Two-year-old left asleep in 'stifling hot' room in locked Rotorua childcare centre

The child was left asleep on a cushion when the head teacher locked up and went home. Photo / File

A 2-year-old boy was left locked inside a "stifling hot" Rotorua childcare centre after all the teachers left for the day.

The boy's mother saw the child asleep on a cushion through the windows of the locked Ebabies Early Learning Centre at Glenholme Primary School when she arrived to collect him soon after the centre closed for the day at 3.30pm on March 21, 2017.

The Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal has censured the head teacher, Mary Jane Queenie Aiavao, who forgot the child when she locked up because she was distracted by a student from the school arriving to collect a stroller.

Centre manager Ann Brell said Aiavao resigned the next day.

The boy's mother found someone from the school to open the centre at 3.45pm and the tribunal said the child "slept through the incident and was not harmed".

But his mother, who was not named, "stated that [her son] was tired from sleeping and very hot".

"The room inside the centre was stifling hot like it had been closed up for a while," she said.

An agreed statement of facts says the boy had been asleep on the cushion since around 2.55pm.

"Between 3.15pm and 3.25pm the other teachers finished and left for the day after advising Ms Aiavao that they were leaving," the statement says.

"At around 3.30pm a student arrived at the door from the on-site primary school. This student asked about collecting a stroller for his grandmother.

Glenholme Primary School, where Ebabies is based, had to be cleaned up after floods in August 2017 (above). Photo / File

"Ms Aiavao exited by the front door of the centre and locked it on the way out. While the stroller was being retrieved from the back of the centre, the student's grandmother arrived and talked with Ms Aiavao for a few moments. Ms Aiavao then left the premises.

"Ms Aiavao did not check the rooms were empty of children before locking up and leaving the premises. [The boy] was still inside asleep in the centre's sleep area when Ms Aiavao left, which is located close to the front door of the centre.

"[The boy's] mother, Mrs B, arrived at the centre shortly after 3.30pm to collect [the boy]. The centre was locked.

"Mrs B knocked a couple of times and went around the outdoor area, then telephoned the centre's mobile number which went directly to voice mail. Mrs B phoned the office of the onsite primary school but got no answer."

She then rang one of the other teachers at the centre, who told her that the boy was asleep when she left work a few minutes earlier.

"Mrs B went back to the centre, looked in the window and saw [the boy] inside asleep," the statement says.

"Mrs B went to the onsite primary school for help. At around 3.45pm, Mrs B gained access to the centre with assistance from a staff member from the onsite primary school. [The boy] was found asleep on a cushion inside the centre."

Aiavao later wrote a letter to the boy's parents apologising for the incident and told the tribunal that she felt "disappointed and ashamed".

However she also blamed another teacher who had put the child to sleep and was later promoted to head teacher after Aiavao resigned.

The tribunal found that Aiavao was guilty of "neglect" and "serious misconduct".

"The child could have woken up and been distressed, and we are told that the room was stifling hot," it said.

"We have no doubt that this was a horrifying experience for all concerned, especially the parents of [the boy], but also accept that the respondent immediately reacted and did her best to hold herself accountable."

It censured Aiavao and imposed a condition on her teaching certificate that she must show the tribunal decision to any employer she works for in the next 18 months.

Brell said she accepted Aiavao's resignation but also offered her support. She has heard that Aiavao is now working for another childcare centre but no longer has a leadership role.

"I did put into my report about her not taking any more leadership roles but she is not a bad teacher," Brell said. "She's wonderful with the children and it was just something that happened."

She said Aiavao "just said she forgot about him".

"We are lucky we were based in the school grounds so the school also had keys to the building," she said.

She said the boy's mother, who is also a teacher, and her husband put in a written complaint but did not want Aiavao to be punished.

"They said they didn't want it to go any further," Brell said. "They just wanted us to get more support around her because she had just found out that she had diabetes or something."