Lost child

Requirement:

EYFS 2021 > Information for parents and carers > 3.74

We will safely supervise children when we go on outings or trips. We will teach the children about safety when we are out and about.

The care of your child is paramount and we always have plans and risk assessments in place to ensure that they remain with us and are safe. 

Procedure (how we will put the policy into practice)

On rare occasions children can become ‘lost’ in busy places and therefore as a responsible childminder we will do the following:

• Immediately raise the alarm to all who are around that we have a lost child, and enlist the help of everyone to look for them
• If it is a secure area such as a shopping centre, we will immediately alert the security staff so they can seal off exits and monitor the situation on any CCTV
• Provide everyone involved in the search with a description of the child
• Reassure the other children with us, as they may be distressed
• Alert the police and provide a full description
• Inform the parents of the situation
• Notify Ofsted

We take precautions to avoid situations like this happening by implementing the following measures:

• Ensuring the children hold the hand of either a carer or the pushchair whilst we are out
• Avoiding going to places that are overcrowded
• We teach the children about the dangers of wandering off and of talking to strangers

Review date: 31 December 2025