A Dundee nursery worker has been disciplined after calling a three-year-old “a stupid little girl” and later pushing her to the floor.
Elizabeth Booth, who was working as an early-years practitioner at Daisie’s Kindergarten on Brown Street, will have a warning imposed on her registration for 12 months following a probe into the incident by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).
It was claimed that on or around December 11 2013 she said to a three-year-old girl, known as AA in the report, that: “‘You are a stupid little girl’, or words to that effect.”
Another charge said that between April 22 and 24, Booth took hold of the girl by the arm and pushed her to the ground.
The SSSC’s conduct subcommittee said Booth’s comments to the girl were likely to cause her emotional harm”.
It also said that while the girl suffered no physical or psychological harm following the April incident it “placed AA at risk of physical or emotional harm.”
The sub-committee decided Booth was guilty of misconduct.
Its ruling stated: “The registrant used inappropriate language to a three-year-old child who was in her care.
“The sub-committee was satisfied that the registrant referred directly to the child as a ‘stupid little girl’, which was abusive and demeaning.
“While it did not appear that the service user was upset by the language used by the registrant, the sub-committee was satisfied that the child may have become upset.”
It added: “By speaking to the child in an abusive and demeaning manner and handling the child roughly, the registrant failed to recognise the power that came from her work as a nursery worker with responsibility for the care of young children.”
In Booth’s favour, the committee said she had demonstrated regret and was an experienced child care worker of good character.
It also found her employers did not have a manual handling policy in place and had not provided training in relation to the handling of service users.
Booth, who stopped working for Daisie’s Kindergarten in April last year, had a warning imposed on her registration for 12 months.
She may appeal the decision.