Arrival and Departure of Children

Arrival of children

• Morning  session (8.30 or 9.00am) Children walk into Preschool accompanied by a member of staff.

• Lunch club and Afternoon session (11.30am or 12.30pm) Children walk into Preschool accompanied by a member of staff.

• A register of attendance is conducted at the beginning of each session. The register contains the child’s name and date of birth of the children in the care of South Hill Park Preschool.

• On arrival, the children self register by taking their name from their peg and putting on the welcome board inside the playroom.  The manager or senior members of staff will complete the register and conduct a head count. This number will also be displayed visually on a white board in the main room.

• The register will be amended accordingly for any child not arriving or departing at the normal arrival and departure times.

• During operating sessions the main gate and main door are to remain locked. 

Departure of children

• Parents will be asked to wait inside the gate of the Preschool for their children.

• Morning sessions (11.30am finish): The children will be brought out to their parents and handed over by a member of staff.

• Afternoon sessions (3.30pm finish): The children will be brought out to the parents and handed over.

Other named persons collecting 

• Parents are asked to state on their admissions forms the names of all people permitted to collect their child and to provide a password.  If possible, recent photographs of these people should be provided during admissions.  The password will be required from the named persons as we get to know them. 

• Should anyone other than the regular named adults be collecting that day, the parent should inform a member of staff at arrival, this can be in writing or email. If possible a recent photo should be used as proof of identification, alongside the password that will be required upon collection of that child before Preschool will release them into their care.

• In circumstances where it is not possible to obtain written permission or a recent photograph we will accept a telephone call from the parent with a description of the person collecting and a password. 

• If a parent has not informed the preschool of someone else collecting their child, we will not release them into their care until we have spoken to the child’s parent for clarification.

• New childminders are asked to provide photographic ID unless they are already known to us. We will call Bracknell Forest Council to verify childminders who are not already familiar to us. 

• Under no circumstances can a child be collected by any person under 18 years of age. 

Staffing and Procedures at departure time

• The main gate is open for parents to come into the garden 5 minutes before the children go home. There is always a member of staff standing at the gate, they check children out with their adult and sign them off the register.  They also challenge anyone they do not recognise or know. 2 or more staff are available to help the children leave. 

• Children will not be allowed to go home if staff feel that the parent/carer collecting a child may be under the influence of either alcohol or drugs and the safety or well being of the child may be compromised.  The staff must inform the Manager or Deputy Manager who will assess the situation.  

• If it is felt that the parent or carer is unable to take responsibility for the child they will take appropriate action.  This may call another person on the admission form.  If another designated person is not available the Police will be informed and we will notify Children’s social care team.

Collection

Children MUST be picked up on time. If there are reasons beyond your control which will make you late, then every effort must be made to contact Pre-school to inform us of the situation.  

Late collections are charged at £5 for each 15 minute period after the first 5 minutes.  One late collection per term is accepted as unavoidable and will not be charged.  

Childminders who are arranging numerous pick-ups / drop-offs should speak to the Manager if there are likely to be difficulties. 

All incidents of late collection will be recorded. 

For persistent late collection the Pre-school Manager will arrange a meeting with the parent to discuss any issues.

Non collection of a child

If a child is not collected at the end of a session and we have not been given information about any changes to their normal collection arrangements we will follow the following procedure: 

1. We will call any contact telephone numbers which have been given to us to try to ascertain when the child will be collected.

2. The child will not be allowed to leave the premises with anyone other than those people who have prior permission.

3. Two members of staff will remain with the child.

4. If after one hour no-one can be contacted to collect the child we will contact the Bracknell Forest Council MASH Team and follow their instructions from that point onwards.

5. A full written report of the incident will be recorded in the child’s file and Ofsted may be notified.

Last reviewed July 2023