I am the childminder in question and thought I should clear a few things up.
The parent gave me written notice. She thought she gave the notice within the first four weeks, which would mean that it can take immediate effect. She did not, which means that 4 weeks notice must be given. The 4 weeks notice is paid for with the deposit. She is now asking for her deposit back. As far as I am concerned she is not entitled to it- it has been used to pay for the 4 week notice period. The contract states 'deposit held until termination of contracts' (so I can understand how she has misunderstood and thinks she gets it back, but that misunderstanding is surely her problem, not mine,-she should have read all her paperwork correctly, not just that one sentence?). 'Deposit held until termination of contracts' does not mean that it is returned to the parent. It pays for the 4 week notice period. This is clearly stated in my deposits policy- and she has signed to say that she read, understood and agrees to all my policies.
The legal team from my insurance company have not been able to give a definite answer because of the confusion with dates- I count the 'start date' as the first time the child ever attends. I do this to ensure I am covered by my insurance at this time. The parent has counted it as the child's first full day (which was a week later, and this is why she thinks she was able to give notice with immediate effect) So my insurance company have just said that they can see it both ways which is not very helpful!