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St Helena School
Secondary · Academy · Colchester
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I love it here
Nice experience
Very clean. Staff are kind and love it here
More needs to be done
I have posted a review on here before regarding my child and their awful experience at this school. But I would just like to suggest to other parents who also had children who have suffered at maybe reporting their experiences to ofsted. I know they don't investigate all cases. But maybe if enough of us report our experiences then something will be done. Or the school will be looked into at the very least. Just a suggestion as I feel this is a very dangerous place for children. From experience I know bullying and childrens mental health issues are ignored and as a result their lives are being destroyed and more needs to be done.
It’s great
Idk why people say it’s bad it’s great
If you like crying until your head throbs, this is the place for you!
I've recently left this school, and let me tell you, college is treating me so much better.
It was hell. I wasn't even able to attend for 2 whole years because my mental health was so bad. I literally attempted suicide because of the pressure my GCSE exams.
Jesus christ, do not go here. They don't care about you. They care about your attendance. That's all.
I do have an odd nostalgia for it, though. Some teachers were really doing the best they could, and that's all I could really ask for! :D
It was hell. I wasn't even able to attend for 2 whole years because my mental health was so bad. I literally attempted suicide because of the pressure my GCSE exams.
Jesus christ, do not go here. They don't care about you. They care about your attendance. That's all.
I do have an odd nostalgia for it, though. Some teachers were really doing the best they could, and that's all I could really ask for! :D
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Such a fantastic school! Teachers are so kind nice and caring!
bad bad
bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad
don’t go here.
literally one of the worst schools i’ve been to. teach you nun bro💀💀🙏🙏 they dgaf about the students. DO NOT COME HERE🐺🐺🐺🙏🙏😭😭
Terrible school
This school is the worst school my son has been to, he was bullied almost every day and the school did nothing about it, it caused my son to have PTSD due to being punched and given swirlies when he to the toilet, would not reccomend.
Too much bullying and no support
Absolutely the worst school there is! Too many kids and clearly not enough staff. Bullying is not dealt with at all and children are not kept safe. Pulled my child out after only a few short months as their time there was so awful and it had such a huge negative impact on their mental health. Thank you St. Helena's for the worst time imaginable we really hope you improve. 0 stars
School
The school does amazing things to support people and have lots of fun clubs!!!
shit school
it is a very bad school do not send your kids there they don’t care about your mental health or anything the only thing that matters to them if your attendance and you always being in your lessons and all be and act the same like perfect little robots
parent and old student
teachers are rude and lie to parents about children to make students look bad when they are a shit school
shite school
this place is awful, the teachers dont listen to anything you say. Some teachers are really nice but others are bloody fooking awful and annoying. most the time the teachers treat us like shite
I mean it alright but not really yk
Bro someone literally brought in a knife to kill someone in like year 9 (kinda recently) Like that's crazy . some of the teachers are the absolute best though 💗
⚠️ warning⚠️
I am in shock with the comment that i have just read from an employee. St helena is not a good school and were not spreading lies were just telling you what they want to hear. Honestly this school is the worst school i have ever been to. They except bullying and the staff will do nothing abt it. When receiving death threats i was told that 'they wouldnt do that' or 'no not that person'. They say they care abt pupils mental health but they dont care. Since moving out of this school i have been so much better off. If ur planning to send ur child here than pls dont. Save their mental health and run while u still can
St helena school
This school is ok as long as you stay in a group of friends and stay on the good side of St helena if you don't then you will mostly likely to be kicked out
Worst school ever
I've just read review about this school saying it's a wonderful place and people need to stop spreading lies about the school. They aren't lies. It's the truth. The school is just scared of their name being dragged in the dirt. This school never listens to what the students have to say. I have never been more mortified at a school system in my life and that's saying a lot. a day or two ago, a student went to their designated "safe place" and got told to leave because they were "too busy". This student was in tears and crying out for help and the pastoral team turned her down. This is what this school does and i don't even want to get started on some of the teachers here. One of the teachers gave a student a detention for "truanting" because they were upset and needed to calm down. They don't understand some of the problems some of these kids may have. They need to realise that some of the bad students that act up in school are crying for help because they desperately need it. And the lack of hygiene in the school is unbearable. One of the students that i know from that school has informed me that the floor in the science class rooms are appalling. They told me that the science floors look like they haven't been mopped in years. The amount of mud and dirt and dust that's on the floor, no wonder why they're all getting sick. And I've also been informed about the toilets. It makes me sick just thinking about it. They always smell, they're always dirty and they're barely safe to use because some of the students in that school like to break the locks. Its horrific. I hope one of the teachers from that school read this and make improvements to the school because it's unfair on the students. And the food there. Just ew. A few of the students there have eaten bright pink chicken and some of them have eaten human hair that wasn't from their heads. Unbelievable. Despicable. Disgraceful.
The best school I've ever worked at!
I've seen a lot of negative reviews about this school and I want to clear something up. Nothing is wrong with this school. The school atmosphere is lovely, I've never been more satisfied. The school facilities are up to date and beautiful. This school provides a safe and happy atmosphere for all its students and handles bullying wonderfully. Unfortunately, some of the students think its funny to say that the school has awful disciplinary skills, that it allows bullying or that the school itself is run down and dangerous, especially the library. Let me clear this up.
There is nothing wrong with the school, especially the library. Stop spreading lies about the school, saying you had a terrible education or that you keep hearing weird noises coming from the library, especially "during the winter months when it gets dark sooner", to quote one of these reviews. It disgusts me to say that even former staff are spreading these lies. To all my colleagues using this website, let me remind you that the librarian did not "go missing under suspicious circumstances", he is currently working at another school, where he is quite well.
To all those who are looking to work here or to enrol their children, I highly recommend this school, and ask you to please ignore all those terrible lies being written about us. That girl was very troubled, and there was absolutely no correlation with her being a part of the book club and staying late in the library.
There is nothing in the library. Stop asking about the library.
Have a nice day!
There is nothing wrong with the school, especially the library. Stop spreading lies about the school, saying you had a terrible education or that you keep hearing weird noises coming from the library, especially "during the winter months when it gets dark sooner", to quote one of these reviews. It disgusts me to say that even former staff are spreading these lies. To all my colleagues using this website, let me remind you that the librarian did not "go missing under suspicious circumstances", he is currently working at another school, where he is quite well.
To all those who are looking to work here or to enrol their children, I highly recommend this school, and ask you to please ignore all those terrible lies being written about us. That girl was very troubled, and there was absolutely no correlation with her being a part of the book club and staying late in the library.
There is nothing in the library. Stop asking about the library.
Have a nice day!
dont send your child here
this school is a massive joke. Honestly its unbelievable. dont send your child here unless you want them to be overly stressed, depressed and feel uncomfortable around every male teacher
Alright School I Guess
The school is okay in some areas but bad in others
For the arts: the music facilities are actually really good for a school like st helenas, there's 2 dedicated music rooms, one filled with macbook computers and three practise rooms which, compared to some of the colleges in the surrounding area is really good. In exchange for this, however, the art and drama departments are super underfunded. My friend who took art once told me her class was overjoyed at the fact they got a new box of glues (literally not even art supplies goddamn glues). I can't speak much about the other arts subjects but the music teachers are really passionate about helping their students do well so if you wanna come to st helena I reccomend checking the music department out
As for the core subjects, Maths is pretty average, English is pretty average, Science is good and it has a few after school clubs with robotics and just science learning.
PE is where St Helena sucks tho. The PE teachers are barely ever all in, and I have trauma from y7-9 about always being forced to do football because the freakin PE teacher decided to take a rest day, and I'd have to stand outside in the cold getting shouted at by all the popular kids for not even trying to play football. It gets better y10-11 cuz you get to choose what sports you want to do but if there's anything to blame for my undiagnosed chronic depression its probably y7-9 PE.
Humanities (events, history, r.s, geography) are very boring. Other than that its average like the rest.
The IT and Imedia groups are pretty small. Considering how much people put emphasis on the 'growing sector of IT', i feel like should be a lot better staffed. I've only ever seen 3 teachers that teach Imedia and IT, and it seems they're all super overworked compared to the rest of the other subject teachers
Food is alright. Pretty boring and never changes but its better than prison food i spose
The LRC (Library) is pretty chill. The man in charge of the library is super passionate about books and its a pretty chill place to hang out during lunch and break
overall, its an alright school if you like certain subjects, if not, then i suggest you go anywhere else
For the arts: the music facilities are actually really good for a school like st helenas, there's 2 dedicated music rooms, one filled with macbook computers and three practise rooms which, compared to some of the colleges in the surrounding area is really good. In exchange for this, however, the art and drama departments are super underfunded. My friend who took art once told me her class was overjoyed at the fact they got a new box of glues (literally not even art supplies goddamn glues). I can't speak much about the other arts subjects but the music teachers are really passionate about helping their students do well so if you wanna come to st helena I reccomend checking the music department out
As for the core subjects, Maths is pretty average, English is pretty average, Science is good and it has a few after school clubs with robotics and just science learning.
PE is where St Helena sucks tho. The PE teachers are barely ever all in, and I have trauma from y7-9 about always being forced to do football because the freakin PE teacher decided to take a rest day, and I'd have to stand outside in the cold getting shouted at by all the popular kids for not even trying to play football. It gets better y10-11 cuz you get to choose what sports you want to do but if there's anything to blame for my undiagnosed chronic depression its probably y7-9 PE.
Humanities (events, history, r.s, geography) are very boring. Other than that its average like the rest.
The IT and Imedia groups are pretty small. Considering how much people put emphasis on the 'growing sector of IT', i feel like should be a lot better staffed. I've only ever seen 3 teachers that teach Imedia and IT, and it seems they're all super overworked compared to the rest of the other subject teachers
Food is alright. Pretty boring and never changes but its better than prison food i spose
The LRC (Library) is pretty chill. The man in charge of the library is super passionate about books and its a pretty chill place to hang out during lunch and break
overall, its an alright school if you like certain subjects, if not, then i suggest you go anywhere else
dont ignore
As a student here currently, i hate it. Theres more nonces here than ive had hot dinners ngl. if youre a parent reading this, dont send your child here. this school is the definition of depression. hope this is helpful
Don't go to this turd school
So, this school may appear quite good during an open evening or on the prospectus. However, that isn't the reality for most students. There are quite a few teachers I really get on with but that's my personal opinion and It doesn't really affect my opinion of the poor school because they haven't got anything to do with the system, timetables, or rules. Not to my knowledge anyway. I don't really know where to start, I'll just start on the fact they always are yelling about acting like young adults when they have to escort us everywhere we go, and wait for us outside toilets because of a select few misbehaving students that they can't be bothered to deal with personally. Our timetables literally destroy mental health and cause such tiredness with year 11's having straight two hour lessons with no chance to rest their brain. The subjects are really limited and the school is generally run down, they say that the cleaners 'clean' yet you'll find scruffy lunch tables with crumbs everywhere- but blame it on the students. Even though the majority put their litter in the bins provided. Lessons drag because of the long time we spend inside doing work, so I can't say I'm an engaged student. I've tried again and again to get the required support for my personal needs but pastoral only allocate two minutes standing outside of a classroom and will then force you back inside despite you either crying or not able to breathe, which I think is neglecting but at the same time I can understand if they're busy. They do try to support less academic students with after school tuition or morning tuition but It's mandatory and the students can feel drained and run down with the extra lesson then pressure to revise.There isn't much interaction between years because of staggered lunchtimes. You're only allowed in one square of space during your break but when I was younger, before Covid, you could spend lunchtime nearly anywhere you wanted and didn't have to line up at the end of your break. During the summer season, you're still not allowed on the grass and students can get frustrated when teachers start yelling because your foot is slightly in a greener area. The food is, ew. Not too bad I guess but pretty disgusting and the options for food were more varied before Covid, which I guess might be because of the budget but still, it gets boring. The medical nurse has made me feel un welcomed numerous times and everybody says they're unhelpful. There are also teachers who make the students very uncomfortable, mainly girls, but I won't name who. The uniform is very strict and they will look you up and down to check for a problem, students struggling with heat and visibly sweating were forced to wear their blazer when walking around and you're forced to have your sleeves down when attending assembly. you get hour long detentions for minor things, such as being one or two minutes late to class despite the corridors being congested during change over. I could talk for hours on other flaws but I can't but if I had the choice, or could go back in time, this school wouldn't be for me. I hate attending here.
Horrible school
I attended this school from mid year 8 2012 until 2015 and whilst it wasn’t all bad to begin with, it progressively got worse until I would basically kick off until they rang my mum to pick me up.
Year 10 is where I think my behaviour dramatically changed due to a lot of factors: bullying, stress etc. and I didn’t know how else to express it all so misbehaving was the norm for me. My form tutor (also my GCSE history teacher) was so rude to me and we definitely hated each other - I’d constantly walk out of form and I think the only days I managed to stay in form was for the Friday quiz. Most of the time I’d wander the corridors until the bell for lesson went. Towards the end of year 10, it got especially worse especially in History and I ended up being removed from my History class permanently and found a space in Pathways because Mr B was an absolute legend and sorted it all out for me. Ms W the Pastoral manager offered zero support and when I went to Pastoral before my Business studies exam having a panic attack I was just made to sit in the conference room with no concern to my mental and physical wellbeing as they wouldn’t even phone my mum to let her know. Year 11 was when things were the absolute worst: I was being bullied severely to the point where it was taking a huge toll on me and I’d be up until 3am crying because the thought of school was terrifying me. My behaviour completely changed: I went from being so outgoing to barely talking to anyone and looking back, that was a massive red flag that something was seriously wrong but teachers/pastoral worry more about Grades than they do their students mental health. I was also witness, (and partially involved in) to an awful Trampolining accident and my PE teacher let me know she was available if I needed to talk but my pastoral manager did not offer support even though it made the bullying worse. I only had 3 teachers who cared and if I could thank those teachers, I 100% would but they don’t work at the school which breaks my heart for students that don’t have the teachers I had in my corner. 1000% avoid this school.
Year 10 is where I think my behaviour dramatically changed due to a lot of factors: bullying, stress etc. and I didn’t know how else to express it all so misbehaving was the norm for me. My form tutor (also my GCSE history teacher) was so rude to me and we definitely hated each other - I’d constantly walk out of form and I think the only days I managed to stay in form was for the Friday quiz. Most of the time I’d wander the corridors until the bell for lesson went. Towards the end of year 10, it got especially worse especially in History and I ended up being removed from my History class permanently and found a space in Pathways because Mr B was an absolute legend and sorted it all out for me. Ms W the Pastoral manager offered zero support and when I went to Pastoral before my Business studies exam having a panic attack I was just made to sit in the conference room with no concern to my mental and physical wellbeing as they wouldn’t even phone my mum to let her know. Year 11 was when things were the absolute worst: I was being bullied severely to the point where it was taking a huge toll on me and I’d be up until 3am crying because the thought of school was terrifying me. My behaviour completely changed: I went from being so outgoing to barely talking to anyone and looking back, that was a massive red flag that something was seriously wrong but teachers/pastoral worry more about Grades than they do their students mental health. I was also witness, (and partially involved in) to an awful Trampolining accident and my PE teacher let me know she was available if I needed to talk but my pastoral manager did not offer support even though it made the bullying worse. I only had 3 teachers who cared and if I could thank those teachers, I 100% would but they don’t work at the school which breaks my heart for students that don’t have the teachers I had in my corner. 1000% avoid this school.
The downside of st helena
Have terrible metal health/bullying/disability help. Teachers ,though not all, will take out their frustrations on the students, verbally abuse and even bully them. Known to have a severe favouritism problem and a tendency to lock some children in the pastoral room against their will without there being a concern of a student hirting themselves or others. It used to be somewhat decent a few years back but has gotten worse and worse going onwards. Theyve had multiple rat problems and the bathrooms near music look absolutely terrible and are usually closed . They refuse to let girls on their periods go bathroom and punish them for going (usually because they bled through thier bottoms) even when they discreetly let the teacher know why.The big field is also now mostly off limits to students at break and lunch which can be annoying because theirs a lot of students at st helena. Some students at st helena suffer from anxiety and have 'exit cards' that arent supposed to be questioned yet are constantly by teachers, humiliating the student in front of their class. The exit cards also allow the student to sit just outside the class , many have to sit on the floor because they get weakness in their legs and body .passing teachers , usually higher up teachers, will berate students who sit , more worried about the schools reputation from visitors and will give debits on students accounts for it and tell them to stay standing. The front door exit/entrance for students is too small for the amount of students that attend and has a carpet/mat thing that ,at the end of school) rides up and trips students. The exit crowd is very dense and this has caused many injuries in the past. Some places in the school are rundown and the supplies in some subjects are very low on funding yet they have spent money on usless TVs in the halls that only present slides singing the schools praises (in other words are only for show) instead of potentially usefully information for students. The foods somewhat nice however the breakfast toast/coffee/tea knives and spoons aren't sanitary, they leave a cup of water next to the spreads and students use them and are ment to just put them in the cup for the next person to use so they arent clean, most students either come in super early for it or dont touch it because its disgusting.
phone and uniform.
my experience is okay but things could be a lot better.they need to be less strict than they are. phones should not be banned as it keeps everyone who has one entertained. the school needs to improve a lot with facilities and the uniform.
RUBBISH SCHOOL
Rubbish. Pastoral team are soooo bad. If you have a friendship issue all they will do is get the person your in an argument with and make you talk to them, which then end up in an argument. Or they will just make you take statements all the time. Secondly, they DO NOT let you go to the toilet unless you beg like a 5 year old. It’s the same with break and lunch. They shut the toilets early on in break and lock the doors, which means students are banging on the door begging to go to the toilet. When we are lining up at break tk go back into lesson, if the weather is bad and it’s raining, we get told to take our hoods down because “they can’t see who we are from behind” I mean what type of excuse is that. It’s just a rubbish school all over. All they care about is the look of it and how your uniform looks. I reccomend NOT letting your children go to this school, there are so many better schools around the area. The only good teachers in the school are the LSA’s 😂😭
Thanks for reading my review, have a nice day :)
Thanks for reading my review, have a nice day :)
RUBBISH SCHOOL
Terrible. Teachers are rubbish and don’t support you with learning. Pastoral are rubbish aswell, they don’t sort anything out despite the amount of friendship issues. All they do is get you to write statements. You are not allowed to the toilet unless you physically beg like a 5 year old. At break and lunch they close the toilets quite early on. Which means stuedents are banging on the door asking tk go to the toilet which they are being refused by lunch time duty staff (they lock the door). It’s just overall rubbish. The only good teachers are LSA’s 😂
shithole
Have to call for someone to collect you and take you to the toilets at the age of 16
This F*cking school is beyond belief.
What kind of f*cking school makes you put your hood down in the rain. I'm sorry but this school sucks in every area. Please I beg you sort yourself out.
rubbish
honestly its just awful. Cant tell pastoral about any problems because all they do is tell your parents (they've outed lgbt students in the past).they claim to care about homophobia but when it has been reported all they have talked about is how the person being homophobic could have been raised that way instead of the factor that they're actually an asshole. the teachers are ok but basically all of the good ones are left and majority of them dont even seem like they like kids so theres no point in them teaching here. the headteacher is awful and all she does is shout about how we are the worst year. the head of years pretty much do the same as that. even the nice teachers can barely control the classes they teach. the teachers say they know what students are bullies and are trouble but do absolutely nothing about it and let them continue what they are doing. being queer isnt talked about unless its june because they dont care unless its what they deem relevant at the time. canteen food is rubbish and most days theres barely hot food left. lining up for food is a joke and the foods insanely overpriced considering how below average it is. theres kids doing drugs and smoking and the teachers seem to turn a blind eye. theres kids selling vapes and weed and considering how loud some of them seem to talk about it its clear that the teachers dont give a fuck at all. the school claims that they are about self expression but you cant wear any jewellery (no bracelets, necklaces, rings and earrings have to be studs) but regardless they seem to ignore some people who do have them obviously. theres much more because this schools the equivalent of a cow shit in the heat but i cant be arsed to say the rest.
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