‘Bullied, threatened and assaulted’: Claims of widespread bullying going unpunished at Barossa Valley High School

A young female student removed herself from a Barossa school after she was “relentlessly” bullied, assaulted and threatened.

A former student at a Barossa Valley High School said she was bullied “relentlessly” for an entire year, resulting in her developing anxiety and agoraphobia, and moving schools to avoid her perpetrators.

Speaking to The Advertiser under different names, Sarah* and her mother Louise*, have joined other parents who claim there is widespread bullying at Nuriootpa High School (NHS) which is going unpunished.

The teenager, who attended NHS for the 2023 school year, said she had been “choked, punched in the face, bitten” and constantly intimidated by a “schoolyard gang”, with multiple incidents reported to school leadership.

In one incident that occurred in March last year, 14-year-old Sarah, who was 13 at the time, said an older male student choked her three times for no reason.

A mother a daughter have told the Advertiser of the relentless bullying at a Barossa Valley school. Picture: Douglas Smith

“He got up and choked me and put his hands around my throat once, and I was like, ‘ahh, that’s weird’, and then he did it a second time and I told him, ‘don’t do that’,” Sarah told the Advertiser.

“Then he did it a third time and he gradually got tighter, and then I turned around and yelled at him and told him, ‘that’s not OK’.

“I felt vulnerable, I didn’t feel safe and I didn’t want to go to school anymore.”

She said she told leadership in her class, but when nothing changed the male student, she called her mother, who then reported the incident to the police after the school failed to act.

Louise said she confronted school and asked if they would do anything about the incident, but she felt it was “laughed off” as not being that serious, she went to the police and filed a report.

“She (teacher) pulls me into the office and she goes, ‘I spoke with him and he said that it did happen’, but she was laughing it off like, ‘he wouldn’t do that, he’s such a good kid’,” Louise said.

“I went to the police and they sorted it out. They actually brought the boy in with his parents who had no idea that it happened because the school didn’t even tell them.”

Louise said the bullying her daughter experienced at NHS continued throughout the year. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Louise said the bullying her daughter experienced at NHS continued throughout the year.

In emails seen by the Advertiser, Louise attempted to raise concerns with school leadership in May last year, after multiple incidents of bullying, but was “frustrated” with their response after being given a short amount of time to discuss the issue.

“Previously we have had meetings with (teacher) with no resolution to the ongoing issues with my daughter attending your school being bullied, threatened and assaulted,” one email read.

“I feel that each meeting has not been taken seriously and we have been brushed off and today again I was left feeling like my daughters’ safety and education in this school was not taken seriously.

“Why was I not notified at the start of this meeting that I was given a 15 minute time frame?

“I feel that was very unprofessional from the school’s position because if there was an understanding of what has been ongoing with my daughter, it would be clear that 15 minutes is not enough to cover this.”

Sarah has since left NHS and now attends another high school in another town.

Education Department Chief Executive Professor Martin Westwell said “these allegations are extremely serious.”

“We are reviewing the incident and the response,” Professor Westwell said.

“We have no tolerance for this behaviour at any school and it’s my expectation that it is dealt with immediately and appropriately.

“The deputy chief executive will visit the site tomorrow to review the incident and ascertain if appropriate action was taken at the time.”