Our Lady of Nativity School, Essendon West School Reviews

Our Lady of Nativity School, Essendon West

School Reviews

By Parent - 11 Sep 2023, Rate: bad

So disappointed in OLN primary they have Been many bad reviews that have unfortunately been deleted. From this site this is a despicable behaviour and so is the principal Annie she is very rude the school system is terrible do not send you children there.

By Employee - 29 Aug 2023, Rate: bad

I was an old employee and something was advertised recently to leave a bad review I can see why all the other reviews are so negative especially about the principal Annie she is disgusting in her behaviour I was forced to resign from the school I loved just because of her just read other reviews to find out why there is also a big staff shortage.

By Student - 29 Aug 2023, Rate: bad

I am a ex student of this school and have read all the other reviews, and my Aunty has also reviewed this school today. Witch has kids there, she told me to leave a review I think that this school should get new staff immediately. I was one of the many people that got bullied. And nothing was done about it the land is so small and there there a 400+ students. it is hard to get around especially for yonder kids Miss Dougherty (Annie) is appalling she said to my face once in a scary voice I don’t care when I explained to her about the bullying situation. I think her attitude was unacceptable she needs to be fired as well as the vice principal I feel sorry for the very few nice teachers at the school. putting up with her behaviour I am behind in High school because on the lack of proper education. I hope this school changes please leave a negative review.
If you are seeing this Annie be more professional!

By Parent - 23 Feb 2023, Rate: bad

IMPORTANT REVIEW
I'm not at all surprised with all the other reviews here...
For years I had been hearing many very bad reports about the principal at Our Lady of the Nativity Primary School, from parents and also from teachers! (As mentioned by others, staff turnover is understandably very high.) Unfortunately, our family got to experience first-hand just how bad Anne is as a principal and I'm seriously disgusted.
Anne's poor behaviour, aggression, shouting, lack of professionalism, and serious disregard for student's safety and well-being are truly shocking and completely unacceptable. Based on my experiences, I am firmly of the opinion that Anne is unfit to hold any leadership role in any school.
In our case, for more than a year, an older bully was disconcertingly determined to hurt our young child. He was constantly looking out for opportunities to physically hurt our child. As parents, we witnessed several attacks, including one incident where the bully approached our child and spat in their face. It was sickening.
During a meeting with the principal to address this bullying problem, I was in utter disbelief as Anne repeatedly and vehemently insisted that she did not consider this "bullying"!! Bizarrely, Anne was actively defending the bully, claiming he has "an unblemished record" – despite being aware that the week prior, this same bully violently attacked another student causing multiple bruises to their body.
Throughout the meeting, Anne was domineering, terse, and behaved menacingly towards me, glaring and shouting loudly and aggressively. Multiple times I found it necessary to ask Anne to stop yelling and stop being aggressive, and still she continued unchecked. Despite our meeting being held in the conference room behind closed doors, Anne's shouting was so bad that a staff member felt it necessary to remove my children from the front reception area. My children told me the staff member told them, "Not to worry, she yells like that at everyone".
Staggeringly, Anne refused point-blank to address the issue with the bully or take appropriate action, leaving a young child feeling unvalued, unprotected, and very scared.
A complaint was lodged with the parish priest, and a meeting was held to address Anne's behaviour and professional obligations. I went over what had happened, how the bully and her behaviour had impacted our child and our family, and that her behaviour and unprofessional conduct was unacceptable.
At the end of this meeting, the parish priest asked Anne to acknowledge her conduct and apologise. Instead, Anne crossed her arms, sat back in her chair and refused to speak! Despite further prompting from the parish priest, Anne again refused to acknowledge or apologise.
The priest was clearly not happy with Anne either and suggested in front of her that I consider lodging a complaint with the Catholic Education Office. But as we've sadly come to realise from the Catholic system, their only priority is to protect principals and priests and the school's reputation with no regard to truth, inappropriate behaviour, or the well-being of the children.
I cannot begin to fathom how any human being, let alone a Catholic School Principal, could think that any of this is acceptable. It is disgusting and shameful.

By Parent - 30 Nov 2016, Rate: bad

would not recommend this school, not even to my worst enemy. Had only problems. Principal has no people skills and is rude. High turn over of teachers. Principal and vice principal have their favourites and unfortunately for other families, you don't get a look in. Lots of bullying at the school and nothing is done about it. If this is your last option, I would still think again. Best thing I did was take my child out of this school. Destroyed his self confidence and set him back. Curriculum is also a joke. I cannot stress enough what a joke this school is.

By Parent - 10 Dec 2015, Rate: bad

Run is all I can say as all good teachers have left

By Parent - 10 Dec 2015, Rate: excellent

Atrocious - bullying not dealt with and a Principle whose main focus is getting on with the church. They don't reply to queries (even serious), and staff turn over is high (not hard to see why).

By Parent - 26 Feb 2013, Rate: bad

i hate it