Lost Child Procedure (from nursery)

Statement

In the unlikely event of a child going missing within/from the nursery, Going Places Nursery Ltd will ensure that the following procedure will be implemented immediately:

The nursery manager will be informed immediately and all staff present will be informed and deployed to start an immediate thorough search of the nursery, followed by a search of the surrounding area, ensuring that all other children remain supervised, calm and supported throughout.
The manager will carry out a second search of the area.
If the child has still not been accounted for, the manager will contact the police.
The manager will also contact the parents/carers of the missing child.
During this period, 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/carers.
The manager will then await instructions from the police.
Any incidents must be recorded in writing as soon as practicably possible.
Ofsted must be contacted and informed of any incidents.
With incidents of this nature parents, carers, children and staff may require support and reassurance following the traumatic experience.
Post incident risk assessments will be conducted following any incident of this nature to ensure this does not reoccur.

This policy was adopted on: 1st April 2010
Date for review: 1st April 2012