6 yr old being physically attacked at school

[Nel_88]

My 6 yr old daughter Zoey is being physically attacked in class by another student on a regular basis. It started in the first week of the school year when she came home with a massive bruise on her shin,so I asked her if she tripped or fallen off the play equipment but she told me "Jane" had kicked her on the way to music. We've known "Jane" since preschool and she has special needs and will on occasion have a melt down which can turn violent but in the 2 years we've know her that has never been directed at another student. So I asked her if "Jane" was having a bad day and Zoey said no Jane ran up kicked her and ran away for no reason. The next day I was in the classroom for reading groups so I figured I would have a chat with the teacher afterwards. While we were in the groups I watched horrified as Jane ran across the class room to Zoey's group and punched her in the back of the head! Completely unprovoked in front of at least 6 adults.
Zoey was completely blind sided and in consolable!
I took Zoey to the sick bay to get some ice and the teacher had already called the principal who asked if we could have a meeting with the teacher to discuss what had happened. The outcome of that meeting was Jane would have the teaching assistant walk with her between classes and she would move desk to infront of the teacher. I agreed and I hoped this would be the end of the issue...but nope. The next incident happened during recess Zoey was waiting in line for the toilet and Jane pushed her over then stomped on her fingers! Another meeting ,more promises and again a few days later another incident with one involving Jane poking her in the eye with pencil! Zoey is crying every morning and doesn't want to go to school ,I've asked if she can change classes but its happening at recess now as well. I'm at my wits end,the school is stuck between a rock and a hard place - while Jane has special needs she isn't at the level of the special support class and they don't have resources to provide in full time in class support. To top off the whole situation any conversations/mediation have ended with Jane's mother getting extremely aggressive and accusing the school of trying to get her kids taken away by DFS. Short of moving schools I don't know how to keep Zoey safe. Any advice?

[Taylor-RO]

Hi @Nel_88, thank you for sharing your experience. Firstly, I want to say that what your daughter is experiencing is horrible and heart breaking. I can only imagine the emotional and psychological impact that this is having on both of you. Not to mention, the disruption to important parts of schooling and the learning environment. It sounds very traumatic and it is disheartening to hear that the school has been unable to do more to protect your child. Have you talked to the school about the unsuccessful interventions taken thus far? In some cases, parents resort to removing their child from the school. Understandably, this is not always ideal and may not be a possibility for you. In any case, it sounds like it might be helpful for you to have some support for yourself throughout this experience. There is a service called Ngala Parenting Line which offers telephone counselling and valuable resources for parents. I was also wondering if your daughter has been receiving support around her experience at school? If you are interested or would find it helpful, you can make a complaint to the Department of Education , you can do that here.

Please feel welcome to keep us updated 

[Bre-RO]

Hey there @Nel_88 just wanted to check in with you and thank you for sharing this. It must be incredibly painful to be going through this with you daughter. I thought it might be helpful for me to show you a organisation called Raising Children's Network - they produce age specific content on everything you can think of. Our age bracket is more so focused on teens, so I thought you might like to check out what they say about bullying here. 

Sending lots of support to you and your daughter right now!