Parents who withdrew children from Pulteney Grammar detail alleged bullying they suffered
PARENTS who said they withdrew their children from Pulteney Grammar last year because they were being physically bullied, say the school cannot be trusted to handle historical claims of abuse.
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PARENTS who said they withdrew their children from Pulteney Grammar last year because they were being physically bullied, say the school cannot be trusted to handle historical claims of abuse from the 1980s.
Two parents of high school-aged children have detailed their teens’ experiences of bullying at the hands of other students to The Advertiser.
It comes after principal Anne Dunstan wrote to the school community on Saturday about concerns raised by old scholars on social media that staff may have “bullied or abused” past students in the 1980s or earlier.
One parent, who asked not to be named, said their son was victimised for two years, primarily by three other boys.
They said the bullying escalated to daily beatings in which he was kicked in the groin, punched in the face or had objects thrown at his head. On some occasions, he came home with blood on his uniform.
The parent said the school was always apologetic but the perpetrators went unpunished, so the bullying continued.
“Repeat offenders at a certain age have to be made responsible for their actions, not just write a letter of apology,” the parent said, adding their son was “not the worst affected”.
“He said he saw other kids treated far worse.”
The parent, who was aware of “at least four” students withdrawn over the past two years because of bullying, said there needed to be an “independent” organisation for victims of historical abuse to report to, as some would not feel comfortable going to the school or police.
The father of a girl, who says she was physically bullied by a boy, said the boy later admitted that he had victimised many other students. But the school refused to tell him how the situation was being handled.
“Their response to these things is woefully unsatisfactory. You just can’t trust what they say,” he said.
Both parents said there were some passionate teachers and some well-intentioned leaders at the school, but the management had to take a stronger stance against bullies.
The school’s new board chairman, Greg Keene, who was deputy chair for four years, said the board was made aware of bullying cases. But he would not say how regularly cases were reported to the board, or detail how they were handled.
“We take all allegations seriously. We always put the welfare of the child first,” he said.
Dr Keene said Pulteney did not have a problem with bullying, and the school was “overwhelmed with support from past students and parents” over the long weekend.
In an emailed statement, Ms Dunstan said Pulteney “will not respond to anonymous claims made through the media”.
“We encourage any parent or student, past or present, to come to us directly with any concerns,” she wrote.