Nursery worker given warning after calling child a 'paedo'

A nursery worker has been warned over her conduct after she called a child "a paedo" and made several other insults to youngsters in her care.

Audrey Wilson also failed to give the child medication they needed and did not tell other staff that it still needed to be administered. She called another child at the nursery in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, a "gingernut".

The early years practitioner was found to speak to several children in a "derogatory and unkind manner", which the Scottish Social Services Council said would cause them "emotional distress".

Wilson has been given a warning by the regulator that will last for two years, while several conditions regarding training and learning have also been imposed.

The incidents all occurred between April and July 2025. The allegations of misconduct were the first in Wilson's eight-year career.

In one case, she referred to a child as a "paedo" for waiting outside a toilet for his friend, while she mocked the same child on another occasion when a colleague had asked who wanted to go for a walk.

Wilson pointed to the child and said "not gingernut anyway", along with an obscenity.

She pointed her finger at another child, who has additional support needs, and repeatedly shouted at him, calling him naughty and threatening to phone the child's father.

A third child was told by Wilson to go away when they tried to join in with an activity, and the regulator found other examples where Wilson had acted aggressively or used aggressive language.

The regulator found Wilson had not followed practices and procedures designed to keep children safe, including failing to check on a child after he had been bitten by another child.

She also failed to give the child medication in line with his medicine form, and did not tell staff that the medication still required to be administered.

The report noted this caused the child physical harm as he complained of a sore ear due to the missed medication.

It stated: "You have failed to practise with kindness and compassion with young children in your care on a number of occasions. This is concerning as it was not isolated but a pattern of misconduct.

"If repeated the behaviour would place young children at risk of harm."

The warning marking the misconduct as unacceptable has been placed on Wilson's registration for a period of two years , while retraining, supervision and reflection are intended to help her "address the failings in your practise".

The conditions include having formal supervision with her line manager every four weeks, while training will focus on having respectful communication with children and responding appropriately to stressed and distressed behaviour.