Elite Sydney girls school says scathing captain’s speech was about court case

She started by congratulating her fellow pupils on their achievements and reviewing the year before going dramatically off-piste.

“For a large part of this year I was hurt, betrayed and very much began to hate certain things and people within the school”, she said.

She was made to change the ending, because “no parent wants to hear that a school isn’t perfect”.

“As this related to a matter before the courts it is not possible for us to comment on the specifics, other than to say this related to a disagreement about disciplinary action take against a number of students following an incident of alleged bullying”, the letter reads.

Ms Haynes said she had been instructed by the school to remove comments from a speech earlier this year in which she said that “Ravo isn’t perfect”.

She explained a “cruel and unjustified” decision was made to remove her sister from the school halfway through the year.

She admitted she doesn’t know how to run a school but that she’d gotten the impression “that today’s schools are being run more and more like businesses where everything becomes financially motivated, where more value is placed on those who provide good publicity or financial benefits”.

The speech has been viewed more than 6,500 times on YouTube; most of the responses have been positive.

He said the speech was sparked by “an incident of alleged bullying”.

Every speech she gave had to be approved by staff, she said, and so for this occasion she had written two.

“I was never trusted to say the right thing, which I found kind of silly because if I wanted to say something audacious, like I am today, I could always have sent someone a different speech”.

“I’ve given a fair few speeches in my lifetime but once I became school captain, everything I ever wrote had to be sent and censored by those higher up than me”.

‘If the school can’t admit it isn’t ideal how can they expect adolescent girls to realise perfection is unattainable. But some people work hard, struggle, and get overlooked.

Mark Webb, chairman of Ravenswood’s council, told that Ms Haynes’ speeches were not censored by staff members.

“So I think that’s a bit upsetting, because that definitely doesn’t agree with me, and I know a lot people, a lot of my friends, I don’t think they would agree with everything that was said”. “In fact, it was nearly the complete opposite, as I and others were provided with various platforms in which to discuss issues or concerns with the way the student pastoral care culture had evolved at Ravenswood”.

Referencing the saintly teachings of one Hannah Montana, Haynes told the audience: “Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days, but how often do we really recognise and believe this?”

‘Girls have the right to express their individual opinion, ‘ he said.