Bullying incidents prompt WCED intervention at Garlandale Primary School

THE Western Cape Department of Education (WCED) will on Frday visit Garlandale Primary School to address the issue of bullying and the processes followed when such incidents are reported.

Amid multiple reports of bullying at schools in the province recently, another parent has come forward to share their child's troubling experience at Garlandale primary earlier this year, raising concerns about the safety of the school's environment.

According to the parent, her son, in grade two, was beaten up in the boys’ bathroom in January.

She says she went through the proper channels, completed an incident form as advised by the school, but nothing came of it despite daily enquiries. They said the principal indicated she would investigate and come back to the parents about who had attacked the child and what would be done about it.

“The morning after the incident, my son’s whole bed was full of vomit. He started wetting the bed and had an onset of anxiety. I was very upset, I knew nothing was going to happen. The mere fact that another child could kick my son like a dog, an older boy. I was heartbroken for my son, I could see he was traumatised. We took him for counselling but at the time he did not want to talk,” the mother said.  

“(The principal) told my son she's going to find out who the boys are, we were hoping, but she never came with any feedback.” 

The parent, who also has another child who completed primary school at the same institution, said this was the second bullying incident her family had experienced. She felt that not enough was being done to address what she described as a culture of bullying at the school instead, it felt as though the issues were being swept under the rug.

The parent raised concerns that there were no prefects at the school any longer and no adult supervision during break times.

WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the matter was referred to a social worker for support and assistance. 

“Further interventions were arranged with DSD and referral to other support mechanisms. A meeting was held in March 2025 between the principal and the parents to discuss the matter. The parents were allegedly unhappy at the outcome, however, there was allegedly no evidence to make such an identification despite attempts to do so. The learner allegedly did not identify the perpetrator. There has been no further incidents reported by the learner.”

According to Hammond, schools are not required to have prefects, and they are also not responsible for managing learner discipline.

“Teachers and support staff are on the playground during school intervals. The school is collaborating with the WCED regarding an anti-bullying programme at the school. Bullying is currently being addressed through the life orientation programme. The WCED is due to visit the school (Friday) to address the issue of bullying and the processes followed when such incidents are reported,” Hammond said.

Parents for Equal Education SA (PEESA) founder, Vanessa Le Roux said the WCED needed to revisit its bullying programme. 

“Their bully programme is not working. How can it work if we have one social worker for 30 schools? Even if there’s something traumatic happening, the social worker comes in for an hour, sits with children. Now we raising unhealthy children in an unhealthy environment because they sitting with this trauma. We need more resources, we need all stakeholders around the table,” said Le Roux. 

Cape Times