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Safeguarding

Missing child policy

What we do to stop a child going missing, and what happens straight away if one does.

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Code Hamsters (Simple Platform Work Limited)
Version 1.0, approved 13 October 2026 by Mathew Long, Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). Next review: October 2027, or sooner after any incident or change in the law or guidance.

If a child is missing, we ring the police on 999 and the child’s parents or carers immediately.

1. How we stop a child going missing

  • We take a register as children arrive, and the tutor knows how many children are present at all times.
  • The tutor counts the children after any move between rooms, after any evacuation, and before handover.
  • Children are supervised for the whole session and stay in the room unless they have asked to leave it.
  • Children go to the toilet one at a time. The tutor knows who has gone and notices if they are not back.
  • At the end, each child is handed to a parent, carer or another adult named on their registration form. A child leaves alone only if we have written permission.
  • If someone we do not know arrives to collect a child, we keep the child with us and phone the parent or carer before doing anything else.
  • The tutor has the register, with emergency contact numbers, and a charged phone at every session.

2. If a child is missing during a session

  1. Stop the session and count. Keep all the other children together and with you. Check the register and ask the children when they last saw the child and where they were going.
  2. Check the immediate area, for no more than two minutes. Look in the room, the nearest toilets and the corridor outside, taking the group with you or keeping them in sight. If venue staff are on site, ask them to check the exits and the grounds. Never leave the other children on their own to search.
  3. Call 999 immediately. Do not wait any longer and do not keep searching first. Tell the police:
    • the child’s name, age and what they look like and are wearing
    • when and where they were last seen
    • the venue’s name and address, and your name and phone number
    • any medical condition, additional need or other reason they may be especially at risk
  4. Call the child’s parents or carers immediately afterwards. Tell them what has happened and that the police have been called. Ask whether the child could have gone home or to someone they know. If there is no answer, try every emergency contact on the form.
  5. Tell the Designated Safeguarding Lead, Mathew Long, on +44 7877 742502, if they are not already there.
  6. Stay at the venue with the other children, keep your phone free, and do what the police ask. Keep the other children calm. Hand them over to their parents and carers as normal, and keep a note of who has left.
  7. Write down the times: when the child was last seen, when they were found to be missing, and when each call was made.

3. When the child is found

  • Check they are safe and well, give first aid if needed, and reassure them. They are not in trouble.
  • Tell the police, the parents or carers and the DSL straight away.
  • Listen to the child’s account of what happened and why. If it raises a concern about their welfare, follow our safeguarding and child protection policy.

4. Afterwards

  • The tutor writes a full record on the same day, including times and everyone involved.
  • The DSL speaks to the parents or carers on the same day and offers to meet them.
  • The DSL reviews what happened within five working days, updates our risk assessment, and tells parents and the venue what will change.
  • The DSL tells our insurer, and children’s social care if there is any concern about the child’s welfare.

5. If a child does not arrive

If a child who is booked has not arrived 10 minutes after the start and we have not been told they are absent, the tutor phones or messages the parent or carer to check. Please let us know in advance if your child will not be coming.

6. If a child is not collected

  1. The tutor stays with the child, somewhere open and visible, and reassures them.
  2. After 10 minutes the tutor phones the parents or carers, then every emergency contact on the form.
  3. The child is never released to an adult who is not named on the form unless a parent or carer confirms it.
  4. If nobody can be reached after 30 minutes, the DSL calls Manchester children’s social care (Contact Centre) on 0161 234 5001 for advice and follows it. The tutor does not take the child home or leave them with anyone else.
  5. The tutor records what happened and the times.