Department investigates after three children abscond from Bathurst ECEC facility 

The New South Wales Department of Education, which serves as the Regulatory Authority for the state, is investigating after three children were found on a road after a gate blew open. 

When speaking about the incident the Central West NSW provider described the situation as “a freak incident” where the latches on the gate in the outdoor environment came loose and blew open in the wind. 

The Centre Manager reported the incident to the Department as a serious incident, confirming that it will conduct an internal investigation to “rectify any negligence that has transpired within our staffing”.

One witness to the incident described seeing three young girls approximately two years of age playing out the front of the service, jumping out of his car to help the children as they moved into a driveway, taking the children back to the centre where he said “the lady that came out didn’t seem shocked, surprised, or thankful”.

In a message to parents about the incident the service expressed thanks to the man for his assistance saying “this is something I will not handle lightly and I hope that you can continue to trust us with the care of your children.” 

Acknowledging that the children were outside the service for less than two minutes, the Centre Manager said that nonetheless, the risk to their safety is unacceptable.

A member of staff has resigned over the incident, and the centre has blamed a faulty lock on the gate which has been replaced as well as a second failsafe lock “to ensure this incident cannot be repeated”.

To read local coverage of this story please see here.