A Hamilton mother is furious after her 18-month-old son came home from kindergarten with a large bruise on his head.
Jaz Smith went to collect her children from BestStart Clarence Street on Tuesday when she discovered a purple bruise on her son's forehead.
Smith told Newshub she was shocked to discover the injury and asked the teachers how it happened.
"Both could only say, 'I don't know', 'We never noticed it'."
Smith said instead of offering an ice pack or to fill out an incident form, the teachers just "stood there". One of the teachers offered to put Arnica cream on the bruise, but Smith said no.
"I was so angry and pissed off I said, 'No, I will sort it at home'."
Smith said the teachers should have known about the bruise because her son would have "cried and screamed" when it happened.
BestStart's deputy CEO Fiona Hughes said their area manager was informed about the incident and had been at the centre talking to the staff.
"At this stage (we still have one staff member to interview) but no teachers saw the child upset or appearing to be hurt," Hughes said.
"The staff were meeting the required ratios throughout the day and no one saw the bump on the head until he was picked up from his sleep."
Hughes said the policy on supervision will be reviewed by the team and they are investigating the incident.
"This is a very capable team who are upset to think a child has possibly been hurt at the centre."
"We hope the child is feeling better. We take the care of all our children very seriously."
Smith filed a complaint with the centre and the Ministry of Education on Tuesday.
Deputy secretary of enablement and support Katrina Casey confirmed that the Ministry received the complaint.
"We are following up with a visit to the service and will do an assessment of whether or not the service is meeting its health and safety licensing requirements," Casey said.
Smith said it was not the first concern she has had about her son's treatment at the centre.
Her kids have now been moved to Little Waikato Scholars Educare.
