St Mary MacKillop College principal Frank Norton rejects claims suicide prevention guidelines were ignored

A South West private school accused of ignoring suicide prevention guidelines has hit back at the claim in an email to parents— despite allegations from more families that no-one told them their children had expressed suicidal thoughts to school staff. In the email, which was sent on Sunday, St Mary MacKillop College principal Frank Norton refuted claims by former head of Year 9 Mark Cummins that the Busselton school was not adhering to the guidelines after 15-year-old student Ariya Jeegam took her life a year ago. As revealed in The West Australian, Mr Cummins and three other staff with mental health training recently quit their jobs because of what they claimed was a lack of communication and transparency. The staff alleged the school failed to notify parents, or put risk management plans in place, when students disclosed thoughts of self-harm or suicide, despite that being the response recommended in official guidelines endorsed by Catholic Education WA. CEWA has been investigating the allegations. Mr Norton wrote to the school community to reassure them that “at no point has the actions of the college been found to be negligent or having failed to follow relevant guidelines”. He said there was always a balance between a student’s privacy and making sure appropriate staff members had information to ensure the best level of care. “This means that staff are not always privy to certain information about students that is considered restricted,” he wrote. “In the circumstance that a student is presenting as a risk to themselves including non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) or suicidal behaviour, the college has always notified the student’s parents and worked in partnership with the student and their family to ensure all possible layers of care and protection are in place.” But a parent whose daughter was seeing a psychologist at the school last year said she was unaware she had spoken to them about wanting to end her life. “I didn’t have any idea of this until she came and told me ... this was not brought to my attention by the school,” she said. “The counsellor did ask her if she wanted her to let me know but at the time she said no, then came to me much later. “Something has to change. These kids are just that, kids, and, as parents, we should be advised of these suicidal thoughts.” Another parent whose child attempted suicide revealed they had experienced the same treatment. “As parents of a child who was counselled by a college psychologist, we were not informed immediately that our child had told the psych that they had suicidal thoughts,” they said. “Even more disappointing was that the content of these discussions was conveyed to other students.’‘ Mr Cummins said he had been humbled by the support shown by the community. “No one is immune to this crisis,” he said. “I see the emotion it triggers in people, in strangers. It is heartbreaking. We must do more, earlier.”