A nursery assistant who called a six-year-old a “minker” and said she would put their family’s cat in the river has been handed a warning by a national watchdog.
Kelly Cameron was employed as a nursery assistant at Great Western Pre-Schools and After School Club in Aberdeen at the time of the incidents.
The derogatory statements were made between August 20, and August 26, 2013 and during the course of her employment.
The Scottish Social Services Council also revealed Ms Cameron said she would remove the youngster’s fish from its tank “and dangle it by its tail” during the same period.
On or around August 26, 2013 Ms Cameron also called a nine-year-old “ugly” and told a group of service users to “shut up”.
Her position was that the comments were made in jest.
However, the council ruled that Ms Cameron had failed to communicate in an appropriate manner, failed to meet relevant standards of practice and had committed misconduct.
According to the outcome report: “When questioned during the hearing, you accepted in clear terms that the expressions you admitted using had been inappropriate”.
The SSSC said there had been “no apparent harm to service users” and Ms Cameron had “matured professionally since the incidents” as well as expressing a commitment to the vocation of a social worker.
The watchdog ruled: “The misconduct found was not at the high end of the spectrum.
“[But it] constituted a departure from the relevant professional standards set out in the code.
“It was unacceptable to refer to children in your care, aged between six and 11 years of age, in such terms. It is not conduct the sub-committee would ever wish to see repeated again.”
The council also discovered that, from around November 2015 to January 2016, whilst employed as a nursery assistant by Bright Horizons Family Solutions, she failed to notify her employer she was the subject of an investigation or inform the Scottish Social Services Council of a change in employment.
The council did not prove Ms Cameron had acted dishonestly and adjudged she had not set out to deceive.