Fitzroy Community School under investigation following abuse allegations
Former students and parents have reacted with shock over the multi-agency investigation into allegations of physical and emotional abuse at Fitzroy Community School.
Victoria Police have confirmed physical assault allegations are being investigated at Fitzroy Community School.
The school’s current and past pupils and parents reacted with shock on Thursday to revelations that the private primary school is the focus of a multi-agency probe into allegations of physical and emotional abuse dating back decades.
The Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT), Victoria Police, the Commissioner for Children and Young People (CCYP) and the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Agency (VRQA) have interviewed more than 30 families about the school’s disciplinary and educational practices.
A joint meeting between the agencies was held last week to share information and discuss the allegations about the school, which receives about $1m a year in federal funding.
The allegations centre on the behaviour of principal Tim Berryman and his brother, teacher Nick Berryman.
Their mother Faye Berryman founded the school in the 1970s.
Victoria Police on Thursday confirmed the detectives are also investigating allegations of physical assault at a school in North Fitzroy between 2009 and 2012.
“The investigation remains ongoing,” a spokeswoman said.
A former student who attended the school for more than six years with two younger siblings alleged it was “not a safe environment”.
“The boys would come home badly bashed up most days. If a student had an issue they were encouraged to work it out in the bash-up room which was also our assembly hall,” she alleged.
“There were mats and dense pillows, and they’d just beat each other up and teachers wouldn’t break it up.”
She said past students had been “talking about it for years”.
The student alleged she and others were emotionally abused. Everyone was too scared to fail,” she said. The student said there was a clear distinction between the “in group” who were part of the Berryman clan and friends and others who were “on the outer and forced out of the school”.
The Herald Sun is not suggesting the allegations are true, only that they have been made and are being investigated.
Former parents are pushing for the school, which currently has around 100 students, to be shut down.
Many have alleged the existence of a “bash-up room” where kids would “fight it out among themselves like Lord of the Flies”.
Former parents are also considering a class action against the Berrymans.
Authorities are inviting current and former parents and staff to contact them.
The Berrymans were contacted for comment, and the allegations of abuse put to Nick Berryman were flatly denied. “Nothing like that has ever occurred,” he said. “These accusations are totally unfounded.”
Tim Berryman said he was in parent teacher interviews and could not comment.
Concerns about alleged abuse operating at the school date as far back as 2009, with the current investigations starting in 2021.
“There are serious concerns about the behaviour of principal Tim Berryman and his brother Nick by a large cohort of ex parents who have become aware of the alleged treatment of their children,” one source said.
One source said they believed some of the issues were rooted in a “disbelief in disability and autism by the Berrymans”.
There are also allegations that the way in which the Berrymans were seen within the school lead some students to taunt and abuse other students.
The allegations also included “records of injuries sustained to children in the bash-up room and on camp properties owned by the Berrymans.
“The injuries were unreported and not treated.”
“There was a lot of manhandling of children, of them being grabbed by the throat under the guise of keeping in the circle of trust of the Berrymans,” the source alleged.
“We are hoping other parents come forward as there is now a plethora of information being collected.”
There are some people who are yet to make formal statements although they have come forward to tell their stories.
“We want them to know they have the support of other parents,” the source said.
Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority CEO Stefanie Veal said: “The safety and wellbeing of students is the VRQA’s highest priority.
“Every child has the right to receive a quality education in a safe environment.
“All Victorian schools must meet the minimum standards and keep children safe.”
The VIT and Victoria Police have been contacted for comment. A spokesman for the CCYP said: “legislation prevents the Commission from discussing whether particular matters are or have been before us, or the outcomes of individual cases we have considered”.
The Herald Sun is not suggesting any of the allegations against the Berrymans or the school are true, only that they have been made and are the subject of a multi-agency investigation.
Anyone with concerns about a school’s compliance with the minimum standards including the Child Safe Standards can contact the VRQA via email at vrqa@education.vic.gov.au or call 9637 2806.
The school
Fitzroy Community School is an independent, alternative primary school which is driven by the motto “people before things”.
The school sells itself on having a “relaxed atmosphere and good outcomes at the same time”.
“Children are keen on learning and keen on coming to school. The most common comment that visitors make is that it feels like an extended family,” the school biography reads.
“FCS aims for three outcomes in terms of its students and graduates: happiness, viability and academic excellence. We feel that these qualities offer the best chance of a happy, fulfilling and engaging life.”
The school was founded in 1976 by Philip O’Carroll and Faye Berryman in their North Fitzroy home on Brunswick St and still operates there.
Tim Berryman was suspended in October 2021 over fears he presented a “risk to children” after allowing dozens to attend on site classes during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Mr Berryman dismissed the move at the time, labelling it as “another nuisance hoop to jump through”.
He is no longer on the VIT’s register of disciplinary action and is still a registered teacher.
The school was operating with about 60 kids during lockdowns and was the centre of an outbreak of 62 cases.
The Department of Health investigated the school in 2021 after it received reports that up to 100 people were on site on some days, with 189 close contacts identified.
Mr Berryman said at the time he didn’t regret having his school open and said it was “inevitable that kids would catch Covid at school”.
One parent’s claims
“We had children at the school in the years before Covid. Fitzroy Community School had an allure in the sense that they did things differently, were at the top in terms of NAPLAN and an ethos where kids spent half their time inside and half outside exercising and going on outings.
“The allegations didn’t come to light until our kids left the school. It started with Tim Berryman providing unsolicited parenting advice, telling us we were inadequate in our parenting and that the kids’ behaviour was as a result of our parenting.
“Our oldest didn’t want to go to school, seemed afraid to go and we asked the teachers what was going on and the teachers were saying everything was okay.
“We raised it with Tim Berryman but he brushed it off, and in a meeting said we, the parents, were to blame for the outbursts. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” the father said.
“One day we told the children they didn’t have to return to FCS and the allegations all came out. Our oldest alleged to us that Nick Berryman grabbed them by the throat and berated them and threatened to throw them down the stairs because they weren’t concentrating in class.
“On another time we took a photo of a scratch on our child who had a scratch on their neck and were told Tim Berryman had grabbed them around the neck and threw them out.
“The kids were playing tiggy and Tim Berryman grabbed our child and dug his nails in.”
The parent, who does not want to be identified, or to reveal the sex of his children, or the years they were at the school, said his children came home more and more upset over time.
“We were gaslit as parents and told it was our fault. The reality was that our children were afraid of the abuse and also afraid to say anything to us.”
On another occasion the younger child was asked their birthday by Nick Berryman and couldn’t remember it. “They were berated in front of the class and told, ‘Are you stupid?’,” the father claimed. “Nick Berryman threatened to throw him down the stairs too and on another occasion my child was sent to find a ball and only could find one that was deflated and was berated again.
“The punishment was in front of other children.”
The parent alleged the existence of the bash-up room. “It was an unsupervised room where kids would fight it out like Lord of the Flies,” he alleged
“When we asked Tim Berryman about the bullying he said kids were encouraged to sort it out among themselves.”
The father also made allegations that children were getting hurt on school camps on properties owned by the Berrymans, which he said was unreported and untreated.
He claimed other children also sustained food poisoning from commonly prepared food being “left out for hours”.
“Our youngest got back from camp and looked like death, and had been vomiting from contaminated food and didn’t go to the toilet for several days as the facilities were so bad.
“On another occasion my child hurt their head on the concrete and at any other school it would be reported and a phone call made but weren’t told anything,” he said.
“They were given a face washer and told us Nick Berryman said to ‘Shut up and stop being a baby’. They were just five at the time.”
The parent said there were two groups of children at the school. “There were the families with kids who were gifted and ahead of their age for academics and maths and English and music. They were the ‘in’ crowd.
“The rest were just trying the alternative pathway and the kids who did not perform were belittled and berated in front of other kids.
“There were those in the inner circle who were connected to the Berrymans and happy with how things were going and others who were on the receiving end of abuse,” he alleged.
“By the end our children were too scared to come to us and they didn’t think we would believe them because we had been gaslit by the Berrymans. This has had a significant impact on the years following.
“There is so much guilt that we didn’t listen to them and this trauma is still being felt today. I am speaking out because I can’t bear the thought of any other kids going through what our children went through. This school needs to be closed down.”
Originally published as Fitzroy Community School under investigation following abuse allegations
