Arrivals & Departures
Rocketeers 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 or departures are recorded in the register. The register is kept in an accessible location on the premises at all times. In addition, we conduct regular headcounts during the session.
Breakfast Club/ Holiday Club 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.
For Holiday Club a cloakroom ticket will be issued on arrival and this number will be noted on the register next to the child’s name. This number needs to be given to whomever will be collecting the child from holiday club.
Please note that until a child is handed over to a member of Rocketeers by a parent/carer the child remains the responsibility of the parent/carer.
Escorting children from Breakfast club and to Afterschool Club
- The Club and school have a clear agreement concerning the transfer of responsibility for children’s safety
- We have risk assessed the route used to escort children to the Club and review it regularly
- The school and the Club keep an identical register of children who require escorting between locations which is updated daily
- Reception & KS1 children will be escorted to class after breakfast club and from class for after school club. KS2 can make their own way to and from the clubs. In the morning the Rocketeers staff member will check each class to do a visual check & confirm arrival to class of each child, and the afterschool leader will sign the register to confirm arrival of each child to after school club
- When children move between KS1 and KS2 parents will be required to complete a permission form giving their consent to move between classroom and club on their own
- If a child is booked into the Club but is not in class (KS1) we will check with the class teacher where the child is. If a KS2 child does not arrive into club on their own, we will implement our Missing Child Policy (please see below).
Afterschool Club/ Holiday Club Departures
- Staff will sign children out before they leave, including the time of departure
- Children are collected by an adult who has been authorised to do so on their registration form
- In exceptional circumstances, 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 a description of the person and a password that they will use. 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
- When collecting at Holiday Club, the cloakroom number that was given out in the morning must be given to a member of staff in the afternoon
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 follow the Missing Child Policy (please see below).
- 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
Missing Child Policy
- If a pupil is not with us 10 mins after school ends we will check with teacher and school office before attempting to contact the main registered contact via the number on register.
- If we are unable to locate the child through these steps, they are classed as missing. Staff must contact the duty manager line if they have a missing child situation. All other numbers registered for the child will then be tried by staff and the duty manager. If child hasn’t been found after this, retry main contact every 5 mins until 30 mins total from end of school day.
- 30 mins after the end of the school day, if nothing as been heard from anyone then another call to the main contact must be made informing them that their child is now classed as missing and the police will be called. The Directors must then be contacted to make the call to police, the police must not be called from setting. Ofsted will then also be informed.
- The same procedure will be followed if a child does not arrive with us from an afterschool club as expected.
- If a child goes missing once they have been signed in on the register, once all obvious places have been checked – toilets, outside area – then a call must be made to the Operations Manager or Business Manager immediately.
Rainy Day Arrival and Departures
In the event of heavy downpours, parents can wait for Rocketeers staff in the school foyer once they have pressed the doorbell on the front of the playground gate.
For breakfast club a member of staff will greet the parent and child in the foyer and walk the child through the school to the hut.
In the afternoons, when parents come to collect, a member of the Rocketeers team will greet the parent in the foyer and walk them through the school to the hut. Once the child has gathered all their belongings, the member of staff will accompany the parent and child back to the foyer and see them out.
Policy Adopted: 01/08/2021
Policy Review: 01/09/2024
By: Tanya Parker, Rocketeers Childcare
Written in accordance with the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2017): Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements: Complaints [3.74-3.75].
