Nursery late collection/non collection policy

At The University of Dundee Nursery Ltd we expect all parents to agree an approximate time to collect their child from the nursery. We give parents information about the procedures to follow if they expect to be late. These include:

• Agreeing a safety password with the nursery in advance to be used by anyone collecting a child who is not the parent (designated adult)
• Calling the nursery as soon as possible to advise of their situation
• Asking a designated adult to collect their child wherever possible
• Informing the nursery of this person’s identity so the nursery can talk to the child if appropriate. This will help to reduce or eliminate any distress caused by this situation
• If the designated person is not known to the nursery staff, the parent must provide a detailed description of this person, including their date of birth where known. This designated person must know the individual child’s safety password in order for the nursery to release the child into their care. This is the responsibility of the parent.

If a child has not been collected from the nursery after a reasonable amount of time 15 min has been allowed for lateness, we will initiate the following procedure:

• The senior nursery manager will be informed that a child has not been collected
• The manager or delegated member of staff will check for any information regarding changes to normal routines, parents’ work patterns or general information. If there is no information recorded, the manager will try to contact the parents on the telephone numbers provided for their mobile, home or work. If this fails, the manager will try the emergency contacts shown on the child’s records
• The manager/staff member in charge and one other member of staff must stay behind with the child (if outside normal operating hours). Two members of staff must remain with the child in line with Child Protection policy. During normal operating times the nursery will plan to meet required staff ratios
• If the parents have still not collected the child, the manager or delegated member of staff will telephone all contact numbers available. These calls will be logged on a full incident record
• In the event of no contact being made after 30 min has lapsed, the person in charge will ring the Social Services Emergency Duty Team
• The nursery will inform the Care Inspectorate as soon as convenient
• The two members of staff will remain in the building until suitable arrangements have been made for the collection of the child
• The child’s welfare and needs will be met at all times and to minimise distress staff will distract, comfort and reassure the child during the process
• In order to provide this additional care a late collection fee of £ 16,50 per 5 min will be charged to parents. This will pay for any additional operational costs that caring for a child outside their normal nursery hours may incur. These charges start 1 minute after the end of the child’s normal session, I.e. 1.01 pm or 5.16 pm.

Contact numbers

Social Services Emergency Duty Team - 01382 307999

Care Inspectorate - 0345 600 9527