What Incidents of Children Escaping from ECE Reveal
NEWS/ANALYSIS – 8 October 2026
More than 50 incidents of children leaving early childhood education (ECE) services without adult knowledge were recorded in 2025, but the true extent of the problem may never be known.
Information released under the Official Information Act shows 53 incidents in which children either escaped from, or left, licensed ECE services without an authorised adult between 1 January and 31 December 2025. The data was obtained by the Office of Early Childhood Education (OECE) from the Education Review Office (ERO), which inherited responsibility for ECE regulation from the Ministry of Education on 1 September 2026.
While the figures provide a rare glimpse into a largely hidden area of ECE safety, they come with a significant caveat: services were not required to report these incidents to the Ministry during 2025.
As a result, the data likely captures only a portion of the incidents that occurred, with some cases coming to the Ministry’s attention only after concerns were raised by parents, schools, or members of the public.
ERO declined to comment on whether it could be confident the reported incidents represented all child escapes from licensed services, or whether under-reporting may have occurred.
From climbed fences to children returned by the public
The incidents range from relatively minor events to situations with potentially serious consequences. Among the recorded cases:
- Children climbed over fences to retrieve toys or shoes before returning to the service.
- Children followed parents out of gates.
- Children wandered alone or with peers onto roads, into carparks and neighbouring properties.
In only one case did a service call the police after staff discovered a child had left the premises. Members of the public returned children to services on multiple occasions.
Several incidents involved more than one child leaving at the same time. In one case, four children left the service unnoticed. In another case, two children moved tyres to help themselves climb over a fence. In another, children went under temporary fencing.
The descriptions also reveal recurring themes: unlatched gates, broken gates, climbable fences, and children slipping through gates (including double gates), front entrances, back doors, and windows, and staff unaware a child had left the premises.
Which services were involved?
Of the 53 incidents recorded:
- 31 occurred at education and care centres, including bilingual and puna reo centres.
- 19 occurred at free kindergartens.
- Two occurred within home-based networks.
- One occurred at a kōhanga reo.
Notably, no escapes or incidents were recorded at Playcentres and only one at a kōhanga reo.
Repeat incidents
Four services appear twice in the released data: Te Kōpae Reo o Tupoho, Discovery Junction Styx Mill Ltd, Parnell Kindergarten, and Westown Kindergarten. However, the entries for Te Kōpae Reo o Tupoho and Discovery Junction Styx Mill were recorded within days of each other and describe very similar circumstances, raising questions about whether they represent separate incidents or the same incident reported through different channels and recorded twice by the Ministry.
Parnell Kindergarten and Westown Kindergarten each recorded two incidents more than two or three months apart.
In all four cases, the Ministry concluded that the services had reviewed or strengthened their policies and practices, and took no action against them.
Regulatory action rare
Perhaps the most striking finding is how infrequently the Ministry took formal regulatory action. All but two incidents resulted in no licensing action. Only two services had their licences downgraded to provisional status.
In one instance, a child escaped from a centre twice without supervision. Despite finding three regulatory breaches and seven non-compliances, the Ministry permitted the service to remain open while it fixed the issues and built a higher fence. No enforcement action was taken for the initial failures that compromised child safety.
Questions beyond the incident itself
The data also raises wider questions about how regulators respond to safety concerns when they emerge.
One case attracting attention is Kindercare Woolston in Christchurch. The centre notified the Ministry that a child had left the premises without supervision on 27 November 2025. Just a week later, emergency services responded after children and adults suffered chemical burns when industrial sanitiser was mistakenly used instead of detergent on a makeshift waterslide. An OECE OIA request later revealed the waterslide had been set up on grass outside the licensed premises and that the area was regularly used for activities. The incidents are unrelated, but the sequence raises questions about whether earlier regulatory scrutiny might have identified broader safety risks.
Another case involved New Shoots Children’s Centre Papamoa, where a child left the premises on 13 February 2025 through a gate that was subsequently repaired and the service is recorded as having improved its practices after the incident. Historical Ministry records from 2018 show separate child escape incidents occurred on the same day at New Shoots centres in Papamoa and Tauranga, with internal commentary reportedly noting failures in supervision and management systems.
Is the answer prison-level security or relationships and belonging?
For some in the sector, the conversation should not focus solely on higher fences and more security to prevent escapes.
Office of Early Childhood Education Chief Advisor Dr Sarah Alexander argues attention needs to be placed on ensuring early childhood services are places that children want to be.
“We could switch this around and focus on reducing group sizes, improving ratios, and making sure ECEs are children’s second homes, places they want to be.”
“If children are busy and happy then they won’t look for ways to leave or seize an opportunity to get away by slipping through a door or gate,” she said.
In future, new reporting rules may reveal a clearer picture
From 20 April 2026, ECE services became subject to new mandatory notification requirements. Services must now inform authorities as soon as possible when:
- A child leaves (escapes) the premises without an adult’s knowledge, regardless of duration.
- A child is locked inside after operating hours.
- A child is taken by someone not authorised to do so.
- A child is left behind or goes missing during an excursion.
The rule change, if it is strongly and evenly enforced by ERO and the Director of Regulation, means future data could provide a more comprehensive picture of how often children leave services without an authorised person and unnoticed.
