St Joseph's Catholic And Anglican High

I was a former student of St. Joseph's, 2015-2018. Got to leave, thank god, on account of an Autism diagnosis and find a different school. I don't know how this place is shaping up now, but judging from the other reviews, not good.

There wasn't a single shred of empathy in any of the teachers- let alone the deputy heads, who acted more like slavering attack dogs than they did approachable authority figures. I remember one time where a deputy head found me striding across the courtyard- a snotty, tear stricken mess. We had P.E before lunch, but because a bunch of the students were being unruly, our teacher blew a gasket and made us run laps well into lunch. I didn't do anything wrong. My mental health was in shreds at this time and I couldn't handle it.

All the DT did was tell me (the profusely sobbing autistic child) to tuck my shirt in before walking away.

The teachers here knew nothing other than beating children into shape. Put your head down and work. Step out of line, make a slight mistake, and you were fiercely ridiculed. Hell, even if you didn't make a mistake, they'd punish the entire class off the back of one kid's mistakes. Teachers would frequently go on minute-long tirades threatening the class while I just sat there wanting to get on with things. I particularly remember our year 10 maths teacher (who didn't even teach maths; he was just a P.E teacher who handed out pamphlets) rambling on and on about how he doesn't care if we listen 'cause he gets paid at the end of the day and yadda yadda. RE frequently came grinding to a halt as the teacher got into shouting matches with kids who criticized elements of Christianity. History? I would walk out of that lesson with ringing ears.

The work itself, depending on whether you had a good teacher or not (of which there was little), was the most lifeless schlock- booklets and questionaires upon booklets and questionaires. Rote memorization and zero engagement. One teacher I had for history actually tried her hardest at first, and put together fun lessons! Then the class eventually drove her stir crazy and it was textbook time from then on in.

Lunchtimes were also terrible. The food served was some of the most bland, disgusting slop I've ever had in my life, and I had to pay for the privilege. If you love eating meat that is 50% fat, this is the place to go to. That is, if you're even able to get inside before it's all gone. We had to line up behind an iron fence like livestock, waiting minutes on end for the next ten people to he sent in. The lunch staff was also obviously biased, as the girls were sent in far faster and frequently compared to the boys. I started taking packed lunches just so I could skip the queue. It felt good having the staff for a laugh, I'll admit. Not even the lunch ladies were personable. I ended up dropping a tray of food once, and instead of helping me clean my mess, this lunch lady just stood over me with a petulant scowl and her arms crossed. Sorry for dropping my food that I PAID FOR.

And although the school itself can't control this (to a degree), it was rife with bullying in the time I was there. Everyone would trip you up, shove you around, try to scare you, just insult you; me and my friends got beat up in year 7 over where we came from- because of football, a sport I'm not even interested in.

By time I left, I was in shreds. I'm still trying to get over the damage this place did to me, even if I'm in a far better environment now.

If you've ever listened to the album or watched the film adaptation of The Wall by Pink Floyd, St. Joseph's is basically what the school from The Wall was.

Parents; please don't send your children here. You're only going to ruin them.

Do not send your kids here it might be a beautiful school but the teachers do not care the pupils a pupil was crying and she was crying for 10 minutes in the toilet before going to lesson and all the teachers cared about was the pupil being late to lesson they told the pupil off for being upset they tell you off for bullying when they hear one side of the story and not the other they do not care about the pupils all they care about is there reputation a teacher once said to a pupil 'I don't care about people like you' this school ruins your mental health we would get told off when we were ankle socks whats so attractive about ankles we have to be punished for teaches and boys who can't control themselfs.

This school is bad THEY ONLY CARE ABT THE SMART KIDS THE DUMB ONE THEY DON'T CARE U GET IN TROUBLE FOR NO REASON AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE WORK AND HW THE HW IS SO HARD THAT I GET DETATIONS BC THE TEACHER DIDN'T EXPLAIN IT PROBABLY! The trips are nice u get to go to different countries but the price is so high I can never get to go on them bc the price is to high for my liking

It may seem like it's the best school but in fact when it comes to issues involved with certain teachers. Students are practically bullied using old style scare tactics into pursuing the narrative they want.

Ruining kids mental health

As a current student of the school. I can’t wait to get out of there. The school is lead by shocking slt. The headteacher himself is not a nice person in front of people he tries to stamp his authority on students in a forceful way and he does the same to parents. He is really kind and funny In 1-on-1 situations though. You can have a laugh and a joke with him and he can be quite approachable aswell. The same can’t be said for the deputy head. Although her teaching style is amazing and as someone who has been taught by her for two years my grades have really improved however she is also Head of safeguarding. As someone who you’re meant to talk to about your problems, wether that be at home or in school she is probably the least approachable in the school. She does not deal with any situation effectively. Most people don’t want to talk to her because of this. She tends to blame the person who needs her help my saying “you could have helped yourself” or something along those lines. She excludes people for reasons that would have been more appropriate to have been dealt with a detention or a one day isolation. she makes the students look like there stupid and makes many people feel as though they shouldn’t be there. Most teachers in the school are kind and excellent teachers however in a lesson one day, the deputy head said “the teachers all the students like don’t get good results out of you because there too nice to students” which I can say is quite the opposite for me and for many students in the school. The school as a whole discriminates against any student who isn’t the picture perfect “religious teen” because there not how you would think they would look. The school cares more about uniform and haircuts which they said is because “if they crack down on the little things then there won’t be as many big things to deal with” which the big things still happen but there oblivious to them because there so caught up in checking Uniform. Girls cannot wear trousers that you cannot fit a pound coin all the way down or trousers that you can see your ankles because “it’s distracts male members of staff”. If they get distracted by a young girls ankles then they should not be working with kids end of story. And for boys if you can see their scalp it’s isolation until it grows back which how does any of this effect peoples learning? If your thinking about sending you child here. Don’t. And if you do then your in for one heck of a ride

Where do you go when the teachers are the bullies? Terrible school, the head covers up the staff's awful behaviour. Numerous complaints are made to governors and nothing is done. That school does more harm than good. Singles out and belittles one parent families, LGBT , anyone who doesn’t fit their idea of a normal person. child protection is a joke. Do NOT send your child here.

It is of course a religious school with "good discipline". However, most rules are unnecessarily strict and in some cases discriminative. One of the worst is haircuts, your hair can't be too short that your scalp is visible because it's apparently distracting for other students. You can't even come back to school from a holiday with a good haircut without the worry of getting isolated and strict punishments for it. You can't even have your phone in your bag, not being able to use it in school is understandable as this can increase the chance of cyberbullying and doesn't let you focus on work. If you are caught with a phone in your bag, regardless of whether it's turned off or not been used, you'll still get punished and have it taken away. The only way to get around this is to give it to the reception in the morning and collect it back at the end of the day, which is just a pain and there's the risk that someone could just steal it from reception by saying it's theirs. Other than rules and punishments, the actual education is ok but RE as a subject is very overwhelming than it would be in other schools, religious stuff is taken very seriously around the school. If you're still choosing a high school to go to in Wrexham, I advise not picking St. Joseph's as it's just getting worse every year. You'll find the learning alright for some time but you'll also certainly get fed up of these stupid rules. Good luck if you're coming, you're gonna enjoy your time in hell!

Amazing school!!!! If you want your kid to be sent to a non caring, self loathing environment where they always feel threatened them that’s what your in for! The schools homophobic, Transphobic and the teachers are oh so jolly, especially when they don’t care about your mental health and only about your education. Never send your child to this school. Ever.

go if you want you child to have suicidal urges. and when they do they wont get help, they will get encouragment to hate themselves even more

My son started here in September and now it's March so 6 months, he has suffered constant bullying and detentions. This school shows no compassion, is not a nurturing and caring environment for your child. They Intimidate children and parents alike, I am pulling my son out. Do not send your son or daughter here, if you want good exam results consider other options. I really never realised and wish I'd read these threads beforehand. Even the local authority are aware of the situation and considering taking action now. Vile school with vile teachers, should be ashamed of themselves. Better to take your chosen where they are happy and protected.

My child has attended this school 5 yrs I would recommend they have supported my child well the head of year especially phone calls home to check how they are how they can support more , the school has structure they have values and children are expected to be respectful to all before yr 7 you have a meeting and everything from uniform to behaviour expectations are explained to you so if this isn’t for you don’t send your child her but I personally wanted this my child they have thrived here and have flourished the teachers care especially for those children that want to learn and are enthusiastic you get out what you put in I would give this school 10/10
Good moral values , teach respectfulness, community care
They are strict about uniform but you do know this before your child starts
They expect your child to behave well and attend school again you know this before they start
Wonderful school with hard working teachers

The only way I can describe the place is hell and surely for a religious school that shouldn’t be the case. For a school that was supposed to treat all pupils the same it never did that, they only ever focused on the pupils that were academically smart and never helped the pupils that needed it. The school discriminated everyone in different ways and made sure that no one felt like they had a place there. The school never helped anyone who was struggling with bullying or mental health because the child protection officer (*** *****) just shouted at them and made them feel like they were the ones in the wrong. Pupils were scared to talk to her about any worries or struggles they were having and therefore had no one to talk to in the whole school. The motto ‘no child left behind’ is the complete opposite of what they did. Unless you were really smart they just left you on your own. I would never recommend that school to anyone, it was horrible and the years I spent at that school were the worst years of my life.

The current stand-in Headteacher protects bullies and persecutes anybody who questions her archaic practices, she's threatened to exclude my Daughter for no reason, screamed in her face, put her in isolation for absolutely nothing and when I told her I'd be speaking to the Governors, she told my Daughter she isn't scared of me and she'd call the police on me, simply because she lacks each and every standard expected of a head teacher. Do not send your kids to this School.

I got told that I couldn't be autistic and that my diagnosis was wrong because I was well behaved

I got zero help and support while there

Don't go if you have any additional needs

I thought on entering this school that I would have a good time and lean some valuable things towards my education, well how wrong I was, how in the hell will a 24 page document on Jesus help me pay my taxes or rent a car, ah yes that's right it won't, cheers for possibly the most agonising years of my life, except the lunch lady's you lot are okay.

Totally biased.... staff do not respect the children but they demand respect and earn it through the use of fear and threats. No child left behind is an absolute joke and they should not be able to use this as their motto it’s so contradictory to how they actually behave. They are more bothered about children’s appearance than their well-being! Their pastoral care is ZERO

Well, what can I say except that I absolutely hate this school. For starters, the school is extremely sexist and homophobic. The school refuse to change names on the register for transgender students, even if their parents have given permission. The teachers only care about our grades and our haircut. Let me ask, how is a shaved head going to affect my learning? How is me having hair dyed an 'unnatural colour'going to affect my learning? The school is completely unfair: when the school get caught out doing something completely inappropriate, they just lie to get out of it. I'm in class right now so this is all I can type. Don't come to this school.

This school is utter shambles and it’s full of vile teachers who think they know what is best. I hope one day people finally realise how much of a disgusting place this is.
As a past student of the school I can say that I had the worst experience I could’ve ever imagined, I know for a fact other past and present students can agree. The school is a sick place that only cares about how it looks and the grades they get. I will never forget the countless times girls were told that in the summer they could only wear white or nude coloured bras because coloured bras could be seen through the white shirts and this distracted the male teachers and students, absolutely vile to say the least. Not to mention the way they suspend the students that they think will make the school look bad when the inspectors come around. Not one teacher in that school cares about the pupils mental health which has lead to multiple issues with past students. The school does nothing to support anyone at all, I had friends who were apart of the the LGBT community who were treated differently when I recall the motto of the school is “no child left behind” utter rubbish.
Highly recommend you avoid this school at all costs if you want to have a normal high school experience because trust me this isn’t the place for that.