Roeselare (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The childcare ‘t Fopspeentje’ in Heirweg, Roeselare, is temporarily closed by Opgroeien from March 4, 2025, due to child safety concerns. 25 children need new care. Spokesperson Nele Wouters confirmed the 3-month suspension.
A childcare in Roeselare has been closed. The Agency for Growing Up decided because they were worried about the safety of the children. They received information from the police, but they haven’t said exactly what happened because of privacy laws.
According to the agency, the childcare will be closed for 3 months, but it could reopen sooner if things change. The childcare, the town, and the parents of the children were all told about the closure on Monday, March 3, 2025, so they could find other childcare.
The suspension will take effect from Tuesday 4 March. We informed the daycare itself, the local government and the parents with a child in daycare on Monday,
says Nele Wouters, spokesperson for Growing Up.
Will childcare ‘t Fopspeentje’ in Heirweg reopen after closure?
According to Nele Wouters, this isn’t the first time a daycare in Belgium has been closed because of safety concerns. The agency that oversees childcare has closed other daycares in the past when they found out that children weren’t safe.
She mentioned that they are taking this very seriously and want to make sure that all children are safe in childcare. The childcare in Heirweg will be investigated, and the agency will decide if it can reopen after 3 months.
The information that the Growing Up Agency received from the public prosecutor’s office makes us seriously concerned about the safety of the children on the one hand and the resilience of the childcare workers involved on the other,
says Nele Wouters.
According to the officials, the childcare in Heirweg, Roeselare closed suddenly, and now the parents of 25 babies and toddlers need to find a new daycare. The agency that oversees childcare understands that this is hard for families, so they are helping parents find new daycares.
They say that even though it’s hard, they had to close the daycare because the children’s safety is the most important thing. They want to make sure that all children are safe in daycare, even if it means parents have to make big changes.
According to the agency, this childcare was closed in 2022 because of a complaint, but the details weren’t shared with the public. At that time, parents supported the owner ‘t Fopspeentje and the childcare reopened quickly. However, the agency that oversees childcare made the childcare follow a program to improve its standards.
They mentioned that people are wondering if the program worked and if the childcare can meet the safety standards to stay open. The agency is investigating to decide if the childcare can reopen or if it needs to stay closed.
