Nursery

[Londongirl8922]

Hello, so me and my partner are the only ones on our child's nursery forms to pick up or drop off but when I spoke to the nursery manager she said they cannot stop anyone from picking up a child , they can delay them by 30 mins and call parents to make them aware that someone is here trying to collect their child but they wouldn't be able to stop someone else taking them...am I right for saying that surely is a safe guarding issue? As we wouldn't give permission for anyone else to collect our child as it's only me and my partner, we have god mummy so if we was in a desperate situation then we would call his nursery and say god mummy is coming to collect today,My partner is going to be talking to them on Monday but just thought I would ask on here...she did say if we put it in writing that only mum and dad are allowed to collect but still they would only be able to delay even if it's in writing which I fount worrying

Of course they can stop someone collecting! The only time they can’t is if the person has parental rights and doesn’t have a court order preventing them from collecting. If that’s honestly what the nursery thinks and they would let a child leave with a random person I wouldn’t even consider leaving my child with them. They are very mistaken and if what they said is true then it’s a huge breach in safeguarding. That’s a very serious mistake on their behalf if it’s what they truly believe.

They can definitely stop someone from collecting. I work in a nursery and the doors open with Face ID for those allowed to pickup/drop off children. If you don’t have Face ID and no staff member recognises you, the child’s password must be given. In the event they don’t know the password, the child’s parents are contacted. If they haven’t given the person permission, they will be asked to leave the premises and if they don’t, the whole nursery will go into lockdown and the police will be phoned.

Only me and my partner have PR ...my partner is going to talk to them on Monday...they class themselves more of a playgroup but they still do all the same things a nursery would do ect so they still shouldn't be allowing anyone to just come in and take a child ....he's 2.4 years old and will only be staying there till 3 as he's registered to start at a nursery attached to the school we want to send him next year...if once my partner spoke to them and they still are saying the same then I think we might pull him from there tbh

This is the most insane thing I've ever heard!

Of course they can stop people collecting a child. Did she maybe misunderstand what you were asking her?!

Did you use the term partner in a way where they would infer he wasn't the dad? Does she mean she can't stop the dad collecting even if he isn't on the form?

This is totally backwards, at my son’s nursery the only people who can collect need to be named and photo id checked before they can be put on the collection list.
They also have a password system in case of emergencies, but would still need to speak to parents as well!
Very concerning, I would not be happy leaving my child there.

No basically I don't speak to my family e.g my mum ect we have had a fallen out and it's been a few months and my concern was if she was to ever find out where his nursery/playgroup was it would be worrying but I know you wouldn't be allowed to hand my child over to her and she said we wouldn't be able to stop we have no power to or something like that and I said of course you do as I haven't given you permission to hand him to anyone and she said you would have to put it in writing and a picture of said person and we can delay them by about 30 mins whilst on of us is looking through paper work and the other one is on the phone calling you to tell you know

Only my Mum & I normally pick up at my soms nursery and I do all the drop off’s. If its someone else collecting, I would normally tell them during drop off but they would also ask the person collecting for our password. The password is something that we chose when applying for his nursery. If the password is wrong, they dont let the child leave with them.

I think i would be looking at changing nurseries if they cannot stop anyone from collecting your child.

I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick as this just isn’t a thing. Nurseries can not let your child leave with a stranger. They can only not stop someone if they have PR, for example if you said her dad can’t collect, they can’t stop him

I really hope they don't actually believe this, it's crazy! We have on many occasions refused to hand a child over to people who claim to be picking up on behalf of the parents - if they don't have the password and/or we haven't been informed in advance, we have to phone a person who is on the child's registered pick up list to confirm that the child is allowed to leave. Even if someone turns up and gives the child's password, if we weren't told about it we have to confirm with a phonecall to someone on their list.

If a member of staff doesn't recognise the person, even if the child is shouting "mummy!" they don't hand over. They confirm that the person is, in fact, the child's mum with another staff member first.

It's seriously strict for very good reasons. You need to question this policy and if what you're saying is true, report the nursery. Absolutely ridiculous.

Please report this immediately to the Early Years department of your Local Authority & to Ofsted. It is a huge safeguarding failure, the setting has totally misunderstood the protocol for collection of children. What does it say in their policy.

Hello, update on the nursery, I actually misunderstood what the nursery had said and they do have a day password in place if anyone comes in and they don't allow them in the nursery if they can't give the password then we will be called immediately to make us aware that someone is trying to collect him without our permission and we will be straight down there...I wasn't actually told about the password the first time I spoke to someone so not sure why but I feel much better knowing a password is in place

Don't use this nursery. I have worked in a few nurseries and all of them have the policy that only named people can pick up.
If parents need someone different to pick their child up a photo and password is required.
Absolute bull shit to say they'll let your child wander off with anyone. I am fairly laid back about a lot of things nursery wise but for this I'd change nursery ASAP.

Please still report this to your local authority early years team & Ofsted. The fact that even 1 staff member doesn't know the rules is very concerning from a safeguarding perspective and needs to be looked into. What else doesn't that staff member know. What could they be missing.

I wouldn't use this nursery. Either it's an insane policy that goes against every piece of safeguarding regulation in existence OR the worker is badly trained and unable to explain things so that people understand. Either way it's a bad sign.

Rubbish the only people they can't stop are parents with parental rights so mum cannot stop dad and vice versa without a court order.

Glad it was a misunderstanding op. Even in schools, where kids are old enough to say "I know that person" they wouldn't be allowed to go without express consent so Def don't worry about it once he's in school either