Victoria was on playground duty at $45k-a-year Marist Ashgrove College when she alleges ‘300 boys surrounded her – and what happened next left her with a psychiatric injury’
A drama teacher alleges she was rounded upon by as many as 300 private schoolboys who ‘pelted’ her with lunch and drink bottles while she was on playground duty.
Victoria Sparrow, 37, has filed a lawsuit claiming that she was ambushed and attacked at Marist College in Ashgrove, Brisbane‘s northern suburbs, three years ago.
A court has heard Ms Sparrow’s claims that some 200 to 300 male students surrounded her, began chanting and throwing food and drink, some of which hit her.
The incident was so traumatising she suffered ‘serious psychiatric injury’, according to her claim against the exclusive Catholic day and boarding school’s governing body, Marist Schools Australia Pty Ltd.
Ms Sparrow says the pelting incident was an ‘act of assault’ arising from the school’s failure to maintain discipline and ensure teachers on playground duty were in a safe environment.
Ms Sparrow – who was highly regarded at her previous employer, St Stanislaus College boys’ school in Bathurst – also alleges that the college allowed a ‘culture of misogyny to develop and exist’.
Ms Sparrow’s barrister, Gerard Forde, submitted in court on Monday that at least three female staff at the school had made complaints about their treatment there.
A different female teacher claimed she had been ‘humiliated’ by ‘numerous gross and offensive … sexist and demeaning’ comments by boys during a 2020 class via Zoom amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Forde has filed an application to obtain documents, including file notes, from school meetings.
Madonna Spillane, a former long-time Marist staffer, who departed the school two years ago after 24 years of service, has filed an affidavit in the case.
Ms Spillane claims principal Michael Newman made those notes.
Ms Spillane left amid a staff exodus of 100 highly-experienced teachers, department heads, and leadership figures in just one year.
Bethany Halpin, the school’s Director of Public Relations, issued a statement to the Daily Mail saying that ‘at the time this incident occurred three years ago … the college reached out to all the parents’.
‘The matter was dealt with under our Student Behaviour Management Policy,’ the statement said.
‘Marist College Ashgrove is firmly committed to fostering a culture of respect, inclusion and accountability.
‘Our comprehensive Student Welfare program … ensures we develop well rounded young men who have respect for the personal dignity of all.’
The Sparrow v Marist Schools Australia case returns to court in Brisbane on Friday before Justice Patrick McCafferty for a directions hearing.
Marist Schools is the governing body of 12 schools across Australia. Ashgrove alumni include former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who was a boarder.
Tuition fees for Years 11 and 12 are $18,710 per year, and full boarding is $26,370 per year.
