Edge Early Learning Centre at Plympton forced to close for two weeks after children left unsupervised
Authorities have confirmed they investigated reports of physical harm to a child enrolled at an Adelaide childcare centre which has been forced to temporarily shut its doors.
An injury to a child at an Adelaide childcare centre was investigated and “formed part” of a decision to order a snap two-week closure.
Education Minister Blair Boyer has confirmed there was an investigation into reports that a child enrolled at the Edge Early Learning at Plympton was physically hurt – but no further details have been released.
The centre was closed abruptly on Wednesday, and ordered to remain shut for a fortnight, after it emerged that two children had been left unattended for a short time by a student educator.
When asked if a child enrolled there had been physically hurt Mr Boyer said he was “aware of this case” and that it was reported to the watchdog, the Education Standards Board (ESB).
“They investigated and that has formed part of the action that is underway here,” he said.
Parents were told late on Tuesday that they would have to find alternative care for the next two weeks, leaving many in the lurch.
It is understood there are about 100 children from about 60 families affected.
One mother of two said there had been a “mass exodus” of staff from the centre in the past two months.
“Every day a new staff member was leaving,” said the woman, who did not want to be identified.
“You’re dropping your kid off and they’re screaming and crying for you because they don’t know anybody (carers) in the room.
“We would pick our kids up and staff would be crying, parents would be crying.
“It’s been really, really awful.”
The company is offering parents temporary places at Edge Early Learning centres in Oaklands Park, Seacombe Heights and Flagstaff Hill.
The mother who spoke to The Advertiser said centre management had waived two weeks of fees for any parents who chose to keep their children home, or to pull them out and enrol them with another company.
However, parents who chose to take up a temporary place at another Edge Early Learning centre were still being charged fees.
“I thought some good faith could have been appropriate there,” she said.
“It’s just been heartbreaking. We’ve got kids who have got great friends (at childcare) who are separated from them now.
“Some parents have told how their children have regressed with crying at drop off or wetting the bed.
“Everything just went kaput really quickly.”
In a letter to parents, Edge Early Learning chief executive Annie Bryce said a teacher on placement at the Plympton centre had been left alone with two children and subsequently “left the two children unsupervised in the classroom for approximately two minutes while she sought guidance”.
The incident was not reported to the operator’s “internal compliance team”, which it should have been according to policy.
Ms Bryce’s letter told parents “no child has been harmed” but conceded that the closure was “a huge disruption and a stressful situation for families”.
In a statement to The Advertiser, Ms Bryce said the company was “using the closure period to deliver additional supervision training for all educators, embed stronger reporting procedures and finalise the appointment of a new centre director”.
“We take this matter extremely seriously and are committed to addressing it with urgency,” she said.
“We are conducting an internal investigation into how it was managed to ensure full accountability and improvement.”
Mr Boyer said he backed the ESB’s decision to impose the “strongest action available” which was “a really stiff penalty for a for-profit childcare provider”.
“I know it is a real inconvenience for families but I won’t put convenience ahead of child safety,” he said.
Mr Boyer said the ESB had, in the past, not always used “the really strong powers they have”.
“It has bred a culture of complacency in the sector … (that) no one is going to come knock on the door,” he said.
“This (closure) will send a message right through the long day care sector around the country.
“It should give more confidence to parents, carers and grandparents in this state that when they drop their children off at long day care they’re going to be safe.”
Opposition education spokeswoman Heidi Girolamo said the latest incident was “hugely concerning”.
“It is completely unacceptable that some parents only discovered the closure when they arrived at the centre (in the) morning,” she said.
“Where was the support for this centre when it was clearly struggling to meet standards?”
Annie Bryce said an “incident involving a child at Plympton was reported to the ESB” in August and the company had been “working closely with the child’s family to provide support”.
She said the ESB issued the centre with a “caution letter over that incident, which was “distinct from” the order for the centre to close temporarily over the lapse in supervision of the two children.”
Wednesday’s closure 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 a different incident involving a child left in a classroom while children were moving to another area.
Earlier this month 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 also 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.
