Ministry reinstates Te Puna Manawa o Whakaue licence after teachers had cannabis in their system

The licence has been reinstated for Te Puna Manawa o Whakaue early childhood centre after a suspension in October last year. Photo / File

An early childhood centre which had its licence suspended due to drug problems is back in action as of today.

Six of nine teachers working at Rotorua's Te Puna Manawa o Whakaue were found to have THC (cannabis) in their system last year, resulting in the centre's voluntary closure on September 6.

The Ministry of Education then suspended the Te Taumata o Ngāti Whakaue governed-centre's licence on October 9.

Today the centre reopened with a provisional licence, ready to feed the minds of tamariki.

On December 2 the trust and Te Puna Manawa o Whakaue "satisfied" the Ministry of Education enough to revoke the licence suspension and issue a provisional licence, the ministry's acting deputy secretary of sector enablement and support, Jann Marshall, said.

"The provisional licence sets out a number of conditions that must be met for a full licence to be issued.

"We will continue to closely monitor the trust and its progress on meeting the conditions of its provisional licence," Marshall said.

The trust has until March 6, 2020, to meet these conditions.

Te Puna Manawa o Whakaue early childhood centre has sat empty since September 6. Photo / File

The ministry has reportedly worked closely with the trust to ensure it met all appropriate licensing standards and criteria.

Progress on the conditions and recent changes to the governance and management structure of the trust and Te Puna Manawa o Whakaue led the ministry to revoke the suspension, Marshall said.

Five of the teachers had resigned and one was fired by September 25 and the Teaching Council confirmed earlier to the Rotorua Daily Post there was an ongoing investigation "into a matter relating" to the incident.

To help the trust rebuild a quality early learning service the Ministry of Education had limited the number of children who could attend Te Puna Manawa o Whakaue, Marshall said.

The "strengthening early learning opportunities" support and guidance have also been reinstated, she said.

The trust did not reply to a request for comment, however announced the news on Facebook last week.

"All whānau, past and new, are invited to come and meet our new team who are committed and passionate about providing the best care and education to our tamariki," the post read.

Tēnā koutou katoa e te whānau. Kua tūwhera anō ngā kuaha o tō tātou nei whare ā Te Puna Manawa o Whakaue. We’re pleased...

Posted by Ngāti Whakaue on Monday, 6 January 2020

Te Puna Akoranga o Ngāti Whakaue, another trust-governed centre which had its licence suspended earlier last year after the Ministry of Education found 47 breaches there, is still being reviewed by the ministry, Marshall said.

"We are currently reviewing the suspension conditions for Te Puna Akoranga o Ngati Whakaue.

"Te Puna Akoranga cannot operate with tamariki until such time that we are satisfied that it has met these conditions and we have issued a new provisional or full licence."