Ballarat Clarendon College teacher’s shock outburst reflective of school’s culture

A video of a Ballarat English teacher who described her students’ work as “f***ing appalling” was sacked and made a “sacrificial lamb” to protect the school which encourages the behaviour.

The English teacher who called her students’ work “dogs**t” and “f***ing appalling” was merely reflecting the school’s ruthless and arrogant culture, insiders say.

In the widely shared clip of a recent class, the year 12 teacher subjected students to a profanity filled diatribe and said reading the students’ essays made her want to kill herself.

However, one source said the teacher was not an isolated outlier but “reflects the tough love culture of the school where teachers are flogged”.

“The teacher was a sacrificial lamb expended in order to protect the status of the school.

“Staff are very concerned about the resolution of her employment because there is pressure on teachers to behave this way,” they said.

Another said: “For years, staff have been spoken to poorly, and treated poorly, by a number of people in senior management. For years, certain staff members have spoken inappropriately to students, either inside the classroom or outside the classroom”.

Ballarat Clarendon College is an elite private school.

They said the teacher was “a victim of the school’s ruthless, arrogant, blinkered, and incestuous culture”.

They said teachers took on such an aggressive educational approach “believing it to be desirable and likely to lead to professional success and acceptance”.

The school’s long-serving deputy principal Jen Bourke has been named as Mr Shepherd’s replacement.

It comes as the school routinely video records classes from year five to year 12, which are used for student catch-ups but also monitoring of teachers to ensure they “tow the company line”.

David Brear, Victorian general secretary of the Independent Education Union, said

recording lessons and making them available for later access is not a common practice in schools.

Incoming Ballarat Clarendon College principal Jen Bourke. Photo: Ballarat Clarendon College

“Amongst other potential concerns, it raises a host of legal and privacy issues for both teachers and students. We are currently working through this with our members at Ballarat Clarendon College.”

Last week, a representative from the Independent Education Union was escorted from the school amid a meeting of staff in a move described as “ inappropriate and intimidating”.

Some of these allegations were raised by anonymous whistleblowers in 2022. A review exonerated principal David Shepherd, who is retiring at the end of the year.

Staff are frustrated that reviews by the Independent Education Union and WorkSafe, prompted by the allegations, appear to have stalled.

A WorkSafe spokesman said: “WorkSafe’s investigation is continuing.”

A statement from the school said class recordings “are a valuable study tool” introduced in 2020 which are highly valued by students.

“Class recordings have been an extremely successful system and supportive of our students and their learning. Senior staff do not routinely monitor recorded lessons,” the statement said.

The school said the union official was asked to leave after breaching their terms of entry and, following consultation with WorkSafe, was allowed to re-enter the school.

The school said the review that followed the allegations was independent and those who participated were assured confidentiality.

“The Board informed the school community, both in December 2022 and June 2023, that the allegations contained in an anonymous letter were found to be unsubstantiated,” the statement said.