Claims students bullied, stripped and locked in cupboard
A HUNTER VALLEY high school is a nest of bullying and abuse with claims of students being publicly humiliated and another child being locked in a storeroom during class, according to families and former staff.
NSW
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A HUNTER VALLEY high school is a nest of bullying and abuse with claims of students being publicly humiliated and another child being locked in a storeroom during class, according to families and former staff.
An investigation by The Daily Telegraph has revealed a number of complaints at Maitland Grossmann High School, including one from a 13-year-old girl whose brother was recently diagnosed with cancer who claims she was threatened with bashing and sent a text message calling her a “f...... c …”. The girl said she was told by a teacher to ignore the abuse — leaving her so upset she feels she cannot get out of bed on some days.
Another student, 15, had his pants pulled down and his genitalia exposed by another child at a bus stop inside the school grounds. His mother said teachers stood by and did nothing.
And another boy claimed his teacher locked him in a storeroom during the same class for a week, and would not let him out to use the toilet.
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Parents and students, and former staff at the school said the school was very focused on school uniforms, NAPLAN results and the school’s image.
Principal Dr Dianne Soltau declined to comment, saying: “It’s not something I’m able to talk about.”
An Education Department spokesman would not answer detailed questions about allegations of bullying at the school, but confirmed police and the department’s Employee Performance and Conduct Directorate were investigating.
“The department does not comment publicly about individual staff members for privacy reasons, and the alleged behaviour of some school staff is being investigated by department’s Employee Performance and Conduct Directorate,” the spokesman said.
“As police are inquiring into aspects of this matter, the department is currently unable to comment further.”
The Telegraph spoke to more than a dozen students, parents and teachers about problems at the school.
Jayden Bieman, 14, said he was locked in a storeroom at the back of his class every day for a week in May. At the beginning of each class the teacher simply told him to “get in” the three-metre wide storeroom.
“Every time we had class he would put me straight in there,” Jayden said.
“It’s freezing in there. You can lock it from the outside but you’re locked inside.
“I would knock on the door and then sir would come up and say, ‘What do you want Jayden?’ and I’d say ‘Sir, can I go to the toilet’ and sometimes he would say yeah or ‘Nah you can wait till the end of the lesson’.”
Jayden’s mother, Jeanette Bieman, said she was horrified when she eventually learnt of her son’s treatment.
“He is just naughty. He doesn’t deserve to be put in a cupboard. I was furious because I found out the teacher was still working there,” she said.
The teacher refused to comment.
Another student, Caitlin Rowling, 13, said she had been threatened and sent vile texts by another student, including one that finished with the words “how about u go f … urself u little f...... c …”.
When she complained to the school she was told she should ignore the texts and focus on caring for her brother, William, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in March.
“Some days I lay in my bed and refuse to get up. I just can’t deal with it,” Caitlan said. “I have had people threaten to bash me next time they saw me, I have been called an ugly s …, a fat b..... “I went to the teacher … she said just worry about Will who is at home. Who is sick. She wasn’t helping. She used my brother as an excuse to not to help me.”
One mother, who didn’t want to be identified, said she had heard locking students in storerooms had occurred more than once to deal with student misbehaviour.
“There has been cases of other kids being bullied in the school and they did nothing,” she said.
Another parent said her son had been bullied while teachers looked on.
“My son’s pants were being pulled down while waiting for a bus, and there was one kid who was hitting him,” said the mother, who did not want to be identified. According to the woman, the school’s response was to send her son to study in the library while the other boy remained in the classroom.
“The bullies have more rights than the students being bullied,” the mother said. “It is not a one-off thing, it is occurring to a lot of other parents.”
Former staff say teachers have also been subjected to violence that has been played down by the school.
One former teacher claimed he was assaulted in 2015 by a student for making the boy stay back after class for misbehaving.
Studies show as many as one in four students are victims of bullying.