AN IRVINE nursery worker has had a warning placed on her registration after she grabbed a child's face while at work.

Violet Paterson was sanctioned following two incidents which date back to 2019.

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) found that Paterson held one child by the arm and shouted in their face in response to them hitting her in the arm.

She also grabbed another child's wrist, pulling them in close to her, grabbed their face and shouted "you have to listen", or words to that effect.

Both incidents occurred while Paterson was employed as an early years practitioner by North Ayrshire Council at St Mark's Primary School nursery class in Irvine.

The SSSC came to the decision that a warning should be placed on her registration for two years.

This came into effect on July 7, 2022.

The care watchdog found that Paterson's fitness to practice was impaired because of her conduct.

The SSSC considered a number of factors when deciding upon an appropriate sanction.

They noted that Paterson, who has worked in the sector since 2000, has had no previous concerns raised about her practice, nor have any come to light since 2019.

Though they added that someone with nearly 20 years experience at the time, should have been aware of how inappropriate her behaviour was.

A reported which detailed the incidents in 2019, and the decision made, stated: "You held a child by the arm and shouted at them in response to them hitting your arm rather than dealing with the situation in a calm manner.

"Your actions placed the child at risk of emotional harm.

"You also grabbed the wrist and face of another child and shouted at them. Your actions placed that child at risk of emotional and physical harm.

"Because of your behaviour these children may be reluctant to interact with staff positively in the future.

"Social service workers are often faced with challenging behaviour from children within a nursery setting and scenarios such as the ones you were faced with will likely occur regularly.

"Your actions demonstrate a loss of self-control when faced with challenging behaviour. If the behaviour were to be repeated, other children for whom you are entrusted to care for could be placed at risk of emotional and potentially physical harm.

"The behaviour displayed is serious and falls short of the standards expected of social service workers."

Despite this being the first incidents of this nature throughout her career, the report also stated that these taking place on two separate dates was "indicative of a pattern of behaviour".