12-year-old Santa Sabina College student’s heartbreaking message to parents

A 12-year-old schoolgirl who last week took her life left a heartbreaking message for her parents after years of alleged bullying became too much.

A Santa Sabina College student who last week took her own life left a heartbreaking message for her parents, it has been revealed, urging them to tell her story after years of alleged bullying became too much for the 12-year-old to handle.

“Mama, please share my story to raise awareness,” the youngster wrote, exclusively reported by The Sunday Telegraph’s investigations editor Cydonee Mardon.

Speaking with the masthead, Charlotte’s parents, Mat and Kelly, said they were still coming to grips with their tragic loss.

Charlotte O’Brien, a year 7 student at Santa Sabina College in Strathfield, inner-west Sydney, tragically died by suicide last week.

“The other thing that is troubling for us is that we had such a great last day with her,” her father Mat told the publication.

“I hadn’t seen her that happy coming home from school in a long time.”

Her mother Kelly added: “She would be really, really heartbroken to think that she would ever be described as something that ruined our lives, so her death, as devastating as it is, can’t ruin our lives, because she’s what made us whole.”

Read the full exclusive interview with the Sunday Telegraph here

The culture at her Sydney school, Santa Sabina College, has been questioned after the suicide following what her family claims was years of alleged bullying during a brave week-long media campaign to tell their daughter’s tragic story.

Over the last week, some current and former parents and students of Santa Sabina College at Strathfield have come forward in the wake of Charlotte’s death to question the school’s handling of alleged bullying.

Santa Sabina College.

Charlotte’s parents have claimed they raised “friendship issues” with the school for two years, with Santa Sabina saying the allegations don’t match their records.

Santa Sabina’s principal says she had been “overwhelmed” by calls from parents “objecting to the portrayal of our College as failing to deal with matters that cause distress amongst our students”.

Charlotte’s parents are urging awareness about bullying and have raised questions about the school’s handling of the situation.

Some people connected to Santa Sabina have raised questions about whether enough is being done to tackle the issue of bullying.

One parent told news.com.au they had decided to move their daughter to a new school, saying anxiety about alleged bullying had “been raised by many other parents”.

“The girls at school have been told ‘not to discuss it’, as ‘we are just entering exam season’. It makes the sensible parents sick,” the woman said.

Another parent who says his daughter was withdrawn from the school after two alleged bouts of bullying expressed “great sympathy” for Charlotte’s family.

“(My daughter) experienced bullying there, and we ultimately made the difficult decision to withdraw her after feeling that the school’s response was inadequate,” he said.

“It seems the response from the school for Charlotte was alarmingly similar to what we faced.”

Correspondence sighted by news.com.au confirms complaints were raised with the school over several weeks before the parents decided to withdraw their child.

On Monday, September 16, Charlotte’s grieving mother bravely decided to air their family’s story via a letter read aloud on 2GB’s Ben Fordham show.

“Hi Ben, earlier this week our family experienced a day that will haunt us for the rest of our lives,” the message read.

Charlotte was a year 7 student at Santa Sabina College. Other parents and students have come forward questioning the school’s response to bullying.

“We lost our baby girl in the most awful of circumstances. She was just 12 years old.”

The letter detailed claims of bullying at the school, further alleging: “When the most recent case of bullying was raised, the school simply said it was investigated, and the girls denied it. That’s it. Case closed. Move on.”

“Well, my beautiful daughter’s life won’t move on, and I’ll never get to say goodbye,” an emotional Fordham read.

“These issues cannot be swept under the carpet. I will not let my daughter’s memory be swept under the carpet either.

“How many more children need to lose their lives before they get it? How many parents need to feel the pain of never being able to pick up their child from school again before they get it?

“We’re broken forever.”

Principal Paulina Skerman said in a statement that many parents had this week sent emails and messages “that talk about their children feeling safe and cared for at Santa Sabina College”.

Principal Paulina Skerman has defended the school’s anti-bullying policy and stated that they are working to support the community. Picture: Supplied

She said the families who contacted her rejected suggestions the school did not deal appropriately with these matters.

“Our Anti-Bullying Policy is available on our website, and was developed in consultation with the Association of Independent Schools of NSW, and further approved earlier this year by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA),” Ms Skerman said.

“Our students and our families are highly informed on the policy and the procedures for reporting and resolving matters of concern, and they utilise this as needed.

“Our focus as a College is the ongoing support and care for our students, their families and our staff, and to supporting Charlotte’s family through their unimaginable grief.

“We are continuing to work with Headspace and other providers to ensure that we follow the most supportive and safest practices for our community at this time.”

Ms Skerman urged any families who held concerns to contact the school directly.