‘Boys come on move’: Mount Ridley College staff risk their safety to stop student brawls

Shocking footage has captured the moment teachers are forced to step in to break up wild schoolyard fights at a troubled school in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

Concerning footage has captured the moment multiple teachers put their own safety at risk to break up vile schoolyard fights at a troubled northern suburbs school.

Mount Ridley P-12 College staff were forced to intervene in two separate brawls between students in February, with the frightening scenes caught on camera.

The videos emerged after parents told the Herald Sun last month they feared someone was going “to die” if the school didn’t take a stronger stance against bullying.

In one incident, a male employee had to charge through two Year 9 boys to stop them from seriously hurting each other in a violent scuffle that happened in front of dozens of their peers.

In one incident teachers had to intervene to stop two Year 9 boys from seriously hurting each other.

A Department of Education spokesman said the staff involved were offered support. Picture: Supplied

The 25 second clip showed a boy who was on the ground get kicked in the face by another student, which ignited a brutal punch-on.

Students watching on screamed as two other boys tried to pry the fighting pair apart.

Two helpless female staff members desperately yelled at the boys to stop, before a male employee was forced to put his own safety on the line by ploughing through the group to end the fight.

In a second video, four male teachers had to force their way between a group of five students who were threatening to fight outside a school building.

The teachers yelled “boys come on move” before one of the male staffers made his way in between the two rival groups and repeatedly told them to “stop”.

A parent whose children attend the school described the videos as “terrifying”.

“We have to deal with a high level of school refusal from our kids and if this is happening on a daily basis, I can understand why,” he said.

“My heart goes out to the teachers who have to break this sort of thing up on a regular basis.”

Australian Catholic University’s 2024 Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing report, which was released in March, revealed 46 cent of Victorian school leaders were on the receiving end of violent threats and two in five were confronted by physical violence last year.

Teachers were also forced to intervene in a second brawl that almost erupted between two rival groups.

These fights weren’t the only scuffles to take place at the school in February, with another incident resulting in a 15-year-old boy sustaining facial injuries.

The victim’s father Kawal said his son was left “traumatised” after more than a dozen kids allegedly assaulted him on school grounds.

Kawal’s son was later allegedly threatened with a knife while he was walking along Donnybrook Rd on March 20, with police called in to investigate the incident.

Opposition Education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said Education Minister Ben Carroll “must address this concerning behaviour immediately”.

“In the midst of a teacher shortage crisis any conduct that places staff in harm’s way will only worsen the exodus from this profession,” she said.

“The safety of teachers, staff and students on school grounds is paramount.”

A Department of Education spokesman said “there is zero tolerance for violence in Victorian schools”.

“Schools have a range of disciplinary options for any students who act aggressively,” he said.

“Mt Ridley College has taken this matter extremely seriously, including providing wellbeing support to impacted students and staff.”

Due to privacy reasons, the Department was unable to answer questions about what disciplinary action was taken by the school in response to the students’ behaviour.

Originally published as ‘Boys come on move’: Mount Ridley College staff risk their safety to stop student brawls