Painsley Catholic College

I went to painsley in 2011-2017 and I don’t remember much about it apart from towards the end they tried to say I wasn’t really ill and I was faking it a lot.
I don’t remember year seven that much as I was really ill and I was only in for a month but in year eight I was in for about 4 months on and off and the head of year was amazing never judged me and always helped me when I needed it and even helped me get gluten free food sorted in the canteen, but unfortunately he left and this is when things started to get bad.
Year 9 I was in for half the year again but I do remember having a pastoral teacher and then having a different one half way through as they left no wonder why.
Year10 I was in most of the year because there was a teacher there that said I was not that ill and shouldn’t be going home unless she said so. Even when I fell down the stairs and the doctor told my parents that I needed bed rest she told me to come in and I can sit on a soft chair and leave class early if I need, basically taking my parents responsibility for out of their hands.
In the last year I only had 9 days of and even then they questioned it but when one of the deputy heads told me to work in his office, he rung my parents as I had some bloods done as I still wasn’t feeling well in the medical bay, where he found me, they told him I was anemic and he sent me home and told them to ring him if I was still not feeling well. If he wasn’t there then I don’t know what I would have done he helped me a lot with my course work in the last year before my GCSE’s and he was my French teacher too.
They don’t seem to care about the bullying there but if find a place in library or in the toilets I find they don’t bother you at all.
If I know what I now know about what is wrong with me (having UC) I would off handled my health a bit better and the school would have had to support me abit more then they did.

rubbish school, do not send your children here unless you hate them and their future. the teachers are a bunch of weak, hipocritical liars that only value the money not the students. there is fights between students and students every few days, and occasionally fights between students and teachers. it seems innocent from the outside, and on the inside, if you are a parent briefly visiting, but if you are actually a pupil there, like me you see what it is really like. the vast majority of teachers seem to enjoy the pain they see in the students eyes as they give them detention. very few, less than 10, are nice teachers who are kind. this school is not bad in terms of education, but you just dont get anything done. at all. i apologise if my grammar/spelling is bad, i am taught in painsley.

A child got hit by a knife on the day5/june/2023, and the teachers did not do anything
Would not recommend if you want your child to be safe

this school is not recommended and to much homework and strict the rules are stupid like no shorts or no hair under a grade 3 and half of the teacher are dumb and pedophiles

Ah, so here we will begin on the ruthless, and almost somewhat pointless crusade on trying to adequately explain the hell that this high school managed to put me through in a short span of four and a half years. And I say four because in the end I was let off in 2020 because of COVID-19 related issues. I will be going in to a lot of depth in this review, and there will be many passive aggressive and insulting comments towards a number of staff and students alike, all rooting from the eternal rage I have towards this school, and the self-hatred this high school has left me with for what seems will be within me for an eternity. It will follow me on to the next realm.

I want to dedicate this first paragraph to a history teacher being a member of staff doesn’t exempt you from criticism. Many have described then as lovely and ones to be trusted but I simply don’t see it. Not the lovely part anyway, and I wouldn’t tell them anything personal because I know they go to the staff room and natter constantly. I don’t understand why they are so condescending and eager to control students, either. Respect is a two way street, and they certainly did not, and never will have it from me.

I would also like to say that I have been a target of bullying, and homophobic bullying at this school. I had reported it to the principal and teachers countless times and yet it never seemed to ever improve. My parents had also called in due to concerns with this problem.... nothing. That mental health award was for sure rigged because there are no facilities AT ALL for those who are feeling low to confide themselves in. Opening up a lab at lunch time is not enough and I certainly never felt comfortable there to open up about anything. I felt like I was being a nuisance if anything. Also, PE staff had witnessed people bully me in the changing rooms and yet the were never reprimanded for this? I was the one who got shouted at for crying and not being able to explain the problem when I was clearly distressed. I was a huge victim of false gossip, as were a number of my friends. It felt like these bullies were after me a lot of time and I always felt on edge in their presence. This didn’t go until I was moved groups due to YR9 options.

Cafeteria food deserves no second thought. This food was seriously bad. On one occasion they were serving pots of boiled, cubed potato. Why is this considered an acceptable standard of food for a “healthy” school? Other options include burgers, pizza, bacon baps, paninis, and chips.... School dinners are fine but many choose not to have them because there simply isn’t room to sit in the canteen. The year group by year group system that they have implemented doesn’t work and it has been given up on. Also we weren’t allowed to have just chips but they’d be fine with us going upstairs and buying a tenners worth of chocolate.

I also want to criticise the pastoral lead system because I also found this didn’t work for me and many others. Painsley says this system was put in place in order for students to be known intimately but many students do not like and do not trust their pastoral leads. I found myself avoiding mine as much as possible because I felt that I was never being listened to. I would voice my concerns and nothing would be fixed. Why are we worrying about trivial behaviour points (wrong equipment, forgot our books etc) when the students at this school have a very serious and bullying and behaviour problems? My form tutor was a bully, and her children who attended the school were equally as awful. As I said earlier, respect is a two way street! Yell at students and you will lose them instantly!

Maths teachers are also dire. I seriously blame these guys for failing mathematics because I had a private tutor after I left and did GCSE maths in a different college and I passed the first resit! They are also bullies, blame their students for getting low grades and calls them hopeless for it. My math teacher would also come in complaining how much they dislike being here. Good way to encourage students. Not. I think if your students are averaging a grade three there’s a problem with the way you are teaching, not the ones you are teaching.

Discipline is bad. Students running out of school constantly and not being expelled for it? In most schools that would be a goodbye.

Awful.
Throughout year 10 and half of year 11, I was very unwell, and as a result was in and out of hospital and unable to attend, during this period it felt like they had essentially abandoned me.
On return to the school they tried to manipulate my parents into signing a document that unknown to her would essentially release me from their school just 1 month before I was to take me GCSE’s, after this didn’t go through, they found some dodgy (maybe illegal) loophole in the system and tried to make me pay for my own GCSE’s (despite knowing I was from a low income household with a single mother.)
We got the council involved and essentially threatened to sue them. They then paid for me to take only my maths and English foundation GCSE’s at a different school as they didn’t want my bad grades to affect their results (I passed both of them)

Since this I have worked in 3 different schools so I have good knowledge and understanding of SEN care and pastoral care that should be given to students, none of which was ever done to a good enough standard for a school that considers them self the all high and mighty.

Painsley never let me feel like a normal child, only worsened my already decreasing self esteem. But I praise my lucky stars that I went there, to get an idea of what exactly to not do when taking care of children.

This all being said.
If you/your child is a incredibly well behaved child with no SEN or other needs, I’m sure they could receive fantastic grades, but I saw pupils with this kind of attitude coming into the school very quickly have their mental health deteriorate.

Please just go somewhere else.

Hey!
I’m officially in year 11 and I am not ready for my GCSE’s, like at all.
The school do not provide very many helpful revision techniques and teachers don’t often offer to help out.
The school is also quite neglectful towards mental health issues, bad behaviour or anything that’ll give the school a bad reputation. Most teachers are rude and disrespectful towards multiple students and often don’t know what they’re doing.
Many teachers are bad at teaching, such as the science or maths department. They struggle to keep a quiet and calm environment. In some classes, we’re still going through topics instead of revising for out GCSES.
Languages are also really hard. They have boring and useless teaching methods which often leads to students having to teach themselves.
The school doesn’t address anything to do with LGBTQ+. Trans/non-binary people don’t have the right facilities such as a bathroom or a gender neutral PE kit. For the girls, the skorts are way too short and people have to put their own buttons onto the shirts where as the guys have super long shorts and shirts that don’t show off their boobs.
The toilets are often locked, during classes and sometimes during breaks and lunches which is inconvenient for girls on their periods or people who drink a lot of water. Also, even though we have to have windows and doors open due to covid, and we have cold weather, students aren’t allowed to wear coats indoors, even though wearing a coat is much more practical that having to carry them around.
The food sometimes runs out by the time year 11 gets there or it closes early when people come in later.
Students are often homophobic, use abusive language and tell others to kill themselves. Teachers hear and see this yet do nothing. There is one dude who is know as a stalker and has sexually assaulted someone yet still is in school.
The school is mostly bothered about the top band, or the super smart kids which leaves the lower people to figure things out alone.

This school isn’t where you wanna send you kids. It causes an extra amount of stress, anxiety, depression and is overall, a bad environment for children.

This school puts on an impression that they are all high and mighty. But in reality there are not. Any bad behaviour is over looked and missed homework is taken more seriously than bullying or assault. The school has replaced brilliant teachers with young experience teachers who fail to control a classroom. Unfortunately more and more brilliant teachers are leaving. The school priority is the grades the students get and overlooks the mental health and physical health of its students. Pe staffs are under equipped to supply meaningful extra curriculum activities. The building is old and abused. Holes in the flame resistant roofing in the labs are common and holes can be found in walls throughout even the newer building. the toilets offer little privacy and students can often find teachers walking in to the toilets during lunch or break. There is very little support for those in serious need of help and many who’s behaviour is poor are overlooked and ignored as to maintain the perfect image. However if you work hard, behave and take pride in your environment you will be successful at this school. Teachers can provide excellent 1 to 1 teaching when prompted. The school uses many online platforms to allow teachers to view students work as they are completing it and provide feedback or reset tasks. Overall you can achieve more and everything you wish at Painsley but only if you work for it.

do not recommend going this school. the rules are appalling. overall absolutely crap. regret ever attending this school. made my school years miserable.feel free to go attend if you want to be treated as though you are in a prison. very petty rules. teachers don’t know how to handle situations. and some members of staff don’t understand basic respect.