Report Reveals School Failures | Sunday Herald-Sun

STUDENTS SAY IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT MOUNT SCOPUS IT WOULD BE….

“Get better security so the bullies who bullied me will get caught”

“Prioritise student wellbeing above academic excellence”

“The lack of punishment for bullies and racist or sexist jokes”

“Plz made more rights for lgbtq ppl (people) at Mount Scopus”

“Male Hebrew teachers – they are creepy …”

“Toxic, competitive culture”

“Implement a compulsory consent and respect program”

Source: Child Wise report 2022

REPORT REVEALS SCHOOL FAILURES

May 28, 2023 | Sunday Herald Sun

Susie O’Brien
Suzan Delibasic

EXCLUSIVE A leading Melbourne private school ignored red flags about a senior staff member who engaged popular girls in “highly sexualised communication”, a secret report has revealed.

Sunday Herald Sun can reveal the full findings of the damning review into the culture at Mount Scopus Memorial College.

The report reveals a “lack of appropriate response by leaders to serious complaints and allegations” regarding child safety over several years.

Staff who raised child-safe concerns faced “retribution” as the school “acted to address the wellbeing and reputation of the accused staff members, over the wellbeing of students making allegations,” it states.

Students and past students reporting abuse were offered meetings “with the male principal only, meetings were held with doors closed, no formal detailed record of meetings were made”, the report states.

Girls were also asked if they wanted to “confess” anything in relation to a staff member who groomed them.

The report also details homophobia towards LGBTIQ+ students, favouritism towards top-performing students, peer-to-peer bullying and teachers talking in “degrading” terms about students.

The report by Child Wise was commissioned in February 2022 following the sacking of the long-serving director of studies Jared Alford amid findings of serious sexual ­misconduct.

The report states Mr Alford “groomed an entire school community, including staff and leadership … and worked his way into positions of trust and authority in the school”.

“Concurrently observations were made about inappropriate contact with certain ‘favoured’ students, including highly sexualised communication,” it states.

Mr Alford was facing allegations of misconduct from at least 10 women when he left the Burwood college in late November 2021.

The report said Mr Alford used the informal Jewish Life program to “expose children to harm and ongoing risk”, particularly “high achievers” and “popular girls”.

The school’s treatment of complainants was slammed in the report for being “not trauma-informed and not aligned with best practices”. Rather than tell the school community about the allegations, the school breached child safety practices by telling students Mr Alford was ill and “should be written to with well wishes”.

Mr Alford was also “invited to an end-of-year gathering and a farewell speech was given … where his contribution was celebrated” in a further breach of good practice.

Last year, Rabbi Kennard released the review’s 49 recommendations for strengthening child safety at the school. He committed to implementing them, but he did not release the full report.

A former Mount Scopus student who graduated in 2021 told the Sunday Herald Sun the findings in the report illustrated the school’s “toxic” culture. “It’s obvious why they wanted to keep this damning report a secret,” he said. “I’m still traumatised by my experience at the school, I was bullied constantly. When I made the complaint to my school leaders, they told me to basically ‘toughen up’.”

Another former student, who offered support to women making reports to the school about Mr Alford, said: “I also agree with the findings in the Child Wise report because for years the faculty has not been properly trained to deal with issues such as sexual misconduct.”

Voice Against Child Sexual Abuse director Phillip Weinberg said the Child Wise report was consistent with the accounts of Mt Scopus victims and survivors who bravely shared their experiences with his organisation.

Rabbi Kennard will retire at the end of 2023. He was contacted for comment.

Mount Scopus continues to ignore the needs of its LGBTQ students

Posted on Facebook by Daniel Baker on August 20, 2013 and reproduced with permission:

Mount Scopus continues to ignore the needs of its LGBTQ students. Here is my most recent letter to the Principal and the head of the Board:

Dear Rabbi Kennard and Ms Kennett,

Thank you for your email dated August 12.

I must say that I am disappointed with your response. My emails dated 24 June and 25 July were responses to and questions on Rabbi Kennard’s letter dated 18 February, and it seems disingenuous to suggest that that letter could somehow provide the answers to the very comments and questions it raised. I have explained in a number of emails why Rabbi Kennard’s response was insufficient and, in some cases, erroneous – for instance, in its comparison of homosexuality to Shabbat violation. The school’s refusal to respond to these concerns raises serious questions about its commitment to equality and student well-being.

Additionally, and beyond the immediate issue of same-sex attracted students, I must say that your response raises concerns about the way the School treats concerned stake-holders. When I began calling on Mount Scopus to join the SSCV, and when my campaign was gaining significant public attention, Rabbi Kennard urged me to keep this matter private. He promised a constructive and meaningful dialogue in the interests of protecting the safety and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer students. While I appreciated his letter dated 18 February, I do not think that a single letter followed by continued refusals to engage further constitutes real dialogue. To the contrary, it seems to reflect a lack of good faith on the part of the Principal.

As I have acknowledged on numerous occasions, it is of course the prerogative of the Principal and the Board to determine the school’s direction. What I seek is not an immediate policy change along the lines I have suggested, but a considered response to the 5 key points I raised in my email of 25 July. Those points are directly raised by Rabbi Kennard’s letter of 18 February, and the School’s claim to care about its same-sex attracted students cannot be taken seriously until they have been addressed.

I note that according to your email the correspondence between me and Rabbi Kennard was addressed at a recent meeting of the Board. Are you willing to make the notes of this meeting available to the public?

I look forward to your response.


Comment by Jonathan Barnett on letter by Daniel Baker

 

Orthodox Rabbis Split on Anti-Gay Bullying Law in Canadian City of Winnepeg | Forward.com

Orthodox Rabbis Split on Anti-Gay Bullying Law in Canadian City of Winnepeg | Forward.com.

Media Release: Over 100 Schools have joined Safe Schools Coalition Victoria!

Safe Schools Coalition Victoria

Media Release                                                
For immediate distribution – please on forward
Monday 16th April 2013

Over 100 Schools have joined Safe Schools Coalition Victoria!

Safe Schools Coalition Victoria have welcomed their 100 and 101st new member schools this month. Glen Eira College and Elwood College joined on the same day to push the membership into 3 figures! The news was greeted with cheers from over 400 young people when it was announced at the Same Sex Formal on Saturday night (April 6th). The highly popular event, organised by Minus18 in partnership with Safe Schools Coalition Victoria aimed to create a safe, supportive and celebratory space for same sex attracted young people and their friends, whilst also raising awareness of inclusion at school formals more generally.

Since launching in October 2010, support for the coalition has continued to increase throughout the state. The program has delivered professional learning sessions with over 2,500 school staff across Victoria, and reached thousands of students through school based projects and partnerships. It has also distributed thousands of information booklets, posters, and stickers to school staff and students.

Safe Schools Coalition Victoria is funded by the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Department of Health. Based at Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria at La Trobe University, research is used to make sure that training and resources are high quality and relevant to the broader education framework.

The coalition aims to create school environments ‘where every family can belong, where every teacher can teach and every student can learn’. Government schools in Victoria have a positive duty to support sexual diversity, and ensure that there is no homophobic or transphobic bullying or discrimination.

Roz Ward, co-founder and co-ordinator of the coalition said;

“It is very exciting to welcome our 100th school to the coalition. When we launched back in 2010 nobody quite knew just how popular the coalition would become.

We have received so much positive feedback; we just know this is making a difference to students all across Victoria, and in all different kinds of schools.

The cheers from students at the same sex formal to this news, just shows how important this initiative has been in giving young people the confidence to just  be themselves. We want everyone at school to feel like they belong, and whatever their gender or sexuality, they are valued as part of the community”

— Ends —

Roz Ward, Coordinator of Safe Schools Coalition Victoria is available for interview.

T: 03 9285 5131 | M: 0450 319952 | E: r.ward@latrobe.edu.au

CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE: www.sscv.org.au

Roz Ward
Youth Programs, Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society
La Trobe University, 215 Franklin Street, Melbourne 3000
T:03 9285 5131 F:03 9285 5220
E: r.ward@latrobe.edu.au

Safe Schools Coalition Victoria

Bialik College joins Safe Schools Coalition Victoria

MEDIA RELEASE
March 1 2013

ALEPH MELBOURNE CONGRATULATES BIALIK COLLEGE
ON JOINING SAFE SCHOOLS COALITION VICTORIA

Aleph Melbourne congratulates Bialik College on joining Safe Schools Coalition Victoria today.  Bialik College is now the third Jewish day school in Victoria to join SSCV, following in the footsteps of long-standing member King David School and the more recent addition of Sholem Aleichem College.

Aleph Melbourne co-convenor Michael Barnett said “Bialik College has shown true leadership in joining Safe Schools Coalition Victoria today.  It is a sign of commitment and maturity by the school that it places the welfare of its students foremost.  As a former student of Bialik College who struggled deeply with my sexuality during my high school years, I am confident my academic and social experience would have benefited by this type of initiative.”

Aleph Melbourne calls on all remaining Jewish day and after-hours schools to follow the leadership set by King David School, Bialik College and Sholem Aleichem College and similarly join SSCV.  The health and well-being of the community’s children must not be sacrificed, especially during some of the most critical years of their lives.

Suicide and self-harm have been demonstrated to be a serious problem amongst same-sex attracted youth when they are not accepted and affirmed unconditionally, with elevated level of risk to the norm.  The sooner all schools mitigate this risk by adopting “best practices” in regards to acceptance of diversity in sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status the better off the community will be.

CONTACTS:
Aleph Melbourne: Michael Barnett / 0417-595-541 / michael@aleph.org.au
Safe Schools Coalition Victoria: Roz Ward / 03-9285-5131 / r.ward@latrobe.edu.au

Petition | Mount Scopus Memorial College: Become a member of the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria. | Change.org

Petition | Mount Scopus Memorial College: Become a member of the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria. | Change.org.


Comments posted on the petition, current as at 13:30 Jul 15 2013:

  • Bryce Kenny MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

    As a gay student I felt as though my school was not a place I could be comfortable at, the issues surrounding sexual identity were ignored unless from an academic, religious perspective which was far from inviting.. I love the school and the community and that’s why I want it to be as positive of an influence on the life of each student and the community as it possibly can be

  • Lillian Poe WEED, CA

    It is done by men who do not respect women and change needs to happen.

  • Ena Burstin MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

    Because when I was a young lesbian, Mt Scopus was so unsafe for me…I don’t want any young people to experience the fear and loathing I did. Please make this school safe, respectful and welcoming.

  • Tayla Rabie AUSTRALIA

    Many gay friends and family members, they deserve to be happy too.

  • Mike Samuel AUSTRALIA

    A safe environment is imperative for the wellbeing and mental health of GLBTIQ youth. Mount Scopus should join SSCV and lead the community in ensuring the safety of their charges.

  • Josh Steiner AUSTRALIA

    Because everyone should feel secure

  • Vivien Ray NORTHCOTE, AUSTRALIA

    As a counsellor, I see young people who tell me it is not safe to ‘come out’ at school. Help make them feel safe and accepted at school.

  • Gina Saben AUSTRALIA

    I would hate to not feel safe to be myself within our school walls.

  • Zoë Kay AUSTRALIA

    If I have rights to walk through school being who I am, people who like the same sex shouldn’t find life any different.

  • Brandon Zielinski MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

    Everyone should be allowed to love who they fall in love with. It doesn’t matter if it is a guy and a girl, a boy and a boy or a girl and a girl. Love is love, and that’s all that matters.

  • yonit chait DONCASTER, AUSTRALIA

    Because everyone has and deserves rights no matter who they love and what they believe.

  • Everyone deserves to love.

  • jade bresler AUSTRALIA

    BECAUSE HOMOPHOBIA FUCKIN SUCKS

  • Guy Hipsher AUSTRALIA

    I want my school to be a Safe school

  • Dahlia Goldberg AUSTRALIA

    because everyone on this earth has the right to love.

  • Roy Freeman SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

    SSCV is a great initiative; it educates children about subjects that would otherwise remain taboo in some communities and it makes schools safer for same-sex attracted and gender-diverse kids. The earlier kids are taught about this stuff, the more likely they are to grow up open-minded.

  • Montana Sharp AUSTRALIA

    Here’s the thing..

    I used to be indifferent. I used to not care about homosexuality and the phrases ”that’s so gay” and ”faggot” used to fly right out of my mouth. I was uneducated. Sure my aunty whom I hadn’t seen in years was gay, as was my second cousin, but I never really felt an emotional stigma to fight for rights to a concept I had no idea about.

    In 2011, I became very close friends with a very quirky and intelligent guy whom I suspected was gay, not that at the time I really cared, as I said before I was incredibly indifferent. However, once you start to love and trust someone, and recognise that your carelessness is probably keeping them from trusting you, you know changes have to be made. I think education is important not just for those who are rabid homophobics, but for those who have no stance, like I once had. What most of these indifferent individuals need to recognise is that those seemingly harmless everyday words and phrases that we just throw around for the sake of fitting into the mainstream vernacular could be hurting anyone. You could be hurting your sister, your brother, your teacher, your peers, or even your best friend. The removal of the subtle undercurrent of homophobia that is ever-present in Mount Scopus is absolutely essential to the mental and physical wellbeing of the students of the present, and of the future. Let’s fix ignorance.

  • Ben Janover AUSTRALIA

    Scopus should show its adhernence of the ethos of having a safe and welcoming learning environment for ALL – including students and staff. Being a current student at school here, I believe that the lid must be opened on this issue.

  • Marco Fink MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

    To promote equality and support for all students of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

  • David Donaldson AUSTRALIA

    Because school is hard enough without having to worry about being queer or trans.

  • Mark Baker MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

    I think the issue goes beyond creating a safe environment; it’s about communicating a message to all students that gays are an equal part of the Jewish covenant, and therefore carry the same responsibility to build authentic Jewish lives and homes. This affirmative message is as important for Scopus, as for a synagogue community.

  • Ralph Burd CAULFIELD NORTH, AUSTRALIA

    Everyone deserves to feel safe and be able to have a voice

  • Jennifer Lee AUSTRALIA

    Every child and adult has the right to feel safe and welcomed within their community and its institutions – creating and maintaining the dialogue is key.

  • Jonathan Danilowitz TEL AVIV, ISRAEL

    To savethe lives of distressed youth under extreme pressure. To reunite families split apart

  • Linda Joseph RESTON, VA

    I am a former student of Mt Scopus. My work as a rabbi brings me into contact with many folk from the GLBTQ community. Many of whom have gifted wonderful talents to Jewish life and continuity. If all of us are created B’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God, shouldn’t GLBTQ students, teachers and members of the College community, not be cherished and accepted, just the way they have been created?

  • Sylvia Schey LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

    I believe it is the right for everyone to choose the way they wish to live as long as it doesn’t impact on others. The prime minister of England has brought into law the ability for have a same sex marriage. It is after all, the 21st century

  • Roxanne Joseph JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

    Part of Habonim Dror Southern Africa, stand for LBGT rights!

  • Daniel Etzion AUSTRALIA

    Im an ex student of the school, and have many friends who are homosexual.

  • It is so important that schools are a safe space for everyone.

  • Rebecca Burns AUSTRALIA

    Every single person deseves to be treated the same

  • Ariela Jacobs AUSTRALIA

    You could save a lot of lives. No one should have to feel uncomfortable within their community, nor should they feel that way with their day to day school environment just because of who they are.

  • Eric Rollett AUSTRALIA

    I feel it is important for our society to be more inclusive of something that is not an option or choice for a young person.

  • Selma Browde JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

    Should be important to any intelligent thinking person.

  • Jaryd Kay CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

    Everybody has the right to dignity.

  • Daniel Browde JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA

    I believe in standing up to bullies and violence and however we can do that, we should. With kindness and solidarity, we really can make the world a better place.

  • Paul Browde NEW YORK, NY

    as a boy i lived with the tyranny of homophobia, as an adult and a psychiatrist i see the terrible effects of homophobia on adolescents with higher suicide rates among gay youth.

  • Romy Browne MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

    Everyone, children and adults, deserve to be in an environment where their sexual orientation is respected, they feel safe and where tolerance and acceptance towards and others is not only taught, but enforced. This is a fantastic initiative, you have my full support.

  • Merv Barnett AUSTRALIA
    Each and every person, without exception, deserves equal rights and freedom to exist in harmony and complete safety amongst their peers. Schools and other youth organisations must adopt a zero tolerence for homophobia. Protection of our children is paramount whilst they grow and try to find their way in life. I speak from the experience of being a totally supportive parent of a gay son.
  • We want all members of our community, particularly our children, to be given the confidence to be who they are not, not who we want them to be.

  • Harold Zwier ELSTERNWICK, AUSTRALIA

    Putting your name publicly to this petition might encourage others to also sign it and effect change.

  • Family member that was bullied at school due to sexuality.

  • Tessa Manoim JERUSALEM, ISRAEL

    because it is important and can save lives

  • Nathan Cherny MACCABIM, ISRAEL

    I am a concerned former student and uncle of the school captain

  • Osher G CAULFIELD NORTH, AUSTRALIA

    As one of the largest educational organisations of Jewish children in Australia, its integral that our children are brought up and educated in an environment which fosters positive attitudes, tolerance, acceptance and understanding of differences in colour, Race, Creed, religion and of course Sexual preferance

  • Naomi Goldwater AUSTRALIA

    Becoming a member of SSCV would show Scopus’ commitment to supporting its GBLTQR students and staff

  • Justine Kuran AUSTRALIA

    I don’t tolerate any minority groups being discrimated against on any basis!

  • Mark Cherny GAOTING TOWN, CHINA

    There should be no place for homophobia or discrimination based on sexual preferences or orientation within our community.

  • Tal Spinrad CLARINDA, AUSTRALIA

    I’m Jewish. Everyone deserves Kavod…everyone deserves to be treated as they were and are created in the image of G-d.

  • Michael Winn MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

    I swam at Mt Scopus for 8 years, I know they’re a great school and can do a lot of good

  • Daniel Roitman AUSTRALIA

    As an alumni of this school, as well as the sibling of a gay alumni of this school, I feel it is crucial Mount Scopus gets with the time and provides every single student and teacher a safe environment in which they can thrive. This should be independent of sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity or anything else.

  • Benjamin Russell WOODFORD, AUSTRALIA

    As a gay student, I found life extremely difficult going to a school where homophobia was abundant. I would like all schools to be safer and more tolerant, which this petition will hopefully provide for your school.

  • Kerry Wolfe AUSTRALIA

    All children are entitled to a SAFE environment regardless of Race, Color, Creed or Sexuality !

  • Samantha Elsworthy MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

    Growing up is a tough time. We, as adults, remember how hard it was. We need to create as many safe spaces as we can, and actively promote acceptance and love. Please take this small step, join the SSCV, because though it may not directly affect the adults at MSMC, it will mean THE WORLD to the students who you help. It will make their time at your school so much more enjoyable. Thank you.

  • Gregory Storer CARNEGIE, AUSTRALIA

    I have family attending the school, it would be good to know that they are in safe hands. These initiatives are important for the on-going safety and security of all students

  • Tahlia Hyams AUSTRALIA

    Mount Scopus should show its commitment to providing a safe and respectful campus environment for all gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other queer students and teachers, and to take all necessary steps to ensure that its campus is a safe space for all, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

  • Michael Barnett ASHWOOD, VIC, AUSTRALIA

    In particular, my niece and nephew are students at Mt Scopus and I want them to have the safest environment possible. No student should fear going to school because of bullying because they are different. The school must set the highest standard possible and protect all their students, immediately.

  • Megan Efron AUSTRALIA

    I came out when I was at Scopus, I think this is a good initiative.

Author Blog: October Mourning and Tikkun Olam | The Arty Semite – Forward.com

Author Blog: October Mourning and Tikkun Olam | The Arty Semite – Forward.com.

AJN Letters: Responses to Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz – March 30 2012

30 Mar 2012
The Australian Jewish News Melbourne edition

Letters to the editor should be no more than 250 words and may be edited for length and content. Only letters sent to letters@jewishnews.net.au will be considered for publication. Please supply an address and daytime phone number for verification.


Method not message is wrong on bullying

I FOUND the parallel that letter writer Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz (AJN 23/03) made between opposing the specific homophobia anti-bullying program being promoted by Safe Schools Victoria to “tacitly encouraging the vilification of others” (i.e. homosexuals) to be obscene in the extreme.

Even the biggest critics of this antibullying program were abundantly clear about their opposition to homophobic bullying.

It is the methodology of the specific program in question that has justifiably drawn criticism from some rabbis and concerned members of the community. Entering into a discussion about samesex marriage with kindergarten children, as this program would have us do, is plainly and simply inappropriate.

Moreover, Mr Meyerowit-Katz believes that those rabbis who are opposed to the implementation of this program are adhering to a “medieval idea of morality” and that should they persist in this mentality, they will “only continue to stand there scratching their heads as shul attendance continues to plummet”.

With the deepest of respect, falling shul attendance has nil to do with rabbinic attitudes to current issues and everything to do with the increasing secularisation of our community whereby communal prayer is no longer appealing.

YONASAN KABLINSKI
Caulfield North, Vic


A morality tale for boosting attendance

WE should all be grateful to Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz (AJN 23/03).

He bemoans what he perceives to be the persecution of homosexuals, and then proceeds to offer us the panacea for declining synagogue attendances.

“In advocating that Jews adhere to a medieval idea of morality” he writes, “certain members of the Orthodox rabbinate are tragically out of step with the modern world. Should this mentality persist, they will only continue to stand there scratching their heads as shul attendances continue to plummet”.

So, to be clear, his message is that promoting and practising immorality is the way to get those “bums on seats” in our congregations?

By the way, I think he is also historically inaccurate in implying that homosexuality is a new phenomenon of this modern world that those rabbis are so “out of step” with. It was rampant in many civilisations such as ancient Greece and Sodom. So it is just as “medieval” a concept as morality. Go figure!

ROBERT WEIL
Caulfield North, Vic

AJN Letters: Homophobic bullying – March 23 2012

23 Mar 2012
The Australian Jewish News Melbourne edition

Letters to the editor should be no more than 250 words and may be edited for length and content. Only letters sent to letters@jewishnews.net.au will be considered for publication. Please supply an address and daytime phone number for verification.


Our duty to combat homophobic bullying

AS a member of a people who have fallen victim to a historical “norm” of persecution and ostracism, I find the argument against the program tackling homophobic bullying in schools extremely troubling.

It seems perverse to suggest that it should be the aspiration of our society to converge to the human condition, a condition that has seen the violent oppression of both homosexuals and Jews for millennia.

Now that Jews have finally been afforded a time and place where we are free from such persecution, why would some in our community be tacitly encouraging the vilification of others, some of whom fall within our community, based on their identity?

In advocating that Jews adhere to a medieval idea of morality, certain members of the Orthodox rabbinate are tragically out of step with the modern world.

Should this mentality persist, they will only continue to stand there scratching their heads as shul attendance continues to plummet.

DANIEL MEYEROWITZ-KATZ
Dover Heights, NSW