The headmaster of an elite Sydney all-boys school says he is “greatly concerned and alarmed” by the number of references to Cranbrook School in a viral petition that has gathered more than 2,500 testimonies of sexual assault committed by high school students.
The headmaster of the Cranbrook School, Nicholas Sampson, said schools “need to take further action” and has committed to a review of the school’s pastoral care, including holding mixed gender education programs.
As of Monday, more than 16,500 people had signed the petition, calling for an overhaul of how sexual consent is taught in schools, especially to boys.
The document, started by Chanel Contos, a former student of Sydney’s Kambala girls’ school, has received more than 2,500 testimonies from students who experienced sexual assault by other students – including some as young as 13.
Students from Scots College, Cranbrook, Sydney Grammar, Waverley College, Kambala, Kincoppal-Rose Bay, Monte Sant Angelo and Pymble Ladies’ College are repeatedly mentioned in the testimonies.
One student, who was 15 at the time, wrote that a boy from Cranbrook “pushed her head down” and forced her to perform oral sex. Another who was 16 wrote that she was at a party and “woke up drunk in his bed with him penetrating me”.
Addressing the petition for the first time on Monday, Sampson told his students the content was “bleak but essential reading”.
“All of us at Cranbrook need to be grateful for the courage of these young women in speaking out,” he wrote, linking to the petition. “Society makes it very hard to raise issues of this type.”
Sampson wrote that he was “greatly concerned and alarmed that there are so many references to Cranbrook students”.
“Existing, relevant programs have been in place for all year groups for some time … But quite clearly, we need to do more,” he said.
As part of the petition, men have also sent Contos testimonies, saying they did not receive an adequate education about consent when they were students at single-sex schools.
Sampson said the school needed to do more to teach its students about sexual consent and respecting women.
“The fact that so many young women have suffered not only sexual assault but also the long-term hurt, pain and damage it brings with it, is deeply saddening.
“The school’s educational programs are most effective when supported by parents in word and deed,” he added.
The principal of Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview, Dr Paul Hine, also told Guardian Australia that the school “fully supports” the allegations against students being referred to the police.
“Non-consensual sex is a crime and this message is given unequivocally to our students as part of their education,” he said.
Also on Monday, the principal of The Scots College, Dr Ian Lambert, wrote to parents, saying the school would review its education programs.
“It is a wake-up call for us all,” he said. “They are to be commended for their bravery in standing up and speaking out.
Lambert said that “safe and respectful relationships” were taught in Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) and Christian Studies from Year 7, and “consent is specifically addressed in the Year 8 and Year 10 curriculum”.
“In light of the testimonials from young women and men, The Scots College will now actively seek further input from additional health experts and community specialists working in the field,” he said.
Contos told Guardian Australia earlier: “The private schools have the resources to address these injustices. They have every resource to make sure it can’t happen.
“There needs to be a holistic approach, and single-sex schools need to incorporate factors specific to their students. This means addressing slut-shaming in girls’ schools, and addressing locker room talk in boys’ schools, because that’s the foundation for this culture.”
Waverley College in Sydney was one of the first schools to respond, with the principal, Graham Leddie, saying last week that schools needed to “start the fight against sexism early”.
“Just this week we remember that it was 12 months since Hannah Clarke and her three children were killed,” he wrote. “We all must do more.”
“We all need to start the fight against sexism early, and that includes teaching boys that witnessing an inappropriate comment or gesture and tolerating it is actually participating in the appalling behaviour.”
Leddie said half the Waverley College leadership team were women and that “every PDHPE class in year 7-12 teaches about consent, respectful relationships, power balance in relationships, domestic violence, forms of abuse”.
“We are constantly increasing the volume of measures in place to help stamp out the disgraceful culture of sexism that still exists in Australia,” he said. “Waverley College looks very different to how it did even just a few years ago. And we will continue to be ruthless about making this progression.”
This story was amended on 22 February 2021 to correct the attribution of quotes from Waverley College principal Graham Leddie. A previous version wrongly attributed them to Scots College principal Ian Lambert.
