A teacher at a prestigious private boys’ school in Melbourne, Australia has been seriously injured during senior pranks.
While the details are still unclear, Independent Education Union Victorian secretary Deb James claimed a religion teacher at Scotch College was hospitalized with broken bones after trying to protect younger students on Friday.
“It seems that a teacher who took reasonable steps to protect younger students from a large group of masked senior students has as a result been hospitalized with very serious head injuries, including broken bones in his face,” James said.
“We’ve spoken to a number of staff at Scotch who are in shock, and deeply concerned about safety in their workplace.
“They are awaiting a communication from their employer about what steps will be taken to identify how this serious injury occurred, protect the safety of staff and students and ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.”
James said the incident needed to be dealt with “urgently and seriously” by the school.
The students were wearing hazmat suits and masks when they stormed the canteen and spread shaving cream around the Hawthorn campus, according to the Herald Sun.
Twelth-grade students were reportedly sent home from the school on Monday due to bad behavior but it is unknown if the decision was related to Friday’s incident.
A Scotch College spokesman told The Age “a member of staff and a student collided in the schoolyard”. He said the incident was being investigated and support was provided to those involved.
news.com.au has contacted the school for further comment.
Earlier this year Scotch College made headlines for sacking its new principal over misconduct allegations before he even started his new role.
Victorian Year 12 exams kick off with English on October 26.