Ministry of Education notified after mother finds her 4-year-old son on school visit wandering in Christchurch street

A Christchurch mother was horrified to find her 4-year-old son walking in the street when he was meant to be at a school visit. Photo / FILE

The Ministry of Education has been notified after a Christchurch boy who was meant to be on a school visit was found wandering in the street by his mother.

The boy was supposed to be attending a two-hour introductory session with teachers at Queenspark School before starting there in the first term of 2023.

Stuff reported that Diana Ford took her child to school at 8.30am for visit and left at about 9.15am, feeling confident he was in good hands.

However, when Ford went back to pick him up there was trouble.

As she approached the school she noticed a young child wandering along the footpath.

She told Stuff that as she got closer she realised it was her own son.

She stopped the car, got out and walked him back to the school - about 200m away.

“I saw this wee, little kid and I thought, ‘that’s weird’, and then I realised it was my son. It was devastating,” she told Stuff.

“I don’t know how long he was out there for. If they didn’t notice he was missing, he could have been out there the whole time I was gone.

“He looked a little bit scared, but he knew he’d done something a bit naughty.”

Ford went and alerted the staff and said the boy’s teacher “had no idea he was missing from the school”.

Later in the day, Ford emailed the principal to raise her concerns and inquire about what would be done to “eliminate the risk” of other children being able to leave the school grounds in future.

Ford said she was not satisfied with the school’s response, that they were “blasé” and “unapologetic”.

“I’m quite sure it was their responsibility to look after him while he was there, but the way they make me feel is like it was my fault,” she told Stuff.

Queenspark School board of trustees chairman Dean Taylor confirmed he had received a complaint about the incident and it would be discussed next year.

“The Queenspark Board of Trustees will be discussing ‘in committee’ the complaint from [Ford] at its first full meeting on Monday 13th February 2023,” he said.

“I have received a written response to the complaint from the team leader of the Junior School on this matter and this will be presented to the board as well.

“The board will decide at this point if the complaint requires an investigation or not. The team leader has also lodged an incident report to the Ministry of Education detailing the incident to them.

“Our board and staff takes its responsibilities for the health safety and wellbeing of everyone who comes onto our campus seriously.”

Taylor said school management and staff have changed operational procedures for visiting kindergarten children to “avoid any chance of this happening again in the future”.

“I am satisfied that the swift response from management and staff in this area, meets the Ministry of Education Policy requirement in this area.”

Taylor said he “tried to facilitate a meeting” between the principal and (Ford)

“To have an open discussion to see if we could hear more about the incident and learn from this event, but my offer was declined,” he told the Herald.

“In the event of the board opting to investigate the incident, there would be a request made from the board’s investigating team for all witnesses, staff and the complainant to be available for an interview.

“As you can appreciate, our school has finished for the year and staff do not come back until late January and any investigation will not commence until after 13th February 2023.”

Taylor said the board would not make any further comment.

The Herald has contacted the ministry for comment.

Ford told Stuff that she had decided to send her son to a different school so the meeting was not necessary.