# Expelled from creche - refund due?



## samhain (14 Nov 2006)

We were called up to the creche today to be told that our 23 month old has been biting other children and that they did not think the creche environment suited her.  She started there 11 months ago.  I am not too upset about that as we had been debating moving her as on occasion we found one person looking after 15 under 2s which is way above the government guidelines but we didn't expect to be asked to leave without any preparation at all.  I was especially shocked as we had a baby 6 weeks ago and thought that they would be aware that that might upset a child and would know how to handle it.

My query relates to our deposit and the fees which we pay monthly by direct debit in advance.  Do they owe us only the fees for the remainder of days in November or do they owe us a month's fees because we agreed that if we were to take the child out we would pay a month's fees or give a month's notice?  They explained that they needed to do that to ensure the staff were paid and the running costs met which is fair enough but now we have to make alternative arrangements also.  We were so stunned today we didn't ask but I just wanted to know what we are entitled to before I do anything.


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## DonKing (14 Nov 2006)

Did you sign a contract or written agreement?
If you didn't I would have thought that you would have been entitled to a refund for the remaining days in November.


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## extopia (14 Nov 2006)

Sounds like a great creche, with great staff. (I'm being sarcastic here).

I know these things are tough, but it's probably a good thing to get your kid out of there as fast as possible anyway.

Cancel that DD right away! And don't let them keep the deposit. They are breaking the contract not you (unless there are specific clauses in the contract that state they can "expel" a child for biting and keep the deposit).


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## pernickety (15 Nov 2006)

did you get any advance warning that your child was biting? nearly all children do at some stage and you'd imagine the creche would know how to deal with it. if it was bad and out of control they should have advised you, suggested ways of dealing with it at home so that you could all be consistent etc etc

sounds like they're not very professional and your child will be better off out of there. I would demand my money back and see if they can find a written rule to say you cannot, rather than the other way around.

good luck!


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## Bamhan (15 Nov 2006)

I think as they have broken their contract with you you are entitled to a months refund.
If you need to locate another creche you will need to pay another deposit etc so it is unfair for you to be out of pocket.
TBH I agree your child would be better off out of there, expelling a 23 month old is ludicrious, sounds like unqualified staff TBH.


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## Vanilla (15 Nov 2006)

Agree with other posters- very unprofessional if they cannot handle a child who bites. They should have discussed it with you and come up with a joint strategy for handling the situation. It is not a reason to expell a child. Cancel the dd, look for your deposit back.


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## Headachecity (15 Nov 2006)

The deposit is given with the condition that you or the creche give once months notice of taking you child out or visa versa. Then your deposit is deducted from the final months fees and you pay the balance. In your case you were not given a months notice therefore you are fully entitled to your deposit back. Demand it back. What they have done is disgraceful, they are paid to mind the children and deal with all situations. Good luck and don't back down!!. From one mother to another paying mentral creche fees!!!!.
Also, I would report this creche to the NCNA to get it inspected as to me it sounds like it is run by unqualified staff and run on the cheap!.


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## coinfused (15 Nov 2006)

The practice of leaving 1 person with 15 babies makes this a bad creche- not necessarily "expelling" a biting child. The OP did not state that this was the first biting incident, can you let us know if they had discussed the situation with you before today? 

The reason I ask is a friend's child (11 months)was in a creche and was among 4 children bitten by a "serial biter" (of 18 months)The bites were deep enough to break the skin and needed irrigation and dressing by their GP in case of infection. My friend was livid understandably, but not at the creche staff but the parents of the biter who laughed it off when he was "just nipping" but stopped laughing when it got worse. The biting child was asked to leave eventually after about a month of biting. 

Creches suit some children but not others, do the creche staff have any vested interest in removing your child? If not then I would listen to their opinion as to whether your child really is suited to a creche.


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## coleen (15 Nov 2006)

I work in child care and from the very first offence the parents would have been notified and a couple of things would have been tried before expultion. It can nearly always  be solved between the parent and the staff . I feel the child was not kept busy enough and was bored that is why he /she was bitting , there usually is a reason for bitting.


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## extopia (16 Nov 2006)

Biting gets a lot of attention for a start. A lot of kids respond to this.


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## Glenbhoy (16 Nov 2006)

Depending on the contract obviously, would there be a possibility that they would have to:
1. Refund you the remaining days of November - seems like a no-brainer as they have not provided the service.
2. Refund you the deposit - I can't see how this can be retained.
3. Pay you one months creche fees for breaking the contract - you would have had to if it were you who broke the contract.

At least you'll probably get a laugh out of it in yrs to come!


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## samhain (22 Nov 2006)

Thanks for all your replies, I didn't get to reply earlier because I took both children down the country to visit their grandparents so I could decide what to do and get a bit of extra help.

In answer to the questions, yes they did warn us that she was biting but in that month she got 6 new teeth - two near the front and four back ones.  At the review when all the parents go up to see how their kids are getting one they told us there were no problems and that the biting had stopped.  This new episode of biting has only happened since the new baby arrived and doesn't happen at home at all.  And she was bitten by other children a few times before she ever bit and we didn't complain to the creche - just said kids will be kids.

I forgot to mention that she was only there part-time (although this cost us the same as our mortgage monthly) and I have been wondering whether this might have something to do with it, when she started the creche was only new and had very few children and now it seems very full.  To be honest I am happy to have her at home now and it means I won't be going back to work, the decision has been made for me.  Although I thought she was happy enough there perhaps she wasn't really and this will all be for the best.  But I will be following up on the deposit and a complaint about staffing levels.  Will keep you posted on how I get on.


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## dubinamerica (24 Nov 2006)

mmm..possibly an underlying reason so regarding the part-time situation.. If you are out on maternity leave right now you may need to return to work for some amount of time (possibly only a matter of days) before handing in your notice. Not sure about the nuances of this as I couldn't get any benefit as we'd been out of the country for a few years before having our recent addition but it might be worth checking.


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