Uncollected Child Procedure

Statement of Intent
In the event that a child is not collected by an authorised adult at the end of a day or activity, the school puts into practice agreed procedures. These ensure the child is cared for safely by school staff who is known to the child. We will ensure that the child receives a high standard of care in order to cause as little distress as possible. We inform parents/carers of our procedures so that, if they are unavoidably delayed, they will be reassured that their children will be properly cared for.

Procedures
Parents of children starting at the school are asked to provide the following specific information which is recorded on our data collection form:

  • Home address and telephone number
  • Place of work, address and telephone number (if applicable)
  • Mobile telephone number (if applicable)
  • Names, addresses, telephone numbers of adults who are authorised by the parents to collect their child from the setting, for example a childminder or grandparent
  • Who has parental responsibility for the child
  • Information about any person who does not have legal access to the child

On occasions when parents are aware that they will not be at home or in their usual place of work, they inform us of how they can be contacted.

On occasions when parents or the persons normally authorised to collect the child are not able to collect the child, they provide us with details of the name and telephone number of the person who will be collecting their child. We agree with parents how to verify the identity of the person who is to collect their child.

Parents are informed that if they are not able to collect the child as planned, they must inform us so that we can begin to take back-up measures.

If a child is not collected at the end of the day/session, we follow the following procedures:

  • Parents/carers are contacted at home or at work
  • If this is unsuccessful, the adults who are authorised by the parents to collect their child from the setting and whose telephone numbers are recorded on the data collection form are contacted
  • All reasonable attempts are made to contact the parents or nominated carers
  • The Headteacher, Head of School or DSL (Designated Safeguarding Lead) are informed
  • The child does not leave the premises with anyone other than those named on the data collection form
  • If no-one collects the child after one hour and there is no-one who can be contacted to collect the child, we apply the procedures for uncollected children
  • If the child has attended a trip, residential or other out of school activity, the same procedures are applied after 30 minutes
  • We contact our local authority children’s social services care team/MASH and the child stays at the setting in the care of two members of staff until the child is safely collected either by the parents or by a social care worker
  •  MASH 0345 155 1071
  • Emergency Duty Team (out of hours) 0845 6000 388
  • Social Care will aim to find the parent or relative if they are unable to do so, the child will become looked after by the local authority
  • If the child already has an allocated social worker, the school will contact them
  • Under no circumstances do staff go to look for the parent, nor do they take the child home with them
  • A full written report of the incident is recorded on CPOMS (our online reporting system for safeguarding)