By Karen Poh
A ROW has erupted between parents and staff from Sydenham Hillside Primary School over the use of a community oval next to the school.
Parents are upset that children in Grades 3 to 6 are allowed to play on the oval, outside the school’s fenced compounds, at recess and lunchtime.
One parent, who did not want to be named, raised the alarm recently when a stranger approached his daughter while she was playing on the oval during recess.
“Some lady walked up to her and her two friends and started accusing her of asking for money, making fun of people,” he said.
“The thing is, the kids went over and told the teachers (on yard duty) and they didn’t even notice.
“My daughter’s only just turned nine … and she said, ‘Dad I’m too scared, I’m not going to play there any more’.”
Another parent, Jason Holden, was angered by the school’s refusal to stop children from playing on the oval until the matter is resolved.
“There’s only two teachers guarding these kids,” Mr Holden said.
“There’s two main roads where the park is, and it’s only 10 metres away from a car park as well.
“We send our children to school thinking they were safe, and it’s ended up not being safe.
“It’s a public park – there could be syringes, there could be glass.”
But assistant principal Christine Harris defended the school’s position.
“To the best of my knowledge, no syringes or glass has been found on the community oval,” she said.
“None of the parents that have spoken to me have raised that. “I do yard duty out there and I’ve not seen any of those things.
“This is an oval attached to the school, the children exit through a gate, there’s two teachers on yard duty – at least two – at all times … wearing fluorescent orange vests.
“Teachers have phones backed to a base phone so they need to push one button and they’ve got the office.”
Jasmina Ferhat is rallying behind the parents even though her daughter is only in Grade 1.
“I’m giving them support because it’d be happening to me in a few years’ time,” she said.
“The distance from one end (of the oval) to the other is about 150 metres and I don’t think two teachers can cover that.
“From my point of view, I think they should’ve asked for permission, because this is not school property,” Ms Ferhat said.
She said parents were shocked to find out their children were playing on the community oval during recess and lunchtime.
“They had no idea their kids were playing outside and they don’t want them to,” Ms Ferhat said.
Ms Harris said the oval had been used this way by the school for years.
“We had a staff meeting, teachers agreed we didn’t see that there was safety concerns,” she said. “We were quite confident that the area was safe, that it’s patrolled and managed well.”
Ms Harris also clarified that that it was a community oval and not a park the children were playing on.
“This is a football oval. There’s not a tree on it … and we have in the past used it for interschool sport.
“It is not beside a main road. The children are confined within the oval track.
“Then there’s another body of land – a large body of land – until it gets to the road. So the children are well and truly restricted,” she said.
Parental permission was not required, Ms Harris added.
“It is an entirely legal activity. Schools are allowed to use local areas without parental permission – it’s a local clause,” she said.
“The parents are aware of all those things.
“I’ve given them the option that if they prefer their children not to play there, that’s their decision and their choice.
“But we are leaving it as it is.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development said schools have a duty of care to their students to ensure their safety and wellbeing.
“Individual schools make their own decisions about what activities are appropriate for their students and how they communicate with their school community,” she said.
“In this case, students are supervised at all times while on the oval, which they access through gates from the school.
“It is a parent’s right to decide whether their child is involved in any activity.”
