Collecting Children from School.

As part of our safeguarding procedures a child can only go home with the usual person who collects the child. 

No child will be sent home with another person without the school receiving at least verbal permission (this may include knowledge of the parental password) from a person with parental responsibility.  In the event the parent/carer cannot be contacted the school will seek advice from Children’s Social Care before making a final decision to send a child home.

Children must be collected by someone over the age of 14 years.  If staff are unsure of a young person’s age, they will ask for proof before sending the child home. 

If someone different is collecting your child:

• Please inform the class teacher beforehand preferably in writing (every child has a home/school communication book).  We will not send a child home with someone else even if they are known to the staff member/school unless this has been communicated to the class teacher first. 

• When informing the class teacher, parents should indicate if this is an on-going arrangement or a one off situation.  If the arrangement is likely to be frequent, the information will be added to SIMs so that all staff can be made aware of the arrangement. 

• If someone different is collecting a child, and the teacher does not already know this person, staff will ask for the parental password as a way of being able to identify them. 

• If a message is given to a member of the admin team during the school day, it may not be possible for the message to be given to the class teacher before it is time to go home.  In these circumstances, class teachers will bring the child and the person collecting them to the school office (once all the other children have been dismissed) for clarification of this before sending the child home.  In order to avoid any difficult situations, please make sure the adult collecting your child is made aware of this important safeguarding procedure.

During School Hours:

In order to minimise impact on the children’s learning, parents/carers should ensure that routine appointments, e.g. to see the dentist or doctor, are made during the school holidays or after school.  

If your child needs to attend appointments during the school day, evidence of the appointment/s should be provided to the school office prior to the appointment day wherever possible so that this can be recorded. 

When coming to collect your child to attend an appointment, parents/carers who have not provided evidence beforehand will be asked for evidence to validate the reason for the child to be collected from school during the day.  Evidence could include a hospital letter, an appointment card or a text confirmation/reminder.  If no evidence can be provided parents/carers may be asked to speak to a member of the Senior Leadership Team.