Firbank students warned to be wary of suspicious man near school grounds

Students and parents at Firbank Grammar have been warned to be wary of a man behaving suspiciously and attempting to talk to students near the school’s grounds.

Firbank Grammar School has told its families to be wary of a man acting suspiciously near the school. Picture: Mark Stewart

Parents at an upmarket Brighton girls’ school have been warned to be vigilant following reports of a man “behaving suspiciously” nearby.

The man has been spotted in and around Church St Brighton just a few blocks from Firbank Grammar School.

The area contains a large number of schools, including St Finbar’s Primary, Brighton Beach Primary, St Leonard’s College and Brighton Grammar.

Parents were alerted to the presence of the man, whom the school said was trying to “initiate conversations with children and has exhibited intimidating behaviour towards parents”.

“Sightings of this individual have occurred during daylight, as well as in the evening and at night,” the school told parents.

Firbank Grammar School sent a letter to families telling them to be vigilant of the man behaving suspiciously nearby Picture: Mark Stewart

“While our aim is not to instill undue alarm, we feel it is imperative to keep everyone informed about the situation, with student safety being our utmost priority”.

“We kindly ask that you remind your children not to engage with strangers and reassure them that there are always staff members supervising the gates and located in reception whom they can approach for assistance in case they feel unsafe.”

It is understood the police have been notified and are monitoring the situation.

Jenny Williams, Firbank Grammar principal, told the Herald Sun that “safety of our children is paramount and so whenever we hear anything of concern in our community our protocol is to share it with our families”.

“We don’t wish to cause panic but do want people to take care,” she said.

Victoria Police has been contacted for comment.