Scottish nursery slammed by mum after four-year-old ‘abandoned’ at wildlife park

A mum has slammed her son’s nursery, after he was “abandoned” on a trip.

Clare Hodge said her four-year-old was at the Scottish Deer Centre with workers from Dunmore Nursery. She said her son, who she asked the Daily Record not to name, was “abandoned” for 40 minutes.

He was found alone and crying by an employee at the wildlife park, after the bus that was taking the group home had left while he was at the toilet. It’s claimed that nursery staff failed to notice he was missing until the park alerted them.

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Clare, 29, has now accused the facility of exposing her child to a catalogue of risks in the incident.

She said: “The whole situation has left me absolutely gobsmacked. When we arrived to pick the children up from the nursery, we were told that there was a delay because a child had been unaccounted for.

“In my head, I just thought they meant that there had been a miscount and that they had to do it a couple of times to make sure all the kids were there. Never did I imagine this would be the case.

“You do not expect to send your child to nursery and for something like this to happen. I put him into that nursery with full trust in the staff – not a stranger in a deer park.”

It’s understood that there were, in total, three members of nursery staff and nine children during the outing. Clare claims that employees failed to carry out headcounts of the kids.

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Instead, she says she has learned that staff only asked if everyone was there when they boarded the bus home.

She continued: “There was a ratio of three kids to one adult, yet they still managed to lose one. What’s even more astounding is that I was told there was a robust risk assessment in place where a minimum of two headcounts should have been done prior to leaving.

“This obviously didn’t happen and I have since learned that they only asked the wee ones on the bus if everyone was there. They shouted ‘yes’, so they just left.

“All weekend I have thought about the ‘what ifs’. They have been playing in a constant loop in my mind. Just outside that park is a 60mph country road – what if my son had tried to find them?

“There are community service groups that are run in that facility and I just think about other risks associated with that – have these people been convicted of crimes against children? I am grateful he is safe but it is completely unacceptable to leave a child behind, especially when you consider the ratio of staff to children.”

Meanwhile, Clare says her child has been left badly shaken by his ordeal. She said: “We have tried to reassure him that it’s a mistake and it won’t happen again but you can see he has been left upset.

“In his head, he thinks they abandoned him. He told me that when he got out of the loo, he thought they were all playing a joke on him.

“Even when he got home on Friday and went to the toilet, he kept asking us if we would wait for him. It’s not just the thought about what could have happened to my child, it’s also the fact that they broke his trust.

“He said he felt panicked and scared – his confidence has been massively knocked. We could be sitting here telling a very different story when you consider the risks he was exposed to and that is what makes me even more furious.

“You put your kids in nursery in good faith that they will be looked after but that has not been the case for my son.”

Shelagh McLean, Head of Service at Fife Council, said: “First of all I’d like to apologise wholeheartedly to the child and their family for what happened on Friday. We are treating this incident extremely seriously and an investigation is underway into how this happened.

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“As soon as the child was noted as missing immediate action was taken. The school was in contact with the child’s parents and the Care Inspectorate was notified immediately.

“We do have robust guidance and procedures in place for schools and nurseries regarding school trips. As part of this investigation, we will review these policies and procedures to see where any improvements can be made.

“As there are individuals involved who will be easily identifiable in the local community, even if not directly named, until the full details are clear and official proceedings are finalised, which would include any action taken by Care Inspectorate, we are not in a position to comment further on any specific action that will be taken.”

A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: “The Care Inspectorate has been notified of an incident involving a child attending this nursery. We will continue to liaise with the service provider to ensure the safety of children is paramount and take any further appropriate action as required.

“The safety of every child who experiences care is always our first priority. Anyone with a concern about a care service can contact us on 0345 600 9527.”