Working With Parents and Departure policy

I will work with parents to provide the best possible care for their children.

I will:

• Welcome parents into my house (within reason, taking my own family and other people’s children’s needs into account) and encourage parents to talk to me about their children and their care
• Be aware of each child’s family background and support any family traditions or routines, as far as I am able
• Do all I can to ensure I have sufficient information about each child so that I can care for them. This might mean asking questions or giving parents forms so that I have written records. This could be anything from information on allergies to whether they have a fear of spiders
• Provide information about routines and activities and make relevant documentation available for parents to see
• Seek the views of parents and do all I can to meet their requests and needs. If I am unable to carry out a request I will talk to the parents. 

I ask that parents:

• Provide relevant information so that I can care for their child
• Talk to me about their needs and any concerns they might have
• Be aware of my policies and, where they need to, abide by them for the safety of their own, and other people’s, children
• Respect the people in my home and my property. 

Departure policy 
Children will only be released to the parents who made the original arrangement or a person authorised by those parents.
 
Wherever possible I will want to meet any person who might collect a child from me before that child’s expected release. Where that is not possible, a photograph and identification will be requested.
 
Only in exceptional circumstances will a child be released to someone not known to me. This will be with the agreement of the parent and may require password verification as well as some form of identification.
 
I expect parents to provide me with copies of any court orders or injunctions preventing access to a child in my care.
 
I ask that parents let me know if they are going to be late or have been delayed. If the person responsible for collecting a child has not arrived half an hour after the agreed pick up time I will attempt to contact the parents and then try contacting other adults named on the child’s record form. I will continue to care for the child, and to try all the contact numbers, for three hours after the agreed pick up time. After that time I will inform Kent Children’s Social Services. Parents will be expected to pay for any extra time the child is in my care.