Probe into ‘ill-treatment of children’
A Hutt Valley childcare centre where staff are accused of mistreating children has closed indefinitely.
Emails from the Hutt Hospital Childcare Centre to families, which have been provided to Stuff, confirmed the Ministry of Education had suspended the centre’s licence.
Parents were told they should make alternative arrangements for childcare.
‘‘We have been advised by the Ministry of Education that a complaint about our centre alleging the ill-treatment of children by a number of named staff has been received,’’ a letter to parents said.
The centre, which is on hospital land but not affiliated with it, had been closed ‘‘indefinitely’’. It was closed when visited by Stuff yesterday.
Centre manager Sharon Cooper declined to comment when contacted by Stuff.
A mother, who did not want to be identified, said all but one staff member at the centre had been named in the allegations.
‘‘We’ve not been told what the allegations are, other than mistreatment of children, which I can only speak for myself on,’’ she said.
‘‘[It] does send your imagination into all sorts of places, and makes you rethink every time [my child has] come home with an incident report for falling over, bumping his head etc.’’
She understood police had been notified of the allegations, but police could not confirm this when approached by Stuff.
The Ministry of Education confirmed some staff were stood down while an investigation into the allegations was carried out.
Ministry spokeswoman Katrina Casey said it received a complaint about the centre in November then received further complaints.
‘‘Nothing is more important than the safety of children and we take all complaints seriously,’’ she said. ‘‘We have appointed an independent investigator to look into complaints we received about Hutt Hospital Childcare Centre.’’
That investigator started on January 7 and was still working with the centre’s management committee on the investigation, which would determine if more action was needed.
Oranga Tamariki and the Teaching Council had also been informed.
The centre’s licence would remain suspended until February 28, when the investigation was due to be completed. Decisions on its future and licence status would come after that.
The Teaching Council confirmed it was aware of the allegations and was looking into them.
The centre got a positive Education Review Office report in 2017, with staff-to-child ratios better than minimum. It was decided the centre was ‘‘well placed’’, meaning it did not need a further review for three years.