See all schools in Ashburton, Newton Abbot TQ13
South Dartmoor Community College
Secondary · Academy · Ashburton
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THAI PLACE IS HELL
I got intensely bullied there and they did nothing they focus too much on the uniform and I got put in all the wrong sets
Gcse
Awful head of year 9 and safe guarding teacher
This school is awful. I do not recommend this school at all . There are certain teachers that will go to any lengths to keep their job . Shame they don't put that effort in to teaching the kids . They won't even let you start the formal complaints procedure. If you hate your child and do not want them to be supported or learn then this is the school for you . Then I'd recommend sdcc
amazing
although the bad comments southdartmoor has improved
my daughter Erin has a number of needs in her everyday life and skills but although taking on the chalange southdartmoor has helped her thrive. they are changing the uniform to what the children have wanted and are making each individual child have their own words. thank you
my daughter Erin has a number of needs in her everyday life and skills but although taking on the chalange southdartmoor has helped her thrive. they are changing the uniform to what the children have wanted and are making each individual child have their own words. thank you
this school is just bad
i stopped going years ago bc they did nothing about bullying or mental health. multiple friends were bullied into EDs and nothing was dkne about it. i got assaulted at school and they did nothing bc she started crying because i spent the weekend in hospital because of her. plus the school is literally falling apart. they also refused to grant me accomodations because of my disability.
Bullying, Sexual harassment and assualt...
South Dartmoor Community College was a mixed experience. The grades they achieve at Sixth Form are good and the grades for GCSEs are upto standard. However, overall the school needs a lot of work.
Their bullying policy is appalling and a lot of the time they blame the victim – placing it on a 50/50 situation. Many of the students at that school endure sexual harassment and assualt by other students and the schools way of dealing with it varies. In my experience I was given a mediation and told that it had been handled. Then the boy went onto do it to other girls.
There are many accusations made but never any follow through, and also, many occasions where students brought knives into the school. The police are at the school at least once or twice a month.
The school has a clear unequal view of its students. With kids that make the school look good (e.g. sports, music, high achieving grades), on top and the rest of the students are left to their own devices.
If you are lucky enough to have the right teachers like the English teachers or Religious Studies teachers, then you will be fine. The school feels like a prison a lot of the time, with racism, sexism and homophobia going on in all of the halls. When I was there I heard the N-word and many other slurs directed towards both teachers and students.
Another critique would be that the school focuses on the wrong things (focusing on changing uniform rather than their policies, classes and attitudes) and as a result is a very unwelcome place to be.
Does the school have its good points? Of course (Some teachers, Atrium, Sixth Form, etc...), however, you will struggle to find them amongst all of the negative aspects to the school.
My advice to you is take your child to another school. Any school. It would be miles better than SDCC.
Their bullying policy is appalling and a lot of the time they blame the victim – placing it on a 50/50 situation. Many of the students at that school endure sexual harassment and assualt by other students and the schools way of dealing with it varies. In my experience I was given a mediation and told that it had been handled. Then the boy went onto do it to other girls.
There are many accusations made but never any follow through, and also, many occasions where students brought knives into the school. The police are at the school at least once or twice a month.
The school has a clear unequal view of its students. With kids that make the school look good (e.g. sports, music, high achieving grades), on top and the rest of the students are left to their own devices.
If you are lucky enough to have the right teachers like the English teachers or Religious Studies teachers, then you will be fine. The school feels like a prison a lot of the time, with racism, sexism and homophobia going on in all of the halls. When I was there I heard the N-word and many other slurs directed towards both teachers and students.
Another critique would be that the school focuses on the wrong things (focusing on changing uniform rather than their policies, classes and attitudes) and as a result is a very unwelcome place to be.
Does the school have its good points? Of course (Some teachers, Atrium, Sixth Form, etc...), however, you will struggle to find them amongst all of the negative aspects to the school.
My advice to you is take your child to another school. Any school. It would be miles better than SDCC.
South Dartmoor community college honest review from a student
The schools staff are great but they can be a bit unsure on the rules like for example I was once not allowed to have a drink from my bottle in a lesson and not all the teachers are well prepared for the lesson. Also the school is not very clean.
Good School On Paper But Needs More Work For Mental Health
The school does do well in terms of grades and pushing students to their best, dramatically better than some of the other schools in the area. However, away from the classroom the touch is sort of lost.
Mental Health support is offered but the waiting list for appointments is 3 weeks in between visits (as of September 2022) which isn’t satisfactory for people who need the help.
ontop of this, a recent student spike has caused the school to scramble it’s layout and has since become a bit chaotic.
Overall, i would recommend this school over others in the area (Such as Teign, NAC, Ivybridge etc.) but would bear in mind that student support would need to be pushed by parents.
Mental Health support is offered but the waiting list for appointments is 3 weeks in between visits (as of September 2022) which isn’t satisfactory for people who need the help.
ontop of this, a recent student spike has caused the school to scramble it’s layout and has since become a bit chaotic.
Overall, i would recommend this school over others in the area (Such as Teign, NAC, Ivybridge etc.) but would bear in mind that student support would need to be pushed by parents.
This Sixth form is not for everyone
The sixth form is very small, while this may be good for some students, those who are quiet and who simply just want education, but those who are more outgoing and would like to meet new people in a large and fun environment will not benefit!
The sixth form area is very small, there is constant scrutiny from the teachers and little independence. Teachers prefer to go straight to home with issues, rather than address the student first to discuss the topic which can make the student feel uninvolved and as if they are back in secondary school! Contentment with the institution you are in is just as important as the quality of education so make a careful choice.
Furthermore, there is very limited information given to students around those who are not looking to go to university. 98% of the information and guidance provided is aimed at those looking to go straight to university, rather than support for apprenticeship schemes/gap years.
The sixth form area is very small, there is constant scrutiny from the teachers and little independence. Teachers prefer to go straight to home with issues, rather than address the student first to discuss the topic which can make the student feel uninvolved and as if they are back in secondary school! Contentment with the institution you are in is just as important as the quality of education so make a careful choice.
Furthermore, there is very limited information given to students around those who are not looking to go to university. 98% of the information and guidance provided is aimed at those looking to go straight to university, rather than support for apprenticeship schemes/gap years.
Mental health
its sad to think all of these reviews are true especially the ones about mental health during school i was a very mentally sad person where i couldnt go to lessons at the start of this school it was great with mental health but slowly after a while they dont care and ignore you uniform is top priorty to them teachers just get worse and worse the school needs a big sort out
Just needs to improve
When I first joined the school I would say that it was decent. They had a good place called the LEC, which really helped me as I have autism and struggled with my English. But when I got to year 8 it disbanded and I struggled going into a normal English class. The teachers are varied as you have some that will go out of their way to help you and some that wouldn’t do anything. Additionally they constantly had staff changes which made it really hard to actually learn anything. As went you get a new teacher they may not be as good as the last or have a completely different way of teaching.
Bulling is a big thing in the school, I have seen many people leave due to the school not actually dealing with the bullies in a way that will cause they to actually stop which is really a poor effort.
Academic wise, personally I did fairly well and got what I needed to get to go to college but I know friends who have been place in really disruptive class who didn’t.
That’s another thing is that they do a really rubbish job at dealing with disruptive student.
Also the some of the “specialists” staff who “support” the students who need extra help, are utterly useless and are sooo out of sink to the point it makes you think have they really done the necessary courses to help a child who has autism.
They have also dropped in ofsted rating.
Overall I would say that the school has a fair bit it could improve but in the end I did get the results I wanted but that just due to me being lucky with what teacher I got
Bulling is a big thing in the school, I have seen many people leave due to the school not actually dealing with the bullies in a way that will cause they to actually stop which is really a poor effort.
Academic wise, personally I did fairly well and got what I needed to get to go to college but I know friends who have been place in really disruptive class who didn’t.
That’s another thing is that they do a really rubbish job at dealing with disruptive student.
Also the some of the “specialists” staff who “support” the students who need extra help, are utterly useless and are sooo out of sink to the point it makes you think have they really done the necessary courses to help a child who has autism.
They have also dropped in ofsted rating.
Overall I would say that the school has a fair bit it could improve but in the end I did get the results I wanted but that just due to me being lucky with what teacher I got
Underfunded, understaffed, under pressure.
This school has cost me most of my grades. No support is given to those who need it and those who exceeding the average aren't given the push to continue working at said level.
Disappointing
The priorities of the leadership are all over the place. Uniform is the highest priority, which wouldn't be so bad if the quality of mental health provision available was at a high standard, and the standard of teaching matched. In year 7 it was an amazing school and I genuinely enjoyed being a student there, but the Standard of teaching, and the standard of the school as a whole went so below average over a 5 year period (went from outstanding Ofsted to requires improvement). Not the worst school ever as there are some amazing members of staff who genuinely care, but definitely not the best school by a long shot, I felt really let down after I left.
Mental Health Issues
Terrible at dealing with mental health problems. They are engaging at the beginning, however quickly lose interest. This will affect grades and attitude towards going to school, let alone attention in lessons.
Full of bullies
Teachers do not care about bullying all they care about is uniform
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