Arrivals & Departures Policy
DAC recognises the importance of having robust systems in place to ensure the safe arrival and departure of the children in our care.
The manager will ensure that an accurate record is kept of all children in the Club and that any arrivals are recorded in the daily register . The register is kept in an accessible location on the premises at all times. In addition we conduct regular headcounts during the session.
Escorting children to the Club
- The Club and school have a clear agreement concerning the transfer of responsibility for children’s safety. Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children are escorted to DAC by teaching staff.
- We have risk assessed the route used by older children within the school and have deemed it to be safe.
- The school is kept up to date of who requires escorting from the classroom to the club.
- If a child is booked into the Club but is not brought to the session at the expected time or does not arrive, we will check whether the child was present at school that day and check the school reception in case they are there in error. If the whereabouts of the child is not known, staff will immediately inform the designated contact at the school and ask the school to implement its Missing Child policy once it has been confirmed that a child has not been collected.
Arrivals
Our staff will greet each child warmly on their arrival at the Club and will record the child’s attendance in the daily register straightaway, including the time of arrival.
Departures
- Parents must collect their child’s belongings from the corridor outside of the main hall.
- Parents or carers MUST sign children out before they leave and write the time of collection.
- Children must be collected by an adult who has been authorised to do so on their registration form OR by an adult for whom details of as well as a photograph have been sent to the DAC team.
- If the parent requires another person who is not listed on the registration form to collect their child, the child’s parents or carers must inform the Club in advance and provide an image and a password that they will use if a photo has not been sent to the team. If the manager has any concerns regarding the person collecting he/she will contact the main parent or carer for confirmation.
- The parent or carer must notify the Club if they will be late collecting their child. If the Club is not informed, the Uncollected Children policy will be followed after 15 minutes.
- All children must be signed out by the carer or parent collecting the child. Children cannot be escorted to gate unless there are exceptional circumstances. Children are not permitted to walk to the main gate without an adult.
Absences
- If a child is going to be absent from a session, parents must notify the Club in advance.
- If a child is absent without explanation, staff will contact the parents or carers and the school to check where the child should be. If staff still have concerns about the child’s whereabouts after attempts to contact the parents and the school the manager will contact the police.
- The Club will try to discover the causes of prolonged and unexplained absences. Regular absences could indicate that a child or their family might need additional support.