We have been asked quite a few times recently if we have any plans to change our collection policy to allow siblings in Years 5 and 6 to take home younger siblings.
We have given this a great deal of consideration and it has been on the agenda at our weekly Safeguarding Team meeting this week.
We have loked carefully at the policies of other schools and of the advice from the DfE and the NSPCC. We have also had lengthy discussions with the Operational Safeguarding Team at Transorm Trust HQ. There is no legal minimum age at which children can look after otehr children. However, all the advice is that 14 should be the minimum and that only those over 16 should be responsible for children under 9 years old.
We appreciate that some younger adults are very mature and responsible, but we are obliged to set a policy that promotes caution and sets the bar and expectations high. We are also mindful of the potential impact on the wellbeing of the older sibling if anything were to happen to the younger child; if they ran off, slipped away, whatever.
With this in mind, we will be proposing to our Governors that the current policy is not changed; that 16 is universally the minimum age we will allow to collect or take home siblings at the end of the school day.
We apologise if this has an impact on convenience for any families, but please rest assured that this is a decision we have taken with the safety and wellbeing of all in mind.