Children being children may not always be where they should be.
Rarely is this anything other than the child disappearing before turning up again on their own accord.
However, in the unlikely event of a child going missing, I need to establish a procedure to ensure that the child is found and returned to my care as quickly as possible.
I will adopt the following procedure:
- I will arrange for all other children in my care to be satisfactorily supervised.
- If in the home environment, the local area will be checked thoroughly, in particular the toilets, cupboards and bedrooms. All other areas capable of hiding a child.
- If away from the home environment, I will raise the alarm, whilst staying in the same place. Enquires to be made through any other adults in the vicinity.
- On failing to locate the child within a reasonable time, I will proceed to inform the police and/or any other appropriate emergency service. I will record the circumstances surrounding the disappearance order to aid the police as much as possible with their investigations.
- I will then contact the parents/carers of the child.