KEY POINTS:
Mystery surrounds how a Rotorua 3-year-old was able to walk alone from a kindergarten which is surrounded by a 1.2m fence and secured by a gate that automatically shuts and locks.
Maia Bidois, on her first enrolled day at Selwyn Kindergarten, apparently walked out and wandered to her grandmother's house - nearly 1km away, says her family.
But before leaving she did not forget to take her coat and bag from the cloakroom.
Nobody on Monday noticed, including three registered teachers and two students who were in charge of about 35 youngsters at the time.
Alone, Maia walked between a number of parked cars, through a park, down an alleyway and across a road to get to her grandmother's home.
According to her father, Wakaroa (Nigel) Bidois, the road she crossed is often busy and is frequented by boy-racers. He said that when Maia arrived at the house her grandmother and mother were in town running errands. "By a fluke" her auntie was outside the front of the property when Maia arrived. "Who knows what would have happened if nobody was home."
His daughter had walked up the driveway in tears, he said.
Mr Bidois and his partner Adele Gotty, the girl's mother, said they were angry at the kindergarten when they found out what had happened.
They said their only contact with the kindergarten over the past week had been a letter sent by the Central North Island Kindergarten Association, received on Tuesday.
In the letter regional manager Jan Ballantyne apologised and invited them to a meeting, which will take place today.
Although Mr Bidois said his daughter wanted to go back to kindy it was too soon after the event to decide.
"We are sceptical about kindies and Maia is still a bit clingy," Mr Bidois said. "It's hard to tell her she can't go back. We may consider going back there but not until we have seen some positive changes.
"Maia hasn't told us exactly what happened but she told my partner she just walked right out the front gate."
Ms Gotty said the kindergarten had told her that Maia was last seen painting pictures. When phoned about the incident, staff carried out a check of the kindergarten grounds, acknowledging the toddler had gone unnoticed for 10 minutes.
"I said to them that 10 minutes was still too long."
Of most concern to Ms Gotty was the kindergarten gate, which she believed could get stuck or propped back when pushed wide open.
Mrs Ballantyne said at this stage nothing could be gained from speculation about how the child got out. She said the gate at the kindergarten had been personally tested by her this week and was safe.
The fence was 1.2m in height and the gate was a standard pool gate that had an automatic shutting device.
Children had been seen climbing the fence, and there was no way of guaranteeing that the gate was always closed.
She questioned the accuracy of the distance of 1km, but Mr Bidois said he believed it was about right and estimated his daughter would have taken at least half an hour to walk the route.
Mr Bidois said he did not want any other parents going through what he had endured in the last week. He was sleeping badly and was now on paid stress leave from his job as a truck driver.
- additional reporting NZPA
