Arrivals and Departures:

Staff will ensure that all children are greeted warmly and made to feel welcome upon arrival and staff will ensure that they depart safely at the end of every session.

Arrivals

• A register will be kept; arrival and departure times of the children will be recorded, supplemented by regular head counts throughout the day.  The register will be kept on the premises at all times.  A copy of the register will be taken on trips and outings.
• A member of staff will immediately record a child’s arrival at the setting.
• Familiar staff will greet children and parents.
• Parents/carers are requested to pass the care of their child to a specific member of staff who will ensure his/her safety.   Any specific information provided by the parents should be recorded at this time.

Departures

• Parents may collect children at any time during the session, however we would ask that we are informed of this so we can ensure your child is ready for you and to avoid disruption to the sessions.
• Children will only be released to their parent/carer or the person on the permission form unless the setting has been informed of changes beforehand. 
• In the event of someone other than parent/carer collecting, the agreed procedure must be followed to identify the nominated adult. 
• During the end of session time, staff will assist with coats and shoes and any medication given to staff for a child will be recovered from the medicine box/fridge only when the parent/carer has arrived and should be handed over personally, with appropriate forms completed and signed.
• Staff reserve the right to refuse a child from our care if there is any doubt as to the authenticity of the person collecting the child.
• If a parent/carer is deemed to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol which could impede their ability to care for the child, staff can refuse to allow the parent/carer to collect the child and alternate arrangements from other named nominated person on the emergency contact list will be contacted.  The police or Social Care will also be informed.
• All children must be signed out by a member of staff.
• Departure times will be recorded by staff immediately upon departure.
• Parents are responsible for the children as soon as they leave the main playroom or cloakroom and cannot be held responsible for any child who runs through the main gate without a parent, so therefore parents are reminded of the need to be vigilant and supervise their child at all times.

Late Collection and Non-Collection:

All parents agree to collect their child from preschool/Nursery at the allotted times, either 12pm or 3pm.  Of course parents can collect their child earlier, but we would need to know in advance so we can ensure that the child is ready.  If on occasions you know that you are going to be late, please telephone us immediately, leaving a message or giving an approximate time that you expect to arrive. We do appreciate that sometimes unexpected circumstances occur which are beyond your control.  The teachers will use their discretion if late collection of a child is a rare incident, however, if parents/carers are consistently late collecting their children a charge of £5 for every 10 minutes will be added to their account for the follow term.

Non-collection of children

In the event of a child not being collected from the Preschool/Nursery after a reasonable amount of time (30 minutes) the following procedure will apply:

• Staff members will remain with the child and give reassurance.
• If the late collection of child falls within normal operating times, staff ratios must be met and planned accordingly.
• The teachers must stay behind with the child with another member of staff (ideally the Key Person) if it falls outside normal operating hours.
• Attempts will be made to contact the parent/carers.
• In the event that the parent/carers cannot be contacted, attempts will be made to contact those persons named as emergency contacts on the child’s registration form.
• If contact is unsuccessful, the staff will telephone all contact numbers every 10 minutes until contact is made. 
• It is important not to cause any undue stress to the child at any time.  When the parent/carer arrives staff will expect an explanation, however this should be dealt with in a courteous manner.

• In the event of no contact being made after one hour has lapsed, the staff will ring the Social Services on 01452 426565.
• The senior Teaching Team will remain in the building until suitable arrangements have been made for the collection of the child. The child’s welfare and needs will be met at all times.