St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School students suffering anxiety, panic attacks due to staff exodus

The mass exodus of staff from an elite Brisbane girls’ school is taking an alarming toll on the health and wellbeing of students, parents claim.

Parents have spoken out over a staff exodus from St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School. Picture: Supplied

The mass exodus of staff – including senior core subject teachers – from a top Brisbane girls’ school has caused panic attacks and anxiety requiring therapy and medication in some students, parents claim.

A number of parents at St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School have told of their children “breaking down” due to the high rate of teachers quitting, with one saying, “if St Aidan’s were any other business I would ask for a refund”.

The mother-of-three said she and her husband relocated their family from regional Queensland two years ago specifically to send them to the Prep to Year 12 Corinda school.

They say students are suffering anxiety and panic attacks due to some many teachers leaving the exclusive all girls' school. Picture: Supplied

“We sold our home and took out loans to pay the fees but we have been shockingly disappointed by the constant turnover of staff,” she said.

“How do you form relationships with teachers when they keep leaving? It’s like another one bites the dust.”

It comes after The Courier-Mail revealed a “vote of no confidence” in principal Toni Riordan had been made in an email purportedly sent on behalf of 49 current employees.

The email to the school council said teachers and administration personnel were “deeply troubled” by the departure of 39 staff in the past year.

However, a school spokesperson said the turnover was in line with that of other independent schools and no formal complaint had previously been received.

In response to the fresh claims about anxiety in students, the school repeated its earlier response, adding: “It would be inappropriate and not in keeping with our ethos of care to comment on any student matters.”

Principal of St Aidan’s Corinda Toni Riordan in 2018.

The mother said this month one of her daughters had “a panic attack and broke down with uncontrollable crying because yet another teacher had gone”, while another daughter had “developed severe anxiety and is on anti-anxiety medication due to the toxic culture that sees teachers deeply stressed”.

She said the departure of teachers of advanced maths, science and English was “simply not good enough” when annual tuition cost up to $28,000 per student.

“We have now had to pay an extra $30,000 to private tutors to help ‘fill in the blanks’ – our kids were very high achievers at their previous school.”

St Aidan’s motto is ‘born to soar’ but the woman said “it’s more like a bird slamming into a brick wall, breaking its neck and falling to the ground”.

In an email chain seen by The Courier-Mail, the woman has raised with the school her concerns, including staff resignations, and requested to meet the principal or deputy principal.

Within hours of the school being contacted by this newspaper, the woman received an email from the deputy agreeing to meet.

The Courier-Mail is also aware of private group messages between senior school parents sharing their experiences of their children having anxiety requiring medication and ongoing therapy – which they directly attribute to the loss of teachers and school culture.

Meanwhile, students of St Aidan’s have been circulating memes on social media reflecting the teacher situation.

One shows three generic young people giving a thumbs up to the words, “My teacher will stay for more than a semester; I will not experience another teacher change.”

Another shows a generic child buckled over and screaming: “When all the teachers keeps (sic) leaving bc our school sucks.”

One Year 12 told The Courier-Mail she felt for the teachers and wanted “them to be heard because maybe then the issues that are forcing them to leave will finally be addressed”.

“We, as students, can see there is clearly something going badly wrong at this school.”

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