Mancel College 33 Cubberla Street, Fig Tree Pocket, Queensland 4069

"Just unprofessional and parking is a nightmare"

"im diagnosed with partial verbal autism and they helped me"

"Promote as language development school Language Being the main underlaying child delay however has turned into more like a private special school I am assuming this is so the school receives funding for each child with a diagnosis through the government on top of the child’s expensive fee’s Our child attended after what we thought was perfect fit due to speech delay Enrolment caused nothing but extreme anxiety and unfortunately regression We had no choice but to withdraw from school year’s of our hard work with private therapist was coming undone quickly this was noticeable by extended family also private therapist The school need’s a investigation into who and what they are promoting because it’s differently a private special school not a school for language delays and language support I am very concerned as how they get away with child teachers ratios considering the very high needs of each student in the classroom Do yourself a favour and don’t bother unless you are in need of a private special school for your child."

"Our DD is diagnosed with partial verbal autism. Following a great deal of research & what we felt was due diligence, we made the decision to enrol her at this school. Had we read even one review outlining a hint of what we ended up experiencing we would have thought twice. We feel, for this reason, that it is our responsibility to share what became, for us, a devastating experience. A few months after enrolment, she began showing signs of heightened anxiety & stress regarding a staff member. She would repeat her name several times a week & was having occasional nightmares that involved her. She began to withdraw & started hiding in her wardrobe. The anxiety/fear appeared to increase until one day she disclosed to an OSCH Coordinator (who she had developed a bond with) that a staff member “pinched” her. Understandably, we were distressed with the allegations – it was reported that the disclosure happened when there was a discussion about an upcoming event at the school. The Coordinator was listing things our daughter would normally be looking forward to, but in response she became increasingly distressed advising that she didn’t want to go because the a staff member pinches her. We had no idea whether this had occurred once or if it was a pattern of behaviour – if it was a misunderstanding even – all we knew was that our daughter had become increasingly anxious over the preceding months and here appeared to be a possible cause. In fact, on one occasion in preceding months the alleged staff member asked to speak to me where she vented out her frustrations stating that my child was “difficult to deal with”, “nothing she tried was working” and that my daughter was effectively a lost cause. As an OT myself this was both unprofessional & unhelpful. At the time, it never occurred to me that she could possibly take out her frustrations on my daughter physically. We made a complaint to the school as a matter of urgency and they carried out their own internal investigation. They did not however, attempt to speak with my daughter nor myself or my husband. They did not speak to her support network or the afterschool coordinator to whom she had first made the disclosure. Instead, we were informed that following their “investigation” they concluded that the complaint was unsubstantiated. We followed up with a complaint to AHPRA and their investigation was based on the school’s “investigation” naturally they concluded no further action was warranted. Understandably, we have since left the school. There was no attempt to address our concerns directly, no attempt to explore the possibility that a health professional with access to truly vulnerable, often non-verbal children could possibility misuse that authority and access. Trust became an issue. We have since spoken to other parents and discovered that our experience, at least anecdotally, is neither singular nor entirely unique. Our experience was real however, & the impact 2 yrs down the track is still profound. Our daughter is attending a new school – the feedback has been the complete opposite to what the alleged staff member at this school expressed. They have said that she is a pleasure to work with and that she puts so much effort in all her subjects despite her diagnosis. We will never know what actually happened to her – as the “investigation” the school conducted was unsatisfactory to us. We have considered going to the police directly, however we do not feel that going to the police now will help our daughter to get past a truly distressing time in her life. Our initial google review was met with a “cease and desist” letter from the school’s lawyers but we believe that it is our right to inform the public about our experience. Instead of engaging with us the school seems to have chosen the same kind of heavy-handed approach of intimidation that we believe our daughter was subjected to."

"Amazing teachers, specialists, admin staff and visionary, genuinely caring and kind principal. A must go to school for children with language disorder!"