Auckland BestStart daycare accused of ‘negligence’ by parents after children escape

By Rachel Helyer Donaldson of RNZ

• Two toddlers went missing from BestStart’s Mt Eden daycare in Auckland after a teacher accidentally left a door open.
• Families described the incident as “unacceptable negligence” and demanded a detailed explanation and timeline.
• BestStart has informed the Ministry of Education and launched an investigation into the incident.

Families whose children attend an Auckland daycare say it is “unacceptable negligence”, “horrifying” and “terrifying” to think what could have happened after two toddlers went missing on Thursday.

One child aged 18 months and a 2-year-old escaped on Thursday after a teacher at BestStart’s Mt Eden centre accidentally left an exit door open.

In a statement, BestStart’s deputy chief executive Fiona Hughes said she was “deeply distressed to hear about an incident on January 30 where a teacher accidentally left an exit door open, and two children gained access to our carpark. Thankfully, they were quickly returned safely by a past parent of the centre”.

Hughes said they had interviewed the man.

“He has confirmed he found them in the carpark and has indicated where he found them.”

BestStart had informed the Ministry of Education and immediately commenced an investigation, she said.

But the father of one of the children who went missing said in a message seen by RNZ that it was a “catastrophic failure of duty” and he was not reassured by BestStart’s response.

“The fact that they were ‘quickly returned safely’ is pure luck ... [the] response does nothing to reassure us that this will never happen again. A vague ‘full investigation’ and an apology to only the parents involved? Every single family in the centre deserves a clear, immediate explanation of how you let this happen, and what you are doing to ensure it never happens again.”

He also demanded a detailed timeline of the incident. The families are disputing how far the toddlers got, with some saying the pair made it to nearby – and busy – Sandringham Rd.

One mother told RNZ she was “completely shocked” it was “even a possibility” that children could escape from the daycare.

“You put your whole trust in these people to look after your children. I’m also confused; there’s a gate and then a front door so both must have been left open for the children to escape, which is just really terrifying.

“I can’t even imagine what the parents of the kids must be thinking but the thoughts that would be going through my head ... it would be traumatic thinking what could have actually happened.”

The woman, who did not want to be identified, said BestStart staff made no mention of the incident when she picked her child up at the end of the day.

“I noticed the area manager was there but I didn’t think twice. It wasn’t until later that night we received a message saying ‘as some of you are aware, this has happened, we’re sorry, we’re looking into it’, and that was it.”

BestStart alerted the Ministry of Education on the day the children went missing, acting head of the department’s northern region (Hautū Te Tai Raro) Leisa Maddix said.

“Northern Best Start informed us that two children – toddlers – had exited the service unattended from a side door into the carpark. The children are safe and parents were notified. We expect to receive a full investigation report from the service.”

Maddix said the ministry had requested “confirmation that mitigations are in place for the door that the children left through and we will continue to work with them to gather further information and review the relevant policies and procedures”.

- RNZ

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