‘Nasty’ culture blamed for closure of St Charles Borromeo School in Templestowe

Former parents and staff at a Catholic primary school in Melbourne’s northeast left with only four pupils say leadership tensions and a “nasty” culture contributed to families leaving, leading to its closure.

A former parent says ‘staff, students, and parents have all suffered and been left damaged’ by the culture at St Charles Borromeo school. Picture: Supplied

Devastated former parents and staff at a Catholic primary school left with only four pupils say leadership tensions and a “nasty” culture contributed to the exodus of families.

The Herald Sun has been contacted by several sources in the St Charles Borromeo community after the school’s sudden closure at the end of last week.

The school’s parish priest and the body that runs it, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS), attributed the decline to demographic shifts in the area.

But former staff and parents say the school’s change in culture rather than a drop in local Catholic families was to blame for student numbers dropping from 221 five years ago to only four by last week.

One former staff member from the Templestowe school said leadership changes in 2020 led to nine staff leaving that year and then seven the following year.

“This was nothing to do with demographics,” she said. “People came to our little school because they wanted additional help with mental health and wellbeing and that’s what they got. But that changed from 2020 when there was a shift to a much more authoritarian approach”.

“It was nasty and bullying to parents and staff.”

“It is heartbreaking. Even families with students in upper grades didn’t send their preppies, as the school was not what it used to be.”

St Charles Borromeo made the decision to close after student numbers plunged. Picture: Supplied

A former parent said “staff, students, and parents have all suffered and been left damaged, and what was allowed to happen was nothing short of appalling on every level.”

The parent said the high number of staff leaving changed the school.

“As staff started to leave the school, so too did families. Parents could see the damage that was being done,” she said.

“And so they withdrew their children from St. Charles, and moved them to other schools in the area, one of which is Our Lady of The Pines in Donvale”.

Our Lady of the Pines now has 380 students — 80 more than in 2019.

Other local schools, including Serpell Primary and Templestowe Park Primary also received St Charles Borromeo students.

“It was a snowball effect - students left, then more students left and so on,” the parent said.

The parent said they did not receive help from the body that runs the school, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS), despite repeated requests.

“They just buried their heads in the sand and wouldn’t own the problem and as each week rolled by, student numbers declined further.”

The parent said senior staff should have been replaced “when it became clear that staff and students were leaving in large numbers and that parents were extremely dissatisfied”.

MACS has been contacted but declined to comment on staffing matters.

Originally published as ‘Nasty’ culture blamed for closure of St Charles Borromeo School in Templestowe