A Canberra childcare centre has been suddenly closed and a staff member has been terminated over a serious incident involving a child’s medical episode.
Families at Edge Early Learning in Higgins received an email on Thursday advising the ACT childcare regulator, the Children’s Education and Care Assurance (CECA), had issued a notice requiring the centre to shut immediately.
“The immediate suspension relates to an incident that occurred at Higgins on 26 June, involving a child who experienced an unexpected medical episode,” Edge Early Learning CEO Chris Chambers said in the email.
“While we are pleased that the child is ok, I want to be very clear that the educators’ response to the incident was completely unacceptable.“
Mr Chambers said once the senior team became aware of the incident, the educators were suspended, pending a full investigation.
One of those involved has now been terminated.
“The investigation into the other educators is expected to be completed next week,” Mr Chambers said.
One Edge Early Learning staff member was sacked and others are under investigation. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
The ABC has not been able to verify the details of the medical episode that triggered the closure and has contacted Edge Early Learning and CECA for comment.
The suspension notice requires the centre to be closed until August 13.
But last week, families were told Edge Early Learning Higgins would be closing “for the next few months”, with operations to be consolidated into its other two Canberra centres.
Edge Early Learning runs other centres in Canberra at Charnwood and Ngunnawal, and has a documented history of compliance and child safety issues.
The Edge Early Learning Centre in Higgins, ACT. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
ACT Early Childhood Minister Yvette Berry said she was not aware of the details of the case but described it as a “serious medical incident”.
“The Children’s Education and Care Assurance regulator has been investigating a range of issues that have arisen as a result of that incident, and they’ve used their powers to suspend Edge Early Learning [Higgins] from operating with immediate effect,” Ms Berry said.
“I think parents and families will be feeling a range of emotions and I understand that.
“On this occasion, they will feel let down and will have some serious concerns about the safety of their children, I understand, going forward. But we’ll support them where we can.”
CEO apologises to families
Mr Chambers said the temporary closure followed a review of the centre’s operating arrangements.
“We are disappointed that CECA has now required the centre to close immediately, as this means some families may not have access to care for a period of time,” Mr Chambers said.
“We know this is not the transition families were expecting. We are sorry.“
Edge Early Learning Centre in Higgins has closed suddenly. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
‘Quite jarring for parents’
Hannah, who requested her last name be withheld, said it was a “bit of a shock” to find out her son’s centre would be shut effective immediately.
“The original planned closure talked about a few issues that they were having that were operational and staffing, and the centre has not been meeting its sort of national quality standards for quite some time,” she said.
“Then last night, it came through with a completely different reason for the closure, and I think that’s what’s quite jarring for parents.
“Operational and staffing is very different to an immediate closure due to an incident involving a child,”
the mother said.
Hannah said she had already made alternative care arrangements for her son ahead of the planned closure and has chosen not to enrol him at another Edge Early Learning site.
“I sort of had a gut feeling a couple of months ago that things weren’t quite right and I did tour some centres then,” she said.
