‘Highly offensive’ video shown at school

A Victorian school is under fire after teachers shared a “highly offensive” farewell video that mocked students with disabilities.

A teacher had been suspended after allegedly being involved in making a video that mocked students with special needs. Picture: YouTube

A Victorian school is under fire and a teacher has been suspended after sharing a “highly offensive” farewell video that mocked students with disabilities, complete with unsolicited photos of the vulnerable kids.

The video – which was shown to more than 20 teachers at the Rosewood Downs Primary School staff Christmas party as a farewell to outgoing principal Julian Growcott – was rife with sexual innuendos and references to the children and their families, including images allegedly used without permission.

Set to You’re the Voice by John Farnham, the five-minute video contained references to “erections” and plays on words including “premature evacuation” and “pulling out”.

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A primary school teacher has been suspended after allegedly being involved in making a ‘highly offensive’ video featuring kids with special needs. Picture: YouTube.

In one scene, six children believed to have learning and behavioural issues were easily identifiable by their school photos.

They were mocked with the caption: “Can’t forget about the Grade 1 kids, who are such a friendly and welcoming bunch. Why would Julian want to leave them?”

In another shot is a photo of a mother and her 10-year-old son, who has autism. They are sarcastically ridiculed as “a delightful family who were so happy with RDPS (Rosewood Downs Primary School) they wanted to stay all day?”

It featured six kids believed to have special needs. Picture: YouTube.

Carly Pinwill, welfare co-ordinator at the Melbourne school, was suspended on an interim basis by the teaching regulator after allegedly being involved in the making of the “distressing” video.

Ms Pinwill was suspended on January 31, but details of the video only recently came to light, the Herald Sun reported.

The mother whose 10-year-old son was featured said her family was “angered’ and “humiliated” by the video.

“The video is highly offensive and makes fun of some children that have disabilities, it is insensitive and distressing for all families involved,” she told the publication.

The video is being investigated by the Department of Education. Picture: YouTube.

The boy’s parents said he had been “traumatised” by his time at the school, describing an “aggressive” teacher who allegedly restrained their son and “multiple” other concerning incidents.

Due to “several” other incidents at the school, they had made the choice to withdraw the boy and his siblings last year, his father said.

“The toxic culture at Rosewood Downs needs to stop. Our son has been left with ongoing PTSD symptoms because of his experience and his whole life has been turned upside down,” he said.

In another video, a woman and her 10-year-old son were mocked. Picture: YouTube.

“We have reported these incidents including the video to the Department of Education and Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner and we hope they investigate them as thoroughly as they possibly can.

“We don’t want another family to go through this. This video is evidence of the culture that needs to change. We want justice for our family and others that have gone through this.”

The video was uploaded to YouTube and made publicly available on the school’s staff Google Drive. It has since been removed online.

Several families made complaints to the Department of Education, who confirmed they were investigating the incident.

The department had contacted the families involved via a letter, which apologised to their children and described the video as “extremely inappropriate”.

“I expect that also those involved in the production of the video are feeling truly regretful,” the letter said.

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