Attendance Record

We are required to make an accurate record of your child's arrival and departure times by the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which states:

"Providers must hold the following information: a daily record of the names of children being cared for on the premises and their hours of attendance."

I will record your child’s attendance every session on the Attendance Register noting:

  • When your child arrives at the house
  • When your child is collected at the end of the session
  • When we leave a child at a different setting such as school
  • When we collect a child from a different setting such as school

I am required by the Ofsted Early Years Inspection Handbook to monitor children’s attendance. We must follow up if a child fails to attend and we are not informed of the reason by parents/guardians – this is linked to potential safeguarding concerns. Every effort will be made to contact parents/guardians on the first day of non-attendance.

Recording Concerns

I am required by Ofsted to:

  • Record reasons given for non-attendance
  • Monitor non-attendance
  • Note patterns of poor attendance
  • Note any anomalies or unusual explanations offered

Reporting Concerns

If I am concerned about a child’s non-attendance because it may be linked to safeguarding, or if the child receives funding, I am required to contact the Local Authority. Note that in some cases funding can be withdrawn by the Local Authority.

If parents/guardians are struggling to get their child here, I am available to provide support.

Why I Retain This Information

The Attendance Register might be used in the future as a record for:

  • Tax Credits – in case of a query over the amount of money claimed by a parent
  • HMRC – in case of a query about the amount of money a childminder earned
  • Ofsted – to comply with the statutory requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (2017) and/or Childcare Register (2016)
  • Insurance – in case a concern is raised in the future
  • RIDDOR – to comply with the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (1995) in case a report is made
  • LSCB – the Local Safeguarding Children Board / Child Protection Agency in case of query about a child’s attendance
  • Local Authority – if the child is entitled to Government funding (2, 3, and 4 year funding)
  • Legal reasons for processing data – to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, 2018). This data is stored online or on paper and retained until the child is 21 years and 3 months old for insurance purposes. At the end of this time it will be securely deleted or shredded.