8 December, 2015. 13:45
ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
THE PRINCIPAL OF A prominent Sydney private school has revealed today that she’s relieved that the current media circus surrounding her high school has nothing to do with sex.
Earlier this week, Epoch Comprehensive School, in the harbour city’s far-eastern suburbs, was put under the microscope after a promising young student was forced to leave the school. It was revealed later that the boy in question was ridiculed mercilessly for being dropped off at school in his grandmother’s Hyundai Excel. His parents went to the media after a protracted battle with the school, who failed to punish the bullies.
According to Epoch Head of High School, Wanda Clarkenwall, when the journalists first started calling her office, she thought the worst.
“We’re not a Catholic school, so I didn’t immediately think it was that,” said Ms Clarkenwell. “We’ve swept that type of ghastly business under the rug before anybody finds out. The school board keeps money aside for those things,”
“But this was something we couldn’t just make go away.”
The story has since gone viral, with people around the world throwing their support behind the embattled pupil, who’s since changed schools. All the while, Epoch has gone in to damage control.
“At the moment, we’re just trying to rebuild our image,” said Clarkenwell. “Parents spend a lot of money to send their children to schools like this. The illusion of absolute perfection is what we use to justify our fees.”
According to more than one Abbott Government study, public school students almost always end up working for children who were privately educated. However, the reports also revealed that it’s much more difficult for non-government students to make the transition from private school pupils to regular people.
