A North Ayrshire Council-employed nursery practitioner has been struck off after being convicted of assaulting a five-year-old girl with complex additional support needs.
Nicola Tyler slapped the child on the head during an incident on 11 November 2024, while employed by the local authority as an Early Years Practitioner.
Tyler, whose town of employment was revealed as Irvine, was later convicted of assault at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court in October 2025.
Regulator removes Tyler from register
Now the industry regulator, the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), has stepped in to remove Tyler's name from their register, claiming her fitness to practise is “impaired” due to “misconduct.”
In their notice of decision, the SSSC said Tyler's behaviour was “fundamentally incompatible” with continued registration.
Their Fitness to Practise Panel told Tyler: “You (Tyler) slapped a five-year-old female child, with complex additional support needs, who was in your care at nursery, on her head. This was a physical assault, committed against a young child within an early year's setting, and in respect of which you were prosecuted.”
Panel criticises conduct and insight
The SSSC report continues: “The Panel is satisfied that your conduct was unkind, unlawful, abusive, caused unnecessary risk to the child in question and casts serious doubt upon your suitability to work in any social care setting.
“Your behaviour towards the child was a manifest departure from all that was expected of you in the role and from the standards expected of those providing care in an early year's setting.”
The report also reveals Tyler's version of events, in which she claimed: “My head was bent down, and 'A' (the girl) hit me on the back of the head, but she was in front of me if that makes sense. My reaction was that I slapped or tapped her against her left cheek with my right hand.”
Removal order imposed
Tyler also denied that her fitness to practise was “impaired.” However, the SSSC said they could not be satisfied that Tyler had demonstrated “sufficient insight” into the wrongfulness of her conduct and its consequences.
They did concede there was “some evidence” of contrition, on her part, evident from the report papers.
Their report continues: “The Panel acknowledges that you have no previous history of similar conduct. The Panel is prepared to conclude that this was an isolated incident. The Panel was concerned that, on the material before it, there was no apparent effort by you (Tyler) to remove yourself from the situation you were in, however stressful, before resorting to slapping a child.”
The report also reveals that Tyler is not currently working in the sector and has “no desire” to ever do so again.
Imposing a Removal Order, the SSSC said: “There is clearly a public expectation that infants and children will be protected from assaults when at nursery.
“The Panel is satisfied that, if it were to fail to act in your (Tyler's) case, the reputation of the profession and public confidence in the SSSC as a regulator would be undermined in public view. A Suspension Order would not be appropriate as your (Tyler's) conduct is, in the Panel's view, fundamentally incompatible with continuing Registration.”
Ayrshire Live approached North Ayrshire Council for comment, but a spokesperson would only say: “We do not comment on individuals.”
