St Kevin’s College internal review finds toxic culture remains

An internal report has found students at Toorak boys’ school St Kevin’s are ashamed to wear the uniform in the wake of sex and misogyny scandals.

An internal review of a leading Catholic boys’ college has found evidence of a continuing “toxic” and “misogynistic” culture at the school.

More than half of the current students at St Kevin’s College think the school “prioritises school wellbeing over reputation” and many believe it celebrates sporting winners and high academic achievers over others.

One quarter of students surveyed think the school would not act in their best interests if something happened to them and one in three don’t know about its child safety policies.

People tied ribbons to the St Kevin’s gates in support of those who have spoken out about painful experiences at the school. Picture: Sarah Matray

The report from Nous consulting firm was commissioned by the school’s governing body Edmund Rice Education Australia and includes feedback from more than 1000 members of the school community.

“Students and staff said that misogynistic language and sexist behaviour still occurs at the school,” the report says.

“We heard in interviews and focus groups that some Community members felt ashamed to wear their uniform in public, acknowledge that they attended or worked at the school, or to list the school on a resume.”

As one person interviewed said: “there is still a lot of hurt” at the school.

Although the incidents aren’t detailed, the report acknowledges the Toorak college is still reeling in the aftermath of boys chanting a misogynist song on public transport, a child sex grooming scandal and the sacking of several key staff members.

Despite the school’s new child safe policies, respectful relationships teaching and the hiring of a female principal, only six in ten students and parents felt the school “would take the appropriate steps to respond if they needed to report inappropriate behaviours at school”.

St Kevin’s principal Deborah Barker.

Although students said they felt safe at the school, one third agreed St Kevin’s “does not provide effective programs to address sexism and inappropriate behaviour towards other genders”. One third of staff also felt the school does not have a culture of respect for women.

“In focus groups, interviews and written submissions the St Kevin’s community told us that more could be done to address sexism and equip students with the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to have respectful relationships,” the report says.

Indeed, one school leader expressed frustration about “salacious, fabricated instances” of child safety.

Only one third of staff felt the college supports their response to such incidents although they said they nonetheless felt confidence in the school’s child safety processes.

The disconnect between staff and the school peaked among female staff, with 58 per cent saying they don’t feel listened to by school leaders.

The report drew on feedback from 163 staff, 298 students, 537 parents and 141 past students and concluded that the culture was holding the school back.

Only 50 per cent of past students, 56 per cent of staff and 62 per cent of current students feel optimistic about the school. This compares to 68 per cent of parents.

Peppered with corporate lingo, the report refers to “five interrelated high-level themes”, the need for cultural renewal action groups, regular climate surveys and “Touchstone inclusive groups”.

Other suggestions in the report include the right of middle managers to suspend students, better communication about child safety policies and more respect education. It concludes that the school should “adopt a growth mindset and monitor its culture”.

Students said they wanted more chance to engage with girls’ schools, more books with female perspectives and more women in leadership positions.

The report also found the need to “acknowledge and include everyone regardless of sexuality or gender identity” and do more to support same-sex attracted students and those with a diverse gender identity.

Suggestions included a Pride Network, participation in National Coming Out Day and a queer-straight alliance group.

Some suggested merging the mothers’ and fathers’ associations and not assuming all parents are heterosexual.

Other findings include doing more for those with diverse learning needs, combating social cliques among parents and offering an apology from the governing body to the school community.

The report concludes that there is “palpable enthusiasm for St Kevin’s to be the best version of itself, and many St Kevin’s community members are eager to see the signs of change sooner, rather than later”.