Bullying not accepted culture: Taieri College

While denying there is a culture of bullying at Taieri College, the chairman of the school's board of trustees chairman is concerned about pupil safety and has pledged to investigate the alleged assault of a pupil at the school on Tuesday.

A Mosgiel parent expressed concern yesterday about the safety of her 15-year-old son, who has been the victim of continued text bullying and physical assaults in the past year, despite Taieri College's best efforts to stop it.

His mother said he was badly beaten on school grounds on Tuesday and was concussed.

Board chairman Shane Boyle said he was unaware of any complaints about the incident but he was concerned.

"As a parent, I can say we are all concerned about our child's safety at school. We do sympathise with the parent and child concerned. We deplore bullying."

Mr Boyle planned to investigate the Tuesday incident at the school and he encouraged the parent to contact him.

"If you have a complaint about the school's handling of a problem, you should go to the board. We're a large school and if incidents are not reported, then we can't deal with them."

The parent said she was not aware it was an official option, but had planned to contact the board because she was not happy with the results of complaints to the school.

Mr Boyle said the situation sounded serious, and if a pupil was found guilty of the assault, they would be disciplined.

"We don't agree that bullying is an accepted culture at the school. When there are serious matters of discipline, pupils can be stood down or suspended."

 

 

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement