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Parents and former teachers have told the Ministry of Education that the owner and manager of a child care center in Feilding locked young children in rooms, fed them moldy food and beat them.
The Pitter Patter Education Center had its license suspended for three weeks in November, while the Ministry of Education (MoE) investigated complaints that spanned at least five years.
Since then, the center has reopened, although the investigation continues and the complaints have been relayed to the police.
Speaking to the Ministry of Education, former teachers claim that they and the children were harassed and abused by the manager, Pauline Murphy.
RNZ has seen some of those statements.
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One teacher said that it was common practice for children who misbehaved to be locked in the bedroom.
“During my first months there, someone came because a family had filed a complaint against her. [the manager],” The teacher said.
“It had to do with her using the bedroom as punishment for the children.”
Another teacher said that if someone took the children out of the room, Murphy would yell at them to take them back.
The staff said they were constantly bullied, looked down upon, called stupid, and made to feel like terrible teachers.
A former teacher said she saw Murphy physically hurt children when they were misbehaving.
“This particular kid was, you know, pretty distraught and ready to go home, they were probably close to the five o’clock mark, and he started throwing things and getting pretty agitated, “said the teacher.
“So he sat him on the couch outside the office area.
“She was holding him on the couch trying to entertain them or what not, he started kicking again, and he was screaming, and when I looked up, I saw her make a face, like grabbing his hand and pinching him very aggressively and then pulling her hair.
“And then he said ‘oh, why did you pull my hair?’ And she said, ‘I didn’t touch you, you’re lying.’
The teacher who witnessed the incident said that she pretended not to see it because she was so scared of what the manager would do to her and her career.
He regretted not speaking at the time, but said he was just one of many people who were afraid because in the past, whistleblowers had been threatened with legal action.
Murphy had also been accused of embarrassing parents, taking children’s lunches, and charging families money to feed moldy food to children or leave them hungry.
“Things like a parent would bring a child with food from home and in this particular incident, as soon as a parent walked out the door, walked up to this child, put his fingers in his mouth and took the food out of him. out of his mouth, took their food and tossed it in the trash and then pushed[ed] The child is going to go play, ”said the teacher.
“This child went away crying.”
Another mother paid for cooked meals like lasagna or macaroni and cheese, but said her children told her they only got one sandwich.
And when the center organized entertainment for the children, the manager charged them $ 5 per child to see it.
The father said that children whose parents did not pay or could not pay were excluded.
“I saw a boy who was only 2 years old come in to see what all the laughing and cheering was about, and they grabbed him very violently and almost threw him outside because his parents couldn’t afford to see him, or they forgot to pay “.
More than 10 people, parents and former teachers, have filed complaints with the Ministry of Education for the treatment they and their children experienced at the center under Murphy’s direction.
A mother of a boy who went to the center said that she felt very bad for not believing her son when he told her that he was being hurt.
“My son told his father one day that he had been beaten by the owner of the center, but at the time, we did not believe him,” he said.
“And just looking back now, I hate that I didn’t do anything about it at the time, we just ignored it and said, no you’re just being silly, she wouldn’t do that.
“But after hearing it from other parents who have told me about their experiences at the center, I believe 100 percent that my son now and I just feel bad for not having their support.”
The mother said the manager had recommended hitting her butt as a good way to put her to sleep when she was home.
The boy also had a bite that lasted more than two weeks, but the manager refused to do anything to find out what happened.
The complaints also claim that Murphy was soliciting funding for children who were out of school, who were not paying staff properly for their hours, and that there were too many children for the number of teachers.
The MoE confirmed to RNZ that the center was closed for three weeks.
“We suspended the license of the Pitter Patter Education Center on November 23 because we had received several serious complaints.
“While we are investigating, we have also referred these complaints to the police and the Teaching Council for investigation.
“We provided the service until January 11, 2021 to address the conditions that were placed on the suspension.”
It determined that the center had met the conditions and was allowed to reopen on Monday, December 14.
The MoE said it would visit the site in January to make sure the conditions are still met, but the investigation continues.
Police did not comment to RNZ, but the Board of Teaching said in a statement Wednesday night that it was in the early stages of considering information about the child care center and is still deciding its next steps.
I would not comment further.
The reopening of the center came as a shock to those who had complained.
“That was the most difficult,” said one.
“Everyone’s pretty upset. They feel pretty bummed. Because, you know, we finally got up and had a voice.
“We have also taken risks. I mean, that’s the most important thing.
“I still have people who know things that won’t stick out of fear of repercussions from this woman.”
RNZ contacted the facility manager, Pauline Murphy, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
