Coffs mum seeks answers after her son was locked inside a childcare bus

A Coffs Coast mother is demanding answers after a bus driver forgot to drop off her 8-year-old son home, instead leaving him locked inside the vehicle.

Elaine Penno has been left "horrified" after her son Rowan was locked inside an after school care bus alone. Photo: Jasmine Minhas

“It’s just horrific. They didn’t even know he was missing.”

Coffs Coast mother Elaine Penno is demanding answers after her 8-year-old son was locked inside an after school care bus alone.

Young Rowan managed to escape by finding an emergency exit button – but was forced to wander the busy streets of Park Beach to find his way home.

“What if he was on the spectrum, or what if he had a disability? What if he didn’t know how to get himself out of that bus in the 28 degree heat?

“I want answers. I still don’t know what happened.”

The incident which took place on January 22 is currently being investigated by the NSW Department of Education, and Ms Penno is receiving support from a lawyer.

The shy youngster played, as his mother spoke to The Advocate of the ordeal.

Rowan occasionally whispered in his mother’s ear as she sat at a park bench on Ocean Parade – the same street in which he had found himself lost that day.

Ms Penno said that Rowan had been attending vacation care over the school holidays and was due to be dropped off at home at 5pm that day.

When a distraught Rowan came through the front door at 6pm and informed his mother he had walked home after being dropped off at the ‘Bottlemart’, Ms Penno panicked.

Elaine Penno's son Rowan was locked inside a childcare bus and was forced to walk 2km through the busy streets of Park Beach to find his way home after escaping through an emergency exit. Photo: Contributed

After contacting the service provider it was uncovered that the bus driver had forgotten to drop Rowan off and instead had driven to his own home, located near the Bottlemart in Park Beach, and unknowingly locked Rowan inside the bus.

Rowan found the emergency exit button and walked 2km, dodging traffic as he navigated his way home.

Park Beach is brimming with tourists particularly during the school holidays and is notorious for being a hotspot for anti-social behaviour.

A frustrated Ms Penno said she had received an apology from the provider but still had no answers as to how the incident happened, or how long he had been in the bus.

She said she had found out Rowan was signed out from vacation care at 4.15pm, meaning it was a span of nearly two hours in which Rowan was not accounted for. Rowan could not say how long he’d been trapped in the bus for.

Ms Penno told The Advocate that Rowan had been seeing a psychologist and was having nightmares after the incident. He no longer allows anyone but his mum to drive him anywhere.

“People say why didn’t Rowan speak up, but why should he have to? I engaged a service to look after my child and return him home – they didn’t do that.”

Rowan said he had found his way home from ‘Bottlemart’ on the busy Ocean Parade, pictured here. Photo: Trevor Veale / Coffs Coast Advocate

Ms Penno said she was not angry with the bus driver, but wanted to ensure “it didn’t happen again.”

Earlier this week, the manager of a Queensland childcare centre was fined $18,000 in Caboolture Magistrates Court after a three-year-old boy was left locked in a bus for more than an hour.

Last year, a three-year-old boy died after he was left inside a Cairns childcare centre’s bus for several hours.

Ms Penno’s lawyer, Shine Lawyers National Practice Manager Lisa Flynn, said the lax attitude toward transport of children needed to stop before another young life was compromised.

“They placed their trust in this vacation care service only to have their child left in a very dangerous position,” she said.

“What happened that afternoon is inexcusable, the bus was only an 18-seater. Procedures and protocols for transporting children should be just as stringent as those followed inside the facility. If the same level of care can’t be offered, the transport service should be discontinued immediately.”

“Providers simply cannot advertise free drop off and pick up of children who attend their service to benefit their bottom line, if they can’t take their responsibilities of these children very seriously.”

The Advocate has contacted the Department of Education and the service provider for comment.