‘Not inclusive’: Fresh complaints against under fire Catholic primary principal

A mother says her son was almost involved in a “potentially fatal” incident at a South East Queensland school accused of “failing in duty of care”.

A Queensland Catholic primary school has been accused of “failing in duty of care”, according to a new complaint.

Details of allegations against St Mary’s Primary School in Laidley, come after a formal complaint was made against principal Zoe Stewart by 25 parents.

Ms Stewart was cleared and defended by Brisbane Catholic Education.

Mother Jessica Laundy pulled her eight-year-old diabetic son from the school in November last year.

Ms Laundy said there were several instances where the school failed to manage his diabetes safely to the point his physical health and wellbeing declined.

She said he was left to manage his diabetes on his own and, in the most serious incident, nearly injected himself with a potentially fatal dose of insulin.

“A lot of unnecessary pressure was put onto an eight-year-old and he deserved better,” Ms Laundy said.

It comes after 25 families made a formal complaint to Brisbane Catholic Education regarding Ms Stewart which triggered an independent review to be undertaken.

Brisbane Catholic Education said the review found the claims were unsubstantiated and defended Ms Stewart.

Ms Laundy also accused the school of ignoring her claims to the point she felt she was perceived as a “problem parent”.

“We continuously tried to work with the school and started to see more red flags,” she said.

“His physical health and mental wellbeing began to rapidly decline and we struggled to get him go to school.”

Another mother, whose profoundly deaf son still attends the school, said he had been discriminated against due to his disability.

The mother, who asked not to be named, said her child had suffered several issues at the school, particularly in handling his cochlear implants.

She said her son had been placed with his back to the teacher so he could not lip read and that the implant’s battery had gone flat.

She said he received no support.

“The school is in no way inclusive,” she said.

“We are going to leave the school.”

Brisbane Catholic Education declined to comment when approached by The Courier-Mail.