Just Like Home Childcare recognises the importance of having robust systems in place to ensure the safe arrival and departure of the children in our care. The manager will ensure that an accurate record is kept of all children in the setting, and that any arrivals or departures are recorded in the register. The register is kept in an accessible location
on the premises at all times. In addition, we conduct regular headcounts during the session.
Escorting children to the Club
- The Club and schools that we collect from have a clear agreement concerning the transfer of responsibility for children’s safety.
- We have risk assessed the routes used to escort children to the Club and review them regularly.
- Children will be collected from their own classrooms or if appropriate for the age of the child then at a designated meeting place within the playground by prior arrangement. Parents, class teachers and the children are all made aware of the arrangements.
- Each individual school that we collect from is notified that we are authorised to collect the relevant children and on what days.
- For older children who are not required to be collected by us from school, but still attend after school club, we have a separate Independent Arrival Policy.
- If a child is booked into the Club but is not at the collection point, we will check whether the child was present at school that day. If the whereabouts of the child is not known, staff will immediately inform the designated contact at the school and ask the school to implement its Missing Child
Arrivals
Our staff will greet each child warmly on their arrival at our setting and will record the child’s attendance in the daily register straightaway, including the time of arrival.
Departures
- Staff will ensure that parents or carers sign children out before they leave, including the time of collection. If a child is collected by another named adult, then they will be required to sign them out in the same way.
- Children are only collected by an adult who has been authorised to do so on their registration form.
- In exceptional circumstances, if the parent requires another person who is not listed on the registration form to collect their child, the child’s parents or carers must inform us in advance and provide a description of the person and a password that they will use. If the manager has any concerns regarding the person collecting he/she will contact the main parent or carer for confirmation.
- The parent or carer must notify us if they will be late collecting their child. If we are not informed, the Uncollected Children policy will be followed.
- Children over the age of eight will only be allowed to leave the Club alone at the end of the session if the Club has discussed this with the child’s parents and has received their written consent.
- Children below the age of eight will not be allowed to leave the Club unaccompanied under any circumstance.
Absences
- If a child is going to be absent from a session, parents must notify the office in advance.
- If a child is absent without explanation, staff will contact the parents or carers and the school to check where the child should be. If staff still have concerns about the child’s whereabouts after attempts to contact the parents and the school the manager will contact the police.
- Just Like Home Childcare will try to discover the causes of prolonged and unexplained absences. Regular absences could indicate that a child or their family might need additional support.
This policy was adopted by: Just Like Home Childcare. Date: 1st December 2016
To be reviewed: 1st December 2017 Signed: