If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
–Shakespere
We never intended to raise these issues publicly, but because the Education Department failed to even interview us in their sham investigation, we reluctantly do so.
This dog was kicked so hard by students that it died shortly after this photo was taken. Animal abuse on school grounds by school students during school hours, was common. A DET executive ordered us not to discuss the issue of dogs on school grounds for cultural reasons.
‘Floyd:’ a symbol of remote education at the dawn of the 21st century. This animal endangered student safety while our concerns were ignored by DET despite making them aware of the situation in writing. Of equal concern, the animal was physically abused by students on a daily basis. Question: Would the serial abuse of an animal on school grounds by groups of students during school hours—punching, slapping, poking it with sticks, hitting it with stones, broken glass, clubbing it with bottles, ramming it with garbage bins--be allowed at an urban school? On one occasion, a student walked up to the donkey and shoved a thumbtack into its nose, slapped it and ran off. On another occasion, a student took a sharp knife, slashing the donkey’s leg resulting in considerable bleeding. A young girl from Upper Primary even grabbed the donkey’s penis using her hand which was underneath her shirt and tried to push it into its anus as several students stood around urging her on. I am not raising this issue to simply complain – I was the one who was gotten rid of and deemed to have had behavioural management issues without being told for the first 8 months, without producing any written evidence, and without a single specific example after having over a year to do so.
Dangerous amusement: during recess students attack Floyd, then race off as he chases them around school grounds. Despite pleas to remove the animal or dispense consequences for abusing it, this sad behaviour was allowed to continue. When DET failed to act, even after 'Floyd' attacked a parent on school grounds, we filed a police report ourselves. The officer was so concerned that he threatened to have the animal shot. DET will now tell you that they have developed a new animal control policy at schools. Great – so if DET is now serious about this, why were our pleas ignored until we were forced to finally do something before someone was killed? As teachers, student safety is our number one priority – not to mention the welfare of this poor animal.
Below– student races off after stabbing Floyd with a sharp stick.
An unhygienic, everyday occurrence: dogs stand in the water troughs, licking and on at least one occasion, defecating in the bubblers.
Below: A common sight -- students exposed to a sexually aroused ‘Floyd’ at school. On one occasion, Floyd was sexually abused by a young female student as a group of students urged her on.
Alekarange School Resource room in week 3. Need I say more?
Students dig holes under the school foundation crawl space and hide from teachers – a concern given that asbestos is buried under the soil.
Upper Primary students climbing on the roof of a building adjacent to the school. Climbing on the school roof was an ongoing concern.
Photo Gallery of Our School
