A furious mother has been driving to her four-year-old daughter’s primary school to deliver food each day after the institution banned packed lunches.

Bean Primary School has banned packed lunches for children in Year 1 and Reception due to the need to guarantee a certain number of cooked dinners from the meal provider.

But parents are outraged by the implementation of the policy which they say strips their children of their choice between a packed lunch or a hot dinner.

Some also bemoan the quality of the cooked lunches – citing meals such as ‘onion bhaji and chips’.

However, the headteacher of the school in the village of Bean, Kent, insists the lunches are of excellent quality and include alternatives for children with special dietary requirements.

HAS YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL BANNED PACKED LUNCHES? Email jessica.hamilton.mol@mailonline.co.uk 

Fay Armitage, whose lactose intolerant daughter Bonnie is in Reception at the school, is vehemently opposed to the new policy.

She says four-year-old Bonnie regularly comes home with tummy aches from school as she’s no longer able to control how much dairy she has in her diet.

Ms Armitage was hoping to send Bonnie to school each day with a packed lunch so she would know exactly what she’d eaten throughout the day.

But parents have now been forbidden to do so, as all children in Reception and Year 1 must partake in school dinners.

Ms Armitage has been told instead to fill in a special dietary request form so the kitchen knows what they can give Bonnie.

But the mother-of-three does not seem to think that is sufficient and sometimes drives to the school gates to allow her daughter to eat her packed lunch in the car.

‘I didn’t say she can’t eat certain foods,’ the 35-year-old, who works as a part-time healthcare assistant said. ‘I just monitor what she eats and make sure she does not have too much of anything that is going to upset her tummy.

‘I don’t need them to tell me every mouthful she eats, but just to give me an idea so I can adjust her evening meals accordingly. 

‘If she has had a yoghurt I would know not to give her one later. They just told me they didn’t have enough staff to be able to do that.

She added: ‘I think it’s ridiculous, to be honest.’

Ms Armitage also feels that in implementing this new mandatory policy to have cooked dinners, the school is taking away the children’s right to choose what they eat.

The new policy currently only applies to children in Reception and Year 1. But under the Government‘s universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) policy, the same scheme will gradually be rolled out to each new academic year group until it covers the entire school, and there are three choices to order from. 

Parents are now arguing that under the new policy, Unicef children’s rights, which the school is signed up to, have been breached.

‘Bean Primary School is a Unicef Rights Respecting School – this is highlighted on their website where Article 12 states that every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously,’ Ms Armitage said.

‘Yet the school is ignoring the fact that some children would prefer a packed lunch and is forcing them to have a school dinner purely for financial gain.

‘It’s disappointing that the headteacher, Mr Reilly, and the school governors are taking away the rights of the children by refusing to let the younger children have a packed lunch.

‘While I appreciate that the government offers UIFSM, this is an offer and not compulsory.

‘It appears Mr Reilly and the governors have promised the catering company a minimum number of meals each day,’ the mother added, saying the policy is ‘forcing the children in Reception and Year 1 to have school dinners while children in all other year groups have the option of taking in a packed lunch from home’.

‘This is going to result in children being hungry unnecessarily and is not safeguarding my child or putting her needs first. It is instead preventing my child from eating properly.’

Ms Armitage has suggested the school provide a simple sandwich option for lunch, but was told this wasn’t possible.

‘I’m in a no-win situation,’ she said. ‘If I don’t collect her she’s starving, but if I pick her up we have a tantrum when she leaves because she doesn’t want to go back.

‘It doesn’t have to be fancy – just offer her a sandwich.’

Other mothers of children in Reception and Year 1 at the school are equally unhappy with the mandatory new policy.

Lissa Jones, another parent with a child at Bean Primary School, said the policy could detrimentally impact the children’s learning.

‘A decision on packed lunch or school dinners should rest with the parents of a child based on the parent’s knowledge of what a child can and will eat,’ she said.

‘Being forced to eat school dinners that children do not want to eat, will not eat and being forced to eat can have a detrimental effect.

‘A child could be put off going to school knowing that they will not enjoy the dinners, not eat much and therefore affect their happiness and learning.’

She added: ‘Of course encourage children to try new things, but don’t force them.’

Another mother, whose daughter in Year 1 was part of the first cohort under the no-packed lunches rule, said that although the policy helps her financially she’s unhappy with some of the food on offer.’

She said: ‘It’s not really fair on her that most of the week she is stuck with jacket potato that sometimes isn’t cooked very well and she comes home starving.

‘Not to mention some of the meal options not even an adult would choose. Onion bhaji and chips? What even is that?

‘The children just aren’t getting a variety of food.’

In a letter, the school assured parents that staff were checking children had eaten enough and would ensure more of what they liked was available if not.

It was also stated that if a child was not eating adequately a member of staff would let the parent know, but that they might come home with an appetite due to their busy day.

Bean Primary School head teacher Graham Reilly said: ‘The policy was brought in a year ago because of the school’s need to guarantee a certain number of cooked lunches from the provider.

‘The quality of meals is excellent and we have received many compliments from parents and pupils.

‘There were no issues last year and the policy is being rolled out as each year group progresses, so children who have brought packed lunches in the past can continue to do so until they change schools.

‘The situation is explained to every parent who takes part in the meetings for reception-age children before choosing that school for their child.

‘There is a lactose-free alternative for affected children. It is not feasible to prepare a written report on everything an individual pupil has eaten.’

A spokesman for Kent County Council said it was up to individual schools to decide on their own policies and added there was ‘no obligation’ on them to allow packed lunches.

A British father has revealed how he and his wife quit his jobs and removed their children from school to travel around the world for a year.

The Taylor family, from Wigan, made the decision after father Steve saw motorhomes while camping and began fantasising about quitting his job and going travelling with his family for 10 months.

Steve had already travelled extensively as a student, but his wife, Jess, also 31, hadn’t, but he knew that a love of adventure was an important quality he wanted to pass onto his children – Isaac, seven, Millie, six, and Poppy, one.

Steve quit his job as a project manager and Jess quit her work as a commercial administrator to set off on the adventure of a lifetime.

Meanwhile they pulled their children out of school for the year, claiming it was ‘much cheaper to live’ and it has helped their kids ‘come out of their shells’.

Explaining his motivations, Steve said: ‘It was a mix of the pandemic and the kids getting to a certain age and wanting to spend more time with them.

‘We went camping with Jess’s family last year. I looked at all the motorhomes and thought, ‘That looks awesome! It’d be amazing to get one and go on an adventure.’

‘But we thought we couldn’t do it because we couldn’t take the kids out of school; we couldn’t quit our jobs, and we couldn’t cover the costs.

‘Then we said if we’re not going to do it, will we look back in 10 years time and think, ‘Why didn’t we go for it?’ And we said, ‘We’ve got to do it then.’

The couple discussed the idea and concluded that they didn’t want to have any regrets down the line, so they bought a van motorhome and went for it.

Steve said the process of taking his children out of school was simple and their teachers were supportive of the adventure.

To help cover the costs, he set up a business as a contract project manager, which he could do remotely and part-time, and that, coupled with the family’s savings, was enough for them to live on after they rented out their home.

He added: ‘Luckily, because of Covid there were so many resources available when it came to homeschooling the children.

‘We had an online tutor one day a week who filled in any gaps that we were missing.’

In terms of costs, the family admitted that it varied, but they found that their outgoings were generally less than half of what they were living at home.

Steve said: ‘It was much cheaper to live. We probably spent less than half our previous outgoings living in the van.’

The family visited nine countries on their 10-month-long adventure – France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Morocco.

What followed was an almost instantaneous positive change in their children, and the family as a whole became a lot closer. 

Steve added: ‘It was a big culture shock for the kids, especially seeing some of the poverty in Morocco. It made them appreciate how lucky they are.’

Steve said: ‘We didn’t have the distractions of day to day life.

‘One of the stand-out things was how little my children were watching screens when we were travelling. My oldest son developed a love for reading.

‘My daughter’s socialisation skills improved. She would have full-blown conversations with adults. It was like a night and day in terms of her coming out of her shell.’

While the family are now back at home, they are already planning their next big trip, and they are thinking about exploring Turkey, more of Africa, and potentially South America.

Steve stressed that they ended up doing a lot more than just seeing the world. 

He added: ‘I know my kids inside out now. Living inside a metal box, you get to know every little personality trait, every little trigger. It’s the same with my wife.

‘Travelling has also given us time with the baby that we never would have had if we’d kept working.’

Steve’s now advising any other families who are considering a big adventure to ‘just go for it’ because the benefits could be life-changing.

He said: ‘There were quite a few occasions where things were tough. We broke down in the mountains in Morocco. 

‘We were stranded at night with three kids, no breakdown cover, cashless, and no idea how we’d get sorted.

‘By then, we’d realised that if you zoom out far enough in terms of timescales, even the biggest problems in the moment seem manageable. We asked ourselves, ‘In six months time, will the problem I’m facing still be a problem?’

‘If it’s a no, then it’s likely you can handle whatever problem you’re facing.

‘It really helped us to keep our cool.

‘Thankfully, we managed to get towed to a garage in the closest city. They got the van fixed and we set off again.’

A council’s sex education teaching materials amount to ‘soft porn’, a representative for a women’s rights organisation has claimed, after the council were forced to withdraw some of its recommended teaching material.

Documents seen by MailOnline concerning the lessons included the controversial ‘Genderbread man’ – which shows someone’s gender identity, gender expression and anatomical sex to be different things.

The classes, recommended in Swindon Borough Council’s Relationships and Sex Education Programme, explained that sex is ‘assigned’ at birth.

Caroline Ffiske from Conservatives for Women, a right-wing group which opposes the rights of trans people in single-sex spaces, told MailOnline some of the resources were tantamount to ‘soft porn’. 

She said: ‘In the hands of children who are too young, some of these images effectively become soft porn.

‘So that is where we have got to. These images are sexual, and early sexualisation harms children, eroding boundaries and destroying innocence. Now we are normalising ‘trusted adults’ sharing sexual images with children. 

‘That teachers and council workers can’t see this shows how untenable this agenda has become. 

‘Perhaps it is time to close it down; let parents manage these sensitive and important conversations; and have schools go back to their core remit.’    

But now the council has rowed back on their teaching plans – removing the support pack from circulation and waiting for new government guidance.

 A Swindon Borough Council spokesperson said: ‘Swindon Borough Council has removed the RSE curriculum support pack which was produced and the link for schools is no longer available. 

‘The Department for Education is currently consulting on new guidance for schools, which the Council will consider once received.’

Alongside a diagram of a Genderbread Person, the pack included a map of a ‘Gender Galaxy’ – where gender expression is said to have ‘infinite possibilities’ and Assigned Sex is shown to be separate and divided from Gender Identity.

The second system is shown to have 10 different planets, but a note at the bottom encourages children to: ‘create your own planet (comet or moon!)’. 

The guidance also gave the schoolchildren advice on how to make a dental dam – which is used for oral sex. 

And other parts of the pack gave advice on how to apply condoms used for anal sex in to the rectum.

It is not claimed that guidance around condoms or dental dams is given to young children. 

In the pack, schools were supposed to encourage children as young as 11 to make models of their genitals, sexual organs and bodily fluids from supermarket goods in gender-questioning classes savaged by parents.

In class plans seen by MailOnline, teachers were urged to divide children into two teams and give them items including bananas, pears, walnuts and hand lotion.

The youngsters – all in Year Seven – were then expected to fashion a penis, a uterus, testicles and ‘prostate fluid’ from the ingredients.

Lessons also encouraged the children to ‘imagine they were a different gender’ and what they would look forward to if they were that person.

And in perhaps the most concerning part of the programme teachers were urged not to use the term ‘breasts’.

The document insisted ‘The term chest tissue can be used interchangeably because this language recognises that trans or non-binary people may feel negatively towards their breasts’.

Peter Williams, director of the Family Education Trust, said some sex education classes being taught in schools were becoming dangerous.

He told MailOnline:  ‘The increasing evidence of this kind of material related to sexuality and ‘gender’ being exposed to children in schools through RSE teaching is profoundly disturbing and appalling.

‘The explicit content reported by very understandably outraged and concerned parents normalises sexual behaviour amongst children, breaking down their natural innocence and reticence to such activity and potentially leaving them open to peer abuse and even grooming by adults.

‘Just as worrying is the presence of gender ideology in this same teaching, which also seeks to present the identity dysphoria connected with ‘transgenderism’ as ordinary, and encouraging children at a vulnerable stage of their development into a self-understanding which later may have life-changing and even life-ruining consequences.

‘All this shows how widespread ideology under the guide of RSE is trumping a proper concern for safeguarding, and betraying schools’ duty of care for children in the process. There needs to be total transparency and far fuller engagement with parents and guardians before such material is shown to their children, a related right for them to veto any inappropriate material or withdraw their children from all RSE, and an enabling of parents to fulfil their role as primary educators and carers.’

The lesson plans come against a backdrop of reported incidents among children who had been handed education material. 

Examples reportedly led one eight-year-old autistic boy to ‘hump’ his own mother’s leg to ‘give her sperm for a baby’. 

In another case, a mother claimed her seven-year-old daughter returned from school with a piece of artwork featuring a teddy bear in bondage gear holding a heart that reads: ‘Spank me.’  

The debate on the transparency of material used for RSE lessons has already been pushed in Parliament after Miriam Cates, the MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge introduced a ‘sex education transparency’ Private Members’ Bill in June. 

The bill, which is in the second reading in parliament, would create a legal duty for English schools to share materials used in relationships and sex education (RSE) lessons with parents, and prevent schools from using unpublished materials if they are produced by a third-party provider.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: ‘The safety and wellbeing of children and young people is our top priority.

‘Following reports of inappropriate materials being used to teach relationships and sex education, the government has already brought forward an urgent review of the curriculum and is looking at introducing age ratings to make sure teaching materials are appropriate.

‘The Education Secretary has also written to schools to reiterate that parents have a right to view teaching materials and copyright law does not prevent a parent from viewing external resources on school premises.’

Virgin Galactic customers who have splashed out hundreds of thousands of dollars on a trip to space are finally set to be rewarded. 

The firm, founded by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, will perform its first commercial flight, ‘Galactic 01’, tomorrow. 

Ahead of the maiden voyage, the four passengers have been through a rigorous training programme at Virgin Galactic‘s ‘astronaut school.’

Behind-the-scenes footage shows the crew preparing for the mission, including test flights, safety training and a flight walkthrough. 

The flight is set to take off at 10:30 ET (15:30 BST) tomorrow. 

The ‘Galactic 01’ flight will see four passengers board VSS Unity for a 90-minute flight to conduct a series of 13 suborbital science experiments. 

‘We are launching the first commercial spaceline for Earth with two dynamic products – our scientific research and private astronaut space missions,’ said Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic.

‘This next exciting chapter for Virgin Galactic has been driven by innovation, determination and a commitment to delivering an unparalleled and truly transformative customer experience.’

Col. Walter Villadei is a senior member of the Italian Air Force, who will be using his experience to prepare for a future trek to the International Space Station. 

Although Col. Villadei has trained as a cosmonaut in Russia, it will be the first time that he has flown into space. 

In 2022, he was selected for training in Houston to prepare for a future space flight with Axiom Space, the company that arranges ‘private astronaut’ missions to the International Space Station (ISS). 

Col. Villadei will also feature as a reserve crew member for the Axiom Mission 2, with an initial agreement already signed to reserve his place on the mission, which is scheduled for the end of 2023. 

Pantaleone Carlucci – a pilot and technical engineer from the National Research Council of Italy – will be conducting tests to determine human performance metrics during the flight to space. 

Carlucci and the three other members of the crew will conduct a number of tests during the 90-minute flight, such as testing equipment for measuring cosmic radiation, as well as studying various materials in microgravity conditions. 

The cabin of the SpaceShipTwo vehicle VSS Unity — the rocket-powered spaceplane housing Virgin Galactic’s passengers — will be converted into a suitable suborbital science lab to conduct the experiments.

Galactic 01 will be followed by a second commercial spaceflight, ‘Galactic 02,’ in early August 2023, with monthly spaceflights expected thereafter.

Virgin Galactic completed its final test flight in May when it sent a crew of four company employees more than 50 miles above the surface of the Earth. 

Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi will also be conducting tests, however these will be in the field of cognitive performance in microgravity and study liquid-solid mixing.

Virgin Galactic has sold about 800 tickets for its space trip over the past decade, with the initial batch going for $200,000 (£156,000) each, but they now cost $450,000 (£350,000) per person.

Virgin Galactic’s launch method is different from SpaceX and Blue Origin, which perform dramatic vertical rocket launches much like NASA.

Virgin Galactic uses a carrier aircraft called White Knight Two with two pilots who take off from a runway and then gain high altitude.

When at just under 10 miles high (50,000 feet), White Knight Two releases its rocket-powered crewed spaceplane VSS Unity, which ignites its rocket motor and soars even higher.

VSS Unity is able to reach the boundary of space as defined by the US Air Force and NASA by going over 50 miles (80.5 km) above sea level.

However, it is unable to go above the Kármán line, the FAI’s defined space boundary of 62.1 miles (100km).

The final of the four crew members is Colin Bennett, an astronaut instructor at Virgin Galactic, who has the all important task – ensuring what the quality of the experience is like travelling aboard the VSS Unity. 

Bennett is also a lead astronaut instructor responsible for training and preparing the passengers. 

Virgin Galactic, founded in 2004, conducted its first successful flight to space in December 2018 with VSS Unity.

The spaceplane, which was manned with two pilots, reached outer space for first time according to the US definition of the space border.

Greta Thunberg has staged her last ever school climate strike today as she graduates at the age of 20 – five years after the Swedish activist and her classmates first walked out to draw attention to climate change.

After she began striking in 2018 to raise awareness of rising sea levels and temperatures, the young campaigner’s impact began to be felt worldwide in what became known as ‘the Greta Effect’.

Millions of young people have since taken to the streets to protest for the future of the planet, and Greta went on to speak at the UN and raise her cause with governments around the world.

Barely out of her teens, she is now one of the most recognisable figures in the world, and arguably the face of the fight against climate change.

Here, MailOnline charts Greta’s rise from a quiet schoolgirl to one of the most outspoken and impactful activists of her generation.

Started at home

Greta first found out about climate change in 2011 aged eight, and soon became depressed about the prospect of the planet dying.

She was later diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, OCD, and selective mutism – which she later pointed out, in reference to her climate change battle, means she ‘only speaks when necessary’.

In her first win for the climate, Greta convinced her parents that they needed to change their lifestyles. 

Initially unsure about her activism, and worried about her missing school, they soon came round to her Fridays for Future initiative.

Fridays for Future

Greta staged her first school walkout protest on 20 August 2018.

The schoolgirl, who had just started ninth grade, decided not to attend school until Sweden’s 2018 General Election on September 9.

Her decision to strike was sparked by Sweden’s hottest summer in over 260 years and raging wildfires in the country.

She staged her protest outside the Riksdag, and demanded that the Swedish government reduce carbon emissions in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement.

She protested every day for three weeks during school hours under the banner Skolstrejk för klimatet (School strike for climate) – which she has used until today.

The movement has seen the mass mobilisation of young people against climate change, with children as young as five putting pressure on governments around the world.

UN Climate Conference 2018 

Greta’s passionate speech criticising adults for not doing enough to save the planet for their children went viral in 2018, sparking widespread climate change activism.

The precocious 15-year-old impressed the world with her speech, telling the leaders present that they were ‘not mature enough to tell it like it is’.

‘What I hope we achieve at this conference is that we realise that we are facing an existential threat. 

‘This is the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced. First we have to realise this and then as fast as possible do something to stop the emissions and try to save what we can save.’

UK Parliament speech

Greta held a talk for a cross-party group of MPs in 2019, with the notable absence of the then-Prime Minister Theresa May. 

‘We just want people to listen to the science,’ the 16-year-old told those assembled for the roundtable discussion on climate change.

‘The UK’s active current support of new exploitations of fossil fuels, like for example the UK shale gas fracking industry, expansion of North Sea oil, the expansion of airports as well as the planning permission for a brand new coal mine is beyond absurd.’

‘Did you hear me? Is my English OK? Because I’m beginning to wonder,’ Thunberg said.

Her visit coincided with Extinction Rebellion’s mass action across London, which saw days of disruption to roads and transport. 

Donald Trump ‘death stare’ 

Greta became an internet sensation yet again when she attended the United Nations Climate Summit in New York aged 16.

She told delegates ‘you have stolen my dreams and my childhood’ and that world leaders were ‘failing’ humanity.

Among those who didn’t attend was the then-US President Donald Trump 

As the pair briefly crossed paths at the UN headquarters, she was spotted giving him a steely look, labelled a ‘death stare’ by many online.

The enraged expression on her face quickly became an internet sensation, and a social media storm between the two ensued.

After her emotionally-charged speech at the UN, the U.S. President wrote that in a mocking tweet that Greta ‘seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future’.

But appearing on a Swedish talk show from New York today, the teenage climate activist said Trump’s ridicule ‘doesn’t make a difference’.

In December 2019, President Trump mocked her again after she was named Person of the Year for 2019 by Time

He tweeted: ‘So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!’

Greta responded by changing her Twitter biography to: ‘A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend.’

She later reprised the back and forth during the 2020 presidential election, commenting on Trump tweeting: ‘Stop the count!’ with the text: ‘So ridiculous. Donald must work on his Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Donald, Chill!’

Sailing to the UN 

The eco-warrior used her 2019 UN speech to call out Trump on his climate record, but it was her mode of transport to the New York conference which got many talking.

The 16-year-old sailed into Manhattan on a zero-carbon emissions yacht to avoid using a plane’s gas emissions.

She was greeted by hundreds of activists when she stepped off the yacht near the World Trade Center.

She has spearheaded an anti-flying movement during her years campaigning, promoting travel by boat and train instead of high-carbon flying.

 Carried off by police

The Swedish climate activist was carried off by police during a protest at a mine in Lutzerath in January. 

Greta was again carried away by police officers during a protest in Oslo against a wind farm built on indigenous land in Norway.

The Swedish climate activist had joined indigenous Sami protesters in blocking access to the Norwegian foreign ministry to protest against wind turbines that remained in place on reindeer herding land, despite a court ruling.

What next? 

While her school striking days may be over, Greta has pledged to continue her weekly walkouts.

‘We who can speak up have a duty to do so. In order to change everything, we need everyone,’ she wrote on Twitter. 

‘I’ll continue to protest on Fridays, even though it’s not technically “school striking”. 

‘We simply have no other option than to do everything we possibly can. The fight has only just begun.’

At least three school pupils are hospitalised after a knife attack in Sweden when two rival gangs fought at a sports event

• The students were rushed to a hospital following a stabbing in town of Eskilstuna

By Rachael Bunyan

Published: 07:37 EDT, 1 June 2023 | Updated: 08:09 EDT, 1 June 2023

It should be a photograph filled with happy childhood memories, but instead it tells the tragedy of a community torn apart by horrific child abuse.   

The picture shows the 1973 Grade 4 class of St Alipius’ Christian Brothers School in Ballarat. In the second row from the front, standing fourth from the right with his head tilted is Philip Nagle.

As he looks at the image today, instead of bringing a smile to his face, it only stirs up feelings of sorrow and rage, as he claims 12 out of the 33 pupils pictured went on to commit suicide because of the sexual and physical abuse that took place at the school. 

Scroll down for video 

But Mr Nagle believes that what happened to his dead classmates will not be forgotten.

The 50-year-old was the first person called on Tuesday at the opening of the Royal Commission on Institutional Child Sex Abuse a paedophile ring involving Catholic clergy in Ballarat in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. 

At the end of his testimony he asked for a minute’s silence to honour his 12 fellow classmates. His only hope now is that more people will go public about the heinous crimes that took place at St Alipius so that justice can still be done.

‘If more of my classmates come forward, the less of them will commit suicide (in the future). Because the ones not coming forward are the ones who are killing themselves. Twelve in my class committed suicide,’ Mr Nagle told Daily Mail Australia.

Mr Nagle said that some did it indirectly after years of alcoholism and drug use, because they couldn’t deal with what was done to them.

‘Some of them didn’t even make it to 50 years of age, some didn’t even make it to 40. They reach a breaking point and can’t handle it anymore,’ he says.

Some of Australia’s most notorious abusers, including Gerald Ridsdale, Robert Best and Edward Dowlan, were part of a paedophile ring operating at St Alipius’ and St Patrick’s College. 

Mr Nagle, 50, was repeatedly sexually assaulted by disgraced Stephen Farrell who was a Christian Brother at the school.

‘He was our teacher at the time. Because Risdale and others were such serial offenders the likes of Farrell flew under the radar,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘Only three victims of Farrell have come forward – myself, my brother and another victim. From this he has 10 convictions. But because the likes of Risdale and Best had many victims who came forward and Farrell didn’t, he got off lightly.’

Farrell didn’t even go to jail. He was given a two years and three months suspended sentence for his offences. 

‘The likes of Ridsdale got much more because his offences were so bad and more people came forward. But Farrell was part of the paedophile ring too,’ says Mr Nagle.

He knows other victims of Farrell but he was warned by the police not to go victim hunting and is not allowed to name them. 

‘I’ve spoken to a few of them but they’re not ready to do anything about it,’ he says. 

What he had to endure at St Alipius’ is branded into his psyche. Nothing can erase the horrific ordeal he had to go through at the hands of Farrell.

‘He was too strong for me. I was just a nine-year-old boy. He’d just get you alone, wrestle you down and sexually assault you,’ Mr Nagle told Daily Mail Australia. 

‘You’ve got to realise we were just little kids and they were full grown adults, so we had no chance.

‘They were supposedly men of God in their black robes. Priests and Christian Brothers were held in higher esteem that your parents back in those days, they were beyond reproach.

It all happened over a 12-month period. We were terrified. It ruined our lives.’

He is still devastated that Farrell didn’t go to jail, and believes that suspended sentences for these types of crime are just unacceptable. 

His comments came as Gordon Hill, 72, told the inquiry on Wednesday he was taken to the St Joseph’s Home in Ballarat as a three-year-old in the 1946, and was initially abused by a priest at age five, in a place called ‘the horror rooms’. 

But Nagle’s struggle for justice still goes on. 

‘I don’t know what the inquiry will achieve unless they start getting some of these perpetrators to take the stand, but I was very happy with the process,’ he says. 

‘In Ballarat we’re called “survivors”. We get together as a group of survivors of this atrocity and try to help these other victims live.’ 

 

Ex-St. John’s basketball coach Mike Anderson SUES the school for nearly $46MILLION… saying he was fired for ‘fictitious’ reasons so they could hire Rick Pitino away from Iona

• The school fired Anderson in early March and hired Pitino just ten days later 
• Anderson says that he is owed the $11.4m remaining on his deal plus damages 
• DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news 

By Reuters and Jake Fenner For Dailymail.Com

Published: 19:20 EDT, 11 May 2023 | Updated: 19:21 EDT, 11 May 2023

The 13-year-old ‘star pupil’ who confessed to shooting dead eight of his classmates at a school in Serbia was allegedly bullied and made a gun pose with his fingers in his last Instagram post before carrying out the massacre.

Kosta Kecmanovic, 13, allegedly opened fire on his screaming classmates inside their classroom in the Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School, killing seven girls and a boy – all below the age of 14.

A security guard, identified as Dragon Vlahovic, in his early 50s, was also killed in the mass shooting, while a further six pupils and a history teacher were critically wounded in the attack on Wednesday morning.

The baby-faced teenager, who may not be legally responsible for his actions due to being under the age of 14, was arrested by Serbian police in the school’s playground and led away with his face covered after he called police confessing to the murders.

Hours before carrying out the attack, Kecmanovic posted a sinister photograph of himself smiling and making a gun pose with his fingers on Instagram.

Kecmanovic, described as a ‘star pupil’ who won prizes in maths, was armed with two guns and two petrol bombs had drawn up plans for the massacre a month beforehand. The plan included a list of children he wanted to kill and their classes and a map of the school layout, police said. 

‘The sketch looks like something from a video game or a horror movie, which indicates that he planned in detail, by classes, who to liquidate,’ Belgrade’s police chief, Veselin Milic, said.

‘After the crime, he called the police. He worked out a plan for entering the school and leaving the school. He determined the priority targets,’ he added.

Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić said on Wednesday night that both the boy’s parents – both doctors – have been arrested, and that he is to be taken to a psychiatric institution. 

Terrified students hid under their desks amid ‘non-stop shooting’ at around 8.40am on Wednesday morning.

At least eight children and a security guard were killed in the gun rampage and there are fears that the death toll could rise even further, with some sustaining life-threatening injuries.

The shooter first killed a guard at the school in central Belgrade and then three students in a hallway, police said. 

He then entered a classroom – reportedly choosing it simply because it was close to the entrance – and opened fire again.

Kecmanovic then called police himself and as officers put handcuffs on him, he reportedly told local media he had shot his classmates ‘because I am a psychopath’.

Anxious parents rushed to the school after being told of the shooting, waiting for news of their children.

As mothers and fathers were told their children were among those killed, they staggered backwards in utter disbelief that their child who had left their home that morning was not coming back.

Their screams and wails tore through the silence, as many collapsed in grief at hearing the horrific fate of their children.

Two of the six children who were wounded in the attack are now fighting to stay alive after being shot in the neck and head. The injured teacher, Tatjana Stevanović, in her early 50s, was also ‘in danger’ after being shot in the stomach and hands.

Kecmanovic stole his father’s two guns and assembled two petrol bombs in preparation of the attack. His father, a famous radiologist at a Belgrade private school, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated endangering of the public safety.

Police have not stated a motivation for the attack, but parents of children at the school have said he was bullied while Kecmanovic’s father, who has not been named, said the boy often told him he did not fit into society.

According to Serbian legal provisions, the 13-year-old boy ‘is deemed criminally irresponsible, because he has not reached the age of 14’, local media has reported. 

Gun ownership is widespread in Serbia, which has witnessed several mass shootings over the past decade, and President Aleksandar Vucic said checks would be stepped up.

As Serbia prepares for three days of national mourning, Vucic announced a moratorium on new gun licenses other than for hunting, revision of existing permits and surveillance of shooting ranges and how civilians store their weapons. School shootings are rare.

The shooter, who gave himself up to police and at 13 is below Serbia’s age of criminal responsibility, will be placed in a psychiatric institution, Vucic told reporters, adding that both his father and mother had been arrested.

‘He was waiting for this day. He was at the shooting range with his father three times,’ Vucic said. The boy had asked for a transfer to another class where he had three friends, he said.

A drawing by the alleged shooter, which was shown to reporters, looked like ‘something from a video game or a horror movie,’ Milic said, ‘which indicates that he planned in detail, by classes, whom to liquidate.’

Most students were able to flee through a back door, according to a local official. 

Milan Milosevic, a father of one of the pupils, said his daughter was in the history class where the shooter opened fire ‘randomly’ at other children as they cowered under their desks.

‘She managed to escape,’ the father told Serbian TV station N1.

‘He [the shooter] fired first at the teacher and then the children who ducked under the desks,’ Milosevic quoted his daughter as saying. 

‘They say he [the shooter] was quiet and a good pupil. He recently joined their class.’ 

Mr Milosevic said that he rushed out to the school when he heard what had happened.

‘I asked where is my child but no one could tell me anything at first,’ he said. ‘Then she called and we found out she was out.’

‘I saw the security guard lying under the table. I saw two girls with blood on their shirts,’ Mr Milosevic added.

Evgenija, 14, said she knew the suspected gunman and described him as ‘somehow silent… [he] appeared nice and had good grades’. 

‘[I] did not know much about him, he was not that open to everyone. I would never expect that this could happen,’ she told reporters.

‘I heard noises and I thought some boys, some kids were throwing firecrackers… But then I saw the security guard falling to the ground,’ she said, adding that she then ran away.

Serbia’s Interior Ministry said in an updated statement that eight children and a security guard were killed in the shooting, while six children and one school teacher were wounded. 

‘All police forces are still on the ground and are intensively working to shed light on all the facts and circumstances that led to this tragedy.’ 

A student who was in a sports class downstairs when the gunfire erupted said: ‘I was able to hear the shooting. It was non-stop.’

‘I didn’t know what was happening. We were receiving some messages on the phone.’ 

The student, who heard the violence unfold, identified only by her initials, E.M. because of her age, described the suspect as a ‘quiet guy’ who ‘looked nice.’

‘He was having good grades, but we didn’t know much about him,’ the student added. ‘He was not so open with everybody. Surely I wasn’t expecting this to happen. ‘

Milan Nedeljkovic, mayor of the central Vracar district where the school is located, said doctors were fighting to save a teacher’s life.

Mr Nedeljkovic said the school’s security guard likely prevented more deaths by putting himself in front of the shooter.

The guard ‘wanted to prevent the tragedy and he was the first victim,’ Nedeljkovic told reporters told journalists live on television outside the school.

‘I saw kids running out from the school, screaming. Parents came, they were in panic. Later I heard three shots,’ a girl who attends a high school adjacent to Vladislav Ribnikar told state TV RTS. 

Police sealed off the blocks around the school, in the center of Belgrade.

Officers in helmets and bulletproof vests cordoned off the area around the school, which is in the Vračar neighbourhood in central Belgrade.

Local media footage from the scene showed commotion outside the school as police removed the suspect, whose head was covered as officers led him to a car parked in the street.

An investigation into the motives behind the shooting is under way. 

Serbia’s Interior Ministry said in a statement: ‘The police sent all available patrols immediately to the spot and arrested a suspected minor – a seventh grade student who is suspected of firing several shots from his father’s gun in the direction of students and school security.’

Vračar is a wealthy area of the city and a number of embassies are based there. 

A row of ambulances were pictured parked on Kralja Milutin Street outside.

Police sealed off the blocks surrounding the school. Primary schools in Serbia have eight grades. 

Mass shootings in the country are extremely rare. In the last mass shooting, a Balkan war veteran in 2013 killed 13 people in a central Serbian village.

Experts, however, have repeatedly warned of the number of weapons left over in the country after the wars of the 1990s.

The western Balkans are awash with hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons following the unrest there.

Serbian authorities have offered several amnesties for owners to hand in or register illegal guns.