With the introduction of the extended 30 hour funding, we now need to have two opening and closing times. It is really important for you as parent/carers to drop off and collect promptly at the time that you have agreed and chosen.  The door will be open for ten minutes before being closed again whether at 9 am or 2.30 pm.  We need to safeguard the children and ensure quality of learning, for these reasons, if you have not dropped off your child by ten past nine you will be asked to wait until 9.30 when the door will be re-opened again for other children.  And at 2.30 if you have not picked up your child by 2.40 you will have to wait until 3pm.  A charge will be implemented to cover staff ratio.  If a child is not collected a £10 fee will be charged. Failure to pay this fee when asked, our late payment policy will be followed.

Collection of children at 12pm also needs to be very prompt, we need to shut the doors as quickly as possible to safeguard the children and ensure they are secure in the setting.

Drop off at 9.30am, the door will be open for ten minutes.  Late arrivals cause huge disruption to the setting and consistent late arrivals will again be charged for the disruption.  It is really important to help the children follow routines and be school ready so we ask for punctual time keeping.

UNDERPINNING ALL THE ABOVE PROCEDURES IS SAFEGUARDING, WE NEED TO ENSURE ALL THE CHILDREN ARE SAFE IN OUR CARE, OPENING AND CLOSING OF THE DOOR PUTS CHILDREN AT RISK.

In the event that a child is not collected by an authorised adult at the end of a session, we will put into practice agreed procedures.  These ensure the child is cared for safely by an experienced and qualified practitioner who is known to the child.  We will ensure that the child receives a high standard of care in order to cause as little stress as possible.

Information on times of collection is given to parents/carers in their Welcome Pack. Parents are also required to fill in a detailed registration form giving names, addresses, phone numbers and mobile numbers of parents, carers, child-minders etc, and 3 emergency contact names and numbers of adults who are authorised by the parents to collect their child. For example a grandparent.  We also ask for any information on any person who does not have legal access to the child.

We fully understand that sometimes situations may arise that will result in you being delayed. If you know that you may be a bit late, please do telephone us as soon as possible. On occasions when parents or the normal person authorised to collect the child are not able, then the parent is to give us the name, relationship and contact number of the adult who is going to collect the child.  We agree with the parent how to verify the identity of this person; this will normally be in the form of a photo or a password.  We will not allow a child to go home with anyone who is not known to us.

If the child is collected late and remains in our care for more than 10 minutes, an additional fee of £10 will be charged as two members of staff will have remained in the setting. If late collection continues to happen on a regular basis, fees will automatically charged for.

In the event of a child not being collected at the end of the session then the following policy will be put into place:

  • If a child is not collected after 10 minutes of the session finishing, we will try to contact the parent/carer by telephone.
  • If the parent/carer cannot be contacted then we would try all three emergency numbers to seek information and possibly arrange for one of these to pick the child up.
  • If the emergency contacts cannot help, then we would contact our local children’s Social Services  care team: Telephone number 01403 229900
  • The child would stay at the setting with two fully-vetted workers until the child is safely collected by either the parent or by a social care worker.
  • The Social care team will aim to find the parent or a relative if they are unable to do so; the child will become looked after by the local authority.
  • Under no circumstances do staff go and look for the parent, nor do they take the child home with them.
  • A full written report of the incident is recorded in the child’s file.
  • Depending on the circumstances, we reserve the right to charge parents for the additional hours worked by our staff.
  • Ofsted may be informed. Telephone number 0300 123 1231
  • Our local Pre-school Learning Alliance office/Development worker may also be informed. Telephone number 020 7697 8607

Published: 11th September 2024
Review: September 2025
© Jack in the Box Playgroup Limited trading as Jack in the Box Preschool.