‘Close it down’: Machetes, iron bars, pickets, threats of sexual violence at Aurukun State School

Teachers are calling on the Queensland Department of Education to shut a violent-stricken Far North Queensland school amid increasingly frequent lockdowns due to assaults, threats of sexual violence, and machetes.

Teachers have called for the school in Aurukun to be closed. Picture: Brendan Radke

Teachers at Aurukun State School are calling on the Queensland Department of Education to shut the violence-stricken school amid an increased number of daily lockdowns because of assaults, threats of sexual violence and kids carrying machetes.

Multiple sources claim students at the school are increasingly being knocked unconscious through assaults in the schoolyard, teachers are being often threatened with rape and children from prep upwards are threatening and attacking others students with scissors, knives, star pickets, fence paling, machetes and iron bars regularly.

“It is a high occupational violence school but since mid-last year it has been next level,” an education department worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, said.

“The school goes into lockdown nearly everyday because of violence.”

This week, the same day as a regional department official visited the school, a child threatened others with a machete, while later in the day another child did the same with a large knife.

A newly arrived teacher who had never experienced a remote school before reportedly was so upset by the latter incident she started vomiting.

While the issue of school safety in Aurukun has been raised at the Queensland Teachers Union state council where a member was advised earlier this month “QTU is preparing to cease work in that school due to safety of staff”.

Employee assistance counsellors were also flown into the school on Tuesday.

“The school is in crisis, at rock bottom,” another source told the Cairns Post.

“It’s an asylum …. Locals tell us it is the worst in their lifetime.”

The teacher said ten of the school’s 23 staff are expected to resign by the end of the term, despite a $5000 bonus offered by the department to lure them to stay.

“Staff morale is at an all time low,” they said.

“Staff laughed at that $5000 bonus.”

Education insiders say many of the students reportedly can’t read and only one in three students attend each day.

Aurukun from the air. Picture: Supplied

Outcome Five of the national Closing The Gap target aims to increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people attaining year 12 to 96 per cent.

Census data indicates the number living in Aurukun with a year 12 pass or a university degree has declined in the decade since 2011.

Nationally, the target show is not on track to be met.

The Queensland Teachers Union have also been trying to find a flight into Aurukun this week as they have canvassed the possibility of evacuating the teachers and sounded out staff about whether the situation was “as bad as 2016”.

In May 2016, the school was shut down after teachers were evacuated from the school twice in one month.

Townsville school generic

The evacuation occurred after a series of alleged carjackings on the then-school principal, Scott Fatnowna, and targeted attacks on teachers’ accommodation by local youths.

Eventually this led to the state government removing The Cape York Academy from managing the school, and the department took over.

A compound with security staff was subsequently built for teachers.

“I told them the school does need to be shut down again now,” a teacher at the school said. “It definitely warrants it. It needs to happen to address what resources and experts are needed to meet the high needs of the school.

“The staff have mixed opinions about whether the situation was worse than 2016, because teachers are putting up with stuff every day as opposed to a couple of very bad incidents.”

But they said violence between students was definitely worse than in 2016.

“I blame the culture of the education department,” the teacher said.

“The programs are not adequate to meet the high needs of the students.

“I cannot believe the willingness of the Education Department to continue to put inexperienced teachers in that environment, have such low expectations, and then just blame the community.”

New, more secure fencing fencing has been erected around the teaching staff accommodation in 2016. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

A spokesman from the Department of Education said: “The department is not considering closing the school temporarily and is working with other government agencies, and in partnership with the Aurukun community, to ensure safety for all students and staff at Aurukun State School.”

The spokesman added the school has a range of attendance strategies through the implementation of their Remote School Attendance Strategy including picking up kids for school, staff undertaking home visits, rewards for student attendance, their Family Champions initiative, teaching Wik Mungkan Language. and engagement with the Families Responsibilites Commission.

He said there were a range of additional safety measures in place for staff at Aurukun State School including that they have secure, purpose built housing, security guards on site at the staff accommodation facility, and ongoing access to regional office staff.

The Queensland Teachers Union said it believed the issues were the “result of teaching shortages” with “many of the schools in the Far North feeling the effects of staffing pressures”.

Aurukun is an indigenous community in remote Far North Queensland, 10 hours north-west of Cairns. Its population is about 1200 people.

Originally published as ‘Close it down’: Machetes, iron bars, pickets, threats of sexual violence at Aurukun State School