Maligned childcare centre to close

A Feilding childcare centre temporarily shut down due to serious complaints has had its licence removed by the Ministry of Education and been sold by its owner.

Pitter Patter Education Centre has lost its licence for failing to meet conditions set by the ministry. The centre has been sold and is going to close next week.

The centre was closed for three weeks in November when the ministry suspended its licence after receiving complaints of negative behaviour and unprofessionalism. Pitter Patter was given a provisional licence and had conditions to meet to have its full licence reinstated, but it has not met all the conditions.

The centre’s owner manager Pauline Murphy spoke to Stuff for the first time and said the centre, where 24 children were enrolled, had been sold.

She said the centre had been closed to give the new company time to rebrand.

‘‘The sale process has been in negotiation for around six to eight weeks, who the company has sold to is not my story to tell.’’

She declined to comment further. Ministry of Education deputy secretary Katrina Casey said in a statement the ministry assessed the centre in January and found 33 breaches of regulations of licencing criteria in health and safety, premises and facility, curriculum and governance and management.

The ministry issued a provisional licence and the centre was given conditions it had to meet within a timeframe. Three had to be met by February 22 and March 8.

The conditions were the health and safety of the equipment and facilities, hygienic preparation, storage and serving of food, and the quality of food.

Casey said Pitter Patter didn’t meet the conditions by the final day and the ministry told the centre on March 19 it would cancel the licence.

She said Murphy told the ministry on Thursday the service would close on April 1. Parents have been told of the closure.

Bianca Alani removed her son from Pitter Patter in 2017 because of ‘‘negative treatment and unprofessional behaviour’’.

She was relieved the centre had been closed and sold.

‘‘It’s definitely about time considering I’ve been complaining since 2017. On the other hand I do feel for these families that it has affected.’’

Seeing the centre closed was something she had hoped would happen.

Alani believed murphy needed to face penalties for what had happened at the centre.

Another mother named Megan, who did not want to give her surname, had taken her son to Pitter Patter for more than a year, but took him to another centre last year after bad experiences.

She said she was happy Pitter Patter had shut down and also believed Murphy should face penalties.

Casey said other early childhood services in Feilding had spare capacity and theministry was available to help families find a new centre.