3-year-old walks himself home on first day of OSHC, is found by good samaritan

Freya Lucas

Feb 20, 2023

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A three-year-old boy attending his first day of outside school hours care (OSHC) in the Western Australian suburb of Baldivis was found walking the streets in a bid to get home recently, with police managing to return the child to his mother using a name and phone number written in his uniform.

In the WA school system, children begin kindergarten in the year they turn four (provided this is before 30 June), with many kindergartens located on school grounds. As a result, it is not uncommon for three-year-old children to be enrolled in OSHC programs.

The boy left the service without the educators being aware, and had walked nearly a kilometre, stopping at a local supermarket where he was noticed by a good samaritan in the community who asked him if he needed help.

The pair then walked through the neighborhood trying to locate the young boy's home, before stopping and sitting in a park to wait for police.

The 43-year-old man called police and kept the boy company while they both walked in the direction of the boy's home. In the meantime the boy’s mother had called the service to check and see if he had settled into care, allegedly to be told “you’ve already picked him up?”

Once police arrived they were able to phone the mother immediately because the boy had his full name and phone number written inside his uniform.

The approved provider at the centre of the incident provided a statement to local media in which it said it “had failed” and “is truly sorry,” vowing to investigate the incident, to increase onsite staff, and to upgrade security measures at the site.

Access the original coverage of this story here.

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