Education Minister Jason Clare has criticised the failure of a prestigious girls school in Brisbane, after a leaked internal document showed teachers had commented on the appearance, behaviour and personalities of children.
Year 11 students at Somerville House, a 126-year-old boarding and day school in South Brisbane, stumbled upon a spreadsheet and found teachers had made notes about them.
Parents were then asked to think of the teachers, with students blamed for sharing the document.
Exams have been pushed back a day while the school investigates.
Clare said the school has failed in this instance.
“They’ve failed the students, and they’ve failed the parents of the kids who go to that school,” he told Weekend Today.
“Schools have got to collect information, but they’ve got to do it in a secure way, and they’ve also got to do it in a professional way.
“And I don’t those things has happened here.”
Somerville House principal Dr Sandra Hastie said students were being offered counselling and apologised for the “distress and hurt” caused.
“We recently experienced an incident whereby some students accessed some notes about themselves and their peers.
“We sincerely apologise for the distress and hurt many within the school community are experiencing. We are very disappointed by what has happened, as the nature of some of these comments fall short of our standards and values.
“As soon as we were made aware of this incident, we worked with external experts to help us investigate what has happened.”
Hastie said the school’s investigation was ongoing.
“We are taking this situation very seriously and student wellbeing is our priority,” she said.
“We have communicated with our school community and made counselling and pastoral care services available to them. We have also opened our Employee Assistance Program to students and families to ensure they have access to support.
“We are committed to adhering to our legal obligations and we have notified the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).”
Somerville House was established in 1899 and is a prep to year 12 girls school taking day and boarding students.
Fees start at $23,000 to more than $30,000 a year.
