ECEC services work together to ensure the safety of a child who scaled a fence

Educators from two separate early childhood services have worked collaboratively to ensure the safety and wellbeing of a young boy who absconded from an early learning environment and walked to a nearby park. 

The child initially went missing from the service in which he was enrolled, scaling a perimeter fence and walking onto the main road nearby, before coming to rest in a park where he was found by two educators from a second service, in which he was not enrolled. 

In a letter to parents in relation to the incident, the Director of the service from which the child escaped informed parents that immediate action was taken to locate the missing child, with the Director and another educator leaving the premises to look for him, during which time the educators from the second service called to say he had been located. 

The child was returned to the service without further incident, and the service is working with the Queensland regulatory authority to further investigate the circumstances.

Temporary fencing has been placed around the service as an additional precaution, the letter to parents noted, with the Director saying that while the perimeter fence and security are compliant with regulations, “we have engaged our facilities team to install temporary fencing to minimise the immediate risk of this recurring while a permanent change is made.”