Happy Haven OSHC service suspended after watchdog found company did not address risks

Kids from four schools will have to find alternative after-hours care following an investigation into how a young boy was left locked on a bus.

Happy Haven OSHC has been suspended after a boy was left on a bus.

• Incident on locked after-school care bus
• Parents react to childcare service incident

Parents of children at four schools have been left without after-school care after a company whose staff left a sleeping boy alone on a locked bus was served a suspension notice.

Earlier this month a primary school-aged boy attending a Happy Haven OSHC service in Adelaide’s north was left on a bus, which was then locked and parked at a depot.

The boy had fallen asleep and the company says it appeared staff did not follow safety protocols.

Now the sector watchdog, the Education Standards Board (ESB), has suspended the OSHC run by Happy Haven at Riverdale Primary School, in Salisbury Downs.

Children from three other public schools – Lake Windemere, Paralowie and Salisbury Downs primary schools – are transported to Riverdale Primary School OSHC by bus each day.

Students from Lake Windemere are also transported by bus for after school care. Picture: Department of Education

The current school term finishes on July 4 and parents have been left scrambling to find alternative care for their children.

ESB acting chief executive Sean Heffernan said in a statement that Happy Haven OSHC had been issued an emergency action notice after the boy was left on the bus on June 13.

The notice required staff to address risks that “posed an immediate risk to children”.

On Monday the ESB conducted a check at the service and found Happy Haven had not complied with the notice. It issued a suspension on Tuesday and required Happy Haven to inform parents.

Mr Heffernan said the ESB “believed it was not in the best interest of children at Happy Haven OSHC Riverdale for the service to continue operating”.

It has been suspended until the end of the year.

Happy Haven OSHC chief executive Nicholas Smith said there were 199 children who would be affected.

“We take the ESB’s concerns seriously. Unfortunately, the immediate implementation of the suspension has resulted in disruption and possible hardship for many families,” he said in a statement. “We acted instantly to inform all stakeholders, and we are doing everything we can to minimise further disruption.”

Mr Smith said the company had written to the ESB “to discuss a review of this decision”.

He said it had also offered to make changes including having two educators (in addition to the driver) on all bus trips, conducting headcounts of children every 15 minutes, reporting daily to the ESB, suspending excursions during vacation care in the July school holidays, capping attendance numbers to 60 children per session and having a senior leader on site at all times.

“Our priority is to ensure children are safe, supported, and cared for — and that parents are not left without options,” Mr Smith said.

Following the incident involving the boy on the bus, the company issued a statement saying it ‘appears to be an isolated event’ but it was ‘treating it with the utmost seriousness’ and had launched a review.

“For over six years, Happy Haven OSHC has safely transported between 20 to 70 children twice daily at this service without incident,” the statement said.

“We sincerely apologise to the child and their family for this distressing experience.”

About 29,000 children aged between five and 12 – or one in six primary school students – used OSHC each week.

There are 248 OSHC services operating at SA public schools, including 151 which are run by the school’s governing council and 97 run by private operators.

Originally published as Happy Haven OSHC service suspended after watchdog found company did not address risks