The principal of the school a 12-year-old girl attended before she died by suicide has spoken out about the tragedy.
Charlotte had been an alleged victim of bullying from fellow students at Santa Sabina College, an independent Roman Catholic girls school in Sydney, Australia.
The late student left a note for her family before she took her own life on September 9 and it stated that life was “too difficult” for her to continue after the torment she experienced at school.
According to The Sunday Telegraph, she penned a selfless final request to her parents, which read: “Mama, please share my story to raise awareness.” She also encouraged them to “tell the school” about her suffering.
Charlotte’s grief-stricken parents, Mat and Kelly, are still trying to come to grips with what has happened.
“The other thing that is troubling for us is that we had such a great last day with her… I hadn’t seen her that happy coming home from school in a long time,” they said, per the outlet.
They said that on her final day, Charlotte didn’t show signs of distress. She ate her favorite dish for dinner and completed her maths homework, getting every question right and doing “little happy dances”.
She baked banana bread, took a piece to her father, and then played with her mom and baby brother before going to bed. “That’s the last time we saw her alive and we could not understand what had happened,” Mat said, per Daily Mail.
The principal of Santa Sabina released a statement, defending her school’s management over the issue of bullying among its students.
She also said that some claims being aired in public by Charlotte’s devastated family “are not consistent with our records,” per 9 News.
“In the past week, I have been overwhelmed by the number of emails and messages from our families that talk about their children feeling safe and cared for at Santa Sabina College, and objecting to the portrayal of our College as failing to deal with matters that cause distress amongst our students,” Paulina Skerman said.
“Our Anti-Bullying Policy is available on our website,” they continued. “Our students and our families are highly informed on the policy and the procedures for reporting and resolving matters of concern, and they utilize this as needed.”
“Our focus as a College is the ongoing support and care for our students, their families and our staff, and to supporting Charlotte’s family through their unimaginable grief,” the statement continued.
“We are continuing to work with Headspace and other providers to ensure that we follow the most supportive and safest practices for our community at this time.”
Charlotte’s father hit back at the school’s response during his appearance on 2GB’s Ben Fordham, saying: “I have to say I’ve been disappointed, to say the least, with the response that’s come from the school.
“Some of the responses that have gone into the media, I think the first response was around that there’s inconsistencies in their records and I thought that comment to go out at that time when we were grieving was unnecessary,” he said, adding that he has had no direct communication from officials.
Charlotte’s mom also stated that she reached out to Santa Sabina several times over the past three years about what her daughter experienced, but her emails were brushed aside after the girls allegedly involved denied it during the investigation.
“That’s it. Case closed. Move on. Well, my beautiful daughter’s life won’t move on and I’ll never get to say goodbye,” she said. “How many more children need to lose their lives before they get it?
“How many parents need to feel the pain of never being able to pick up their child from school again before they get it? We’re broken forever,” she added.
The 12-year-old’s distraught parents are encouraging the public to make donations to the Kids Helpline in memory of their daughter.
Kelly has also issued an urgent plea to the public, asking them not to direct blame on her late daughter’s classmates.
Our thoughts continue to be with Charlotte’s family.