Parents raise concerns about handling of incident at Eynesbury Primary School

Shocked parents have raised concerns about the handling of an incident during which a student sexually touched another child at a primary school in Eynesbury.

Parents have raised concerns about the handling of an incident where a student sexually touched another child at Eynesbury Primary School. Picture: Supplied

Parents have raised concerns about the handling of an incident during which a student sexually touched another child at a primary school in Melbourne’s west.

The Herald Sun understands the student allegedly assaulted the child multiple times in the past month at Eynesbury Primary School.

The alleged assault occurred during school time, on school grounds.

It’s believed parents of the victim complained to the school and were told the incident was viewed as “sexualised behaviour”.

The parents urged the school to expel the student but were told due to the perpetrator’s age, they had “just as much of a right” as any other child to remain at the school.

It’s understood the school said the perpetrator would be put on a safety plan but refused to disclose details of the scheme due to a privacy policy.

A Department of Education spokesperson confirmed it had investigated the allegations which were now complete.

“Eynesbury Primary School has a very strong emphasis on developing positive relationships between students and addressing any issues of bullying or other incidents between students,” they said.

“The school worked with the department and the appropriate authorities to fully investigate recent allegations.

“Those investigations have now been completed and communicated to all families involved.”

Eynesbury Primary School. Picture: Supplied

In a letter sent to parents this week, acting principal Linh Nguyen said there was a rise of “unsafe incidents” at the school.

“Through regularly reviewing many forms of school data, we have noticed an unfortunate increase in unsafe incidents during recess and lunch,” she wrote.

“Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of students is our top priority at Eynesbury Primary School, so as an immediate response to this concerning trends, we have implemented additional supervision in the schoolyard.

“This extra supervision will support students to responsibly engage in activities to have fun.”

Ms Nguyen said “helpful tools” would be shared with students to encourage them to report “concerning” acts to an adult.

“We will be sharing some helpful tools over the term that students are encouraged to use when they need to let a trusted adult know if they have experienced or witnessed any concerning behaviour in the schoolyard,” she said.

“Additionally, we’re seeking your support to promote this message at home and highlight the importance of respecting personal boundaries while playing and interacting with others.”

But parents with students at the school told the Herald Sun they were alarmed that the letter did not detail the seriousness of the “unsafe incidents”.

“We were absolutely shocked and rocked to our core that this had occurred at the school and essentially the leadership team chose not to disclose this to all parents,” a father said.

“We believe that for such a serious incident to occur this should have absolutely been disclosed to all parents of children that attend the school.

“Now we are left shocked, upset and quite frankly extremely concerned about the decisions that are being made regarding this incident.”

Victoria Police was contacted for comment.