Atreyu McCann: Mum Clare McCann takes son’s coffin past South Sydney High

A NSW mother has launched her anti-bullying campaign by parading her son’s coffin past the school where she claims he was taunted to death.

In a powerful, unmistakable statement to education authorities, grieving single mum Clare McCann directed the hearse to take the school drive-by on the way to his funeral.

The cortege was accompanied by a pipe and drum escort, moving at walking pace, as it lapped South Sydney High.

Ms McCann is simultaneously seething and in sorrow.

She claims 13-year-old Atreyu took his life after a sustained campaign of often violent bullying at the school. She accuses staff of doing nothing to stop it, despite their repeated cries for help.

The Education Department has refused to comment on the claims, but has offered condolences and counselling.

Today, after Atreyu’s tiny coffin reached Mary Immaculate Church in Waverley, Ms McCann was struggling to let him go.

She hugged the casket for almost ten minutes as it sat in the back of the hearse, before helping carry it inside for his final farewell.

Through tears the career actress delivered the hardest lines she’s ever had to recite: her son’s eulogy.

“I love you to the moon and back,” she said. “To infinity and beyond.”

“I will always love - I will always miss you. And I will fight for your justice - and I will make you proud.”

Ms McCann says her experiences with South Sydney High and the NSW Education Department have made her determined to campaign for a complete overhaul of school anti-bullying policies.

“I’m sorry if I failed you - I’m sorry if I loved you too much and made you too gentle,” she said, speaking directly to the coffin.

Her message even echoed by the Catholic priest leading the funeral service today, Fr Bernie Thomas.

“This needs to stop.” he said. “The bullying and the stuff that goes on in our world needs to stop.”

“I want to say to you Clare - you’ve got nothing to apologise for. You did what every other Mother would do.

“You gave this young man everything you possibly could,” he said.

But on the day Clare McCann described as the hardest of her life, she claims another blow has been delivered.

The single mum accuses South Sydney High of bungling the case further by attempting to silence one student’s apology.

The Year Seven student’s post appeared online, stating: “what I did was very wrong, bullying is not a joke, I realise that now. my deepest apologies”

But a day later the post was deleted.

The student claiming to Ms McCann, he’d been instructed to.

“I made a comment on a Facebook post… then the next day the teachers made me take the comment down.”

The Nightly obtained permission from that student’s mother to publish the texts.

The Education Department said today the school denies telling the student to delete the post.

Both the Federal Government and the NSW Government are in the process of reviewing school bullying policies.

NSW Premier Chris Minns today said he was confident that if changes needed to be made, they would be.

He also offered to assist Ms McCann in her search for information about what happened to her son,

“We’ll do everything we can to give the information over to the family,” he said. “So as we can provide answers if there are answers to be given.”

“I don’t have that this morning - but obviously - we’ll be speaking the school, the Department of Education.”

“My heart goes out to that family - and anything we can do to ease their pain in coming months and years of course we’d do it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fr Thomas told his congregation he could give them no explanations for Atreyu’s death.

“People often say to me, ‘Well, why - why is this happening - how did God let this happen?’ I’ll be honest, I can’t give you a clear answer.”