Bury Grammar School

The worst place to work - there is an accepted culture of bullying and the people at the top are the biggest problem. Staff are burnt out and paid off for fun; no good character and partnerships displayed to staff, although the school pretends to excel in these areas. Staff are made to feel incredibly disposable and aren’t happy, but aren’t supported to discuss this. They’re too scared that there’ll be a witch hunt and their job will be on the line. Toxic, bullying atmosphere. It’s no surprise that staff turnover is the highest it’s ever been!

I am currently in year 13 and studying for my a levels this minute - i have had no problems with bury throughout high school however when i entered sixth form there was a drastic change in dynamic. One of the departments which i felt let me down entirely was the geography department. For geography there is a coursework section which equates to around 20% of the final grade - i am entering a competitive field of study at university so for me it was pivitol to achieve an adequate percent of this. throughout year 12 i was consistently told that my coursework was of good standard and was aiming for an A. One of my Geography teachers left half way through the final year, who was in-fact my advisor on the project - i feel the handover of the information of our coursework was little to none and the next geography teacher who took up our class ( bearing in mind she has her own class) was probably flustered with the load of the work. advise regarding our coursework across the whole geography department was not set - different teachers were telling me to put my maps in different places, some told me my analysis was perfect whilst others told me it was bluntly 'bad'. there was no consistent advice and i was stuck. Many other students in my class received a lot lower grades than they were anticipated and its left them in a bad position ahead of our exams. Academics at bury are exceptional I cannot fault this however coursework - not just in the geography department but across other departments needs working on. For example a distant friend of mine takes history, there is a class size of around 3 people and all received grades C and below. I just cant comprehend how such a small class size with additional one to one teaching can receive such low grades. I am in no way faulting the teachers - One of my geography teachers is absolutely brilliant - he/she is very dedicated to work and gives very helpful advice - i think the problem stems from a lack of communication between the department and a very individualistic approach. Ahead of university i am worried about my standard of writing as i feel this was hardly communicated during the coursework and therefore set me at a disadvantage compared to other prosperous peers going into an essay based degree. The handing of the grades was also unprofessional - we were all stood outside a classroom, going in one after the other. When people came out others were flaunting their grades and asking one and other what they got - furthermore in the room it was very brief as in ' okay here's what you got, it may change' - i witnessed some students leave the room clearly upset and upon chatting to them the teachers brushed it off - bearing in mind this can make the difference in getting into your firm choice. Finally geography a level is a very content heavy course - the amount of case studies we have to learn across the two papers are infinite, i did understand this before opting to take it beyond GCSE- however something which was unknown to me up until around a 1 month before my exam was that content across the two papers can be mixed into one. Synoptic links are advised when writing essays- linking both the human and physical papers, however there are types of questions called 'novel' questions which will specifically ask a question on a human topic in a physical exam - maybe this is bias as i am sitting them now, but if i had been told this before choosing to pick geography at a higher standard i would have opted for another subject. We were told that we would be unconditionally supported in regards in our coursework, however many of us agree that this was not achieved. In our class there was clearly inequalities in feedback - with some people taking up whole lessons to discuss their project - whilst others got 10 minute sessions at lunch - which were often cut short due to lessons starting and often a result of countless emails back and forth instigated by the pupil.

A toxic cesspool of lefty bullying where the feelings of bullies matter more than the bruises of their victims.

We have just been on the bus from Bury to Burr's park. What a well behaved group of children were on the bus. They gave up their seats for us and quietly chatted to each other. Well done kids.