Police probed string of violent attacks at Berwick Secondary College

A slew of violent attacks at a high school in Melbourne’s southeast has been revealed, with police called in to investigate several incidents.

Police have been called in to investigate a slew of violent attacks, including students being threatened with weapons, at a high school in Melbourne’s southeast.

Documents obtained by the Sunday Herald Sun under Freedom of Information laws reveal some serious incidents at Berwick Secondary College have warranted police intervention.

School sources said staff were regularly dealing with physical violence and verbal attacks from students.

In one incident, two students needed medical attention following a violent brawl that school staff reported to police.

Several violent incidents were deemed a high security risk for fellow students and staff members, and students had to be physically restrained on at least four occasions.

One student was restrained after an assault left another student needing first aid.

Police were also called after the school’s assistant principal reported that one student threatened a group of students with a weapon to “roll them for their phones and money”.

On another occasion, police contacted the school to say they were investigating a threat a student made against the school.

Police were investigating whether the student who made the threat mad access to weapons.

A still from shocking footage showing a 16-year-old student being held on the ground in a headlock by a staff member after a violent brawl at Berwick Secondary College.

Meanwhile, staff have reported enduring multiple incidents of “ongoing” physical and verbal aggression at the hands of students.

Students have assaulted and abused at least four teachers.

There have also been reports of students behaving “inappropriately” to fellow pupils, and in one case, a student making violent threats against the family of another student.

Thirteen serious violent incidents were recorded on school grounds between 2019 and 2021, with police probing seven of those attacks.

The latest Victorian crime data revealed that assaults were the most common type of crime against the person committed at schools, which made up a quarter of all offences committed on school grounds.

In 2019, Berwick Secondary College’s vice-principal at the time restrained a 16-year-old schoolboy during a violent brawl.

Video footage showed a student trying to drag the vice-principal off another student — as the senior teacher appeared to hold the student in a headlock in a desperate bid to break up the fight — before other teachers and students rushed in.

Earlier this year, the Herald Sun revealed that more than 130 brutal fights involving kids from both state and private schools in Melbourne’s southeast had been posted on one shocking Instagram page which celebrates vicious brawls.

The incidents occurred between 2019 and 2021.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said police worked with schools to deal with crime and safety issues to keep students and staff safe.

“We’ll continue to prioritise our resources according to harm and community concern, no matter the location,” she said.

A Department of Education spokesman said violence and aggression had no place in Victorian schools.

“The safety and wellbeing of students and staff is always our highest priority,” he said.

“Berwick Secondary investigates all reported incidents and provides full support for any student that has been affected.

“We work with schools to make sure all teachers and students have safe environments in which to teach and learn, with clear processes in place to respond to incidents of violence and aggression, including a requirement to report such incidents.”

The school is also part of the state government’s Respectful Relationships program which is designed to educate children on wellbeing issues.

Originally published as Police probed string of violent attacks at Berwick Secondary College