Year nine girls were outraged when their school banned them from having lunch under their favourite tree – but the principal insists they needed to learn an important lesson
- Students from Catholic school banned from sitting at their favourite lunch spot
- A group of benches under a beloved tree were taped off ‘until further notice’
- Principal says area was temporarily taken away to teach the girls about respect
Year nine students from a Catholic girls’ school are furious after being banned from gathering around their favourite fig tree at lunchtime – but the school says the rule was necessary to teach the girls about ‘respect’.
The students from St Rita’s College in Clayfield, in Brisbane’s inner north, arrived at their regular lunch spot on Tuesday to find the entire area taped off until until further notice.
Daily Mail Australia has told been up to 180 year nine students regularly sit around the tree before school and during lunch – and they were ‘extremely upset’ by the school’s decision.
The school says it started the ban to teach the students about respect because they were leaving too much rubbish at the spot, which attracted ants.
A group of year nine students have been left outraged after they were told they could no longer sit at a group of benches under a beloved tree
School principal Dale Morrow said the spot was taped off because students kept leaving their rubbish behind
‘The girls have left their rubbish there despite being told to pick it up, and that’s just not acceptable,’ school principal Dale Morrow said.
‘This is the consequence of them not being able to pick up after themselves, it’s about teaching the girls to take pride in their school, community and each other.’
The school removed the tape on Thursday.
Staff from St Rita’s College in Clayton, in inner-north Brisbane, told the students the area was being temporarily taken away because rubbish was being left behind