ratios, the age of the child and any registration requirements
• Children who have siblings already attending are given priority on the waiting list.
• Date of returned and completed Registration Pack (we plan according to the Start Date on a strictly first come first served basis).
• The nursery’s ability to provide the facilities necessary for the welfare of the child, including appropriate staffing arrangements.
• A child requiring a full-time place may have preference over one requiring a part-time place. This is dependent upon work commitments, occupancy, and room availability.
• Any extenuating circumstances affecting the child’s welfare or the welfare of his/her family.
• Staff Discounts for children of employees are subject to the availability and financial sustainability of the nursery branch to absorb subsidised places.

We operate an inclusion and equality policy and ensure that all children have access to nursery places and services irrespective of their gender, race, disability, religion, belief or sexual orientation of parents.

Families who would like to register their interest at the nursery will be asked to visit the nursery first to ensure they are happy with the service we provide and the available facilities. If happy to proceed, a Registration Pack will be sent via DocuSign (digitally) and a Registration Form will need to be completed and the corresponding Registration Fee paid (as referred to on our Fee Schedule).

The Registration Fee is non-refundable even in the instance that your preferred sessions or start date cannot be offered. Your registration form will be placed on the waiting list according to the preferred start date and in order of when you registered with the nursery.

We aim to offer our places between 6 weeks to 4 months before your preferred start date. Before offering a place families will receive a courtesy call to discuss available start dates and sessions. If a verbal offer is made, this will be valid for 48 hours. If accepted, an Acceptance Pack will be sent via DocuSign where parents will be asked to sign a contract and an offer letter alongside providing personal & sensitive data about their child or relating to their child.

Once ready to submit the pack and acceptance of an offer, a Deposit (referred to in the fee schedule) is payable and this shall not be returnable unless 4 weeks’ notice in writing is provided to the Nursery Manager. The Deposit is not deductible for payment of the first or subsequent month’s fees.

An offer (Acceptance Pack) can be deferred once by 12 weeks before being put back on the waiting list. At this point, your deposit will be refunded.
If the Deposit remains unpaid within 10 working days from the Acceptance Pack being sent out, the offer will be withdrawn by the Nursery and the place will be offered to the next family on the Waiting List. If you do not accept the first offer of sessions available but wish to remain on the Waiting List, you will be placed back at the end of the Waiting List queue.

Settle sessions will be communicated via the Acceptance Pack along with booking a home visit for families that are within the 2-mile radius (See Home Visit policy for more information). At Blue Butterfly Montessori we do our best to ensure that children settle in comfortably, we introduce your child into the nursery gradually.

This helps children to learn about their new environment and build a sense of trust with the new adults and children that they will meet. The new key person will help them to feel safe and make secure relationships. We require that children attend 4 settle sessions before their start date.

These will be consecutive sessions to give the child maximum opportunity for a smooth transition to nursery. We ask the parent to be available for the first settle so that they can meet the key worker and discuss anything related to the child’s interests. We ask the parent to say goodbye to their child at the second visit so that nursery educators can gauge how the child is doing and start to make positive relations with them. Educators will of course call parents if there are any issues.

• Home Visit (If within the 2-mile radius) from Management and Key person 30 mins.
• Settle Session 1 (45 minutes)
• Settle Session 2 (2 hours)
• Settle Session 3 (3 hours)
• Settle Session 4 (4 hours)