The shocking death of 12-year-old Charlotte, who was a student at Santa Sabina College in Strathfield, New South Wales, has highlighted the concerning issue of bullying in Australian schools.

The mother of the Sydney schoolgirl who took her own life on 9 September says she tried to stop the bullying she says her daughter faced.

Charlotte’s mum Kelly says she emailed the school several times over multiple years, dating back to August 2022, about allegations around “friendship issues” she asked the school to help address.

The family has gone public with their tragic story because they say they don’t want their daughter’s story to be “swept under the carpet”.

“Deeply, deeply missed”

Charlotte was in year seven at Santa Sabina College. In a final note left for family, she wrote that she felt her “life was too difficult” for her to go on.

In a letter Kelly shared with Sydney radio announcer Ben Fordham, the mother wrote:

“No words can ever describe what it’s like for us and it will never be the same again.

“Charlotte has left such a big hole in our lives, and she’s so deeply, deeply missed.

“The reports you have received are correct. My daughter was bullied by girls that still attend the school today.

“She wrote a goodbye note specifically mentioning the bullying she received at the school.

“She said life was too difficult for her to continue.

“When the most recent case of bullying was raised, the school simply said it was investigated and the girls denied it. That’s it. Case closed. Move on.

“Well, my beautiful daughter’s life won’t move on and I’ll never get to say goodbye.

“These issues cannot be swept under the carpet. I will not let my daughter’s memory be swept under the carpet either.

“How many more children need to lose their lives before they get it? How many parents need to feel the pain of never being able to pick up their child from school again before they get it?

“We’re broken forever.”

Building capacity is critical

A key question schools should be asking themselves in the wake of Charlotte’s death, says Director of the Institute of Child Protection Studies at Australian Catholic University (ACU) Professor Daryl Higgins, is “how can they better work with parents to build their capacity?”.

“Parents need to feel supported and to feel that they can communicate with school staff – and be heard,” Higgins told EducationDaily.

He says that. although schools should all have official bullying policies in place, it does not mean that individual educators working within those schools feel confident and comfortable about what to do in the face of bullying concerns.

“It’s about the implementation of those policies and ensuring teachers feel supported to take appropriate action,” says Higgins.

He says school culture can be a powerful guiding force – and not always for good.

“What we walk past and ignore, we accept,” says Higgins.

Anti-bullying strategies for educators

A page on the NSW Department of Education website says “bullying in schools is an ongoing issue with significant negative long-term consequences for the students involved and points to Anti-bullying interventions in schools – what works.as one resource aimed at supporting teachers and families.

The information also includes strategies for individual students, including:

• Establish a school culture that is clearly prosocial and pro-learning, and where bullying and violence is neither accepted or expected
• Empower students to tell adults when bullying occurs
• Provide programs to develop students’ resilience, communication, social, assertiveness and coping skills
• Change the physical school environment (e.g. conduct a playground safety audit) and improve teacher supervision in specific areas of the school grounds
• Increase supervision of students at particular times or places – as identified by an audit of school incidents and data
• Make access to support from a school counsellor, student support officer or relevant allied health professional simple for students and parents
• Review technology access at school and introduce and review programs to increase the safe, smart and responsible use of technology
• Consider timetable or class changes to decrease the potential contact students may have with each other
• Consider mediation, restorative practice or conferencing for students involved to resolve issues
• Develop behaviour support plans for those students involved in bullying who require intensive support
• Establish a student support group if necessary.

Supporting student safety

The Bullying. No Way! resource also provides useful information to help educators create safe and supportive discussions around bullying, suggesting that all school staff can:

• use positive terms, and focus on what students should be doing rather than what they shouldn’t be
• be a positive role model
• promote cooperation
• reinforce the rules of the school and the Behaviour Code for Students
• show students respect and encourage them to be successful
• make expectations clear – keep requests simple, direct, and specific
• reward positive and appropriate behaviour – try to affirm appropriate behaviour four to five times for every one criticism of inappropriate behaviour
• use one-on-one feedback
• help students correct their behaviours – help them understand breaking the rules results in consequences: “I know you can stop [negative action] and go back to [positive action]. If you choose to continue, then [consequence].”
• understand their duty of care to ensure the safety of their students and have sufficient training to feel confident in preventing and responding to bullying.

Better anti-bullying education for educators

On average, suicide has claimed about 26 minors a year since the NSW Suicide Monitoring System was introduced in 2020. In 2023, of the 936 people in NSW who took their own lives, 23 of them were under 18.

Youth suicide experts say the most common risk factors are a mental health condition or a physical disability, adding that bullying, grief and family problems are also risk factors. They say it’s rare to have just one contributing factor at play.

Santa Sabina College principal Paulina Skerman released a statement on 16 September stating that the school’s priority was to care for the school community during their grief, adding that it had provided experts from mental health organisation Headspace, counsellors and chaplaincy services.

She stated that claims about the circumstances leading to Charlotte’s death were inconsistent with the school’s records.

“In the outpouring of grief, as everyone rightly asks how this could have happened, the college asks the media to take immense care in reporting so that further issues are not created for other vulnerable young people in our community and beyond,” Skerman’s statement said.

Professor Higgins says that for teachers who feel unsure of what to do, communicating that uncertainty to school leadership is important, as it may then compel schools to implement further training and education for teachers to help them feel better equipped and supported to manage family concerns and take empathetic and effective action against school bullying.

“Teachers may feel unsure of what is exactly the right thing to do, but doing nothing is worse.”

Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au

Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 or kidshelpline.com.au

Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or beyondblue.org.au

Headspace: 1800 650 890 or headspace.org.au

13YARN: Speak to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander crisis supporter on 13 92 76 or visit 13yarn.org.au