Moldy food allegations at Pitter Patter Education Center: health officials investigate

By Charlotte Cook of RNZ

Health officials have been asked to investigate the Pitter Patter Education Center, where former teachers complained that young children were being fed moldy food.

The Ministry of Education launched an investigation into the Feilding child care center after both former staff and parents said the owner was also beating children and locking them in rooms.

The center had its license suspended for three weeks in November, but was allowed to reopen after owner Pauline Murphy agreed to stay away.

The ministry wrote to parents at the center Friday morning updating them on the ongoing investigation.

He said that after an inspection in January, the ministry found that the center was violating various regulations and licensing criteria.

Pitter Patter was allowed to remain open, but the ministry had reduced it to a provisional license, with more conditions.

The letter did not tell parents what the conditions were, but encouraged them to read them at the center.

In some of the complaints about the director of the center, the former teachers were concerned about how rude she was with the children.

One teacher said she pushed or pinched them as she passed and grabbed their wrists and pulled them so hard that staff feared they would dislocate.

Because some of the complaints were related to food and safety, the ministry had requested the help of health officials.

“Since several of the allegations that have been made in the complaints relate to the health and safety of children and the condition of the food provided, a health report was requested from a public health protection officer to support our investigations and determine if the service meets facility and facility related criteria for health and safety standards. “

He had also requested a report from the Manawatū District Council to determine if Pitter Patter’s process for providing food to children complies with Level 2 of the National Food Law Program 2014 and the Food Regulation 2015.

The ministry said it would offer Pitter Patter staff professional development to “strengthen their practices and the delivery of education and care.”

The ministry said it would continue to work with the Teaching Council, which was conducting its own investigation, which would likely take some time.

Complaint process

Teachers have criticized the ministry for its complaint processes.

A teacher who wanted to raise the alarm about what she saw at Pitter Patter said teachers would try to complain to the Ministry of Education, but they faced a system that required that the initial complaint be dealt with first through internal procedure.

In this case, the process consisted of making a complaint to the owner and manager of the facility, the same woman they wanted to raise concerns about.

“Many teachers wanted to say something, but since the complaint procedure was, in the first instance, to go to the manager of the center, they could not go to Pauline because she simply swept the complaints under the rug and then they intimidated you and your work threatened to do so .

“If you call the Ministry of Education with a complaint, they tell you that you must follow the center’s complaint procedure.

“At Pitter Patter Education Center, the complaint procedure consisted in the first instance of addressing the director of the center.

“If he did, then he was reprimanded and nothing happened with his complaint. The Ministry of Education was not interested in his complaint if he had not followed this.”

Others said they were threatened with losing their jobs or the Teaching Council for speaking up.

However, the ministry said it could often and would investigate regardless of whether the complainant had followed internal processes.

Professors from other centers have also expressed concern about the lack of transparency and the minimal investigation carried out when the ministry acts.