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Girl, 16, beaten unconscious in grounds of Lady Lumley’s School

9:50am Thursday 11th March 2010 in


A 16-YEAR-OLD girl is recovering after she was attacked by two teenagers.

Grace Shoobridge was beaten unconscious in the grounds of Lady Lumley’s School, in Pickering.

Her mother, Kim, said Grace had been left severely traumatised and had suffered flashbacks following the attack after school, on February 24.

Mrs Shoobridge said she had been phoned by school staff who said there had been an incident involving Grace.

Since the incident, Grace, who is due to sit her GCSE exams this year, has been back to school, but with a teacher as an escort.

“When I spoke to her she was incoherent and in shock. By the time I arrived she was being taken by ambulance to York District Hospital.”

Mrs Shoobridge said the family had been left shocked by the incident.

She said: “What sort of society do we now live in where a young girl, doing well in and out of school, can not only be victimised and bullied on and off over a five-year period but then beaten unconscious?

“As a family we are incensed and angry, upset and appalled, saddened and disappointed.”

“We are becoming far too soft in society and although it’s hard it must begin with the parents, grandparents and wider family group.”

“The school has said they will support her over the next few months and her friends have been amazing with messages on Facebook and sending cards and presents.”

Grace, who recently starred as Princess Aurora in Pickering Musical Society’s production of Sleeping Beauty, is due to appear in a variety evening at the Kirk Theatre next Saturday.

“I am hopeful she will be able to do it but at the moment she needs a lot of care,” Mrs Shoobridge said.

Stuart Cleary, Lady Lumley’s assistant headteacher said the matter was being taken very seriously and had been referred to the police.

He said: “This is a very rare and isolated incident and appropriate action was taken at the time. Grace is being well-supported by staff at the school.”

Comments(15)

Taken for a Mug says...
10:38am Thu 11 Mar 10

"A very rare and isolated incident" with a background of five years bullying...

Providing an 'escort' is a sure sign of confidence in the school disciplinary regime don't you think?

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alfie says...
1:33pm Thu 11 Mar 10

Was it boys or girls? hope they have been expelled!

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redr says...
1:45pm Thu 11 Mar 10

Awful story but as the report doesn’t tell us if the, ‘incident’ took place during school hours or if it were other pupils responsible for the attack it’s rather difficult to decide who should be held responsible. All I can say is I hope Grace makes a full and rapid recovery and the individuals responsible are identified and punished.

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carolinemac says...
1:50pm Thu 11 Mar 10

I just wondered, If she has been bullied for 5 years, shouldnt she have moved schools?

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bugg says...
1:56pm Thu 11 Mar 10

carolinemac wrote:
I just wondered, If she has been bullied for 5 years, shouldnt she have moved schools?
Erm - NO - the bullies should have been dealt with properly!

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redr says...
2:00pm Thu 11 Mar 10

carolinemac wrote:
I just wondered, If she has been bullied for 5 years, shouldnt she have moved schools?
I know what you’re saying as a parents first instinct is to protect but surely she shouldn’t have to move schools. It should be those doing the bullying who have to move and if that causes inconvenience or expense to their parents all the better. Maybe then they’d get their little darlings under control.

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jez b says...
2:53pm Thu 11 Mar 10

Hope she gets all As in her GCSEs

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*FaYmOuS* says...
3:50pm Thu 11 Mar 10

Emotionally this is an awful lot for the poor girl, at that age her social life at school will be her world, i doubt being escorted around school by a teacher is helping the situation, making her feel 'different' can just imagine what those bullies will be saying about that! 'Haaa needs a teacher to hold her hand' etc. She should be able to attend school in a normal manner so i assume the bullies in question are still attending school??? Why havnt they been suspended??

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old_geezer says...
8:21pm Thu 11 Mar 10

Best wishes to Grace. Somebody outgoing, talented and popular - of course they hate her! Sadly, anybody or anything worthwhile is now a target for the louts, male and female, who blight our society. I'm sure there were some when I were a lad, and as a small speccy swot I would have been easy meat, but luckily for me they kept their heads down. Now there are a lot more of them, and they know the chances of getting away with it are pretty good.

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King Edward says...
8:35pm Thu 11 Mar 10

We should be allowed to publicly name the bullies, and where they live so good people can ostracise them and their families. Let's face it the law doesn't protect or help the victim so society should be able to.

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chrisyork says...
1:58pm Fri 12 Mar 10

Bullies are idiots really and the hangers on, they come in different shapes and forms some gossip about people, even some pretend to be friends with a victim, and usually as they get older in life they get worse, even in exceptions where they get better and even do things like help in the community even, they have commited evil and must surely look back and think what idiots they were. If there is a God and we do go to heaven, the people who bully will be judged by the higher order!

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abbielaurajohnson says...
2:07pm Fri 12 Mar 10

You obviously dont know the full story, one of the girls does not go to school anywhere never mind Lady Lumleys, the other girl was leaving school that day to move away with family members. I was in a similar situation myself, i was left beaten and the school did everything they could to ensure i was safe and comfortable in my serroundings when i was back at school. There is nothing wrong with the way that Lady Lumleys have treaten this attack, they are helping Grace in the best ways possible! No bullies get away with doing nasty things to other students here. I hope Grace recovers quickly, and im sure she will with the great help that Lady Lumleys students and staff are giving her!

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kirsty#1 says...
2:14pm Fri 12 Mar 10

Although things like this have never happened to me, i know the way that school treats cases of bullying and fighting on school grounds and even off, if students from the school are involved. They work brilliantly to ensure that the student that has unfortunately been bullied, feels confident when they return back to school. As i am a student at L.L.S i can say without hesitation that none of us have bothered to say anything nasty about Grace, only promised that we would help her when she needs it. But we have not had to do that because the staff have fully taken care of the situation. If you do not attend or know any of the students at school, how can you comment on the way that Lady Lumleys has treaten Graces attack? I have all confidence in the way that they treat all things like this, and if it were to happen to me, i would definately leave L.L.S to solve the problem. They have done everything they can and more.

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carolinemac says...
9:28pm Sat 13 Mar 10

bugg wrote:
carolinemac wrote:
I just wondered, If she has been bullied for 5 years, shouldnt she have moved schools?
Erm - NO - the bullies should have been dealt with properly!
Thats a given, I mean if they haven't been dealt with, as a parent myself I wouldn't let my child go through that for 5 years, I would rather take her away from that situation.

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carolinemac says...
9:30pm Sat 13 Mar 10

redr wrote:
carolinemac wrote:
I just wondered, If she has been bullied for 5 years, shouldnt she have moved schools?
I know what you’re saying as a parents first instinct is to protect but surely she shouldn’t have to move schools. It should be those doing the bullying who have to move and if that causes inconvenience or expense to their parents all the better. Maybe then they’d get their little darlings under control.
Thank you, at least you understand what im saying.
I agree they should have to move, and if was a parent of the child that was doing the bullying I would move them but unfortunately it doesn't always work like that and the system fails these children.

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