A Scots nursery worker who forced two children into chairs and caused another to hit their chest off a table has been rapped by a watchdog. Melody Copland was also found to have roughly pulled a child’s leg while putting him to bed and yanked another’s ear when taking their temperature at Great Western Pre-School in Aberdeen.
The 23-year-old referred to one of the young children as a “pain in the butt” while handing a colleague a tub of pudding for the youngster. And she was found to have told colleagues that she was “fed up” with a child because “she is always crying”.
The Scottish Social Services Council states that Copland also said “I wish the parents would just pick them up and take them home” and “I can’t cope with him today; I don’t want anything to do with him today”.
The shocking pattern of behaviour took place between January and May 2021 while she was employed as a child services practitioner. Copland admitted pushing a chair forcefully which caused a child to hit their chest off a table - but claimed it was an accident.
She denied all the other allegations but the SSSC found enough evidence to prove them all and decided that she had placed the children at risk of harm. They said: “Your behaviour is serious and had the risk of causing harm to the children in an environment where they should have felt safe and secure.
“Your behaviour demonstrates a disregard for the safety and wellbeing of the children. Speaking inappropriately with a colleague is unprofessional behaviour and falls below the standard expected of social service workers.
“Your behaviour could indicate an underlying values issue, as your behaviour demonstrates your frustration and impatience towards the children in your care. Your behaviour indicates you did not care for the children in the compassionate way required by a social service role.
“You were entrusted to look after these children and by acting in the manner in which you did, you breached this trust by rough handling the children. Given the potential for physical and emotional harm to have come to the children, your behaviour is serious and would be considered as a failure to provide an acceptable level of care.
“There are a number of instances, which indicate a pattern of unacceptable behaviour. On a number of occasions, you have handled children roughly which indicates a pattern of behaviour.
“You have denied the allegations, with the exception (of one) which you explained was an accident. Therefore, you have not shown any insight, regret or remorse. You have been working for over five years and there is no history with the SSSC.
“However, in light of the lack of reflection or insight into your behaviour, and concerns over your attitude, indicates, without any protective steps in place, a high risk of repetition. Any repeat of the behaviour would place children at risk of physical and emotional harm.
“The public would be concerned by your behaviour as it presented a risk of harm to the children. A reasonable member of the public would be shocked and dismayed to learn of the behaviour and realise that nothing was done in order to safeguard against them being repeated.
“Overall, the public would, in all the circumstances, expect your fitness to practise to be currently impaired.”
A 12 month warning was placed on Copland’s registration and she was ordered to remain under supervision by her employer for nine months while also completing additional training.
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