Baldivis childcare centre cops hefty $45,000 fine after two-year-old lost during ‘spontaneous' excursion
The child was part of a group of 13 children supervised by two Aspire Early Education and Kindergarten Baldivis educators on a 'spontaneous' trip to Smirk Road Reserve, located opposite the childcare centre, in September last year.
During the excursion, the lead educator claimed she conducted headcounts every five minutes but had no means of recording the numbers, filling in a record when she returned to the service.
Three children were collected by their parents from the reserve, and the next time a headcount was performed it was noticed that the two-year-old child was missing.
'Both (educators) scanned the area and saw (the child) at least 60m away on the south side of the reserve . . . the child was being held by a member of the public,' a judgment published by the State Administrative Tribunal said.
Before then, the driver of a Transperth bus had spotted the child standing very close to the edge of Sixty-Eight Road, which has a speed limit of 70km/h. He slowed down and pulled into a nearby bus stop.
At the same time, another motorist following the bus also pulled over and walked over to the child, picked her up and walked her towards a grassed area. An educator then came running from about 50m away.
'At her age and unsupervised in bushland situated close to traffic, (the child) was at risk from harm and from hazards, including traffic hazards, likely to cause injury,' the SAT said.
The judgment said the spontaneous excursion should not have been allowed at all, with trips to be planned in advance taking into account risk factors.
At least three educators should have also been involved in supervising the children and parents should not have been allowed to collect their kids from the excursion as to not distract educators.
The educators also should have had a means for recordings their headcounts.
It was accepted that the centre had been fully cooperative in the investigation and had acknowledged the seriousness of the incident, accepted full responsibility and expressed genuine contrition.
Spontaneous excursions are also now prohibited across all services and must be thoroughly planned with safety measures reviewed.
The child remains enrolled at the centre and the family is 'fully supportive'.
Department of Communities regulation and quality executive director Angelo Barbaro said inadequate supervision within the education and care services sector was a 'significant concern'.
'A momentary lapse of supervision can significantly increase the risk of harm to children,' he said.
'Approved providers must ensure that appropriate risk assessments are in place to ensure the safety of children when on excursions and that appropriate supervision practices are in place at all times to keep children safe and to avoid being penalised'.
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