St Kevin’s College students caught rating female staff

Teenage boys at the elite school were caught making vile comments about female staff, other schoolgirls, and their classmates’ sisters.

St Kevin’s College students have been caught rating female staff. Picture: AAP

Year seven and eight boys at St Kevin’s College have been caught rating female staff while other boys have been rating the sexual attractiveness of each other’s sisters, a female teacher has revealed.

Both lists were brought to the attention of teachers during the week in March when International Women’s Day was held.

The senior school teacher says she and other female staff “don’t feel safe walking across the school yard” because of the school’s continuing sexist and misogynist culture.

Other recent incidents include a year 11 boy who posted derogatory comments about girls from a nearby girls’ school, Loreto College in Toorak, on social media.

Teachers were shown the post by other St Kevin’s boys who were concerned at its contents. It states that Loreto girls will “do anything for d--k”.

The student, who is understood to have been asked to leave the school, came to the attention of staff for making rape jokes on TikTok last year.

The teacher said such behaviour occurred on a daily or weekly basis.

“There is a great deal of disrespect for female teachers. The list we confiscated had a name, attribution number and rank for ‘staff members’ pussies’” she said.

St Kevin’s College has previously been underfire for its ‘sexist culture.

“The school is not making sure the boys are going out into the world with respect for women and the diverse world we live in,” the teacher said.

She also said she was disgusted by the way year 10 boys treated a visiting female author and the continued bullying LGBTIQ students.

An internal cultural review found in July 2021 that the school had a “sexist” and “misogynist” culture.

Independent Education Union general secretary Deb James said her organisation was “working with our members to seek to reform the deep cultural problems at St Kevin’s”.

“Transforming a deep-seated culture of misogyny takes a lot of work, and won’t happen overnight – but with the active support of leadership, staff and the majority of students, we are confident that real positive change will happen.”

Deborah Barker, principal of St Kevin’s College, denied some of the allegations.

“We recognise what we are dealing with, and while chasing perfection is futile, we want to have the best and most complete cultural realignment that ultimately serves the interest of our students, staff and the broader community,” she said.

“Much work has already been done, specifically in the areas of Respectful Relationship programs, the establishment of a staff gender working party, growth within the student leadership portfolios, and the evolution of the student voice and inclusion group.”

However, she said the progress was “not yet complete”.

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