Parents of children involved in a serious incident on the grounds of a school in Far North Queensland say they have sent their children thousands of kilometres south to attend school in Brisbane where they feel safe.
The incident occurred in early March, with chaos, including alleged physical assaults, erupting on school grounds.
A young person involved in the incident was escorted to hospital in an ambulance and continues to seek medical care.
Community members claim the remote school failed in its duty of care.
After a month-long investigation conducted by Education Queensland, the department reported to parents that it found the school had “acted appropriately in response to the incident and in its overall approach to managing student discipline”.
But parents of a child injured in the incident disagree and say they’re pursuing legal action.
Since the incident, the child is having trouble sleeping and is losing hair, said her mother, who told NITV she is "disgusted" with the outcome of the school inquiry.
“All it showed us that is that it was nothing more than a self-serving investigation,” she said.
“If anything, the investigation outcome has made us more determined to hold Queensland Education and [the school] absolutely accountable for their failure to uphold their non-delegable duty of care.”
Calls to close the school
Over 1600 people have since signed a petition calling for the Far North school to be closed.
Community members say issues at that the school have been ongoing for years.
The mother says she’d been to the school office the previous day to express her concerns about escalating bullying.
She said she’d been asking the school for mediation in the months prior to the incident at the school.
“They have lockers at school that the children are supposed to be putting their phones in at the start of the day,” she said.
“But, we don't feel comfortable with that. We [got] our child to carry their phone because they ring us every day about the bullying.”
The mother said after multiple calls from her child on the day of the incident, she asked them to talk directly to the Head of Campus about what was happening.
"My child said, ‘Mum, she come outside and she told us to go back to class, and then she locked the (office) doors.'"
Concerned, the mother said she decided to go to the school and see what was happening herself, stopping only to pick up her own mother – the child’s grandmother – for support.
She said on the way to the school she felt uneasy and decided to call the police.
She was shocked at what she would find.
“I turned to go into the office and I see my child, covered in blood, bleeding from their head,” she alleged.
“They had blood all over their uniform, one of the shorts on their leg, and a student cleaning them up.”
The grandmother, who was with the mother at the school, said it was something a parent should never have to witness.
“When I got out to the ambulance, all these kids were coming up to me,” she said.
“One kid come up to me and said, ‘[Are they] going to die? I don't want them to die!’
“I'm consoling these kids and other kids standing outside the ambulance next to me and apologising to us for not being able to protect [my grandchild].
“All these kids walked behind the ambulance, crying like they're walking behind a hearse.
“I'm down at the hospital and I'm ringing up parents of the kids that I have phone numbers of and letting them know your child's here with me.”
Shortly after the incident, videos taken by those who were there emerged on social media, going viral.
Videos seen by NITV show a group of people throwing punches at a young person. Eventually the young person collapses.
A second video shows a person huddled on the ground, covering their head with their hands as a group of people appear to throw an object at them and kick them in the head.
Ongoing consequences
Six people aged 15 to 16 years old were charged over the incident and police have confirmed to NITV that four of the six will appear in Childrens Court on May 13.
Others have been dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act, police confirmed.
Queensland Police Service says young people are facing court over the incident. Credit: Facebook, QPS.
She said sending the children south for schooling was a difficult decision.
“They’re Traditional Owners here, [my family] had to leave their own Country to feel safe.
“We are missing them terribly, but we know it’s for the best.
“They rang us the evening of the first day of school to tell us; 'Guess what? There was no fighting, it was so quiet in class today.'
“That's pretty sad – it shows us that that's the kind of environment they have been conditioned to (the fighting and yelling and noisy classes).
“At the same time, we are glad they are "finally" experiencing a safe education."
