Dunmore Nursery in Lochgelly is under investigation after a four-year-old boy, Carson Morhulec, was left behind at a wildlife park during a nursery trip. Clare Hodge, Carson’s mother, claims staff only returned for her son 40 minutes after being alerted by Scottish Deer Centre. Despite there being only nine children and three staff members on the outing, Carson was left behind. Fife Council said it was treating the matter “extremely seriously.”
Ms Hodge reports that the children had been told to go to the toilet before leaving the attraction in Cupar, and Carson was at the back of the line. When he emerged from the toilet, he found that the rest of the group had gone. At first he believed they were playing a prank on him, but he quickly realised that he had been left behind. He stood crying until a man found him and took him to the deer centre office. The centre then contacted the nursery to let them know that they had left without him.
Ms Hodge has described the incident as “astounding.” “The worst part of this whole experience for me,” she said, “has been the fact that there were only nine kids on this trip and three teachers—a ratio of three kids to one adult—and they still managed to lose one and be unaware.” She added that she was told there was a robust risk assessment in place where a minimum of two headcounts should have been done prior to leaving the trip, but this did not happen.
Last year, BBC Scotland News reported that there had been a concerning rise in reported incidents of children leaving Scotland’s early years centres unaccompanied. Data for 2022/2023 revealed that on average, two children a week went missing either from nursery or while on trips. Fife Council has confirmed that the Care Inspectorate has been notified about the incident. Shelagh McLean, the head of service, has said that an investigation is underway and that policies and procedures will be reviewed to evaluate where improvements can be made
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