St Joseph's Catholic School

My experience at SJCS was largely negative. One of the most troubling moments was when I was bullied in Year 7. About 3-4 months into the school year, I was a shy, nervous kid. One day, a Year 11 student, who was much bigger than me, slapped me four times on the head while I was in the toilet. I immediately reported the incident to my form tutor, but she didn’t seem to care, and nothing happened. The situation was completely ignored, and eventually, that student left. It felt like the school would rather break me mentally than admit when they were wrong, and that attitude extended throughout my time there. Many teachers were disrespectful and angry, and I believe this contributed to the poor behavior of the students. The teachers seemed to care more about their image with Ofsted and the parents than about the students, and they made sure students knew not to complain to anyone else. Their actions were often brushed off as "normal," and anything outside of that was discouraged.

For example, I once needed to go to the toilet desperately because of a health condition that grants me a toilet pass. I raised my hand, and the teacher looked at me, then I pointed at the door. She nodded, and I stood up to go. But then she suddenly shouted, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I didn’t think using that word was appropriate in a Catholic school. I told her I was going to the toilet, and she responded, "Sit back down. It's rude to point at the door." I was bursting, so I said no and went anyway. When I returned, expecting to be told off, she moved my stuff to another class and told me to go there.

When I arrived, the teacher there greeted me with, "What's up, brat?" I was shocked. I apologized, and she repeated, "What's up, brat?" I asked her if she really just called me a brat in front of the entire class, and she confirmed it. I wasn’t going to let that slide, so I grabbed my things and walked out. I went to talk to my form tutor about what happened, and he asked, “Did she say this in private?” I said no, she said it in front of the whole class, and I told him to ask anyone in her class. He said he would sort it, but I never heard anything about it again. In the end, they tried to give me a detention for walking out on her.

I never received proper support from the school, apart from a little bit from CBA, who was one of the few teachers who actually seemed to care.

The state of the school toilets was appalling as well. The shape of the toilets was foul, with toilet paper all over the ceiling and walls, and water and urine all over the floor. It was unhygienic and uncomfortable to use. I feel bad for the cleaning staff who have to deal with this mess every day. It's unfair and unjust for them to be expected to clean up after such a disgusting environment.

The food at the school was absolutely terrible. The kitchen staff were unprofessional and made me feel uncomfortable. For example, one of the kitchen staff put their thumb in my friend’s gravy, which is completely unacceptable. The food was so bad that the only reason I would buy it was to throw it away, just so it would show on my lunch card that I had eaten. I didn’t actually eat the food, but I had to pretend to in front of my mum to avoid worrying her.

Another incident that stands out was when I had to hand in my phone as collateral for a tie. The school ended up breaking my phone. The next time they demanded my phone, I refused, returned the tie, and started to walk away. The teacher screamed at me, which scared me. He then ran after me, shouting that I was being excluded and ordered me to go to his office. I was terrified and asked if I could call my dad, but he refused, demanding my phone to stop me from calling my parents. I refused again and ended up calling my mum, who supported me through the situation. Eventually, the assistant head teacher backed down and said I wouldn’t be excluded.

The school seemed more concerned with creating a good image for Ofsted inspections than genuinely addressing issues or improving the school environment.

Despite these negative experiences, I’ve always tried to be respectful to the teachers who treat me with kindness. The teachers I have bonded with include my form tutor, my maths teacher, my two RE teachers, my English teacher, my science teacher, and CBA. These teachers have always been professional and kind, even on their bad days.

In conclusion, I believe the biggest problem at SJCS is the teachers who don’t show respect to their students. The teachers who do show respect and understand their students are the ones who make a real difference. Unfortunately, my overall experience was shaped by the actions of those who didn’t treat students well.

I was a student there for two years and when it came to mental health, they were awful. At the start of year eight I slowly started to not go in up to the point where I basically left. They refused to give me work to do at home because it would “make me want to stay at home more”?! This was not true at all, I knew I wouldn’t ever come back, not being sent work wouldn’t change this. I haven’t been there since 2018 but I only got my paperwork from them in 2020. They kept changing the person who was doing the paperwork which meant it was never near being ready. Another thing they did with the paperwork was leave it until the end of the school year so that they wouldn’t have to do anything for the summer holidays. It’s a shame that the school itself is awful because most of the people who went there were really nice to me.

Good school, great people. Only problem I had was with bullying where they weren't great but thoroughly enjoyed my time there

Teachers cared so much for you when you gave then the chance to. Very widely accepting school. Great mix of cultures and ethnicity despite being a catholic based institution. Pastoral was good except many complained about the school therapist and their solutions for feeling sad/depressed to be horse riding, self harm isnt exactly cured by a little horseback riding, especially when your allergic.

My mother died during me time at the school. no help. no help with my learning struggles. save yourself the grief of this school.