HSCS: 3.1, 3.6, 3.7, 3.9, 3.11, 3.16, 3.25, 4.8, 4.27, 5.17
At Willow Den we give a warm welcome to every child and family on their arrival and goodbye on departure, as well as ensuring the safety of children and parent/carers.
Drop Off Procedure for Children being dropped off at Nursery
| 1 | All pick ups and drop offs should be through the Main Gate and a welcome sign should indicate where families should wait until a member of the ELC team can greet them. |
| 2 | A member of the early years team will welcome children and oversee the drop off process. Key Workers will always, where practicable, offer support to families, for example, if a child is upset and would prefer to be handed over to a particular staff member. |
| 3 | The staff member receiving the child immediately records his/her arrival in the daily attendance register. We do this via the online register sheet. This is the ‘signing in’ step. |
| 4 | Staff must record the time of the child’s arrival; this is signed by the member of staff welcoming the child. The staff member communicates with the parents/carers about any information they wish to share and records important information in the child’s personal care plan. Information is shared between team members verbally. |
| 5 | If the child presents with a sign of injury e.g. a bump on the head, the parents/carers will be asked to complete an Accident Outside of Nursery Form which will be recorded in the child’s file. |
For sustainability purposes, we aim to be as “paper free” as possible, however we appreciate that technology can fail. To mitigate against IT failure the following process must be followed.
Signing in Contingency plan
To ensure staff have a substitute method for signing children in and out, the Nursery Manager will ensure that blank registration forms are stored in the Health and Safety folder, with an up-to-date copy of children’s attendance patterns. Each time a child’s attendance is changed, a new sheet will be printed. This register will be used in the same way as the online version and will be updated with any changes automatically as children (or their sessions) are added to the system.
Medication
If the parent requests the child to be given medicine during the day the staff member must ensure that the medication procedure is followed.
Pick Up Procedure for Children being collected from Nursery
If the child is to be collected by someone who is not the parent at the end of the session, there is an agreed procedure that must be followed to identify the designated person.
| 1. | All drop offs should be through the Main Gate and a welcome sign should indicate where families should wait until a member of the ELC team can greet them. |
| 2. | A password, provided by the parents on the Registration Form, is required for the designated adult. Parents are informed about these arrangements and reminded about them regularly. Other than the parent/s or legal guardian of the child, we do not allow anyone under the age of 18 to collect a child from nursery. If anyone under the age of 18 arrived to collect the child, the parent/carer will be contacted. |
| 3. | The nursery will not release a child to anyone other than the known parent unless an agreement has been made in advance of the time of arrival. ELC staff will ask for the collection password which should have been supplied by the parent/carer in the Registration Form. |
| 4. | In the case of any emergency such as a parent being delayed and arranging for a designated adult to collect a child, the parent should inform the designated person of the agreed procedure and contact the nursery about the arrangements as soon as possible. If in any doubt the nursery will check the person’s identity by ringing the child’s parent or their emergency contact number. |
| 5. | The child’s key worker or other nominated staff member must plan the departure of the child/ Significant updates such as meals, toileting, sleep time and general progress, from the child’s day will be communicated through the online platform, Famly. A short update will be given by the ELC team at pickup. If a parent/carer wishes to discuss the child’s progress in more detail, the ELC team will make sure to plan a suitable time to have that discussion. |
| 6. | The parent should be told about any accidents or incidents and the appropriate records must be signed by the parent before departure. |
| 7. | Where applicable, all medicines should be recovered from the medicine box/fridge after the parent has arrived and handed to him/her personally. The medication policy is to be followed regarding parental signature. |
| 8. | On departure, the staff member releasing the child must mark the child register immediately. |
| 9. | In the unlikely event that someone gains unauthorized access to the premises and it feels safe to do so, a member of staff will ask the person what the purpose of their visit is. If needed our lockdown procedure will be initiated by staff and the police will be called. (Refer to lockdown procedures). In any cases where someone has gained unauthorized access to the premises, we will revisit our arrivals and departures procedures and risk assessment. |
Adults arriving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
Please refer to the Alcohol and Substance Misuse Policy.
