We facilitate a growing number of families in a high volume of services. Most of our families now avail of the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) and we are therefore required to meet full compliance on inspection of our receipt of funding to apply subsidies to our fees.
4 week’s written notice for cancellations or changes (for October – May only)
We have 3 ‘open’ windows of opportunity for you to change your regular booking with 4 weeks’ notice via Enrolmy. These are in September, January, and April. This window will be open for 2 weeks (dates will be advised in advance)
We require no less than 4 week’s written notice from you of changes to a permanent cancellation of your booking to allow us adequate time to make these amendments.
Due to an historically high volume of changes and cancellations received in the first and last month of each Academic Year, Sherpa Kids is no longer in a viable position to accommodate changes or cancellations in September and/or June, irrespective of a 4-week notice given.
Requests for regular booking reductions and amendments should be done via Enrolmy.
All requests for cancellations must be sent to support@sherpakids.ie between September and May. Again 4 week’s written notice is required for the cancellation to come into effect.
No acceptance of Changes/Cancellations for September and June
Due to a pattern of high-volume cancellations and changes requests in the first and last month of the academic year, we have a ‘no acceptance’ policy in place for the duration of both months at either end of the academic school year. Families will be billed as usual irrespective of the 4-week notice for cancellation or reductions/changes to ensure our services remain viable to run during these months.
Failure to balance invoices during these periods may result in the loss of your child’s place.
Once a cancellation has been made requests for a subsequent booking must be made to support@sherpakids.ie as the system will prohibit you from making further bookings in that academic year.
3 ‘windows’ to reduce/swap days in your booking per school year
We understand that people’s circumstances can change and that less hours/days, or different days may be required at any given time. We therefore open 3 windows across the academic year to allow changes to be made, with 4 week’s notice (reduction of days/hours, or to change days of your use of Sherpa Kids). Changes include swapping your days and/or reducing your days/hours, either with a permanent or temporary intention. Please note that where a change request alters a Court/Access order in place, we will require supporting legal documentation or an updated Court Access Order to allow us grant such requests. We cannot guarantee change requests that impact custody/access rights in place in the best interests of child safety and welfare.
Cancelling your Booking
You can permanently cancel your place at any time and will not be charged anything once we receive a 4-week written notice in advance of your cancellation. Failure to provide this will result in a charge equivalent of up to 4 week’s fees. All requests for cancellations must be sent to support@sherpakids.ie between September and May. This will also allow us to put your ‘prepayment’ back on your account.
Adhoc / Once Off Additional Hours
Where capacity allows, you may book additional ‘ad hoc’ hours with us through Enrolmy. These might be in the case of an emergency where you need your child to remain in our care on a day they are not regularly booked in, or for longer than they normally do on a booked day. You will be charged our regular hourly rate for this short-term or ‘once off’ booking. It is our policy that the NCS does not apply to these bookings.
Increasing your regular booking
Should you wish to increase your regular hours/days, please do so through Enrolmy for each week in question until the next open window. In the event of exceptional circumstance please email support@sherpakids.ie with the details of the change required. You will be charged our regular hourly rate for these additional hours to your booking between open windows. It is our policy that the NCS does not apply to these bookings.
Wait List
When making a regular and/or ad-hoc booking, your booking will go to a wait list if there is no capacity at the time of booking. When a place becomes available, all on the waiting list will be notified and the place will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. The window to confirm will be 24 hours after which point the place will become available to all parents.