Late Collection and Non Collection of Children Policy

At Winston’s Place Day Nursery, we have morning, afternoon and all-day sessions. Parents are able to collect their child from the nursery flexibly within this time period. We ask them to be no later than the session end time, for example if they attend the morning session, we expect children to be collected no later than 1pm, and afternoon or all-day session no later than 6pm. We understand that some parents may arrive earlier to collect their child, which is acceptable; however, full fees remain payable for the allocated session regardless of early collection.

Prompt collection is essential to ensure children’s wellbeing, staff welfare and compliance with EYFS staffing and safeguarding requirements.

We give parents information about the procedures to follow if they expect to be late. These include:
• Calling the nursery as soon as possible to advise of their situation and expected time of arrival
• Agreeing a safety password with the nursery in advance to be used by anyone collecting a child who is not the parent (designated adult)
• Asking a designated adult to collect their child wherever possible
• Informing the nursery of this person’s identity so the nursery can talk to the child if appropriate. This will help to reduce or eliminate any distress caused by this situation
• If the designated person is not known to the nursery staff, the parent must provide a detailed description of this person, including their date of birth where known. This designated person must know the individual child’s safety password in order for the nursery to release the child into their care. This is the responsibility of the parent.

The nursery will not release a child to any individual whose identity cannot be verified to the satisfaction of staff. This is a safeguarding requirement under the EYFS.

Non-collection of a child

If a child has not been collected from the nursery after a reasonable period of 30 minutes beyond the session end time, the following procedure will be initiated:
• The nursery manager will be informed that a child has not been collected
• The manager will check for any information regarding changes to normal routines, parents’ work patterns or general information. If there is no information recorded, the manager will try to contact the parents on the telephone numbers provided for their mobile, home or work. If this fails, the manager will try the emergency contacts shown on the child’s records
• The manager or staff member in charge and one other member of staff must stay behind with the child (if outside normal operating hours).
• During normal operating times, the nursery will plan to meet required staff ratios.
• If the parents have still not collected the child, the manager will telephone all contact numbers available every 5 minutes until contact is made. These calls will be logged on a full incident record

Escalation procedure
• In the event of no contact being made after one hour after the session end time, the person in charge will ring the local authority children’s social services emergency duty team
• Ofsted will be informed as soon as reasonably practicable, as required by the EYFS, where a child is not collected and safeguarding concerns arise
• The two members of staff will remain in the building until suitable arrangements have been made for the collection of the child

Child welfare and emotional support

The child’s safety, emotional wellbeing and basic needs will be met at all times. Staff will:
• Offer reassurance, comfort and age-appropriate explanations
• Provide food, drink and toileting care as required
• Use distraction and calming strategies to reduce distress
• Ensure the child remains in a familiar, safe environment with trusted adults

Late collection fees

To cover additional staffing and operational costs incurred when caring for a child outside normal nursery hours, a late collection fee will be charged.
• The fee is charged at the hourly rate per ten minutes
• Fees are payable by the parent and do not replace safeguarding actions, which will always take priority
• Persistent late collection may result in a review meeting with management and could lead to changes to contracted hours or termination of the childcare agreement, in line with nursery terms and conditions

Partnership with parents

Parents are expected to support this policy by ensuring contact details are kept up to date and by making timely arrangements for collection. Failure to collect a child on time on a regular basis may be considered a safeguarding concern and managed in line with the nursery’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.

Contact numbers:
Name Contact No
Social Services Emergency Duty Team 0345 050 0148
Ofsted 0300 123 1231