An exclusive school has been hit with fresh claims of systemic abuse, bullying and homophobia after its students were caught planning a vile muck-up day and calling western Sydney residents ‘druggos’ in a viral TikTok video.
Shore School, in Sydney’s lower north shore, went into damage control after a muck-up day document circulating among Year 12 students was leaked to the public on Tuesday.
Titled the ‘Triwizard Shorenament’ – a reference to Harry Potter – students were encouraged to participate in a range of illegal activities such as spitting on a homeless man, breaking into Taronga Zoo and taking drugs.
Students were also filmed in a TikTok video mocking western Sydney suburbs, such as Blacktown and Mount Druitt, as being full of ‘druggos’.
A number of former students now claim a ‘hyper masculine’ culture has been brewing for years that serves students, teachers and parents with ‘elitist’ values.
Matt Godden told Daily Mail Australia the culture among the teachers allowed years of student bullying to go undetected as he was punched and called homophobic slurs such as ‘f****t’.
‘There was verbal abuse, pushing, shoving, messing up, or grabbing and pulling around by the hair,’ he said.
‘Things that might seem inconsequential, that if you were to complain might be dismissed with some platitude about hardening up, or standing up for yourself.
‘The teachers’ attitudes, were, in my opinion, contributors to it.’
An exclusive school has been hit with fresh claims of systemic abuse, bullying and homophobia after its students were caught planning a vile muck-up day and calling western Sydney residents ‘druggos’ in a viral TikTok video
Beneath its pristine surface a number of former students claim a ‘hyper masculine’ culture has been brewing for years that serves students, teachers and parents with ‘elitist’ values
Titled the ‘Triwizard Shorenament’ – a reference to Harry Potter – students were encouraged to participate in a range of illegal activities such as spitting on a homeless man, breaking into Taronga Zoo and taking drugs
Mr Godden said in a series of tweets he had graduated in 1992 and the trauma from the bullying had led him to have a mental breakdown and almost drop out of school two weeks before sitting the Higher School Certificate.
‘Constantly hunted in corridors, and grabbed by the hair, and hurled around, and against walls, labelled a ‘f****t’, for the crime of a haircut,’ he tweeted.
‘Yes, apparently, there are ‘gay’ haircuts.’
Mr Godden said he did not identify as a homosexual and that something as small as his haircut was enough to draw unwanted attention from students and teachers alike.
He claimed one teacher openly disliked him and would make condescending comments about his appearance.
‘He pointed at my haircut, which so offended him, and said, ‘Next year, I’m going to get you. Next year, you’re mine!”.
Mr Godden said one boy regularly pulled him by the hair and threw him to the ground and shoved him against the wall.
After a particularly bad beating, Mr Godden says the bully was given a soft punishment.
‘The sum total of repercussions he received was a 3 hour Saturday Detention, which some other students implored me to plead that he be allowed to forego,’ he said.
Mr Godden claimed teachers often overlooked the bullying over fears of repercussion.
‘Gay teachers had said nothing, had watched the abuse, and done nothing, for fear of their own careers,’ he tweeted.
Matt Godden said in a series of tweets he had graduated in 1992 and endured verbal and physical assault that led him to have a mental breakdown and almost drop out of school two weeks before sitting the Higher School Certificate
Students were also filmed (pictured) in a TikTok video mocking western Sydney suburbs, such as Blacktown and Mount Druitt, as being full of ‘druggos’
Mr Godden also claimed there were even some teachers who took part in the bullying culture.
‘We had an insane teacher,’ he said.
‘He would punch the desk hard enough to make the windows rattle to get the class’s attention.
‘If he caught a boy not paying attention, he would creep up to them, like a ninja, and physically lift them out of their seat by the hair where sideburns (that were not allowed) would grow.’
Mr Godden said the experience forced him to skip school just so he would avoid the bullies.
‘I probably had higher than average absenteeism,’ he said.
Rob Sturrock, who attended the school between Years 3 and 12, told news.com teachers, students and even parents participated in a ‘hyper masculine’ culture.
‘Shore saw its school as being the best of the best, the strongest, and the most athletic,’ he said.
‘It absolutely resulted in a real culture of elitism.’
Mr Sturrock claimed there was a sense of snobbery and privilege and that many parents hoped their children would make the right ‘connections’.
Rob Sturrock, who attended the school between Years 3 and 12, told news.com teachers, students and even parents participated in a ‘hyper masculine’ culture
His comment comes after a TikTok video showed Shore School boys calling western Sydney residents ‘druggos’.
In the now deleted TikTok interview, a group of four Shore School students were asked to name the worst suburb in Sydney.
‘Blacktown,’ the four boys answer in unison.
When asked to elaborate one said ‘because its Blacktown’, before another answered ‘druggos’.
Another pair of mates were asked the same question, with one replying: ‘The worst is Bankstown… too many ‘eshays’ who’ll roll you’.
An eshay refers to a Sydney subculture of young criminals who tend to wear bumbags and sneakers, and are usually considered to be from battler suburbs.
The exception among the group was one boy who said the worst suburb ‘is Mosman because all the rich kids live there’.
Mr Sturrock said the school, while he was attending it, had a sense of entitlement and looked down on some parts of Sydney.
‘You were constantly reminded that you were some of the best young men in the world and you were at one of the best schools in the world.’
Mr Sturrock said the school, while he was attending it, had a sense of entitlement and looked down on some parts of Sydney
He also said he was mostly unsurprised by the recent leak of the muck-up day document that encouraged Year 12 students to take part in a series of illegal activities.
The ‘rule book’ – detailed by students in a PDF documents – reveals plans to meet at a park on the lower north shore on the night before the traditional celebrations.
Year 12 students would be split into teams of five or six before carrying out a series of tasks to gain the most points.
Some challenges are illegal, such as ‘snort a line’ (of cocaine) or ‘rip a cone on the Harbour Bridge’ (smoke cannabis out of a bong).
Others dare students to ‘break into Taronga Zoo’, ‘spit on a homeless man’, and ‘sh** on a train’.
Some involve assaulting total strangers by hitting them in the genitals while they are walking past.
The list of challenges also denigrates women, urging students to have sex with a woman over 80kg or hook up with an unattractive women deemed ‘3/10 or lower’.
Others tasks include getting mullet haircuts and waxing armpit hair.
Instructions written into the rule book advise students they must document their completed tasks on Instagram.
But they are also warned not to upload any potentially incriminating evidence of illegal behaviour including ‘inappropriate or sexual advances’.
The scavenger hunt limits Year 12 students from competing in the tournament outside Sydney’s CBD and the city’s lower north shore (pictured)
The ‘official rule and challenge book’ – created by students in a PDF document – revealed they planned to meet between 5 and 6pm on Wednesday at Waverton Park for the series of ‘treacherous’ challenges
The ‘rule book’ – detailed by students in a PDF documents – reveals plans to meet at a park on the lower north shore on the night before the traditional celebrations
‘If anyone gets caught by a teacher/cops they will say that they were just having fun between the 5/6 of them and won’t mention the tournament,’ the instructions state.
A spokesman for Shore school – which charges up to $33,000-a-year in fees – told the Sydney Morning Herald it had issued a stern warning to students and parents over the game.
‘As soon as the school became aware of the document police were informed and an urgent communication was sent to all year 12 parents instructing that under no circumstances are Shore boys to participate in the activities specified,’ the spokesman said.
‘Consequences for any boys who do participate will be severe and could include the loss of their place at the school.’
Daily Mail Australia contacted Shore School for comment.
— to www.dailymail.co.uk
