Missing Child from Nursery Procedure
Missing Child from Nursery Procedure
* Internal use only.
At Rabbit Patch Day Nursery, we take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of children on the premises. We only release children into the care of individuals who have been notified to us by the parent and have safety systems in place to ensure that children do not leave the premises unsupervised. We have fire doors in each room that have high handles that the children are unable to reach and an intercom system to let parents into the building.
In the unlikely event of a child going missing within or from the nursery, we have the following procedure which will be implemented immediately:
- All staff will be aware of the procedure when a child goes missing and supply information to support the search e.g. a recent photograph and a detailed description of clothing
- The nursery manager will be informed immediately and all staff present will be informed. Some staff will be deployed to start an immediate thorough search of the nursery, followed by a search of the surrounding area, whilst ensuring that some staff remain with the other children so they remain supervised, calm and supported throughout
- The manager will call the police as soon as they believe the child is missing and follow police guidance. The parents of the missing child will also be contacted
- A second search of the area will be carried out
- During this period, available staff will be continually searching for the missing child, whilst other staff maintain as near to normal routine as possible for the rest of the children in the nursery
- The manager will meet the police and parents
- The manager will then await instructions from the police
- In the unlikely event that the child is not found, the nursery will follow the local authority and police procedure
- Any incidents must be recorded in writing as soon as practicably possible including the outcome, who was lost, time identified, notification to police and findings
- Ofsted will be contacted and informed of the incident
- With incidents of this nature parents, children and staff may require support and reassurance following the traumatic experience. Management will provide this or seek further support where necessary
- In any cases with media attention staff will not speak to any media representatives
- Post-incident risk assessments will be conducted following any incident of this nature to enable the chance of this reoccurring being reduced.
| This policy was adopted on | Signed on behalf of the nursery | Date for review |
| 31/10/2023 | Chevelle White | October 2024 |
Our facilities
3-12
Months
The Catkins room caters for children 3 months to 12 months. This room can hold up to 6 children who will have access to a variety of resources which will encourage their development in all areas. PLEASE NOTE THIS ROOM IS OPENING UP AGAIN IN MARCH
12-24
Months
The Cherry Blossom room caters for children from 12 months (dependent on development) to 2 years. This room is in the center of the nursery and leads directly on to the garden, enjoying some sheltered decking space too.
2-3
Years
Our Silver Birch room caters for children aged 2 to 3 years old. Silver Birch is situated to the left hand side of the nursery and leads on to the decking and straight out in to the garden with views of the hills and pond.
3-5
Years
The Willow Tree room caters for children aged 3 to 5 years old. Willow Tree is situated in a bright airy room to the right of the nursery and is a neighbor to our very own very large willow tree and is next to our nursery animals.
