South Wilts Grammar School for Girls

if youre here, leave. if youre thinking about coming here, stop. no trips no happiness no freedom no expression no makeup just horribly disgusting toilets and overpriced dry paninis. idc how smart u think u are do nbot come here u will get pink eye!!!!!

The school is good, but in turns of normal tests, you are expected to do really well, which seems unfair. Some teachers aren't amazing, and can be very offensive to students, which i have witnessed. I wouldn't recommend going through all that 11+ studying to come to this school. For example, in my 11+ I had to do Macbeth and I didn't know the slightest thing about Shakespeare. Anyway, its your decision. But I wouldn't recommend. - year 8

I recently left south wilts to continue onto college, and all I can say was wow that place was awful. I was bullied the entire time by one girl in particular, and none of the teachers ever cared. The food in the canteen is overpriced and unhealthy, I was served raw chicken multiple times. The amount of pressure the students are put under is obscene, I went through hell with the teachers, yet I still didn’t do great on GCSEs. Their mental health support is dreadful, there’s no confidentiality as all the pastoral leaders just gossip to each other (even in front of students when they think we can’t hear). I never received the help I needed at this school and I don’t think anyone ever will. Not to mention the multiple cases of pedophilia that have occurred within this establishment. I’m begging you, don’t send your child here.

I go to South Wilts and it’s very good! I met a lot of nice people ect. The only thing is that exams are too much. And tbh the 11+ was already hard enough I mean it’s a grammar school but like…

Wasn’t happy there. All pressure. And I was a teacher.

eh not too shit - a year 10

They’re mental health support sucks , I know plenty of people including my self who have attempted and none of us are getting the help we need. They have ridiculous school uniform rules to the point we are getting punished for wearing the pe kit without leggings . Sorry Mate but the teachers should be able to control themselves instead of boiling children to the point that they pass out. The teachers are shitty at advice and just pressure you into getting good grades and if you dont they don’t help you they just tell you that they’re disappointed in you.please don’t go here I hate it. They also think we are all rich and can afford the £100+ uniform and £70 a week school meals and all the things they want us to supply on top of that- a year 9

Clothing rules are ridiculous. We are forced to wear clothing that covers our underage bodies that shouldn’t be sexualised anyway. Why shouldn’t we have short skirts? Can sixth formers and male teachers cant control themselves. It’s not like we’re trying to ‘impress people’, I thought modern day schools are supposed to support feminism. Most teachers teach well, but the expectations for high grades can be to much pressure for a lot of people, and one afternoon with organised activities fixes our mental health? Not so sure.... also pastoral aren't inviting, instead of trusting them to talk to it’s more of avoiding that at all costs, and if you go to them instead of talking to your parents, they tell them anyways so it’s no longer confidential. The food is pretty good for canteen food overall but slightly overpriced... also the fruits to cheep, it’s better than most local schools, very little bullying, but if your kiddies cant deal with pressure, maybe not the best option?

I currently go to SWGS (south wilts grammar school) and my experience is really good. I do however agree with some other posts that the food is overpriced as they talk about healthy eating almost everyday and when I try to buy a fruit pot with only FIVE small pieces of fruit it’s £2.45 but then there are 100 donuts 🍩 right next to the fruit and even better it’s only £1. Now the donut is bigger and cheaper so what are they trying to say ?? There is also a lot of mental health problems and I actually do believe they are trying to help and it is very good. They teachers are very kind and helpful also the fact that we are all quite academically high after the 11+ we are all in a safe and good environment for us to effectively learn.

generally teachers do care more ab work than mental health (mr & mrs lawrence, mrs richards, miss pitfield, dw this doesn’t apply to u xxxxx) but generally it’s okay. i know a lot of people say there’s a lot of exam pressure and they’re not wrong but equally i think you’ll get that anywhere and half the pressure is put on us by ourselves because it’s a grammar school and subsequently very competitive :D canteen is defo overpriced but the pizza wraps are PENG. but they could not toast the bagels as much uno cos they’re so hard someone could probs lose a tooth to that so health and safety hazard. from personal experience if u have a sense of humour and get on w a fair amount of teachers, and flirt with a couple too, it’ll keep u out of enough trouble to get u through ur time here

the canteen's so overpriced, like bro please i just want a bagel and it's like £2.50 omg
this school puts very little effort into caring about its students personally and doesn't seem to care about anyone's mental health. also they'll shank you for wearing tiny hoop earrings or like 2 rings. it's just a bit hhhhhhh. the teachers are generally pretty nice but most of them i think don't really care about individual people and seem to be annoyed sometimes if you ask more than like 1 question a lesson. it's fine, but i kinda hate it a lot xxxxx

First off the canteen is so overpriced. Second of all they hardly care about mental health it seems and the care more about small things to do with uniform etc. They say to express yourself put as soon as you do something against what they want e.g . wearing big earrings they have a go at you. They also prioritise school work over mental health

It’s a good school but like many say mental health isn’t good here and there is a lot of pressure to do well in tests 🥸🥸

Lol nvm don’t read this

This school's education is very good. The teachers are mostly ok,and there is low level disruption in classes. There are some good facilities, including computer rooms and kitchens for food tech.
However this school cares more about their image than the wellbeing of their students. For instance, when a teacher was taking inappropriate images of students, the parents and students where given hardly any information, to protect the school's status. The school cares more about tiny uniform infringements, rather than combating bullying, or mental health issues. Because of the pressured environment of the school, there should be extra pastoral support, however there is hardly any.
Send your kid here if you want them to get a good education. But if u want them to not me mentally scarred, then maybe avoid it :)

I love school and swgs is really challenging but some people are sad and that's not okay so I gave it one less star for not helping sad people be happy :(

I am a recent ex student and I attended this school for years 7-13. Most teachers are great and the learning, teaching and SENCO accommodations is/are good. There is a wide range of clubs and great facilities (labs, tech block, music block with many practice rooms, drama theatre, track) and many opportunities and competitions to enter like the language spelling bees, design ventura, science olympiads and maths challenges. The school is highly challenging and competitive. The canteens food is good if overpriced. There's no homophobia and everyone treats each other respectfully. You cannot fault the school in these regards.

However the safeguarding is awful. Within my time here 2 teachers were fired for being paedophilic and when the news broke for one of them all the news sites (BBC etc.) were blocked so students couldn't look it up. The school dress code is strict about skirt length, makeup and jewelry/accessories and students get penalised for it constantly for no reason.

Mental health/pastoral support is non-existent. I was bullied in Year 7 and nothing was done about it. Imposter syndrome, perfectionism, fear of failure and low self esteem are rampant and the pressure to perform and excel is constant, excruciating and overwhelming. Many girls are depressed and/or anxious and suicidal. Many girls in my and other years were regularly having panic attacks and it was common to hear someone having one in the hallway during lessons. One girl was berated for her uniform whilst being clearly emotionally distraught.

The school only cares about their results and their image. "Bad" students are brushed under the rug and "highly encouraged" to take foundation papers. One student was forced by the school to drop a subject despite being willing and able to do it and had to sit the exam externally. Medicine/Oxbridge students were given raised predicted grades if asked for whilst other students were told to deal with the grades they were given and to change their university choices/ post 18 plans.

The only reason this school has such good GCSE results is because they are selective so many students are able to get good grades without much effort and it shows by their middling if above average A level results and low progression for post 16 as the school isn't as selective for sixth form. If you care about grades by all means send your child here but it WILL be at the expense of their mental health.

i think they want kids to be depressed :)
and the children are constantly told to look ‘respectable’ to the point where you can get detention for a short skirt. this isn’t 1869 bbg women actually *arent* objects xoxo. overall poor environment for learning makes me want to die

Really great education, the teachers are amazing and the grades are high. The creative subjects, such as DT, drama and art, have a good variety of enjoyable tasks. There are a lot of clubs and activities and PE is varied and enjoyable.

The mental health side of things, however, is lacking, I’ve had friends ask them for help, and the rich girl that’s parents pay the school money, didn’t get educated about her actions and the bullying continued furthermore.

The teachers are often helpful, and you can tell that they enjoy their job, but despite that, they often don’t go out of their way to help individual students that show signs of agitation or upset when understanding a subject.

I have been in this position myself, asking to be moved to the front, and requesting help multiple times. When it came to parents’ evening, the teacher didn’t even know my name and had one sentence to say to my parent, which was almost insulting to the progress I had made - it would have been better if they had just stated they had taught me for a year and still didn’t know who I was.

Despite the areas where the school lacks in mental health and teacher-student communications, it is a really good school with fair facilities and good ethics. The students are amazing (all but one or two) and people very rarely feel excluded.

For children that can pass the entry exam,(11+ exam) It’s definitely worth sending you’re child here, else their gift may be wasted.