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The same childcare organisation which this week sent a toddler home with the wrong grandparent is under investigation for other serious incidents, including losing track of a three-year-old who ran into the middle of a busy road.
First Steps Learning Academy, which owns 11 centres across Sydney operated by two childcare providers, is under investigation by the regulator after a string of incidents at least three of its centres.
One mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect the identity of her child, detailed the moment she learnt her daughter had been found in the middle of a busy road last month, while under the care of the company’s Liverpool centre.
A childcare centre that sent a toddler home with the wrong man had a litany of compliance issues, the Herald can exclusively reveal. Credit: Sam Mooy
The mother said the centre originally informed her that her daughter had “roamed into the car park” and an educator was “right behind her”.
“I was obviously frustrated but understood if the educator was with her, she was supervised,” she said.
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However, the next day the mother received a call informing her the incident was “a lot worse than we initially thought”, she said.
“They said we have reviewed the CCTV footage and your daughter was actually out on the main road,” she said.
“They said a maintenance worker had left the gate open and the next thing you know she is out on the [edge] of the road. One of the workers noticed her and started screaming her name, which made her panic and head into the middle of the road.”
According to the mother, the Department of Education, who viewed the footage of the incident, described the video as “confronting”. The mother pulled her child out of the centre as a result.
“I felt sick. They have a duty of care, and they failed,” she said. “I am so angry. My blood is boiling.”
“I am so angry none of the parents are aware. If I knew, there is no way I would have enrolled my daughter. Parents need to know.”
It comes amid growing calls for sector transparency after this masthead revealed one in six NSW childcare services hold a “secret” rating of high-risk or very high risk – but families at these centres would have no idea.
First Steps director Trisha Hastie said an ongoing investigation prevents the childcare chain from being able to comment on the incident but that the centre has “stringent safety measures” in place.
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Meanwhile, in July, a child at First Steps Learning Academy Kirrawee was rushed to hospital in critical condition after they went into anaphylactic shock, in another incident being investigated by the NSW Early Childhood Education and Care Regulatory Authority.
The parents, who wished to remain anonymous to protect their child’s privacy, said their son went into “full-blown anaphylaxis” after they gave him dairy, which he was allergic to.
When they arrived at the centre, their child’s eyes were “swollen shut, his lips were swelling, and he was clawing at his throat”.
The father administered an EpiPen and the child was taken to hospital in a critical condition. When he arrived at hospital, he recovered due to the dad’s use of the EpiPen. The parents removed their child from the centre.
Hastie said “the medical management plan was followed until the father of the child arrived. The child was then transferred into his care.”
“Several minutes later, when it became clear he needed support, our staff supported him in safely administering an EpiPen.” Hastie said the child was released from hospital after four hours.
First Steps does not have a problem with child safety, Hastie said.
“The safety and wellbeing of children in our care is, and always has been, our highest priority. We have clear and strict protocols in place, and the overwhelming majority of families experience safe, consistent and high-quality care every single day across all of our centres.
“When incidents do occur – which are rare – we respond immediately and put in place strengthened measures to ensure they cannot happen again.”
Correspondence from the childcare regulator shows a staff member at First Steps Bangor was investigated for, in August last year, pushing a child who was sitting up during rest time, pulling their leg to make them lie down, and covering their head with a sheet.
The same staff member then was alleged to have kicked a plant and manhandled the same child back onto the bed half an hour later.
The centre was also put on notice at the end of last year over multiple breaches including a broken toilet, one toilet between 21 children, highchairs missing restraints, and not enough staff to meet the legal ratios. There was also “minimal equipment” and the centre had 41 children despite being licensed for 40.
The regulator said the Liverpool incident remained under investigation, while the Kirrawee matter was substantiated.
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