Rotorua mother speaks out after son, 2, climbs daycare fence, is found near state highway

A Rotorua mother says she could have lost her child after he climbed a daycare fence and was found near a state highway by a motorist.

Shaitana Newton told the Rotorua Daily Post she immediately withdrew her 2-year-old son Blue Newton from Harakeke Early Learning Centre after she learned of the “shocking” incident three months ago.

Harakeke Early Learning Centre offered an apology to the mother and has taken “full responsibility” for the incident.

The centre – which has since changed ownership – also increased the height of the fence after discovering it “wasn’t quite at regulation”.

A two-year-old boy climbed over the fence at Harakeke Early Learning Centre on August 21. Photo / Megan Wilson

’Is my baby okay?’

Shaitana Newton said the centre called her on August 21 asking her to come in.

“My first question was, ‘Is my baby okay?’”

Newton went to the daycare where Blue had been going for about two months.

She said she was told “a neighbour” had found Blue at their house.

Newton asked how he escaped, how long he had been gone for, and who the neighbour was.

She claimed the daycare “sort of downplayed” the incident. She left Blue at the centre because he was asleep.

After leaving, Newton learned from a Facebook post a woman found him on Fairy Springs Rd. She spoke with the woman.

She was confused “because I was told one story and then I was told a completely different story from the actual lady who found him”.

Jessica Edwardson previously told the Rotorua Daily Post she found the child on the footpath near Fairy Springs Rd/SH5.

Angry and “a little bit fired up”, Newton called the daycare to ask what happened.

“I said I’m pulling my son out of the kindergarten ... he won’t be returning.”

She immediately picked him up.

Fencing ‘wasn’t really high enough’

Newton said Blue had scaled fencing which “wasn’t really high enough”.

“I could’ve lost my child.”

She described Blue as an “adventurous” and “independent little man” who was “full of energy”.

Newton said she was still shocked at what happened and thought of the “what ifs”.

On the fencing height changes, Newton said it was “awesome” to know other children could not “run away”.

“I think they’ve done a pretty good job because now, the fencing is really, really high ...

“They should have done it a little while ago, but I guess it had to take this for them to see that these possibilities can happen, kids can climb over things and jump over things.”

Newton said Blue was enrolled at a kōhanga but could not start until he was 3.

’We are very sorry’

Symon Armstrong, the former owner of Harakeke Early Learning Centre, said the centre was “horrified” the incident happened.

“We’re very aware [of] the level of trust that parents put in us to bring their children to us.”

He said staff noticed the child was missing and went outside to find someone bringing the child back.

“There was not much dialogue ... at the time. The teacher was very grateful and brought the child back inside.”

Armstrong said the teacher “did the right thing” by calling the parent and asking her to go to the centre.

He said the teacher “thought it was a neighbour” and had “no idea” a driver had seen the child.

“In all honesty, they thought they were telling the truth. Well, they were telling the truth – that’s what they believed.

“Then the other story came out on social media.”

Armstrong said it was “easy to understand” how the mother felt let down.

“From our point of view, it was just frustrating that it was sort of talked about through social media so much.”

Armstrong said the centre worked with the Ministry of Education to investigate the incident.

“It didn’t take us long to work out that this child had climbed the fence.”

He said the fence had “been there for 20 years”.

After the incident, Armstrong increased the height of the fence. It was now “higher than the regulation” and “definitely childproof”.

Beforehand, the fence “wasn’t quite at regulation”, he said.

Armstrong said he checked the centre for “potential hazards” – planter boxes which children could “potentially” climb up were removed.

He said safety checks had been reviewed. Staff also did four professional development sessions on supervision.

Armstrong sent reports to the ministry who had acknowledged “they’re happy with what we’ve done”.

He confirmed ownership changed on November 15.

Armstrong gave his “concerned regards and best wishes” to Newton.

“We are very sorry that this happened to her son, and we understand her being very upset.

“We take full responsibility and we dropped the ball on that occasion.”

Three areas identified ‘where improvements could be made’

On September 30, the ministry’s hautū (deputy secretary) of Te Tai Whenua (Central) Jocelyn Mikaere confirmed its investigation was complete.

“We worked closely with the management and staff and are satisfied that the centre is compliant with health and safety requirements,” Mikaere said in a statement.

The Rotorua Daily Post requested the investigation report under the Official Information Act on October 1.

On November 15 the request was refused but “in recognition of the public interest in transparency”, the ministry provided a summary of the investigations and findings.

Three areas “where improvements could be made” were identified by the daycare, which related to areas of the ministry’s licensing criteria for centre-based ECE services.

This included the design and layout of the premises supporting effective adult supervision “so that children’s access to the licensed space (indoor and outdoor) is not unnecessarily limited” and the outdoor space being enclosed by structures and/or fences and gates designed to ensure children were not able to leave the premises without the knowledge of adults providing education and care.

It also included equipment, premises, and facilities being checked on “every day of operation” for hazards to children, with accident/incident records being analysed to identify hazards and appropriate action being taken, and hazards to the safety of children being “eliminated, isolated, or minimised”.

The summary said the ministry’s investigation did not identify any additional areas for improvement and “immediate steps” were taken by the daycare to address these areas.

“The ministry will continue to monitor the service to ensure that improvements to practice are sustained.”

‘Excited about this new journey’

Co-owner of Fairy Springs Early Learning Centre - formerly Harakeke Early Learning Centre - Linda Irwin said she was aware of the incident.

“I feel we’ve got the skills and the knowledge of how to support to ensure best practice,” the centre’s professional leader said.

“We will continue to work with the ministry as we need to.”

She was “excited about this new journey” working with children and their whānau.

“We’ve got a real forward focus.”

Irwin said she had worked in the Rotorua community in early childhood education for about 30 years, including as a senior education and compliance advisor.

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.