Arrivals & Departures Policy
It is the policy of the centre to give a warm welcome to each child upon arrival. Parents/carers are requested to pass the care of their child to a specific member of staff who will ensure his/her safety, and that their attendance is recorded in the register by the time the parent/carer exits the centre. This member of staff will usually be the child’s key person.
The staff member receiving the child immediately records his/her arrival in the daily attendance register. Any specific information provided by the parents should be recorded in the diary. If the parent requests the child to be given medicine during the day the staff member must ensure that the medicine consent procedure is followed.
Staff must inform the parent/carer of what exciting and interesting activities their child/children will be offered during the day.
Each person including the parent and carer of each child must be listed on the application form’s authorised persons to collect. No person unless they are listed on the application form will be allowed to collect the child from the centre.
If on a pre-planned occasion, the child is not to be collected by the parent/carer at the end of the session, but by an authorised person (on the list of authorised persons to collect) unknown to the staff, Raising Explorers Centres’ procedure must be followed to identify the nominated adult by the following means;
When the child is brought into the centre by the parent/carer, the parent/carer will be asked to complete a Collection Form.
This form will include:
- the name of the child
- name of parent/carer completing the form
- name of person who will be collecting on the day (that is out of the ordinary and who is unknown to the staff)
- a description of the person who will be collecting (and a photograph of the person if available)
- the time and date of collection
The most senior member of staff in the room will be responsible for assisting the parent/carer in completing the form and will choose and give a password to the parent/carer so they can give it to the person who will be collecting. This password will only be in use and active for the day of collection by the unknown but authorised person. Therefore, upon arrival the unknown but authorised person will inform the staff the assigned password for the day that was given to the parent/carer that day by the most senior member of staff in the room/unit.
In addition, as stated on the Collection Form, the unknown but authorised person will be asked one of two security questions (either the child’s date of birth or the child’s main address). In the event, the person wishing to collect a child from the centre cannot provide the correct password allocated by the member of staff and/or cannot answer one of the two security questions, the child would not be released to the person and the parent/carer would be contacted. In such an instance, other options would be explored such as the duty manager assigning a new password and to the parent/carer via telephone so that the parent/carer could make contact independently with the person wishing to collect the child to inform them of the new password. The duty manager would also ask new security questions based upon the child’s application form.
Once a form has been completed, it must be stored securely in the room/unit for when the unknown but authorised person collects the child and then it must be stored securely within the child’s personal file after use. Therefore, no completed forms may be stored within the room/unit after use.
In the event of a person arriving at the centre to collect a child that has not been planned (it is unforeseen or in an emergency situation) and as such no collection form completed, the following steps must be taken.
Firstly, the person must be asked to wait outside or be accompanied by a member of staff at all times in the manager’s office/reception area. The person will be asked to confirm which child/children they are requesting to collect, give their full name and show some form of identification. Either, a manager or senior member of staff must then check the child’s application form to see if the person is listed as authorised to collect the child and to see if there is a photograph of the authorised person in the file so this can be used to further check identification.
Secondly, the person requesting to collect will be asked if they can name the listed password on the child’s application form. In addition, a security question will be asked such as the child’s date of birth or current main address. If the person requesting to collect is listed as authorised on the list, knows the password and can answer the asked security questions, they will be allowed to collect the child/children.
If the person requesting to collect does not know the listed password they will not be able to collect the child. In this instance, the person requesting to collect would have to contact the parent/carer or another listed authorised person/s to collect to clarify the password and then inform us.
If the person requesting to collect the child is not on the authorised list of persons to collect they will not be allowed to collect the child. In this instance, all efforts would be made to contact the parent or carer, if they are unavailable then the other authorised persons registered with us will be contacted to seek further clarification as to why a person not registered as authorised to collect is requesting to collect the child. Another option would be to request that another authorised person came to collect the child/children.
If a parent/carer requested by telephone that a person who is not on the authorised list to collect due to an unforeseen rare emergency situation, is going to collect we would do the following.
Firstly, we would request that the parent/carer confirm their request by email (using an email address that we have listed and/or have communicated with the parent/carer before). The manager or senior staff management would then issue the parent/carer with a temporary password other than that on the application form to be passed onto the person collecting. This person would then need to use the given password to the manager or deputy manager upon arrival.
Other information may be requested such as:
- Description of the person and what will the person be wearing which will help the manager or deputy manager verify the person upon arrival
- Identification will be requested from the person upon arrival to collect and the person will be expected to know and give the allocated temporary password for that occasion
- The person may also be asked other questions such as the child’s date of birth and/or main address for additional security. When the parent/carer was next in the centre they would be asked to add the person to the authorised list to collect
In the event that no authorised person collected the child or children we would then follow The Non-Collection of Children Policy.
Parental Responsibility
In the event of parental separation, the centre will always act in the best interests of the child and require the list of authorised persons to collect to be kept up to date at all times. If a parent/carer was not on the list of authorised persons to collect for any reason and they requested to collect their child, we would look at the child’s application form and/or copy of birth certificate to see if the parent requesting to collect had parental responsibility. In this instance the centre must know/recognise from a photo/have met the parent requesting to collect the child previously to confirm they are who they say they are. We would also contact the listed and authorised parent on the application form to inform them of the situation to keep both parties informed. If ever in doubt of authorisation to collect, the persons requesting to collect must be asked to wait either outside the centre entrance or in the reception area with a member of staff at all times while the manager assesses paperwork. In such difficult situations we can and must act within the law and recognise parental responsibility. We would adhere to any legal court orders detailing access and/or custody of any child/children. Should it be required, the centre may have to seek outside support such as the Police.
The centre will always treat each parent with parental responsibility equally and fairly in the interests of the child/children. We cannot and will not take sides but remain impartial and professional at all times.
A Mother automatically has parental responsibility for her child from birth.
A Father usually has parental responsibility if he is; married to the child’s mother; or listed on the birth certificate.
Births in England and Wales; if the parents of the child are married when the child is born, or if they have jointly adopted a child both have parental responsibility. They both keep parental responsibility if they later divorce.
Unmarried Parents; an unmarried father can only get parental responsibility for his child in 1 of 3 ways:
- Jointly registering the birth of the child with the mother from 1st December 2003
- Getting a parental responsibility agreement with the mother
- Getting a parental responsibility order from the court
For further information, please see www.gov.uk
The planned departure of the child should be anticipated by the key person in the group. All medicines should be recovered from the medicine box/fridge/cabinet only when the parent/carer has arrived and handed to him/her personally, unless it is advised by parents/doctors to keep the medication at the centre for ongoing administration, i.e. inhaler.
All other items going home must also be gathered and handed to the parent/carer.
A parent/carer must be informed of what activities their child has experienced and particularly enjoyed throughout the day. They must not simply be informed of what food their child has consumed but if applicable, how much they enjoyed playing with the cars on the car mat making interesting sound effects with it! Or, if applicable, how they were portraying confidence and presenting in front of the rest of the class.
Staff should be aware that parents/carers see a small snippet of the Raising Explorers day on arrival and departure, and we need to share the wonderful moments their child has had at the centre with them before they depart.
Any accident/incident forms or medication forms must be signed by the collecting parent/carer before departure. In the rare event that this is not done, every effort must be taken for the parent to be informed about the accident/incident or medication form including a personal visit to the child’s home where possible.
On departure, the child register must be immediately marked out by the time the child exits the centre building, to show that the child has left the premises.
All our procedures as detailed above are in place to protect the children in our care as their safety is our paramount concern at all times.
This Policy was adopted by Raising Explorers on 1st April 2015