Late Collection Policy

 

Policy statement

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Children can become distressed when their Parent/Carer is late collecting them, especially if they are the last child waiting to go home.

Between the morning and afternoon sessions, late collection of children can cause problems with the routine. At the end of the day, it puts unreasonable pressure on staff who all have their own responsibilities outside of Playgroup.

Parents/Carers should always collect their child promptly.

 

Procedures

 

• We do recognise that there are exceptional circumstances in which Parents are unavoidably detained. In this instance, you should communicate this to the Playgroup at the earliest possible time on 01767 677040.

• If you think you are likely to be more than five minutes late, you should arrange for someone else to collect your child, if possible.

• If a Parent or Carer is more than five minutes late collecting a child, this will be logged as a late collection [under child protection], a late collection form will be completed, and MUST be signed by the parent or authorised person upon collection, detailing the reason and time of collection.

• The Parent will be charged a fee of £20 after 5 minutes past the usual collection time.

• In exceptional circumstances consideration will be given at the Manager’s discretion.

• If a child is not collected after 30 minutes, with no communication from the Parent/Carer to Playgroup, the uncollected child procedure will be implemented, when we contact Cambridgeshire Children Social Care for support. 0345 0455203

• In the case of continual late collections from Playgroup, the committee will be informed, and the following three strike system will be implemented:

 

Strike 1: Parent/Carer will receive a phone call from the Chairperson of the Voluntary Management Committee (VMC) as well as receiving an additional charge.

 

Strike 2: Parent/Carer will receive a letter from the Chairperson of the VMC and an additional charge.

 

Strike 3: The child’s hours at Playgroup will be reduced by 50%.

The hours lost will be taken from afternoon sessions or late morning (if the child only attends morning sessions) to bring the collection time forwards.

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Policy reviewed 3rd March 2021