11 September 2012

Critical incidents at ACT Schools

| johnboy
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Someone has FOI’d “Critical Incidents at ACT Schools“.

So for fun I thought I’d tally them up:

    Lake Ginninderra 5

    Kaleen High 4

    Lanyon High 3

    Gungahlin College 2
    Hawker College 2
    Melrose High 2
    Telopea Park 2

    Ainslie Primary 1
    Alfred Deakin High 1
    Arawang Primary 1
    Campbell High 1
    Canberra High 1
    Caroline Chisholm 1
    Dickson College 1
    Forrest Primary 1
    Florey Primary 1
    Gilmore Primary 1
    Gordon Primary 1
    Kingsford Smith 1
    Lyneham High 1
    Macgregor Primary 1
    Macquarie Primary 1
    Malkara 1
    Melba Copland 1
    Mount Rogers Primary 1
    Ngunnawal Primary 1
    Wanniassa 1
    Weetangera Primary 1

Intriguing that Number 1 and 2 are operating under the auspices of the University of Canberra.

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It would’ve made much more sense to do a tally by ‘type of incident’. Some of these critical incidents were medical emergencies or suspicious strangers hanging around the school. Some were students from other non-specified schools entering and starting trouble.

My daughter is in a primary school class with a kid that apparently has an ADHD diagnosis. First year and a bit at this school they regularly had to evacuate the other kids from his classroom because he was going berserk. There was at least one incident where he was running around threatening kids and teachers with scissors. Then they finally managed to get him an assistant this year and the issues stopped. And he turns out to be a lovely kid, my daughter gets on well with him.

It’s all good and well for the public school haters to claim that these type of incidents only happen in public schools, but I do often wonder how many of the private schools take on kids like that and spend the resources on managing their behaviour so they can function in a school environment and get the education they deserve.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd11:34 am 12 Sep 12

Gerry-Built said :

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Just remember this list should be huge. Most incidents are not reported.

Really? Your proof/evidence?

Staff are required to report all critical incidents; this is a legal obligation – with penalties for failing to do so… but by all means go ahead an explain where staff are failing to report critical incidents…

Im sorry but its against the law for me to reveal my sources but there are a lot of incidents that are not on that list.

I went to a private school and saw nothing but politeness, tolerance and joy.

Looking at the list, at least 1/2 of the incidents seem to involve external parties, particularly at the primary schools, and not students – eg Florey Primary where the incident arose from two armed men running across the oval after robbing the Florey Shops. Hardly anything to blame the school about.

Oh My… My daughter’s schools no even on there.. Cool.

steveu said :

I think you are drawing some conclusions that all these incidents are males. I see nothing in the document that indicates that.

On a side note, DV incidents (in NSW anyway) involving females is up 36%. Pretty significant figure. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-11/alarming-rise-in-young-people-charged-over-domestic-violence/4254850

Ah yes, my last ex girlfriend wasn’t afraid to get bit ‘hands-on’ if things weren’t going her way :p But I’d be willing to be that 90% (if not all of) the increase is due to increased willingness to report females for DV and an increased willingness in the police to take such matters seriously. It can be hard as a boy because you’re only really taught never to abuse a woman yourself, and not how to avoid becoming a victim yourself.

But it can and does happen, and if you’re aware of any incidents of DV, male or female, you should report it. And don’t make the mistake of thinking a woman can’t cause some serious damage to a man, especially if he isn’t willing to fight back.

bundah said :

Really? Well i attended Narrabundah High and let me tell ya there were many violent incidents in the 70’s including a teacher being electrocuted and taken to hospital after some bright spark wired up a door handle on muck-up day!

I don’t remember much to worry about in primary school, but at (various) high schools in the early nineties I saw plenty of student behaviour which would probably trigger a critical indecent. Large all in brawls, fights involving weapons, kids going nut and throwing chairs ’round….

I wonder if these rules would have come in many years ago had people been filming them on their phones back in the day?

bubzie said :

How_Canberran said :

My memory must be escaping me!

I fail to recall even one ‘critical incident’ in my primary and high school years back in the 60’s and 70’s.
How I would have loved a ‘lock-down’ just to escape the rote boredom of reading, writing and arithmetic.

How Canberran

Same! And i finished school…4 years ago. How times have clearly changed.

The amount of student violence at primary schools seems disturbing. Kids these days..

Really? Well i attended Narrabundah High and let me tell ya there were many violent incidents in the 70’s including a teacher being electrocuted and taken to hospital after some bright spark wired up a door handle on muck-up day!

alllenthough said :

Most of these will just be scum bag ice-using wannabe dads ( I use that term lightly) going to the office and harassing the office staff. The are all wind but the fear of any bad publicity means DET staff like janitors, male staff or real dads cannot remove the filth themselves and the female staff only give positive affirming positive comments in a soothing tone to upset people

I think you are drawing some conclusions that all these incidents are males. I see nothing in the document that indicates that.

On a side note, DV incidents (in NSW anyway) involving females is up 36%. Pretty significant figure. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-11/alarming-rise-in-young-people-charged-over-domestic-violence/4254850

2CC’s Mike Welsh nearly made Chris Bourke the minister for education cry on a radio interview.

How is this bloke running the system. Obviously he isn’t and sits in his office with his snout in the trough collecting a fat pay check paid by you and me.

Antagonist said :

“Intriguing that Number 1 and 2 are operating under the auspices of the University of Canberra.”

I am a former student of 1 and 2, and a ‘mature’ student at UC. At least I have never lived in Charnie!

Same here! I was under the impression that No. 2 was a ‘good’ school these days, but it seems some traditions live on. 😉

Three of my kids have gone through a northside primary over the last 10 years, and at various times they’ve come home and told me about kids going berserk in class or in the playground and attacking teachers or other kids with weapons such as sticks or classroom implements.

My wife visited another northside school to check it out for another of our kids, and she was coralled in reception while the teachers tried to deal with a kid with “issues” that involved him running around and flailing at people with a fence paling.

One of my boys was manhandled in primary school by an addled junkie parent who mistook him for some other kid. Luckily a friend who is a “peace officer”, as they say in America, arrived and restored the peace before I arrived.

Given my experiences, I’m surprised at the low numbers of these incidents.

bubzie said :

How_Canberran said :

I fail to recall even one ‘critical incident’ in my primary and high school years back in the 60’s and 70’s.

Same! And i finished school…4 years ago. How times have clearly changed.

“Critical Incident” is a relatively recent arrival to the School repertoire – as is the Lockdown. Have a look through the list – I highly doubt there are more than a couple of stand out events that you might describe as having “never happened before”… Most appear to have been precautionary reactions, rather than significant safety threats…

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

Just remember this list should be huge. Most incidents are not reported.

Really? Your proof/evidence?

Staff are required to report all critical incidents; this is a legal obligation – with penalties for failing to do so… but by all means go ahead an explain where staff are failing to report critical incidents…

How_Canberran said :

My memory must be escaping me!

I fail to recall even one ‘critical incident’ in my primary and high school years back in the 60’s and 70’s.
How I would have loved a ‘lock-down’ just to escape the rote boredom of reading, writing and arithmetic.

How Canberran

Same! And i finished school…4 years ago. How times have clearly changed.

The amount of student violence at primary schools seems disturbing. Kids these days..

alllenthough7:51 pm 11 Sep 12

Most of these will just be scum bag ice-using wannabe dads ( I use that term lightly) going to the office and harassing the office staff. The are all wind but the fear of any bad publicity means DET staff like janitors, male staff or real dads cannot remove the filth themselves and the female staff only give positive affirming positive comments in a soothing tone to upset people

How_Canberran7:25 pm 11 Sep 12

My memory must be escaping me!

I fail to recall even one ‘critical incident’ in my primary and high school years back in the 60’s and 70’s.
How I would have loved a ‘lock-down’ just to escape the rote boredom of reading, writing and arithmetic.

How Canberran

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

Intriguing that Number 1 and 2 are operating under the auspices of the University of Canberra.

Just need to build a Centrelink office and a TAB on campus and students can complete their circle of life without having to leave their tattooed postcode.

And a funeral director who will bury them in a white Commodore…

“Intriguing that Number 1 and 2 are operating under the auspices of the University of Canberra.”

I am a former student of 1 and 2, and a ‘mature’ student at UC. At least I have never lived in Charnie!

Woody Mann-Caruso6:09 pm 11 Sep 12

Intriguing that Number 1 and 2 are operating under the auspices of the University of Canberra.

Just need to build a Centrelink office and a TAB on campus and students can complete their circle of life without having to leave their tattooed postcode.

I’m not sure tallying them up is very fair – all sorts of factors involved including some of the special programs certain schools offer, and the fact teachers have no option but to call a lockdown and phone the police. It is still a sad reflection overall though.

bundah said :

Hardly surprising that the majority of so called incidents were violent confrontations between students and in some cases students and teachers.Obviously not much has changed over the decades as there was always the odd ‘blue’ at school which in some cases involved an audience of literally hundreds.

The odd blue perhaps, but from personal observation, it’s now the norm not the exception in some schools. The top three on the list are not at all a surprise, and I would suggest the fencing around at least one of those schools is as much to keep the kids in as to keep intruders out, given the students propensity to wander to the shops for fight club, requiring that teachers literally ring the school to catch sometimes dozens of students.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd4:45 pm 11 Sep 12

Just remember this list should be huge. Most incidents are not reported.

Hardly surprising that the majority of so called incidents were violent confrontations between students and in some cases students and teachers.Obviously not much has changed over the decades as there was always the odd ‘blue’ at school which in some cases involved an audience of literally hundreds.

How many at Lake G were students falling in the lake, or tripping in the skate park, after spending a double English in the beer garden at Sails The Lighthouse?

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