School investigating boy's bully terror, Queensland, Austalia

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A NORTH Queensland boy who suffered terrible injuries while fleeing a bully had been terrorised repeatedly on the school bus, and his school did nothing to stop the abuse, his mother says.

Eight-year-old Blair Retallick is in intensive care after running from the bus to escape a tormentor, who threatened to kill him, and being hit by a four-wheel drive outside a Townsville school on Monday.

Patricia Retallick said her son was the target of a long-running campaign by bullies on the school bus and had been kicked, spat on, bitten, punched and verbally abused.

She had made many complaints to Bohlevale State School and the bus company, but nothing was done, she said.

Blair remains in the Townsville Hospital with injuries including a fractured skull, a bruise to his brain, and a lacerated liver. His condition is stable.

Ms Retallick said witnesses, including children from the bus, had reported the tormentor's kill threat.

"He was having an altercation with a child on the bus and it flowed out as the bus stopped," she told the ABC.

"He was running as the boy was saying to him 'I'm going to kill you' and he ran straight into the path of a car as he was running away from the boy.

"It shouldn't have happened. It should have been dealt with."

She said she raised the bullying issue with the school as recently as Monday morning and wanted action, including better systems to report bullying.

But Education Queensland North Queensland regional director Mike Ludwig said the school was "particularly prop-active" in addressing bullying.

He said there was "a variety of opinions" on what had happened to Blair, and the school was interviewing witnesses to find out the exact course of events.

Mr Ludwig said the school "really worked hard" in following through on bullying complaints and highlighting to children appropriate behaviour.

"At school assemblies they explicitly remind students of all the rules and the expectations. They have, in fact, had lessons taught to every class in the school this year about keeping hands and feet to themselves, using kind words, owning their own behaviours," he said.

"They've had a range of the anti-bullying resources, including posters from the library, right throughout the entire school."

Staff had also had discussions with parents and students to define the term "bullying".

He said children at the school and the families involved had been offered counselling.

Ms Retallick said Blair could be in hospital for a week or a month.

"Some of his injuries are so extensive that anything could happen and it could change in the blink of an eye," she said.

The incident comes just a week after the state government said it would create a new alliance to tackle violence in schools.

The announcement followed a report that found schools were not making adequate checks on whether their anti-bullying programs were working.

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/schoo...0-1225836649244

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But Education Queensland North Queensland regional director Mike Ludwig said the school was "particularly prop-active" in addressing bullying.

yeah we can tell, you chop!