Mum devastated childcare worker from a major chain ‘smacked’ son
A mum has been left upset and shocked after she arrived to pick up her young son, only discover a “disgusting” thing happened at a major daycare chain.
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EXCLUSIVE
A Sydney mum has been left “devastated” after her 13-month-old son was “smacked” at daycare by a childcare educator, with the shocking incident captured on CCTV.
Megan Creed arrived to pick up her two children from Mini Masterminds Rockdale, a childcare centre chain that has 16 sites across Sydney.
The young mum was “shocked” after she was pulled into a meeting and informed about the “disgusting” incident at the start of May.
“I was told something inappropriate had happened to my child, an educator had witnessed another educator hit my child on the upper arm and the centre had reviewed CCTV and confirmed it had happened,” she told news.com.au
“I was told they had informed the Office of Children’s Guardian and the worker had been stood down immediately.
“I don’t know how bad it was – when I got to the centre there was a mark on his upper arm which was two hours later but he’s toddler so its hard to tell.
“Regardless we were just so shocked.”
She was told her son Cody had been pulling on another child’s shirt and the two were separated to different sides of the room.
“It is age appropriate behaviour – he’s 13 months old and he’s in the youngest babies room,” she said.
“I agree they should have been separated but the moment she hit him a line was crossed and it was enough for another educator to report it.”
‘Such a shock’
An incident report provided by Mini Masterminds Rockdale and seen by news.com.au states: “Cody was interacting with an educator and child when Cody began pulling at the other child. The educator moved the child apart and once the children were apart the educator then used their open right hand and smacked Cody on the left upper arm”.
It included a photo of Cody’s left upper arm showing a red mark.
Mini Masterminds Rockdale initially refused to show Ms Creed the CCTV footage.
A NSW Police spokesperson confirmed police are investigating following a report of an alleged assault at a daycare centre on Chapel Street, Rockdale, on May 2, 2024.
“Officers attached to St George Police Area Command were notified on Friday 3 May 2024, and investigations are continuing,” they said.
The 27-year-old was further distressed that the incident had happened hours prior to her arrival and she hadn’t been informed immediately, adding she “wasn’t called or notified”.
Ms Creed only learnt of the incident when she arrived to pick up her two children and was told she needed to have a meeting with the centre director and area manager.
“It’s such a shock that someone in position of power was going to put their hands on my child in that way, it was very upsetting,” she said.
However, initially she was comfortable to continue to send her children to the centre as the educator had been stood down.
Educator reinstated
But the mum-of-two was left further distressed when just a week later she received a phone call where she learnt the centre had concluded its investigation and the childcare worker would be reinstated after further training.
“I was crying on the phone to them and I was trying to find out why ... the educator was returning to the centre,” Ms Creed said.
“The fact alone they wanted to reinstate that educator was so appalling even with so many investigations still pending, yet they were willing to put them back around children and in a centre with a person she hit. In the smallest baby room they have no way to speak up for themselves, it’s not right. I wanted her fired.”
The mum described the decision as “deplorable” and informed Mini Masterminds Rockdale she had “no choice” but to pull her children out of the centre where they had been since January.
It left her scrambling to find a new childcare centre.
Both her partner and Ms Creed were left “really devastated”.
“We are a single income household and are doing our best,” she said.
“We trusted these people to care for our child and it felt like such a big breach of trust and it’s not something you expect to happen in 2024. It made us reconsider childcare – do we pull them out completely? We felt very lost and upset and it was very difficult to process.
“There’s really no option. I’m working full time, their dad is at university full time as well so for us to take time off isn’t really an option as much as we would love to keep them at home and make sure they are safe, we have to eat.”
‘Big breach of trust’
It wasn’t until Ms Creed reached out to the CEO of Mini Masterminds, Jason Malone, on LinkedIn expressing her distress that things drastically changed.
He said he had referred the incident to the HR team for “urgent review”, adding he was “sorry” that it had happened to her son, in a message seen by news.com.au.
Mr Malone later confirmed over LinkedIn that the employee no longer worked at Mini Masterminds Rockdale.
But the mum was no longer comfortable sending her kids to the centre.
Cody, who has been in childcare since he was around seven months old, and his sister, have now started at a new centre in Alexandria.
“It’s so upsetting for him to have to change again. It’s bloody hard and it’s not right for him, he didn’t do anything wrong as far as I’m concerned,” she said.
It’s particularly rough for Ms Creed as Cody had a difficult start to life – turning blue in her arms after he was born – and as a result she could not hold him for two weeks.
It ended up with him spending two months in NICU with lung issues and battling meningitis and pneumonia.
However, the experience has taken a further distressing turn for Ms Creed.
She received a call from Mr Malone on Thursday last week.
On the phone call, according to Ms Creed, he also said the initial incident report was incorrect and Cody was never hit but at most lightly tapped.
Ms Creed said he also told her she could view the CCTV footage as long as he personally escorted her on the premises – an offer that made her feel uncomfortable.
“I am feeling upset, and concerned,” she said.
“I really don’t know who to believe, but I trust that an educator wouldn’t have reported it for no reason, and the centre wouldn’t have written an incident report if nothing happened,” she said.
She has requested for further updates in writing but she said the centre insists on talking on the phone.
Ms Creed claims in his follow-up email Mr Malone left out details of a phone conversation.
Instead he thanked her taking his call and said again he wanted to “apologise for this incident on behalf of Mini Masterminds and hope that I can assure you that every effort has been made to rectify behaviour that is inappropriate or unreasonable in any way”.
“I want to assure you that inappropriate behaviour is not tolerated at Mini Masterminds and incidents are thoroughly investigated and appropriate action taken when required,” he continued.
“We are unable to send you a copy of the incident as this is outside of our privacy policy and note that there are other children and an educator also in the footage. I am happy for you to view the CCTV footage. I believe that viewing this footage may help in alleviating some of the stress that this incident has caused.”
Mr Malone did not respond to specific questions from news.com.au and said “while we understand your desire for further information and clarification, we must respectfully refrain from commenting on the specifics of the incident”.
“We want to assure you that the matter was promptly and properly addressed in line with our workplace policies and procedures,” he said.
“Both the family involved and The Office of the Children’s Guardian were notified accordingly.”
Mr Malone added that The Office of the Children’s Guardian has thoroughly reviewed the incident and determined that it does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Reportable Conduct scheme outlined in part 4 of the Children’s Guardian Act 2019.
“We have already reached out to the family to express our apologies and consider this matter closed,” he said.
‘Trivial or negligible’
The Office of Children’s Guardian was notified about the incident by Mini Masterminds with further information provided by the chain’s area manager.
In a letter sent to the CEO of Mini Masterminds from the Office of the Children’s Guardian seen by news.com.au, the investigator found the “alleged use of physical force was no more than ‘trivial or negligible’”.
They noted that via the area manager’s information they had “been advised that the alleged ‘tap’ involved a minimal level of force, that it did not result in any injury, and that Cody did not show any signs of distress as a result of the alleged incident”.
The letter added that no further information was needed but they “trust that the alleged incident will be investigated under your own workplace procedures”.
However, the Office of the Children’s Guardian declined to respond to news.com.au’s questions regarding the information used for its investigation.
A spokesperson from the Office of the Children’s Guardian said: “Under Section 57 of the Children’s Guardian Act, there are limits to what we can say publicly about assessments and investigations under the Reportable Conduct Scheme.”
They added if the parent has questions about their assessment, or has information about the incident, they should contact the office.
Huge financial hit
Yet Ms Creed, who works as a payroll professional, is also facing a huge financial blow as well.
She will have to pay the daycare fees at both centres as Mini Masterminds Rockdale has not answered a request to reduce or waive the four week notice period to leave the centre.
The mum had been paying around $140 a day for Cody but she said there had been “radio silence” from the centre, despite following up on the issue with multiple emails seen by news.com.au.
She said she also has received no written outcome on Mini Masterminds Rockdale’s internal investigation into what happened.
“I asked about the investigation outcome, asked for the CCTV and about the four weeks’ notice ... and nothing,” she said.
“I did the sums and leaving without any notice is going to cost about $6000 to $7000 all out of pocket (for both children) as we will use the childcare subsidy for the new centre.”
Mini Masterminds has a chain of 16 childcare centres across sites scattered across Sydney with 10 more centres “coming soon” to new suburbs, according to its website.
Further investigations
The NSW Department of Education confirmed there was an ongoing investigating into an alleged incident at a Rockdale service which has included taking statements, reviewing CCTV footage and visiting the service.
“The health, safety and wellbeing of children are our highest priorities. As the regulator of early childhood education and care services, the department investigates incidents and complaints related to the operation of these services,” a NSW Department of Education spokesperson said.
The department would continue to monitor the service’s compliance with the national law and regulations, it added.
sarah.sharples@news.com.au
Originally published as Mum devastated childcare worker from a major chain ‘smacked’ son
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