A FORMER student who is suing Geelong Grammar School says she decided to seek damages after she failed to qualify for her preferred university course.
Rose Ashton-Weir, 18, alleges Geelong Grammar gave her inadequate academic support, particularly in maths.
Seeking compensation in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, she said her final secondary school score was too low to study law at the University of Sydney.
Of her time at Geelong Grammar, she said: ''I didn't ever feel I was getting the support I needed to really excel.''
Ms Ashton-Weir boarded at the school in 2008 and 2009 but finished her secondary studies at a TAFE college in Sydney. She is in the first year of a double degree in arts and sciences at the University of Sydney.
Her mother, Elizabeth Weir, is also suing the school for lost income and other expenses.
She said she gave up her chocolate fortune cookie business - which she had expected to make $450,000 over three years - because her daughter moved from Geelong to live with her in New South Wales.
She is also seeking compensation for $39,000 in rent paid when they moved to another house in Sydney.
Earlier this week, Ms Weir said the school had known her daughter was gifted and had scored highly in an intelligence test, but struggled in maths.
Yesterday, Ms Ashton-Weir told the tribunal a teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall.
Darren Ferrari, representing Geelong Grammar, said Ms Ashton-Weir could have studied law at several other universities. ''You could have done law at Deakin University by correspondence,'' he said.
He said Ms Ashton-Weir had been placed on ''internal suspension'' a number of times while at the school. She was also poorly organised and had been absent from class many times.
Ms Ashton-Weir fell ill with glandular fever in early 2009 and went to stay with her mother at the end of term two. She did not return to Geelong Grammar.
Mr Ferrari said the school had tried to support Ms Ashton-Weir. ''The school wanted her to get through the year.''
He said Ms Ashton-Weir's school reports noted she was intelligent but failed to complete school work.
The hearing will resume in August
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/schoo ... z1v5j86dS7
Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
Lovely response by Anthony Sharwood in The Punch...
They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not providing her with the necessary tuition and support to get into a law course at an elite university, and so they should.
This irresponsible institution calls itself a grammar school, but can't even teach it.
The girl in question, a pouting, willowy petal by the name of Rose Ashton-Weir, boarded at Geelong Grammar in 2008 and 2009 and was clearly neglected to the point of indifference. The school is Prince Charles’s alma mater, and is Victoria’s most expensive secondary institution with annual fees topping $30k, yet evidence was tabled in court yesterday that Ms Ashton-Weir was never once given a silver spoon with which to imbibe her daily Bircher muesli.
Further, the school patently failed the young lady by refusing to provide an immaculate gravel pathway lined with lovingly-tended hedges stretching all the way from the doors of its Geelong campus to the nearest sandstone university law school. Quite rightly, the family is outraged.
Ms Ashton-Weir is facing some predictable vitriol this morning from uneducated members of the lower classes who clearly don’t understand that good breeding, a hyphenated surname and 30 thousand dollars per year make you deserving of a job where you’re forced to wear a silly wig and work in an office with people who advocate honourable mistruths for a living.
It emerged in court that Ms Ashton-Weir was belittled by teachers too common to understand her sophisticated Chaucerian vocabulary. This caused her to miss classes, lose confidence and misplace her favourite polo pony, Jester.
Her mother, whose name is obviously Elizabeth, is also sueing for loss of income. She claims her fortune cookie business became untenable when forced to move from genteel Geelong to the wilds of the northern states. Gary Ablett is reportedly considering similar action.
And lo, all will soon be right in the world. The family’s expensive lawyers are fighting to retain their god-given right to instil their progeny in professions where they will likely stay wealthy. And anyone who stands in their way will be first humiliated, then crushed like a bug.
In late breaking news, reports of this saga are said to have filtered through to the Palace, and Prince Charles is said to be most pleased indeed. According to a source, the Prince said “right-ee-ho then. Now I know who I’ll sue if I never become king.”
Why is it that when Miley Cyrus gets naked and licks a hammer it's 'art' and 'edgy' but when I do it I'm 'drunk' and 'banned from the hardware store'?
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
Tea down the nose moment for today! Thanks Sean!!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
Agreed, that is a hilarious piece! 
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
I am still gob-smacked about the original story.
Christ their are some greedy, selfish, self-important fuckers out there.
I hope costs are awarded against them. That would be just.
Christ their are some greedy, selfish, self-important fuckers out there.
I hope costs are awarded against them. That would be just.
Bah!
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit from an international student who claimed the ANU College mismanaged his academic course, gave him ''lots of homework'' and left him with poor grades.
Hong Kong student Tak On Yee took the college to the Federal Magistrates Court, claiming mismanagement in 2009 cost him a place in a degree program at the Australian National University.
ANU College, which is part of the university, offers English-language and pre-tertiary courses to help students gain entry to degrees at the ANU. Mr Yee alleged the mismanagement and unexpected changes to the course left him with ''lots of homework'', unable to complete assignments or finish his courses. As a result, his final results were not good enough to enrol in the university for a degree course. He claimed the college had ''conducted courses illegally'' in breach of trade practices legislation and had misled him about the course components, which were different to what was provided.
Lawyers for the college argued for the case to be thrown out, saying Mr Yee had suffered no loss or damage.
They said there was no breach of trade practice laws, saying two independent bodies - the ACT Accreditation and Registration Council and the Overseas Students Ombudsman - found no cause to investigate Mr Yee's complaints. It was argued Mr Yee's complaints were addressed in July 2010, when he was offered a scholarship, granted a passing grade for a course he failed to complete and offered a spot in another program.
The court heard Mr Yee rejected the scholarship and failed to attend a semester that was offered to him.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
You let some U.S. tort lawyers in, didn't you?
More likely to get rid of cane toads and melanoma, now.
yrs,
rubato
More likely to get rid of cane toads and melanoma, now.
yrs,
rubato
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
Credit where credit is due. 
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
LOL, rube! 
Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
yrs,
rubato
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Sue U
- Posts: 9087
- Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:59 pm
- Location: Eastern Megalopolis, North America (Midtown)
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
I didn't see any mention of any lawyers bringing the claims on behalf of either Ms. Ashton-Weir or Mr. Yee. As far as I can tell, they represented themselves. Do any of you have some additional information that "U.S. tort lawyers" -- or even Australian tort lawyers -- had anything whatsoever to do with these cases? Or are these just a couple of pro se whiners? (And it is not apparent to me that these would be "tort" cases at all. It seems, at least in Mr. Yee's case, that there was some sort of adminsitrative appeal process through the bodies governing the educational institution that ultimately ended up in court following adverse decisions for the claimant below.)
GAH!
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
Come on Sue, even I could tell rubato was making a joke....
And I'm not exactly his biggest fan here.,...
And I'm not exactly his biggest fan here.,...
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
-
Sue U
- Posts: 9087
- Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:59 pm
- Location: Eastern Megalopolis, North America (Midtown)
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
I knew it was a "joke." I just didn't think there was any call for gratuitously bashing lawyers when it seems that lawyers didn't actually have anything to do with the claims made.
ETA:
I work damn hard vindicating the rights of victims who truly have been injured or otherwise done wrong through the negligence, recklessness and wantonness of others. Whether or not these two scholars deserve scorn and public mockery for their actions may be fair for fodder. But mindlessly bashing lawyers for it is a step too far, I think.
ETA:
I work damn hard vindicating the rights of victims who truly have been injured or otherwise done wrong through the negligence, recklessness and wantonness of others. Whether or not these two scholars deserve scorn and public mockery for their actions may be fair for fodder. But mindlessly bashing lawyers for it is a step too far, I think.
GAH!
Re: Phone the w-a-a-a-a-mbulance
Then you won't be upset if I lash out at any gratuitous UK/Aus, etc bashing from him then?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
