Is this system for child collection really safe?

[Brown76]

My child is starting school in September, it's a large primary school with 90 kids in reception. They've asked for a list of people who are allowed to collect my child from school, to include parents, childminder etc. Now at nursery we (parents) allocate a password and tell that to whoever we authorise to collect, which they must provide to the headteacher. At primary there are two systems. It seems that anyone who is on the list can collect, so in theory they could rock up and say they are "granny smith" and child will be handed over, no ID checked, no password. Alternatively the parent can call up the office and say :"I'm the Mum of little billy in reception and he will be being collected by uncle Fred today" and then school will let child leave with uncle Fred. Again, no system for checking it really is Billy's Mum on the phone or that Fred is known to the child. Is that typical? It seems like it would be a bit easy for anyone who knows the child's name to pick them up.

In reception most children will be able to identify who the person is.

I'm my sons school they have asked for photographs for everyone on the list.

would your child let themselves be collected by somebody they don't know then?

passwords are a great idea in nurseries for pre verbal babies and toddlers...not really necessary by school age

Well yes, but if a random person turned up to collect your DC wouldn't they say to the teacher 'I don't know who that man is?'

Sounds exactly like the system at my child’s school. To be honest I think they only time there would be a risk would be if you had concerns about someone known to you and your child trying to snatch them. I’m which case I presume the school would put procedures in place so those specific people couldn’t collect.

The chances of some random unknown person trying to kidnap your child from school is minuscule. Teachers won’t be able to remember passwords for 90 odd children.

We've never been asked for photos, passwords or anything like that.

Totally normal in my experience, imagine a teacher trying to remember 30 different passwords! if there is a child protection issue with your child then you should inform the school and then they can perhaps put in a failsafe for if someone else needs to collect.

The thing is if it wasn't you on the phone saying "so and so will be collecting" then you'd be there at the end of the day anyway wouldn't you? In my experience if the teacher doesn't recognise who is picking a child up they ask the child who it is.

We have a similar system and if you aren’t known to them they’ll phone the parents and ask if it is okay. They did that to me recently when I was collecting my friends daughter who is in my sons class and she forget to tell them.

If we have a non-parent collecting they need to be on the school list with phone no.
If it's the parent of another child we tell the class teacher, usually via home school book (if an emergency a phone call would do).
If there was someone who really shouldn't pick up we'd tell school.

I also have this concern. My DD nursery had passwords and if they were unsure would call us.

It's nerve wrecking to say the least.

We have a similar system. Totally normal. They also tell the child that if they don't know the person who has come to collect them, then they must tell the teacher.

Each child is handed over (or let out to) an adult that the teacher needs to see before doing so, but they don't talk - with 90 kids, it's realistically unworkable to hand them over one by one with a password.

I once went to pick up a friend's children. I wasn't sure which exit they came out of so went in to ask.

I was escorted to the classroom of one of the children who was asked:

Do you know this person?
Who are they?
Would your mummy be happy for you to go with this person?

This was an older but still primary child but I'm sure they wouldn't just hand a child over to anyone.

Also they will get to know the usual people who do pick up.

You can't possibly run a password system in classes of 30 - pickup would take forever. Nursery is different - they may be picked up at various times and the children maybe pre-verbal.

Schools are very aware though if someone is not allowed to collect a child - an ex spouse for example if there is a risk of abduction.

Think you are going to have to trust that thats hows schools manage pickups as its sounds like every school in our town.

I’m which case I presume the school would put procedures in place so those specific people couldn’t collect.

Yep, if a child specifically isn't allowed to go with someone particular or has to be collected by a specific person then you tell the school. Usually the person responsible for letting the children go would meet the "pick up person" and so know who they are in order to hand the child over. While a bit unusual, I would expect most teachers have come across a child in this situation - often they are also the children who can't be photographed.

Primaries are a bit more flexible than nursery and it is really helpful when you need an aunt/uncle/friend to do pick up for you unexpectedly.

This system does work, as long as the teacher is vigilant about making sure that the child has gone with someone they know.

I would make sure that I visually recognised a parent or carer before I would agree to release the child. Occasionally I would check with the previous year’s class teacher if someone new (relative) turned up.

Some people got stroppy about this, but that didn’t bother me!

My DDs in reception and they say to make sure the child knows who is collecting them and they have to point the grown up out to the teacher before they go past the door. They officially say to let the teacher know too, but I've picked up a friends DC with no issues even though her mum had forgotten to tell the school, and my dad picked her up without any questions the first time he'd been to the school so I think they rely on the children knowing once they're in school.

Perfectly normal and acceptable. My children could verbalise clearly if they knew an adult or not, and who they were expecting to collect them when they started school.

Our school have an enhanced system available for vulnerable children which involves passwords etc but that's kept to a minimum to help staff prioritise the needs of vulnerable children instead of fretting about passwords with grandparents/aunties/uncles/friends of family that they see at the school gate every day.

Unless you're going to do a huge drip feed about how you're on the run and in the witness protection programme and have to watch your every move, you're overthinking this and creating a "problem" where there isn't one.

Abductors do not generally pitch up at schools at 3pm in the hope of spiriting off a child, under the nose of a teacher and dozens of parents and children.

We dont have to do anything - the child just points at the adult and then they go off.

Sorry, I know it is scary when your child starts school but you can't expect the same systems at school that you are used to at nursery. Usually schools are great at making sure your child doesn't leave with anyone other than a parent unless you have given permission. My experience of English primary schools is that teachers will make sure they sight a parent or recognised carer before allowing the child to leave.

Thanks for all your replies! Haven't been in a primary school for over 30 years so it's all a dim and distant memory.

Works fine. Teacher might say- there’s your grannie, off you go and child would say...that’s not my grannie.

For an imposter to come and pick up the child they’d also have to get rid of the person actually picking up the child.

It works fine. Usually teachers have a list by the door for regular pick ups (e.g. Wednesdays - mookatron - grandpa). I have often picked up kids' friends from school and if teacher hasn't been told they won't let the kid go, even thigh they know me well. Honestly, schools are really vigilant about this stuff.

Sounds similar to the system they have in our school but they tend to say to the child ‘who is this come to pick you up?’ Plus if it wasn’t mum making the phone call then mum would be in the yard surely?