The Whangārei manager of an early childhood centre has had her teacher's registration cancelled by the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal amid a string of misconduct charges covering inappropriate use of force, inappropriate comments and force-feeding incidents.
The Tribunal this week released its decision on Sonya Kay Costello, having heard about 11 specific incidents between February 2015 and July 2018, as well as a representative allegation of unprofessional and inappropriate conduct between 2009 and 2017.
One incident saw Costello call a Māori child "thick", and saying that this was "what happens when your people are raped and pillaged".
There were incidents of trying to force feed, including one which saw her shove a spoonful of broccoli into a child's mouth.
"She states that Child B started crying and coughed up a mouthful of chewed food. Despite Child B being visibly and 'clearly' upset, (the complainant) states that the respondent told Child B to go to bed in a belittling way, and then proceeded to make disparaging comments about Child B and his parents in front of others."
She was also accused of roughly dropping a toddler, grabbing their arms and using her foot to push the child to sit down, and calling another crying child "pathetic".
The tribunal said Costello had been served with the proceedings but had not taken an active role.
"Despite the absence of the respondent, the Tribunal must still be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the alleged factual incidents occurred," the tribunal wrote.
It cancelled Costello's registration and censured her.
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