Marian Petit ELJ childcare centre in Mackay region under investigation
A concerned mum is questioning what staff at a popular childcare centre said to parents after three two-year-old children escaped. Read what was allegedly uncovered.
Mackay
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The childcare centre where three young children escaped while under its watch has been questioned by the parents of the children involved about key details of the incident.
The three children, each understood to be two years old, left the Marian Petit Early Learning Journey centre, allegedly through a faulty gate, sometime before 9am on Thursday, October 13.
The centre is located in the Marian Town precinct, about 30 minutes’ drive west of Mackay, and connects to Mackay-Eungella Rd, a main thoroughfare for almost 9000 residents in the Pioneer Valley.
It is understood staff became aware the three children were missing when a member of the public returned them to the centre.
Marian Petit ELJ had allegedly told the parents their children were found on a grassy area just outside the centre’s gate, but a concerned mum, who has asked to remain anonymous, says she has been told something different.
A post on Facebook asking for more information suggests, six days after the incident, that the three children had actually been found out the front of the nearby Porters Mitre 10 store.
An employee at the hardware store allegedly alerted Marian Petit ELJ about the lost children, with childcare staff then leaving the centre to collect them.
The mum says she is angry the community has not been provided with further information with the incident report parents had signed failing to mention how far the children had travelled.
“The rest of the parents at the centre still have no idea just how the incident unfolded,” she said.
A Department of Education spokesman said it was investigating the “serious incident”.
“As this is currently an active investigation, we are not able to provide further comment on this specific matter at this time,” the spokesman said.
“However, the department takes the safety and wellbeing of all children in early childhood education and care services very seriously, and will not hesitate to take appropriate action if and when breaches of the law are identified and children’s safety is compromised.”
The incident at Marian Petit ELJ comes after reports children were playing unsupervised near a faulty side gate.
Members of Petit ELJ’s Brisbane head office did not respond to this publication.
The Marian centre first opened in mid-2016 and caters for up to 104 children ages zero to five.
Parent Monica Simpson, whose child formerly attended the Marian centre, said it “was great about three years ago” but there was currently a high staff turnover.
As the Pioneer Valley population continues to grow, many parents rely on larger centres like Petit ELJ to secure childcare.
Gaining a spot in family daycare has been likened to winning the lotto.
Have you had a negative experience at a Mackay Whitsunday region childcare centre? Email mackay@news.com.au
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