The principal of a large Catholic school in country Western Australia has defended the school's handling of the suicide of a Year 11 student, following claims by a former teacher the school wasn't properly responding to students with poor mental health.
The Year 11 girl at St Mary MacKillop College in Busselton in south-west WA died in February 2021, but teacher Mark Cummins has spoken out after quitting the school recently, saying he was concerned the school wasn't following protocols.
Mr Cummins said he was concerned the school wasn't' doing enough to assist students who had disclosed thoughts of suicide and self-harm.
However, in a letter to parents principal Frank Norton said he had requested Catholic Education Australia to review the school's practices to help protect those who were vulnerable.
"We have been working through a number of recommendations," Mr Norton wrote
"This includes increased mental health support services in the school, engaging with Youth Focus, providing advanced training in suicide prevention and youth mental health first aid to the entire Wellness Team and proactively refining our pastoral processes."
He said the school had always put the wellbeing of students first.
Guidelines set out by the WA Education Department and Catholic Education Western Australia urges schools to inform parents of suicide or self-harm disclosures at school and to work towards putting a risk management plan in place for the student.
Mr Cummins refuted the school's claims that it had always followed the guidelines.
"I know that multiple students who disclosed suicidal behaviour or informed a college psych that they were self-harming that those guidelines were not followed and the student at times was told to head back to class," he said.
It's understood while it's not mandatory to report disclosures to parents, it is recommended — unless telling the guardian puts the teenager at increased risk.
A mother of a student at the school, who asked not to be named, said her Year 10 student had spoken to a school psychologist last year about having suicidal thoughts but she wasn't informed.
"I didn't know about it," she said
"When it comes to thoughts of suicide I think it should be brought to the attention of the parents straight away.
A wider issue
There have growing concerns about suicide in the region in recent years with calls from the WA Opposition for more mental health support for young people.
Busselton local Jon Eddy lost his 20-year-old son to suicide and said it was "terrifying" to hear that so many young people were suffering.
He said suicide was a big issue.
"The numbers to me are alarming, there seems to be a lot going on," Mr Eddy said. "There is a lot going on to counter that but I think we can do a lot more."
The most recent Mission Australia report found, among 15 to 19 year-olds in WA, almost 40 per cent were extremely or very concerned about their personal mental health and almost 20 per cent were worried about suicide.
"In kids' education across the board we need to really move on suicide awareness and prevention," Mr Eddy said.
"I think we need to get to the kids younger with age-specific education.
