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Norwich High School for Girls GDST
Primary · Independent · Norwich
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Poor experience and wouldn't recommend
Firstly the food absolutely is rubbish. Owning a restaurant we use the medium to high quality suppliers. the school use the absolute cheapest and worst suppliers of food this is something they cannot deny - ask them who supplies their kitchens then look them up. What they did deny however was the psychological bullying that happened to our daughter. An investigation revealed a little unkindness!! Utter rubbish!! As an expert in people relations I pointed out the culture of deep friendship groups starts in pre prep, this means that when girls join at year 7 they find it hard to break into the groups. My daughter was told by her so called group ' you are not really one of us but we let you tag along!' This was after I treated them all to a very nice day out costing over £500. One day she was told at lunch there was enough space for her, another occasion a girl who would smile to your face meanwhile stab you in the back kicked her then denied it, our daughter who was a confident young lady was going downhill fast so I had to withdraw her and send her to a much better school with an extremely good culture in doing so they had the cheek to charge me the 1 term advance fee for no notice! I found out another parent refused to pay this and agreed at half! I know many girls that have left this school and also ones that are leaving and plus the sixth form is very small - I wonder why? The teachers don't like the head and one of the teachers in every bodies opinion should of got the top job - this is also true. Anyway so far I have advised 5 parents not to send their daughter to this school as punishment for not looking after my daughter, denying bullying, charging me £5500 to save my child's mental health and will continue to do so at every opportunity. I also pointed out that there is/ was a sixth former selling vapes and also another one was involved in the ketermine ( horse tranquilliser - watch out this stuff is at your children's parties!) scene who has been expelled to go Notre Dam and is now expelled from there! ' caveat emptor' Ps none of this is made up and as an entrepreneur, business owner of a property company built over 26 years I hold high integrity. Pps the pupil school reports were awful and a once a year thing! Present school every half term btw!
Wouldn’t recommend
I definitely wouldn’t recommend this school if you care about mental health. If all you care about is grades this is the place for the bit the well-being is terrible. The school counsellor is meant to be private and confidential but as soon as you break a tiny school rule like going on your phone to call your parent she tells your head of year.
A lot of the teachers never let students go to the bathroom even though it is a girls school so all of them will have periods. This is not just the teachers fault they have been told to not let students go to the toilet but the headmistress.
The lunch I would definitely not recommend there has been a few instances where there’s been mouldy and past the expiration date foods have been served for example last year on the “jubilee tea party” (a sandwich and a sausage roll) the tomatoes were visibly mouldy. There’s and instagram account call Norwich High food review that posts the daily meals and rates them (this is run by a student so is not biased).
Some teachers even though many parents have complained about them Belittling and bullying there daughters no action has been taken
Overall wouldn’t recommend
A lot of the teachers never let students go to the bathroom even though it is a girls school so all of them will have periods. This is not just the teachers fault they have been told to not let students go to the toilet but the headmistress.
The lunch I would definitely not recommend there has been a few instances where there’s been mouldy and past the expiration date foods have been served for example last year on the “jubilee tea party” (a sandwich and a sausage roll) the tomatoes were visibly mouldy. There’s and instagram account call Norwich High food review that posts the daily meals and rates them (this is run by a student so is not biased).
Some teachers even though many parents have complained about them Belittling and bullying there daughters no action has been taken
Overall wouldn’t recommend
high stress environment, lack of pastoral support.
the academic atmosphere at norwich high is extremely competitive. there is little support for students who aren't exceptional - it feels like even those achieving mainly sevens and even eights at gcse performed poorly as the school only celebrates those achieving nines. especially with an academic scholarship the atmosphere was at times too much and could affect mental health. there was poor pastoral support as well, and the diverse advertising does not reflect the real school. the classrooms in the English block were poorly maintained in my recent time there, and smells often came from the pipes.
In decline
A school very much in decline. Many of the better teachers have left due to the recent pension dispute with the governing GDST network, and the overriding culture of the place is that nothing any teacher or the GDST does is ever wrong. They will go to great lengths to ever put anything in writing and ultimately from the GDST level down, it is all about the money. I'm just glad I don't have to deal with them any more.
Highly Un-Recommended
As a parent of a girl who attended this school I am very disappointed am with the leadership within the prep school. The headmistress wouldn’t know communication if it hit her round the face. Her focus is never on the people who work there who support our children which is clear to see and she is very unprofessional in speaking about students who are obviously not liked in earshot of parents. I would never recommend this school to anybody until those few at the top are replaced as it seems a very toxic environment.
incredibly performative, but get good results
if all you want is good grades this is the place to be, i wouldn’t get the grades and opportunities i have today without the school.
the school can be very performative. for example they boast ab their mental health services, but as soon as the problem isn’t fixable with ‘mindfulness’ and more sleep they leave the child alone with no support. furthermore, there is an extreme amount of eating disorders within the school. there are multiple ways of aiding students with this, such as allowing us to bring in pack lunches from home, or a school uniform that isn’t designed for the perfect body, yet the school is incredibly money focused and won’t allow it.
the school clearly has some internalised homophobia, racism and misogyny. i have witnessed countless homophobic and racist comments that have gone unpunished, yet, someone was suspended for talking about an ex-teacher’s inappropriate behaviour online. this happened, despite days before the school sending out an email addressing their name being on everyone’s invited, a list of schools where there is a reported ‘rape culture’.
the school is overly confident in the ability of some of their teacher’s and refuses to question some of the ridiculous things teachers have said and done. for example a teacher commenting their extreme right wing opinions on abortion or that there shouldn’t be a pride. both of which are completely inappropriate for a school environment.
but eh as far as schools go it’s alright :) if you can deal with classism it’s fine 👍
the school can be very performative. for example they boast ab their mental health services, but as soon as the problem isn’t fixable with ‘mindfulness’ and more sleep they leave the child alone with no support. furthermore, there is an extreme amount of eating disorders within the school. there are multiple ways of aiding students with this, such as allowing us to bring in pack lunches from home, or a school uniform that isn’t designed for the perfect body, yet the school is incredibly money focused and won’t allow it.
the school clearly has some internalised homophobia, racism and misogyny. i have witnessed countless homophobic and racist comments that have gone unpunished, yet, someone was suspended for talking about an ex-teacher’s inappropriate behaviour online. this happened, despite days before the school sending out an email addressing their name being on everyone’s invited, a list of schools where there is a reported ‘rape culture’.
the school is overly confident in the ability of some of their teacher’s and refuses to question some of the ridiculous things teachers have said and done. for example a teacher commenting their extreme right wing opinions on abortion or that there shouldn’t be a pride. both of which are completely inappropriate for a school environment.
but eh as far as schools go it’s alright :) if you can deal with classism it’s fine 👍
My review
I love NHS !! It is the best school I have been too ,I have been so supported in the mental health and well being sector even before winning best well-being school prize ! Although NHS achieve brilliantly in academics it really is a no pressure environment, the teachers are so hands on and prepared to help you with anything . The teaching system with iPads means that students are a lot more organised and learning recourses are a lot more accessible at any time . If you struggle with mental health , friendships or academics there is always support offered my personal favourite is the big sisters Programme where you are offered a sixth former to be you tutor , mentor or just a companion , you have regular meetings with them to help you in any area of school life and normal life ! Everybody is down to earth unlike popular assumptions that everyone is snobby ! The school is submerged in sports life there are usually cricket matches most weeks with other schools ( 2-3 per year group ) . The school offers are varied variety when it comes to sports there is swimming ,hockey netball ,cricket ,rounders, tennis ,football ,dance and so much more! The school is also very musical with students playing a wide range of instruments! But if you’re not sporty or musical a little bit like me then there’s always drama or other societies to join during the term ! If you are really into academics then I definitely recommend visiting our library when you come to view the school. The school is very inclusive of all religions ,races and sexualities there are society’s for those topics too , Coming from a catholic school but not really being catholic I have faced a lot of racism but now that I came here I have faced none and everybody was so supportive during my religious holidays or festivals ( and this is my non biased opinion). There is always activities being offered and different variety of school trips and outings,
Upon finishing summer exams After school there was a movie night which was just a great opportunity to relax unwind and be happy ! The school has a lot of facilities for sports drama music and academics! There is a secondhand uniform shop on site to aid with expenses of uniform although compared to other private schools NHS uniform is quite a reasonable price .The school have students with ethnicities from all over the world This has given me an opportunity ( as an ethnic person )to meet people from all over the world and relate with similar traditions ,outfits or cuisines! Any time I have had issues or struggles the form tutors and the head of year very supportive and Unintimidating ( which ik isn’t a word lol ) ! I strongly recommend the school to any girl ! And I hope you found this review useful!
Upon finishing summer exams After school there was a movie night which was just a great opportunity to relax unwind and be happy ! The school has a lot of facilities for sports drama music and academics! There is a secondhand uniform shop on site to aid with expenses of uniform although compared to other private schools NHS uniform is quite a reasonable price .The school have students with ethnicities from all over the world This has given me an opportunity ( as an ethnic person )to meet people from all over the world and relate with similar traditions ,outfits or cuisines! Any time I have had issues or struggles the form tutors and the head of year very supportive and Unintimidating ( which ik isn’t a word lol ) ! I strongly recommend the school to any girl ! And I hope you found this review useful!
The school could be improved
I like the school but some of the teachers are not very open minded. Most of the teachers are very good but there are just a few. Also, I moved to this school in year 8 and they didn’t really teach me much that I didn’t already know. I have found that a lot of other schools have been teaching things at a higher level than mine. Overall, it’s an alright school with a good sense of community but it could be improved as well.
The best ever!
Most amazing school ever! Such kind teachers with a friendly encouraging atmosphere. All children get on together so well and it becomes another family.
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