Late picking child up??

[Fairyloo]

My child goes afterschool club at local nursery. This week I missed train and made it with a minute to spare, which got me wondering what would happen if I was late would they wait or phone social services?

I dont want to ask in case it happens!!

they would charge you per 15 mins and try and contact you and all of the emergancy contact numbers they have if no answer on any number they would then phone ss after about 3/4 to 1 hour of waiting for you. how ever if you rang ahead and said you were running late they would only charge you per 15 mins.

Why don't you want to ask? Surely it's a valid question - what is your policy if parents are late? What would happen if a train was delayed or something? Not really something you have control over.

They're not going to remove your children if you're late, that would be ridiculous. As for what actually happens, you would have to ask. I think most places just charge extra as of course they can't leave the child there alone. SS would probably only get involved if you didn't turn up for hours and they couldn't get hold of you or anyone else on the emergency contact list.

I mean if close to closing 17.30? And the building is shutting

DS2 works at an afterschool club and he is duty bound to call in SS if a parent is more than 15 mins late. if a parent is late, they aren't to know how long they will have to wait. they aren't allowed to wait - insurance etc expires after the contracted hours.

they try to insist that all parents have another known adult who is authroised to collect children in case of emergency.

@auntiemonica. I kinda thought that would be case. Shit.

Worried now need to make sure I can get there in time

is there anyone locally who would be willing to pick your DC up in an emergency?

it would only take a couple of phone calls and a lot less stressful for you?

last year we had two DCs in two different nurseries (don't ask!) and my car broke down in the snow on way home, 15 miles away. i rang at 5.15, both closed at 6, to say i thought i might be late. then i rang DH, he left work then but had nearly an hours drive in the snow at rush hour it took more like an horu and a half so quite late. both were fine about it. one charged us for an hours session. the other said, no don't worry that fine's just for regular offenders, we'd be here anyway clearing up. i bought 4 smallish boxes of chocolates and tried to make sure they went to teh 2 staff who stayed in each place. only did it once though!

have to say though, now DS is at school i would text another mum and ask them to pick him up, not so easy with nursery mums though unless you are very sociable.
i always aimed for 15 mins before cut off to avoid this problem. shortens your working day somewhat though if you work an hours drive away and nursery closes at 6.

i think if you are going to be late, ringing beforehand is courteous adn inform them what is going on. i think that made them a lot more amenable to us!

They should have a policy and probably should have given you a copy of the policy when your DC started there. I think that it is typical for 2 members of staff to have to wait with a child and for an exorbitant rate to be charged to discourage parents for seeing it as an extension to the normally offered services. The staff in our nursery are willing to do evening babysitting and will even take your DC to your home if you put your carseat in their car (rural area). If you live locally you could make an arrangement with one of the staff that they will do that in an emergency, give them a house key (or ask them to take your DC to their home), pay them some sort of retainer for it and pay them for their time if it ever happens. I imagine you would need to put that in writing for the nursery so that they are willing for your child to go with that member of staff.

They'll definitely have a policy so you really need to ask. Calling social Services after 15 mins sounds harsh as 15 mins is a simple missed bus! DS's nursery just charges a fortune every 15mins after closing time. I always make sure I leave loads and loads of time so this is likely never to happen, but I have been stuck and begun to get nervous before.
It's vital you contact them and pre-warn them as soon as it becomes a possibilty. I do know of a childminder calling social services when the child was picked up late (not sure how long) as they couldn't get through to the parent who was stuck in traffic, so it can happen. But then I think that's reasonable if someone is significantly late and they've gone incognito. These days you can always get in contact somehow, even if it means pulling over or getting off the bus etc to use a public phone.

might be harsh but really, no show and no call is harsh on staff etc who have to leave buildings, to the next person waiting to use the room and to staff who also might have to collect children from their childcare.

But you know, even if they did call SS, if you turned up and explained, it would probably end there (with a lecture maybe about making sure you are contactable). It doesn't mean SS would automatically brand you as an unfit parent - it's just they would have the facilities to take a child for a few hours if the nursery didn't.

I work in a day nursery, and as I get a lot of late shifts, I see more than my share of late collectors. On the whole I am sympathetic of public transport emergencies, and am glad of being phoned and warned. We have a policy of charging per 15 minutes late, but waive it for emergencies. What gets me is parents who don't phone, persistently turn up 15 minutes after closing, then want a detailed run down of their child's day.
Also, it's hard on the child being the last, watching all their friends being collected, and it doesn't matter how much you jolly them along (and give them biscuits), they know their parent hasn't come for them.

Hi fairyloo,
I used to run a nursery, 90% use the train and so they are often late. As long as you ring and let them know they won't call ss. I worked in nursery's for 16 years and have never had to call ss because a parent is late. A plane crashed once and one parent was over 2 hours late, ringing frantically every 20 mins. There was nothing they could do, sent a friend to pick up the child, but she just cried, so we all waited together, as we couldn't bear to see her so upset. We didn't charge the family. Nothing they could do was completely out of hand, parents were so upset.

The parents that were late alot, we would tell them that insurance ran out at a certain time. Just to get them to be on time

When I worked in a private nursery usually the owners were there to allow us to leave at 6pm, but on the times they weren't 2 of us had to stay in the building until the parents collected. On a number of occasions this was after 6.30pm. We once all stood at the door with our coats on and made the point to dad about how we'd all missed our buses home. Didn't make any difference sadly.

Yet others would phone and say I'm stuck in traffic and would still be there before 6pm.

I think it's really rude and very patronising for parents to be continually late to pick their child up. Unless there is a very good reason, like the plane crash scenerio.
Childcare workers do have a life outside of work you know. If the nursey closes at 5.30 then you should be aiming to arrive before that time, with enough time to chat about your child's day. Not at 5.35 and still expect 10 minutes of feedback and then ask for their nappy to be changed as you are going out for tea.
I know not all parents are like that but it does annoy me- the sense of entitlement that some people have.

Why is it always the same kids left at the end? I find I can predict to within 2 kids who will be late any day, but my boss never charges them so they see it as free extra childcare. We have had to start staff meetings with children sat on our laps on a few occasions as parents haven't arrived, then do handovers while missing the meeting. It is rude and inconsiderate to staff, and unfair on the child. If it is regularly impossible for you to get to nursery to pick your child up before it closes, perhaps you should look into getting a nanny or childminder who can be more flexible time-wise, or discuss with your employer ways to ensure you can meet your family's childcare needs.