Sydney school rattled as five-year-old girl allegedly ‘sexually assaulted’ on playground by a group of boys

WARNING: Distressing content

Unsettled parents at a public primary school in Sydney’s northwest are demanding clearer answers after a five-year-old schoolgirl was allegedly “sexually assaulted” by a group of boys.

The girl was allegedly surrounded by a group of boys her age on the playground on March 7, according to a WhatsApp group chat message from a woman believed to be the girl’s mother.

The message claimed the five-year-old was “grabbed”, “forcibly removed” underwear, and “touched and scratched inside”.

“Her injuries were so severe that we had to take her to the hospital, where she needed local anaesthetics to urinate for several days,” the message read.

The parent claimed teachers cleaned the blood from the child’s legs and clothes at the time but did not inform them of the incident.

In a screenshot of a message sent to parents on March 24, the school’s principal acknowledged the allegation and confirmed it was under investigation.

“Recently an allegation was made around the inappropriate conduct of some of our students,” the principal said.

“This matter has been reported to police, and the Department of Education have been informed of the allegations.

“As these allegations are under investigation by police and the Department of Education, we are not able to provide any further information at this time.”

7NEWS.com.au understands the NSW Department of Education originally referred the matter to police.

“The safety and wellbeing of students are our highest priorities, and any allegations of inappropriate behaviour are promptly investigated,” a spokesperson for the department said.

On Sunday, police confirmed the investigation had concluded but no action was taken.

“Following investigations, police have referred the incident to the Department of Communities and Justice and the Department of Education,” said a police spokesperson.

The Department of Education later told 7NEWS.com.au it was continuing the investigation under the oversight of the Office of the Children’s Guardian, which monitors how organisations investigate and report allegations of inappropriate conduct towards children.

7NEWS.com.au understands a group of boys from the school were absent for several days last week following the principal’s announcement.

In the WhatsApp message, the parent also claimed they had previously raised concerns with the teacher about one of the boys repeatedly hitting their daughter and other children.

However, they said “the school took no action beyond limiting playground time”.

Another parent from the school, who preferred to be referred to as Hannah, told 7NEWS.com.au there had long been inadequate supervision during playground time.

While she couldn’t confirm the details of the above alleged incident, she said she wouldn’t be surprised if it were true.

“It’s not the first time the school playground has been left unsupervised,” said the Year 1 parent.

She recalled an incident last year in which a grandmother confronted a student on the playground while no teacher was present.

No one noticed until the student started crying, which prompted someone to find a teacher, she said.

“At least last year, the school informed us in detail about the incident in an announcement. This time, the information has been very vague,” Hannah added, saying she and other parents are demanding clearer answers.

“We want to know what happened,” she said.