A mum has slammed Fife Council after her son was left behind during a nursery trip.
Clare Hodge’s four-year-old son Carson was left in tears when his group from Dunmore Nursery in Lochgelly left the Scottish Deer Centre without him on Friday.
The traumatised youngster was found by a visitor to the centre and looked after by staff for about 40 minutes until workers at the nursery returned.
Fife Council, which runs the nursery, has now apologised “wholeheartedly” and has launched an investigation.
Clare said: “All the children were asked to go to the toilet before getting on the bus to come home.
“Carson was the last one to use the toilet and when he came out he couldn’t find anyone and thought they were hiding from him.
Fife boy ‘stood crying’ after behind left behind on deer centre nursery trip
“The reason he couldn’t find them was because they had left him.
“Carson said he stood crying when a man then found him and asked if he was OK, and then took him to the deer centre office.
“The deer centre then contacted the nursery to let them know that they had left without him.
“Carson was left for 40 minutes without a member of staff from the nursery.”
Clare said the group was small, so it should have been straightforward for nursery staff to keep tabs on all the children.
She continued: “Even more astounding was when I was told that there was a robust risk assessment in place where a minimum of two headcounts should have been done prior to leaving the trip.
“This didn’t happen. Instead, they asked the wee ones on the bus if everyone was here and they shouted yes so they left. They didn’t bother to count them.
“Fife Council already made this mistake in 2015 with a boy from a nursery in Dunfermline.
“Clearly, mistakes are not being learned.”
Clare claims she was “asked on several occasions” not to share the story on social media but had grown angrier about the incident.
Hundreds of people have hit out at the “shocking” incident in response to Clare’s post, which she shared with The Courier.
Fife Council in ‘wholehearted’ apology after boy left behind by nursery group
Shelagh McLean, Fife Council’s head of service, said: “First of all I’d like to apologise wholeheartedly to the child and their family for what happened on Friday.
“We are treating this incident extremely seriously and an investigation is underway into how this happened.
“As soon as the child was noted as missing immediate action was taken.
“The school was in contact with the child’s parents and the Care Inspectorate was notified immediately.
“We do have robust guidance and procedures in place for schools and nurseries regarding school trips.
“As part of this investigation, we will review these policies and procedures to see where any improvements can be made.
“As there are individuals involved who will be easily identifiable in the local community, even if not directly named, until the full details are clear and official proceedings are finalised – which would include any action taken by Care Inspectorate – we are not in a position to comment further on any specific action that will be taken.”
Care Inspectorate told about deer centre incident
A spokesperson for the Care Inspectorate said: “We have been notified of an incident involving a child attending this nursery.
“We will continue to liaise with the service provider to ensure the safety of children is paramount and take any further appropriate action as required.
“The safety of every child who experiences care is always our first priority.
“Anyone with a concern about a care service can contact us on 0345 600 9527.”
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