How firm and consistent are new national standards for releasing children from daily care, asks Mary Evans?
Childcare providers gearing up for the start of the Ofsted inspection regime next month will need to check that their policies and procedures measure up to the new national standards - not least in how they handle 'home time'.
The final version of national standard 12, 'Working in partnership with parents and carers', expects providers to establish policies to ensure the release of children only to individuals named by the parent. But no mention was made of this in the initial draft.
Although responsible daycare settings will have developed tried and tested methods for sending children home, the recently published Ofsted guidance (see box) suggests that settings require written permission from families as to who can collect a child.
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