1.) Parents must notify Buddies in good time re: attendance/non-attendance of their child/children. Unless exceptional circumstances apply, notice of cancellation/non-attendance will incur the full cost of the session.
2.) During term time, children will be collected from the school hall / designated area by an appropriate number of Buddies staff (dependant on numbers of children booked into the Club) then the children will be safely escorted to Buddies after School Club premises.
3.) All children will be marked as present on the register carried by a staff member before leaving the school in which the child/ children attend. No staff member will leave the school unless a verbal explanation from an adult as to why the child/children have not come to the designated waiting area. Staff will seek the class teacher to find the whereabouts of the child/children. Staff will call Buddies immediately and will not leave school until the manager/deputy have given permission.
4.) If a child/children are not in the designated area but are on the register for Buddies and the teacher informs Buddies staff that the child/children has been in school the manager/deputy must be informed immediately, on this information the manager/deputy will contact the parent/Guardian and confirm the child/children’s whereabouts, in the meantime a staff member will remain on site and Buddies will send another member of staff to cover the walking ratio if required.
5.) The school teachers and children will know Buddies staff or individuals acting as escorts. All escorts will wear uniform / carry identification. In all circumstances Buddies staff will have had relevant CRB checks carried out.
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6.) During school holidays parent/carers will drop their child/children off at the Club’s premises prompt to the time for which they have been booked in.
1.) Parents must collect their children by 5.30 at the latest.
Parents must give the names of all persons authorised to collect their child on the registration form. Only persons named on this form will be able to take the child from the Club, unless prior arrangements in exceptional circumstances have been made known to the senior play worker.
2.) It is the responsibility of the parent / guardian to ensure that any changes to the named individuals who can collect their child are communicated to the play leader both in writing and verbally.
3.) The person collecting a child must approach a club worker so that club workers know who is being collected, and by whom, and can sign the children out.
4.) If a parent is unreasonably late in collecting their child without contacting the Club to inform us of any unexpected delays – or is persistently late, a charge will be made at a rate of £5.00 per child for every half hour.
5.) In the case of a parent/carer failing to collect the child, the Club manager/deputy will call the partner or emergency contact to come to the Club to take the child/children home. In the event of that person being unavailable, the child will be taken by play workers to the nearest police station.
6.) No child will ever be left unsupervised because a parent/carer has failed to collect them.
N.B. Under the Children Act 1989, parents do not lose parental responsibility except through an adoption order. This means that divorced parents retain rights of contact with their children unless the courts have made an order that they should not do so. Play-workers, therefore, do not have the right to stop divorced parents from collecting their children unless they are aware of a court order preventing contact between the parent and the child/children.
This situation would apply in the same way if the parents were in the process of separating. A mother’s/fathers request that the children do not go home with their father/mother cannot be guaranteed unless there is a court order preventing him from having contact with them.
Parental responsibility is given to both parents if they are married when the child is born or subsequently. Otherwise only the mother has parental responsibility. An unmarried father can acquire parental responsibility through a court application, as can a guardian, grandparents etc.
Parent/carers should be in a FIT state to collect their child/children. If a parent/carer arrives in an “unfit” state, through, for example, alcohol or drug abuse, the manager/deputy cannot refuse to hand over the child/children but should tell the parent/carer that the police and/or Social Services Duty Officer will be contacted immediately. The safety of the child is paramount.