A childcare centre in Perth’s east has been fined thousands of dollars after a two-year-old child was left struggling for breath with bite and scratch marks on their face when they were attacked by several other children.
Educators at Kids HQ Jacaranda in High Wycombe left a group of children unsupervised while playing in the sandpit for about seven minutes when a fight broke out among three of the toddlers.
The childcare centre was fined over the incident. Credit: Google Maps
In that time, a child – referred to as Child 1 in a State Administrative Tribunal decision published on Monday – approached a second child, Child 2, and hit them with a yellow dish.
Child 2 retaliated, hitting Child 1 back and scratching them, before following them around and attempting to bite their arm, causing Child 1 to fall to the ground.
In CCTV footage, only Child 1’s legs can be seen, but Child 2 can be seen bending down near Child 1’s head, who then begins to squirm.
Another child, referred to as Child 3, joins in, sitting on the ground above where Child 1’s head is in the CCTV and throwing sand at them with Child 2.
Around four minutes later, Child 2 and 3 leave the sandpit and Child 1 stays on the ground, before standing up breathing heavily.
Child 1 had injuries including scratches and bite marks on their right cheek and right ear, as well as injuries to both hands.
The four educators working at the time did not hear or see the incident.
In its decision, the SAT found the daycare centre had shown “genuine contrition and a desire to ensure a similar contravention does not occur”. The centre was fined a total of $13,500.
Kids HQ has also added a “director of supervision” position, and the use of a lanyard system to identify supervision points so that educators know exactly where they are supposed to be stationed.
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