After her six-year-old daughter left her school without anybody noticing, an enraged mother has demanded explanations.
On Tuesday morning, the Year Two student from Burrowes Public School wandered around the bustling streets of Logan, which is south of Brisbane, for about an hour.
The terrified youngster was alone and sobbing at a bus stop on Browns Plains Road, more than a kilometre away, when a daycare worker finally saw her after crossing multiple major roads.
After the youngster was brought to the Edge Learning Center, which is close by, staff members got in touch with her mother.
The mother told Seven News, “I was at home doing my university work when I got a call from Edge Learning Centre in Marsden telling me that they had my daughter. How long has she been missing?” Why wasn’t I informed?
It is known that the girl was listed on the school roster at 8:30 a.m., used the lavatory and then left through the normally locked school gates, which were open at the time.
Before they were informed that the girl had been located 1.5 kilometres away, teachers discovered she was missing and started looking for her.
After her six-year-old daughter left her school without anybody noticing, an irate mother wanted explanations.
On Tuesday morning, a Year Two pupil from Burrowes Public School wandered the bustling streets of Logan, which is south of Brisbane, for over an hour.
The fact that her mother was not informed when her daughter vanished has left her speechless.
“I asked the principal why he didn’t contact me or contact the police and he had said he was in a meeting,” she said. “He told me that I was overreacting.” When she returned to the school to drop off her missing child, the staff was unable to explain how the girl was able to leave the school unsupervised, why she wasn’t contacted immediately, and why the matter wasn’t escalated to include police.
How long would it have taken someone to say, “We don’t know where your baby’s at?” if she had been struck by a car?
Although the mother has chastised her daughter for her behaviour, the school has not yet given her any guarantee that it won’t happen to another student.
On the day of the occurrence, the woman informed parents via a post on a neighbourhood Facebook group. “This response was extremely concerning given the seriousness of the situation,” she said.
When a child leaves unattended and parents aren’t informed, how should schools be held responsible?
“As a parent, this is deeply distressing,” the mother said, adding that she was not informed by the school of her daughter’s abduction. We are all aware of the grave dangers associated with a child going missing, even for a brief period of time, and the significance of taking prompt action.
The mother advised parents to talk to their children about staying on school property, enquire about the school’s safety protocols and monitoring, hold them responsible, and make sure emergency contact information is current.
Burrowes State School holds the safety of its students as its highest priority’, a spokeswoman told Daily Mail. “Staff members were searching for the student when they were advised the student had been located outside a local creche.” According to the Queensland Department of Education, the school has opened an investigation.
“The family has been contacted by the school leadership team, and they are reviewing safety arrangements.”
