An investigation has been launched and a childcare educator has been stood down after a grandfather mistakenly picked up and took home the wrong toddler from a Sydney daycare centre. The incident occurred at First Steps Learning Academy in Bangor on Monday afternoon.
The grandfather arrived to collect his grandchild but was reportedly given the wrong child, who was sleeping at the time. The mistake was only realised when the boy's mother arrived to collect him and found he was not there. The mother told the Sydney Morning Herald: 'I can't explain the feeling' of learning her one-year-old had been taken by a stranger.
The mother said she did not blame the grandfather, but held the daycare centre responsible. The grandfather's wife said her husband was 'devastated' and 'raced the child back so fast' upon realising the error, adding that the room was dark when he arrived.
New South Wales' Early Childhood Education and Care Regulatory Authority is conducting a 'thorough investigation' into the 'deeply concerning and serious incident'. An educator has been stood down, and NSW police have been notified, though police said they have no record of an investigation.
Trisha Hastie, the approved provider of First Steps Learning Academy, apologised for the distress, calling it an 'isolated' incident. She stated: 'While we have always maintained strict protocols for drop-off and pick-up, in this case, those processes were not followed correctly. The educator involved has been stood down.'
The incident occurs amid heightened scrutiny of Australia's early childhood sector, following recent allegations of abuse and neglect in other centres, leading to government reviews and legislative changes. No such allegations have been made against First Steps Learning Academy in Bangor.
