A Bendigo school named in a media report this week as being on a "shame file" of schools where students with disabilities were mistreated was included on the basis of years-old allegations.
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A story published by the Herald Sun named Bendigo Special Developmental School (BSDS) in a list of 44 Victorian schools "where students with disabilities have suffered seclusion, neglect and abuse, including being locked in cages and tied to chairs".
Current BSDS principal Kirshy McAinch told the Advertiser the reference was "disappointing" because it related to "historical events" that were no longer discussed with the school by members of its community.
"But in all honesty we're not focusing on it too much because we're engaged in our daily teaching lives, so we're working with our kids and our families and trying not to [dwell] on it," she said.
Historical investigation at Bendigo Special Developmental School
In 2015 former education minister James Merlino launched an investigation into BSDS over allegations - first raised in 2010 - that the school kept children in cage-like structures made of pool fencing and physically restrained them with a range of techniques, including the use of martial arts-style pressure points.
The investigation, by the law firm Justitia, looked at 43 allegations. It found only three were substantiated, concluding the school's use of enclosed spaces and classroom pens was appropriate and that while self-defence instructors ran training there, allegations staff used pressure point techniques to control students were unsubstantiated.
Disability advocacy group Education Rights, which had been instrumental in getting the department to investigate the school, wasn't happy with the result.
The group, headed by high-profile activist Julie Phillips, believed the investigation was deliberately constrained, and didn't accept its results.
Education Rights included BDSD on a list on its website of dozens of Victorian schools it said used "restrictive practices", which is the list published in this week's Herald Sun report.
An updated note on the Education Rights site states: "While these reports are 2015/2016, little has changed since then".
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However, BSDS has had a change of leadership and a major reboot since that time.
And since 2017 it has been subject to government guidelines that specify restraint and seclusion are to be used "in an absolute emergency for as short a time as possible", with families to be informed if they are, its principal said.
In general, family involvement and transparency were now core to the school's operation, Ms McAinch said.
"We have a really transparent culture with our families. We try to include them in absolutely everything that we do here, and we always say to anyone - the general community, the public - 'Come on in to our school, everyone is welcome'.
"We do get a lot of people visiting - we have other special schools from across the state come to observe us, particularly around our literacy and numeracy programs and we're also a lead school for the Respectful Relationships framework."
"We're very happy to have anyone come in and observe the great things that we do here," she said.
Desegregation debate
This week's media report comes amid discussion about desegregating disability education that has been prompted by a royal commission recommendation to do so by 2052.
Advocates of incorporating disability education into mainstream schools have been arguing that more people with disability are isolated from the community, the more likely they are to experience abuse, and a 29-year time frame is too long.
On this issue, Ms McAinch said she believed there were a variety of views among families but her own opinion was that the current "choice" should continue.
"I actually think we've got a fantastic balance in Victoria of parents' choice between specialist settings or mainstream schools," she said.
"Any child is welcome and able to be enrolled in their neighborhood school but we also have schools that have higher level staffing ratios, higher levels of expertise in particular conditions and presentations and methods of communication as well as physical facilities that can can support access to learning.
"So that's a choice that families have, and I think my personal opinion is that it's something I would like to see continue."
Education Rights didn't respond by deadline to a request for comment on its "shame" list.
A Department of Education spokesperson said that the safety and wellbeing of students and staff was "always the highest priority" and that "all Victorian government schools are committed to providing a safe learning environment in which all our students are supported to thrive."
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