Sidmouth College

The kids there are some of the most horrible people I have ever met; there seems to be a slight over reliance on the idea that kids will bring phones to school (e.g to do occasional games or research) despite not all kids being able to do this; the staff is in this abysmal situation where their either too strict or too kind (e.g punishing kids too much or not enough); my year 8 experience could best be described by the word “hell” due to the fact that most people in my classes bullied me and others for no reason; the stairs are basically a war zone in which the only way to get up or down is to pretty to much elbow/fight your way through and hope you someone doesn’t fall on you, throw stuff at you, spray stuff at you, and hope that you can actually get to lessons without a bunch of people walking as slow as physically possible while taking up the entire staircase preventing anyone from getting by. If I’m perfectly honest I’m surprised no one’s been permanently injured because of it. There’s always such a high concentration of people that on the stairs that it gets really stressful.The toilets are always in terrible conditions (I avoid them where possible), each cubicle is extremely cramped, barely any of them have toilet paper half the time, the bag hooks on them can barely fit a bag, and last time I went by, there was bullies waiting outside. If you’re bullied in class and tell your teacher, they might do something about it or they won’t believe you because they didn’t see it, if that’s the case, you either have to suck it up or report it which is both tedious and awkward. The assemblies tend to be relatively pointless half the time and it’s usually difficult to concentrate in it because the kids around you can be old and annoying. You can get bullied mercilessly for just the slightest slip up e.g if you fall over in front of people, you could risk being made fun of for the rest of the day. Bullies run rampant, disrupting classes and ruining lives. Quite a lot of people play fight a lot but there has been a couple proper fights and isolated incidents of violence towards another student. One of the worse things about bullies, in my opinion, is that it doesn’t just happen to students. There’s a couple really nice (or nice as long as you’re a relatively good student) who are just treated so badly by the students. Their pupils just don’t listen and are just so relentlessly cruel that I feel really sorry for them. From what I’ve heard and seen, the food choices are slim, bad quality (with the exception of some deserts), and unhealthy. Sometimes certain events of activities (e.g.non school uniform days or bakesales) go on and you won’t know until either the day it happens or the night before because the teachers forget. There’s pretty much an endless supply of sport clubs but barely any for the other subjects. From my understanding, Sidmouth college is more sports focused school, which is fine, but I wish it had more options for people who aren’t that found of / detest sports. If you’re very good, you’re also allowed to go on a trip, but all the trips are really sporty/active/muddy as well so I wish there was some better reward for people who just get on with their work. The educations fine but could be better in places. Some subjects seem to rush through things which makes it harder to learn/ remember. There is way too much homework during GCSE. Sometimes you check your homework and there’s a seemingly infinite list of things to do due, which for lots of people, is quite overwhelming and in some cases soul crushing. It can make it harder for us to find the will power to complete tasks and takes time away from our home time, when we could be socialising or taking part in hobbies, both of which are essential to a healthy mind (this should be quite obvious due to the multiple signs and assemblies they have about looking after our mental health. Art folders and books for GCSE are just a couple centimetres too big to be able to be carried around easily, lots of what is done in lesson is expected to be finished at home which again is fine but it builds up over time and it is often difficult to find the right ideas/motivation to complete it which can be overwhelming. Some of the teachers can be nice but are also a bit too strict. Certain teachers [I think this has happened to quite a few art students] are sometimes quite judgemental of students work but it sometimes comes of in a sort of mean way? From what I’ve heard, some people have been really happy with their work or are there happy doing their work and then the teacher would come by and just act in a sort of passively judgemental way which (especially in subjects supposed to be focused on creativity and uniqueness) can be really undermining and can cause students to lose confidence, faith in their abilities, passion, and overall motivation. Criticism can be good but it needs to be handled in a way that isn’t damaging to a students mental state, this goes multiple different teachers not just art ones.

I read the review guidelines and am severely hoping I didn’t accidentally violate any. My thoughts about some of these topics tend to contain a lot of strong language so I’ve been trying to find a more acceptable way to voice my views without offending anyone.
I hope if any of the teachers read this they will try to take action to make the school a better place, but I’m somewhat skeptical. Despite all the complaints about teachers, most of them are really nice and very friendly, even most of the ones that seem strict or judgemental. There are a some really good, kind, just and effective teachers and some (despite what lots of students say) are really nice and respectful as long as you’re kind and respectful to them. My main problem has, and always will be the students. There are lots of nice or alright people, but the evil ones will always be much louder and noticeable than them. It gets so stressful (whether your in lessons, going to or from lessons, or just trying to enjoy break), hallways and stairs are often crowded and the school always seems to be really loud (e.g. people screaming, shouting, shrieking, arguing, fighting etc or in lessons, laughing, shouting, talking etc). Overall, it makes school incredibly draining.

The main building is in a bad state even though it is only a couple years old, some of the toilets have no doors on them, the ones what do either have a broken lock or it’s just disgusting. And the whole building is just bad quality and cheaply made.

They is some bad teachers and some good teachers, but they get you in trouble for no reason.

Nothing is done about bullying or mental health and the students are horrible

PLEASE DO NOT GO THERE FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!

This place is a living hell, don't go. I am being honest as a year 10 who has been there for 3 years. All good teachers have left or been fired.
The head teacher is an out of touch and incoherent idiot who doesn't care for the students wellbeing and focuses their budget on bribing Ofsted

Some teachers are way too strict, while some are chill and friendly. The school is pretty worn down, even though the main building was rebuilt last year. Boy's toilets need repairing. Some teachers will give you detentions for stupid things (E.g: not tucking your shirt in). Some teachers will even give class detentions for things. For example, someone screeched when the teacher left the room. Teacher comes back in and gives the entire class a 40 minute detention until someone owned up. If you get the right teachers, you can have a decent time. I feel like homework piles too much but that's all schools I suppose. I also do learn a lot in lessons.

I am at this school and it is pathetic.
They bribe ofsted
They do nothing about bullying
They don’t even have shorts for boys
It is appauling
I hat it there.

I think this is a pretty good school . The sport is awesome and perfect and the astro turf is state of the art. The teachers are good enough. Some may threaten you to give you a detention. But they end up lying. Some teachers are just scary. There is some bullying and horrible behavoir I wish i never knew. Some people have nearly died. Education is super. Homework is ok. Changings are not clean and are destroyed a bit.