Keeping Children safe In School

Premises and Security

Access to the school is through two main school doors, which are kept locked.  Staff use electric fobs to gain access to the building.  The office staff are responsible for verifying the identity of any visitors before they enter school.  Visitors are asked to sign in to the school visitor’s log and are given a visitor sticker to wear.  Staff are aware of their role in challenging anyone who is not recognised and asking for identification from anyone claiming to be from an outside agency.

The external classroom doors are kept locked, except when the children enter and leave the setting at the beginning and end of their sessions and when the children access the playground for playtimes and lunchtime.  The door to the outdoor area is kept locked when this area is not in use.

The external doors are closely monitored by staff when children are entering or leaving the setting, to ensure that they cannot leave unaccompanied.  All staff are aware of the need to monitor the external doors to ensure that they are secure during the session.  The register is used to check how many children are present.  When moving from one area of school to another, head counts are used to check that all children are present before leaving.

Arrival and Collection of Children

The classroom doors open at 8:45am.  For safety there are separate entrance doors for different classes, supervised by permanent school staff and ‘floating’ adults for additional supervision:

• Children in Nursery will enter via the white door and exit via the EYFS outdoor classroom door.
• Children in Reception will enter and exit through the main red entrance door.  

Each child is marked in on the day’s register by the class teacher. Parents/carers use the external classroom doors when collecting their child(ren) at the end of the school day.  If a child needs to be collected during the school day, parents report to the school office.

Under no circumstances is a child allowed to leave with anyone other than those named on the child’s registration form, unless the parent has given written or verbal permission.  Parents write a list of people who are able to collect their child.  If there are queries regarding a child’s collection, the class teacher will contact the child’s parent/guardian to discuss the situation with them.

If a child is not collected and the parent/guardian is uncontactable, the other names on the child’s registration form will be called to collect the child.  If no-one on the child’s registration form is contactable, the head teacher should telephone the Social Care Duty Service or Out of Hours Duty Point.  Arrangements should then be made for the child to be removed to an appropriate place of protection agreed by the Social Care.  It remains the responsibility of the Social Care Department in conjunction with the Police to contact the parents and if appropriate, to inform them of their child’s whereabouts.

If a child of non-compulsory school age in Nursery is consistently late either being dropped off or collected from school or is frequently absent their place will be withdrawn. Discussions with parents/carers and prior warnings will always take place in an attempt to avoid this.

If a child in Reception is consistently late or frequently absent from school without explanation from parents/carers, they will receive a visit at home from the school’s attendance and wellbeing officer.

Missing Child Procedures

If a child goes missing during the school day, practitioners will; check with all members of staff when the child was last seen and that they have not been collected by a parent/carer, organise a thorough and systematic search of the building and surrounding playground etc, inform the head teacher of the situation and telephone the child’s parents or other emergency contact to explain the situation and double check that the child is not there or their whereabouts known.

If the child is still unable to be located, the school will notify the police of a missing person.

There are strict measures in place to prevent this from happening, with the EYFS unit having locks on doors inside and gates outside.  Frequent registers and head counts of the children are taken throughout the day and a board accessible to all staff informs staff of absent children/ children who have left for medical appointments. 

Outings

Written parental permission to take the children into the local environment is sought upon admission to the school.  Further written permission will be obtained for any other outings.  Risk assessments are completed for each type of outing.

Promoting Awareness of Dangers and How to Stay Safe

We encourage the children to take an active role in ensuring their own safety in the real world and online and, involve them in discussions about health and safety issues.  For example, the children will be members of a ‘Tidy Team’ where they are responsible for keeping their learning environment tidy and safe.

Risk Assessments

In addition to the school’s risk assessments, a specific EYFS Risk assessment is in place. Daily informal risk assessments are completed to ensure that any hazards are identified and managed before the children enter the classroom.  A rigorous weekly check of equipment is conducted by EYFS staff and a log maintained.  Any faulty equipment is removed/ child access restricted and is reported to the site manager.

Statutory child/ staff ratios are adhered to at all times and routines are in place to ensure an even spread of adults across the unit.  Classroom furniture and staff members are positioned in ways to ensure that children can be seen and heard by adults.  Measures, such as closing off classroom areas are taken if required.