At St Andrews nursery we adopt Fife Council’s policy and procedures for non-attendance at nursery.

 Although attendance at nursery is voluntary, it is in the best interests of the child to have a regular pattern of attendance. There may be occasions, however, when attendance becomes irregular or may stop altogether. This may be due to difficulties in the family or because the child is finding separating from a parent difficult or for other reasons that nursery staff are aware of.

It is our policy to take every possible step to discuss the situation with parents, carers or other agencies and to encourage and offer support to the family in returning to the nursery.

The child’s place on the nursery roll should only be reviewed once such avenues have been explored. No child will be removed from the nursery roll without serious consideration of the implications for the child.

There may be situations where non-attendance is unexplained or where the nursery is unable to contact a family and in these circumstances the following procedures will be followed:

• Parents/carers should notify the nursery as early as possible on the 1^st day of a child’s absence and should indicate if possible the expected length of absence. Parents/carers will be informed when enrolling their child of the importance of this procedure and be given information such as the telephone number and name of person to contact and be made aware that Non-attendance Procedures will be implemented on the first day of absence:
• If the parent/carer does not inform the nursery on the 1^st day of a child’s absence then the office staff will try to call or send out a text message stating that the child is not in nursery and requesting the nursery is contacted with further information. If no response is received, the office will personally call a parent/carer by 11am and by 3pm. If no contact is made, the Depute Head of Centre, Family worker and keyworker will risk assess the situation and inform the relevant agencies if they have a concern. In some cases a home visit may be organised for that day by the Depute Head of Centre and the Family worker.
• If we have still not heard from a parent/carer by day 2, the office will again try to make contact directly by phone.
• If the child has not returned to nursery after 3 days then a further attempt to make contact with the parent/carer by telephone will be made. At this stage if contact cannot be made and a reason for the absence cannot be confirmed then a recorded delivery letter will be sent to the child’s home address. If relevant a copy of this letter will be sent to the referring agency involved with the child.
• The office will continue to call on a daily basis to try to establish contact.
• If a reply to our recorded delivery letter or phone calls is not received by the 10th day of absence then a second letter will be sent and the ‘Children Missing in Education’ officer will be alerted.
• Should all of the above attempts at contact fail to locate the child, on the 15^th day of absence, the local authority ‘Children Missing in Education’ officer will again be contacted.
• At this stage a decision may be taken to withdrawn the child’s nursery place so it can be re- allocated.
• All letters will be copied to the appropriate referral agencies, where required.
• It is our policy to record children who are sent home due to illness or accident.