Protest at Girls' Model School, Belfast, over bullying complaints

Protest at Girls' Model School, Belfast, over bullying complaints, November 14, 2024

Transcript

00:00We're going to be interviewing some people for the board.

00:06The master's right there, Molly.

00:08We just set this guy up.

00:10I want you to look at my eyes.

00:12Would you like to come up to the front?

00:14I think that every parent here has the right to be here and the right to be concerned.

00:38Well, there is a crisis in confidence in pupil safety at the Girls' Model School.

00:44Literally hundreds of pupils are not attending school.

00:49Many are attending, but there are a large number.

00:52There was well over 100 people here to protest, probably 150, 200, around that number.

00:58This afternoon at the gates of the school, both pupils and parents and grandparents

01:05who are just very concerned about recent incidents.

01:08There have been a number of incidents where there's been physical altercations,

01:14attacks or incidents and claims of bullying.

01:19There was a particular incident on Tuesday of this week with, I understand, four girls involved.

01:28In the background of this, two of the girls were from an ethnic minority background,

01:34two were from the white community.

01:36So this has been a factor in a lot of the commentary on social media.

01:41But it's an issue about claims of bullying and it's an issue about pupil safety.

01:46The school needs to take action to get on top of this and restore confidence.