A Kirkcaldy nursery has said it took immediate action when notified of a “hot headed” employee who has since been struck off.
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) deemed Paula McKinnon not fit to work in the day care of children after incidents involving four toddlers at the Little Einsteins nursery.
Ms McKinnon’s behaviour was described as “deliberate and reckless” by the SSSC, after a panel upheld allegations that she shouted at and grabbed young children.
Kirkcaldy nursery worker struck off for being ‘hot headed’ following incidents involving toddlers
A spokesperson for Little Einstein’s Kirkcaldy said: “As an employer we work in collaboration with the SSSC to support our staff to protect the rights, interests and welfare of the children who use the service.
“When the standards fell short of what we would have expected from our ex-employee and the incident came to our attention we took immediate action and followed our safeguarding procedures.
“We notified all relevant regulatory bodies and we have co-operated fully with these agencies through our processes.”
A panel found Ms McKinnon guilty of misconduct after a hearing which took place last month.
The majority of the panel found all but one of the allegations against the Fife nursery worker to have been proved.
While taking a two-year-old child to the toilet on or around August 17, 2017, Ms McKinnon grabbed the youngster by the arm.
She also shouted “sit down” or words to that effect at another child, a two year old boy, and grabbed him by both arms while putting on his shoes.
On a date prior to September 2016, Ms McKinnon put a child into a high chair “in a rough manner” and said words to the effect of “for goodness sake, this is ridiculous”.
And on a date prior to August 2017, she shouted at and grabbed a child by the arm.
The SSSC said: “The panel considered all the facts, circumstances and the evidence.
“They took into account your behaviour towards four very young children over four separate days and that this was not a ‘one-off’ incident.”