Warning: Distressing content
Loved ones are set to gather for the funeral of 12-year-old Sydney schoolgirl Charlotte, who died by suicide after allegedly being bullied.
Charlotte, a year 7 student at Santa Sabina College in Sydney’s inner-west, died by suicide on September 9.
Her family have claimed Charlotte was subject to bullying at the school.
The 12-year-old had reportedly left a note for her family asking her mother to please “tell the school”, and detailing who she wanted at her funeral, as well as others who had made “life too hard”.
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Charlotte’s mother, Kelly, earlier shared the final message she sent to the school after her daughter’s death.
“My beautiful girl took her own life last night because of the relentless friendship issues she faced,” Kelly wrote.
“She didn’t deserve to go to and from school crying almost every day. She didn’t deserve girls to bark in her face or scream out her name and run away, to purposely hit her with their bag and say whoops.
“She didn’t deserve the pain she was in. She deserved love and kindness. She deserved to be treated with dignity and respect.
“My darling baby angel is gone because I didn’t make a big enough noise for her. I’m sorry baby, I’m sorry.”
The funeral is set to take place at Charlotte’s primary school, Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Bossley Park, on Friday.
The school has given staff and students the day off, the Daily Telegraph reported.
In place of flowers, Charlotte’s family have asked people to donate to Kids Helpline.
Charlotte’s stepfather, Matthew, on Monday told 2GB’s Ben Fordham he and Charlotte’s loved ones “won’t recover” from the tragic death.
He also said he’s “disappointed” by Santa Sabina College’s response, bluntly telling Fordham parents who have come out in support of the school will pick up their daughters from school, while he’ll never be able to do that again.
“I think outside of the response from the broader community of the school I have to say I’ve been disappointed to say the least, with the response that’s come from the school,” Matthew said.
“Some of the responses that have gone into the media, I think the first response was around that there’s inconsistencies in their records and I thought that comment to go out at that time when we were grieving was unnecessary.
“And since then, comments like the school’s been overwhelmed with support from other parents coming forward and saying how well they deal with these types of issues. And I’m sure they’ve had some communication and some support, Ben.
“But those mothers that have given that school support, no doubt they will be planning on picking their daughter up from school today, and we are not.”
Santa Sabina College principal Paulina Skerman earlier said bullying allegations were being taken seriously, but that some claims “are not consistent with (their) records”, according to news.com.au.
Ms Skerman also said in a statement that parents had been sending in messages of support for the school, including ones that “talk about their children feeling safe and cared for” at the college.
“Our Anti-Bullying Policy is available on our website, and was developed in consultation with the Association of Independent Schools of NSW, and further approved earlier this year by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA),” Ms Skerman said.
“Our students and our families are highly informed on the policy and the procedures for reporting and resolving matters of concern, and they utilise this as needed.
“Our focus as a College is the ongoing support and care for our students, their families and our staff, and to supporting Charlotte’s family through their unimaginable grief.
“We are continuing to work with Headspace and other providers to ensure that we follow the most supportive and safest practices for our community at this time.”
