Staff at Edge Early Learning Munno Para West made to undergo training after child supervision ‘incident’
A major childcare operator is facing fresh scrutiny after an incident at another of its Adelaide centres, this time in the northern suburbs, has come to light.
Staff at a northern suburbs childcare centre have had to undergo training after an “incident” in which children were not properly supervised.
It is the latest in a string of issues reported at Edge Early Learning centres across South Australia.
The company’s Munno Para West centre was issued a compliance notice on September 4 – but details of what exactly happened, or how many children were involved, have not been released.
In response to inquiries from The Advertiser, Edge Early Learning CEO Annie Bryce said in a statement that the issue was “self-reported” by staff and “no child was harmed”.
The sector watchdog, the Education Standards Board (ESB), has ordered staff at the centre to undergo “supervision training”.
This includes “those who were present at the time of the incident but (who) do not work permanently at the service”.
Staff must also “provide a written reflection of the training” to show what they have learned.
Management has also completed an audit of medications, and related paper work, on-site and ensured emergency exits are “free from clutter”.
Ms Bryce said staff “immediately took the opportunity to reflect with our educators to ensure continuous improvement” in the wake of the incident.
“We recognise that recent events have caused concern, and we are committed to learning from them, strengthening our practices and rebuilding trust through action and transparency,” she said.
It is the latest in a series of concerns raised about Edge Early Learning’s 24 centres across South Australia.
In August the Plympton centre was put under strict conditions following an incident involving a child left in a classroom while children were moving to another area.
In late September the centre was forced to close for two weeks after it was revealed two children were left alone by a student carer.
Also in September the Royal Park centre was required to conduct headcounts every 15 minutes after a group of children were left unsupervised “for a short time”.
The company’s SA centres are all under a year-long program agreed to with the ESB, known as an enforceable undertaking, which requires management to make improvements by August 28 next year.
These include bringing in an external consultant and organisational psychologist.
