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Thamesmead School
Secondary · Academy · Shepperton
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Awful Experience
Avoid Thamesmead at all costs
Parents, do not send your children here. Avoid Thamesmead at any and all costs.
I was a student at Thamesmead between 2018-2023, and I can wholeheartedly say it is possibly the worst school possible.
Where to even begin with the dumpster fire that is Thamesmead school.
I was sexually harassed by another student, and reported this twice to the safeguarding team. What came of this? Absolutely nothing. Many of his actions fell under non-contact sexual abuse as well, a fact Thamesmead were very aware of. They even refused to take this case seriously until one of the gossips of the year spread what happened, and I was thankfully protected by my peers. The worst part of this ordeal though was how *MULTIPLE* girls came to me saying how they received similar treatment from this boy, with varying degrees of severity. I reported him first in year 9, and then a second time in year 10. He completed his education at the end of year 11. He received no disciplinary consequences. In fact, the school allowed him to leave lessons a few minutes earlier so he could avoid students others rightfully calling him out. This is not even the only case Thamesmead have ignored. A girl in the year above had been sexually assaulted, and Thamesmead turned a blind eye
The safeguarding team is appalling. And don’t even get me started on how they’d treat students dealing with mental health problems. Unless your situation was severe, they’d turn a blind eye to you.
I was a student at Thamesmead between 2018-2023, and I can wholeheartedly say it is possibly the worst school possible.
Where to even begin with the dumpster fire that is Thamesmead school.
I was sexually harassed by another student, and reported this twice to the safeguarding team. What came of this? Absolutely nothing. Many of his actions fell under non-contact sexual abuse as well, a fact Thamesmead were very aware of. They even refused to take this case seriously until one of the gossips of the year spread what happened, and I was thankfully protected by my peers. The worst part of this ordeal though was how *MULTIPLE* girls came to me saying how they received similar treatment from this boy, with varying degrees of severity. I reported him first in year 9, and then a second time in year 10. He completed his education at the end of year 11. He received no disciplinary consequences. In fact, the school allowed him to leave lessons a few minutes earlier so he could avoid students others rightfully calling him out. This is not even the only case Thamesmead have ignored. A girl in the year above had been sexually assaulted, and Thamesmead turned a blind eye
The safeguarding team is appalling. And don’t even get me started on how they’d treat students dealing with mental health problems. Unless your situation was severe, they’d turn a blind eye to you.
disgusting
i would not recommend this school to my worst enemy, the teachers have no faith in the students. those who struggle have been majorly let down by this school and they have no sympathy. the teachers and headmaster only care about high grades. they have massively failed these students and it’s disgusting. Do not send your child here if you want them to come home mentally drained and feel like they are stupid. Very disappointed in thamesmead, massively gone down hill.
Disappointed .
The schools reputation has seem to got worse each year of my child being at the school. I am absolutely disgusted with some of the teachers and how much my child and others I know have been let down. The teachers come and go and leave the students half way though the year with supply teachers who are incapable of teaching and providing the students with the best education possible. This was with many of the subjects. I would not send your child here if you want them to come home upset and feeling let down.
Disgusting.
i would not recommend this school to my worst enemy, the teachers have no faith in the students. those who struggle have been majorly let down by this school and they have no sympathy. The teachers and the headmaster only care about results/grades only if they are high. They have massively failed these students and it’s disgusting. Do not send ur child here if you want them to come home mentally drained and feel like they are stupid. Very disappointed in Thamesmead it has gone down hill.
School failing
My daughter is currently being bullied and the school do not seem phased even when knifes have been threatened. This used to be a good school. Now it needs investigations as clearly failing.
Concentration
Absolutely Shit show of a school only a couple of nice teachers and they ended up leaving,the only nice teacher was the drama teacher Miss Hall . Wouldn’t recommend this school to anyone deputy head was very rude to all female students about there skirts
pretty good
it’s pretty good tbh. i quite like it. canteen is nice, good facilities, good teachers etc. i hope they put more money into the art department
Honest Review of Thamesmead.
I went to Thamesmead from the years of 2013-2018. Some of the teachers are lovely and do care about their students, there were a few you could have a bit of banter with and feel like you were building a relationship with but it was a very slim number. I struggled heavily with mental health during my time here, having been diagnosed with depression since I was 9 years old and recently getting diagnoses for ADHD and BPD it is no surprise that I was a lot to deal with. I would constantly reach out to people whether it be my teachers, the school counsellor or even the headteachers, and received no support at all. I was heavily suicidal from the age of 12 and nobody at the school gave me the time of day to even ask how I was. If I was struggling I needed to stop slacking off and try harder rather than taking steps to actually help myself. We are taught that schoolwork comes first and you come second.
The school is exceptionally rough, there are fights often, the rules are so strict that, naturally, everybody rebels, meaning it's not a nice environment to grow up in. You cannot freely express yourself, I've seen transgender students been denied name changes or even to be referred to as their preferred pronouns, because it would be too much of a hassle to change it on the system. Children who have mental health issues, disorders, or identify as LGBT will not be supported here.
The food used to be good, however in 2015 they changed the food supplier and the food has gone downhill. During my time here, from year 9 onwards, the kitchen manager couldn't do his job properly - not nearly enough food for all the children who attend, and the food there is is poor quality and not worth the absurd amount of money it costs.
It is a shame to rate Thamesmead so low as like I said, some teachers are genuinely lovely and you can tell they do care about their students, but there is too much weighing it down. I have watched countless of people, my friends, peers in other years, etc. spiral because of the effects this school has on you. It is not a free place of learning, I have no happy memories of this place. If your child would need extra support, whether it be learning difficulties, moral support or counselling and such, they will not be welcomed here. We were just a number and unless we got the grades they wanted we were kicked aside.
The school is exceptionally rough, there are fights often, the rules are so strict that, naturally, everybody rebels, meaning it's not a nice environment to grow up in. You cannot freely express yourself, I've seen transgender students been denied name changes or even to be referred to as their preferred pronouns, because it would be too much of a hassle to change it on the system. Children who have mental health issues, disorders, or identify as LGBT will not be supported here.
The food used to be good, however in 2015 they changed the food supplier and the food has gone downhill. During my time here, from year 9 onwards, the kitchen manager couldn't do his job properly - not nearly enough food for all the children who attend, and the food there is is poor quality and not worth the absurd amount of money it costs.
It is a shame to rate Thamesmead so low as like I said, some teachers are genuinely lovely and you can tell they do care about their students, but there is too much weighing it down. I have watched countless of people, my friends, peers in other years, etc. spiral because of the effects this school has on you. It is not a free place of learning, I have no happy memories of this place. If your child would need extra support, whether it be learning difficulties, moral support or counselling and such, they will not be welcomed here. We were just a number and unless we got the grades they wanted we were kicked aside.
Hell Hole
This school does not help with anything at all no matter what. They say they’ll do what they can to help but it’s all lies my situations never get helped and that gets me in trouble because I’m not getting the help I need. Their main focus is uniform. Everyone must look the same and wear everything the same. Girls are allowed to wear trousers or a skirt but boys aren’t allowed to wear shorts in the summer?
Many parents and students have made complaint about teachers but Thamesmead refuses to fire them because the school’s running out of staff so are keeping even the worst of teachers.
Some teachers are horrible to students. I sat down in geography and my teacher went up to a student and threw their bag on the ground just because they took too long to get their pencil case out. This resulted in their water bottle getting broken and water everywhere in their bag. The teacher merely said to the student “Grow up don’t cry over spilt milk” and started walking away angrily. Many other teachers are like this such as ones who grab students arms and pull them making the student feel uncomfortable and scared to be in the school. It is like a prison.
Many parents and students have made complaint about teachers but Thamesmead refuses to fire them because the school’s running out of staff so are keeping even the worst of teachers.
Some teachers are horrible to students. I sat down in geography and my teacher went up to a student and threw their bag on the ground just because they took too long to get their pencil case out. This resulted in their water bottle getting broken and water everywhere in their bag. The teacher merely said to the student “Grow up don’t cry over spilt milk” and started walking away angrily. Many other teachers are like this such as ones who grab students arms and pull them making the student feel uncomfortable and scared to be in the school. It is like a prison.
Support for those who need it is horrible
A report had to be made to the police due to verbal abuse that my friends and I dealt with due to our sexuality and gender identities. The police took it further but the school only dismissed it until the police got involved. As well as this, in the last few months, I have experienced abuse in the forms of bag-pulling, my earphones being ripped out of my ears, and being pushed down the stairs which resulted in me being bruised. My friends also tend to experience both verbal and physical abuse from the students. The teachers do not tend to do much about these situations. They say this is due to the instances not being reported but they are quite obvious and many of my friends have SEND needs (so do I) and so struggle to talk about it with the teachers. Lots of the students don't feel listened to, and so don't feel as if they can share their issues with the teachers. To be completely honest, the only reason that they're doing anything now is because my mother always makes sure to chase the school until they do anything. Now the new pastoral team is in place, my mother is having some positive experiences, especially with certain teachers. She hopes that now it will be better. However, the SENCO needs some improvement. Also, many of my friends struggle with their mental and emotional health, with many of them self-harming or struggling with suicidal thoughts. The school doesn't seem to try and help with this, even though it's quite obvious that it is happening, or they act too harshly and just end up making the situation worse. Online harassment is also an issue. One of my friends had a rape threat come through online from another student. While I do not know much about this situation, I do not believe that the school did anything about this situation. School communication is an issue too. If the needs of students were communicated more effectively, many difficult situations could easily be avoided. All in all, the school could use some major improvements in this area. The treatment that students who are even slightly different face from their peers is horrendous. I can't even walk around the school without worrying about being tripped or pushed. I recently got a fitness watch, and my stress levels have been higher whilst I've been at school then they were when my sister went missing. I think that in itself says something. Do not send your children here, especially if they have any SEND needs.
Parents and students are not listened to
I have been so disappointed in the lack of support offered to my children at Thamesmead. I was so keen for them to attend but communication doesn't exist between staff and parents. If you have an issue you are just not listened to and neither are your children. Staffing is all over the place as well which I think says a lot. It really effects the G.C.S.E year groups too. Such a shame because the school used to be great. It's about time the school started listening to all of it's stakeholders and didn't just dismiss them.
Absolutely terrible
Don’t give an care in the world about bullying or violence or chavy little kids so basically sending ur kids there is like asking for them to either become a chav or get bullied
An Honest Review.
After reading all the reviews, I can strongly say that I disagree with most of them. I understand where some of them are coming from but personally, I think they are over exaggerating. However, an opinion is an opinion and everyone is entitled to one.
I had a great time at Thamesmead. Although, I was a bit of a class clown and gave the teachers a hard time which I heavily regret.
There were a few teachers that were just blatantly unfair and rude yet some were extremely fair and only handed out strict punishments when absolutely necessary.
A teacher I would like to point out as being unfair, is a certain physics teacher, that also happened to be a head of year. This man was ghastly.
If you ever tried to reason with him he would shut you down on the spot and not even have the decency to listen to you.
I have matured a lot since being at Thamesmead and to look back on how I was treated by this man actually makes me feel sick. It has been 4 years since I left and I am nearly 20 years old so these words aren't coming from a child.
Other than him, most of the other teachers actually used fair punishment handouts.
The English department was absolutely impeccable. A teacher to point out would be**** **, she was the firmest yet fairest teacher in the department. I would never misbehave in her lessons purely out of the respect I had for her. She got my grade from a low 3 to a high 5 in the matter of 6 months. Her daily booster sessions were like gold dust, missing these would be like missing one number on a lottery ticket. If you were to misbehave in her lessons she had the power to make you feel so bad about yourself and she wouldn't even have to say a single word. She would never shout because there was absolutely no need to. Everyone knew that she was going to be the one to determine a fail or a pass. I would love to have a sit down with her today and show her where I am at, I think she would be proud.
The canteen was excellent, the food was extremely nice and we had a really nice dinner man called (from what I can remember)*** ******. He gave lovely portions, was unbelievably polite and treated you like customers instead of students.
This is the part where I will link to the other reviews.
I agree to a certain extent that there was a lot of homophobia in the school. I don't think that the teachers don't care about this, they just never caught anyone in the act. And there is no crime without evidence.
Bullying was a fairly big issue in the school. I believe that some students don't want to tell the teachers about it because they don't want to be labelled as a 'snitch, or a 'grass'.
We had a student in our year who was transgender and the teachers were accused of denying him to have his name changed on the register. However, these were only rumours. This is a touchy subject, so I am not going to say anything else on that matter.
I think overall Thamesmead is a great school. Yet, it does need improving. It seems to have spiralled downhill ever since the new headteacher was appointed.
I had a very good time with the social aspect of the school so this review may be considered biased and only came from my personal experience.
Thanks for giving me a great time throughout my early/late teenage years.
I had a great time at Thamesmead. Although, I was a bit of a class clown and gave the teachers a hard time which I heavily regret.
There were a few teachers that were just blatantly unfair and rude yet some were extremely fair and only handed out strict punishments when absolutely necessary.
A teacher I would like to point out as being unfair, is a certain physics teacher, that also happened to be a head of year. This man was ghastly.
If you ever tried to reason with him he would shut you down on the spot and not even have the decency to listen to you.
I have matured a lot since being at Thamesmead and to look back on how I was treated by this man actually makes me feel sick. It has been 4 years since I left and I am nearly 20 years old so these words aren't coming from a child.
Other than him, most of the other teachers actually used fair punishment handouts.
The English department was absolutely impeccable. A teacher to point out would be**** **, she was the firmest yet fairest teacher in the department. I would never misbehave in her lessons purely out of the respect I had for her. She got my grade from a low 3 to a high 5 in the matter of 6 months. Her daily booster sessions were like gold dust, missing these would be like missing one number on a lottery ticket. If you were to misbehave in her lessons she had the power to make you feel so bad about yourself and she wouldn't even have to say a single word. She would never shout because there was absolutely no need to. Everyone knew that she was going to be the one to determine a fail or a pass. I would love to have a sit down with her today and show her where I am at, I think she would be proud.
The canteen was excellent, the food was extremely nice and we had a really nice dinner man called (from what I can remember)*** ******. He gave lovely portions, was unbelievably polite and treated you like customers instead of students.
This is the part where I will link to the other reviews.
I agree to a certain extent that there was a lot of homophobia in the school. I don't think that the teachers don't care about this, they just never caught anyone in the act. And there is no crime without evidence.
Bullying was a fairly big issue in the school. I believe that some students don't want to tell the teachers about it because they don't want to be labelled as a 'snitch, or a 'grass'.
We had a student in our year who was transgender and the teachers were accused of denying him to have his name changed on the register. However, these were only rumours. This is a touchy subject, so I am not going to say anything else on that matter.
I think overall Thamesmead is a great school. Yet, it does need improving. It seems to have spiralled downhill ever since the new headteacher was appointed.
I had a very good time with the social aspect of the school so this review may be considered biased and only came from my personal experience.
Thanks for giving me a great time throughout my early/late teenage years.
school ethics are backwards (and getting worse)
I left thamesmead a few years ago but glad my time ended there when it did. Most of my teachers were genuinely good and honest people and they began to agree that the rules of the school became ridiculous as the years went on, the headteacher and his deputy heads value uniform and discipline over the safety and happiness of their students, especially those in danger of hate crimes and bullying. A student in my year was denied his changed name and pronouns on the school system that lead him to years of relentless bullying from students, that could have been avoided by the school addressing his gender in a mature manner. On multiple occasions I, as a student with ADHD, found myself being labelled dim and unworthy of the same treatment as my classmates, some teachers even going as far as making fun of neurodivergent traits publicly, such as fidgeting and the inability to focus, which made me feel as if I couldn’t treat those who I just wanted an education from. This has only become worse as the years have progressed, my brother attends the school and is often alienated and picked on by teachers for his inability to remember or concentrate, which he cannot help, and they know this.
Years 7 through 9, before the new headmaster, were good and enjoyable school years, I have nothing against him personally but his ethics in an educational environment are becoming incredibly backwards, the racism and homophobia in the halls is getting worse and yet the concern only seems to lie with the length of school skirts.
I personally would look for an alternative school to send my child to, Thamesmead’s getting rougher and I hope the best for the students there.
Years 7 through 9, before the new headmaster, were good and enjoyable school years, I have nothing against him personally but his ethics in an educational environment are becoming incredibly backwards, the racism and homophobia in the halls is getting worse and yet the concern only seems to lie with the length of school skirts.
I personally would look for an alternative school to send my child to, Thamesmead’s getting rougher and I hope the best for the students there.
Good but have a few downsides
The school Is okay obviously the experience is different for everyone for me I am bi and have had different slurs thrown at me I have been told by teachers that saying the word “gay” “gives of bad vibes” and repeatedly been misgendered after telling the teacher and students otherwise. I do understand this is only one teacher and I have not said anything as I struggle to stand up for myself as it causes a lot of stress and anxiety but this is still outrageous. The rest of the school is quite good the teachers do their best to engage you and there are some really nice teachers and pupils. If ur kid has any sort of nuerodivergency I have found this school to be quite good (not for me but my sibling) and also for me they will take me and other children with nuerodivergent siblings out of a lesson and talk about life with said sibling what goes on in their brain how we can help e.t.c. The school is good there are obvious down sides but I love the school.
Thamesmead is bad
The Thamesmead community is full of homophobia and staff members are unable, or often refuse to do anything about it. Me and my friends have often been talking or having lunch when someone will walk past and yell some form of homophobic or transphobic slur at us. We have told teachers about this many times and nothing has changed, apart from a new rule, banning the word gay because "it's an insult and derogatory term". Although I agree with banning the use of words from LGBTQ+ acronym as slurs, I fail to understand how stopping people who identify with or as a certain term from saying it makes them feel welcome and safe in this community. As someone who is a member of both the LGBTQ+ and Thamesmead community, I can confirm that i do not feel either safe or welcome. I have asked many of my friends who are also members of both communities and they also disagree with this rule and Thamesmeads approach to discrimination, and would not recommend anyone to join this school if they want to feel accepted and happy in a welcoming place.
This school it horrendous!!
This school is very poor and that’s seeing it in a good light, there is absolutely no fun allowed. They care so much about a number and our “future” it’s almost like they are just making our decisions for us. The school isn’t getting us to learn anything it’s just that you get a topic and revise. Revise revise revise. And boom if you memorise everything then you win, grade 9 and good life. They don’t even believe in support for the children and there is little to none mental health help, they are control freaks who want all their students to be perfect people that will get a normal job and just be another small piece in the already degraded society.
This school is unfair and you should defining send your children to another school.
This school is unfair and you should defining send your children to another school.
homophobia :(
i mean it’s decent, some of the teachers are pretty nice.
however, they have little to no response to homophobic and transphobic remarks made all the time both in class and out. their pitiful attempt at a pride assembly was made a mockery of, and when i told a teacher about a kid calling me homophobic slurs, she literally just said “really?” and then did nothing, but i expect that’s not that different from other schools.
overall, its not that great but there is a nice queer community within the students and some teachers like the drama and english teachers are relatively respectable.
:)
however, they have little to no response to homophobic and transphobic remarks made all the time both in class and out. their pitiful attempt at a pride assembly was made a mockery of, and when i told a teacher about a kid calling me homophobic slurs, she literally just said “really?” and then did nothing, but i expect that’s not that different from other schools.
overall, its not that great but there is a nice queer community within the students and some teachers like the drama and english teachers are relatively respectable.
:)
Thamesmead. Where skirt length comes first.
It's a wreck. The GCSE work is so stressful and no support is given to students.
I've been told I'd be getting school counciling twice now, and never gotten it. Although others have told me the councilor doesn't help and is bad at their job, and that it's only a 10 minute session which just makes you angry or upset for the rest of your day. I feel unable to go to the LSR when I'm upset as its usually blocked off to students and I don't know I I'm even allowed there. I've had mental breakdowns during lessons due to stress from the work. One time being in the middle of science when the teacher couldn't even teach us properly. I was sent home crying with a headache due to her lesson, since having her I've been completely unable to understand chemistry.
There's little to no help for students with ADHD, Ausism, Dyslexia and ect. I've told teachers many times that I can't focus in class due to my energy and they've just told me to try focus. Wow. Thanks that really helps!!
The food is overpriced and disgusting. And the seating area is terrible. In winter we're made to sit outdoors as only year 7 is allowed in the canteen due to covid.
You get a detention for being late because of the 1 way system and students don't get told off for wearing their masks wrong, but if your skirt is 1cm above you're knee its a straight detention.
Mufti day rules once included no hoodies! Why? Because people wore their hoods up and this was "intimidating" to teachers and younger years. Personally, I just hadn't washed my hair that day and didn't want people seeing it. Also hoodies are banned in school, even when it's too hot for a cold but too cold to not wear anything over your shirt. My friend can't even wear a coat due to sensory issues and not liking the texture but the school doesn't care.
Overall, don't send your children here. I've wanted to kill myself so many times thanks to this school and they couldn't care less. Mental health is their last priority and your skirt length is their first.
Thamesmead. Where skirt length comes first.
I've been told I'd be getting school counciling twice now, and never gotten it. Although others have told me the councilor doesn't help and is bad at their job, and that it's only a 10 minute session which just makes you angry or upset for the rest of your day. I feel unable to go to the LSR when I'm upset as its usually blocked off to students and I don't know I I'm even allowed there. I've had mental breakdowns during lessons due to stress from the work. One time being in the middle of science when the teacher couldn't even teach us properly. I was sent home crying with a headache due to her lesson, since having her I've been completely unable to understand chemistry.
There's little to no help for students with ADHD, Ausism, Dyslexia and ect. I've told teachers many times that I can't focus in class due to my energy and they've just told me to try focus. Wow. Thanks that really helps!!
The food is overpriced and disgusting. And the seating area is terrible. In winter we're made to sit outdoors as only year 7 is allowed in the canteen due to covid.
You get a detention for being late because of the 1 way system and students don't get told off for wearing their masks wrong, but if your skirt is 1cm above you're knee its a straight detention.
Mufti day rules once included no hoodies! Why? Because people wore their hoods up and this was "intimidating" to teachers and younger years. Personally, I just hadn't washed my hair that day and didn't want people seeing it. Also hoodies are banned in school, even when it's too hot for a cold but too cold to not wear anything over your shirt. My friend can't even wear a coat due to sensory issues and not liking the texture but the school doesn't care.
Overall, don't send your children here. I've wanted to kill myself so many times thanks to this school and they couldn't care less. Mental health is their last priority and your skirt length is their first.
Thamesmead. Where skirt length comes first.
Don’t send your children here, worst school by far
Do not send your children here unless you want them to develop severe anxiety, depression and/or self esteem issues, the teachers at this school focus so severely on uniform and having all the students looking identical more than the actual well being of the students.
Several of the young students have been sexually assaulted and when going to the school about it, have been turned away and slut shamed by saying they were most likely dressed as if asking for it.
The workload is another problem, they expect their students to spend all free time doing homework that is far too difficult and lengthy.
Please do not send your children here
Several of the young students have been sexually assaulted and when going to the school about it, have been turned away and slut shamed by saying they were most likely dressed as if asking for it.
The workload is another problem, they expect their students to spend all free time doing homework that is far too difficult and lengthy.
Please do not send your children here
Terrible school
I used to go to this school from when i was in Year 7 to when i was in Year 10 and honestly, i do not recommend it. The school’s motto literally used to be “Where learning comes first”, and they don’t care at all about student’s mental health. I’m autistic, and while i was there the school would either baby me or tell me that i should just act “normal”. Whenever i needed a mental health day etc, they would start getting angry at me. It literally got to the point where i refused to go in for a year after a meeting where i was told that if i didn’t raise my attendance, i would fail my GCSEs.
The school forces their students to stay outside at breaks unless they manage to get one of the few seats in the crowded school canteen, even when it’s the middle of winter. Pre-Corona, lunch break was only 20-25 minutes and didn’t leave enough time for anyone to get everything done that they needed to. If you didn’t get to the canteen in the first 5 minutes of lunch (bare in mind there are 1000 students trying to get there), there’s no food left as the school doesn’t make enough food to provide for everyone. The detention system is way too strict, forgetting a single school book gets you an hour. They also seem to care more about skirt lengths than anything else. If your skirt is anything above your knee, they give you detention and tell you to buy new ones that are super expensive. They’ve even told tutors to get students to stand up to check their skirt lengths.
The school forces their students to stay outside at breaks unless they manage to get one of the few seats in the crowded school canteen, even when it’s the middle of winter. Pre-Corona, lunch break was only 20-25 minutes and didn’t leave enough time for anyone to get everything done that they needed to. If you didn’t get to the canteen in the first 5 minutes of lunch (bare in mind there are 1000 students trying to get there), there’s no food left as the school doesn’t make enough food to provide for everyone. The detention system is way too strict, forgetting a single school book gets you an hour. They also seem to care more about skirt lengths than anything else. If your skirt is anything above your knee, they give you detention and tell you to buy new ones that are super expensive. They’ve even told tutors to get students to stand up to check their skirt lengths.
For all the queer kids
This school is just-
Bad-
Especially on hate crimes and discrimination
I was outed in year 7-
did they do anything about that?
No.
The past year I’ve spent here has been hell.
I’ve been hatecrimed.
Called slurs.
And have been sexually assulted.
The school haven’t done anything about that
If there are any young lgbtqia kids joining this school here’s my advice;
Either
A) don’t come out- at least fully i know it’s tempting but this school won’t handle it well
Or B) if you’re going to be out Build a tough exterior the moment you step through those doors. Make it clear anyone who would even consider hurting you would regret it.
Stay safe kiddos,
Your trans masc older brother :)
Bad-
Especially on hate crimes and discrimination
I was outed in year 7-
did they do anything about that?
No.
The past year I’ve spent here has been hell.
I’ve been hatecrimed.
Called slurs.
And have been sexually assulted.
The school haven’t done anything about that
If there are any young lgbtqia kids joining this school here’s my advice;
Either
A) don’t come out- at least fully i know it’s tempting but this school won’t handle it well
Or B) if you’re going to be out Build a tough exterior the moment you step through those doors. Make it clear anyone who would even consider hurting you would regret it.
Stay safe kiddos,
Your trans masc older brother :)
poor in general
when i attended, the main focus seemed to be on the length of skirts rather than learning itself.
my sister still attends and says how they tried to get her to buy a new skirt as it wasn’t long enough (down to the knees) although it still fit her and was an appropriate length. our family can’t afford new uniform constantly and her skirt was no where near as bad as other students i’ve seen.
(my sister is in year ten at the moment, a bit of this is based off of what i’ve been told)
also seating areas:
-canteen: crowded, apparently only year sevens are able to sit inside at the moment (considering it’s winter and only one year group is allowed to sit inside, it seems quite unfair). my sister hasn’t been in there since the last academic year. she has to use the pod outside to get her food, which means waiting in a line with no protection from the winter weather.
-quad: not enough benches, a lot of students have to stand up (i’ve been told year eleven use this area). protected from rain.
-field: due to weather, sitting out there is quite obviously a bad idea. having to stand up all break isn’t great either.
-in my last year, sitting inside the corridors was banned due to mess left behind. this could’ve been solved by not allowing specific groups/students to sit there or punishing them for leaving rubbish. instead, the school chose to put all the students outside (including those well behaved).
since the new head teacher change, apparently mufti days have also decreased significantly. at one point there was a “mufti” day which consisted of being allowed to wear your christmas jumper OVER your uniform, ridiculous.
some of the teachers were kind to me when i attended but from the sounds of it, it’s no longer the same.
it’s a shame because i never had many complaints when i was there so it’s quite sad to hear how much my sister is struggling with it all.
my sister still attends and says how they tried to get her to buy a new skirt as it wasn’t long enough (down to the knees) although it still fit her and was an appropriate length. our family can’t afford new uniform constantly and her skirt was no where near as bad as other students i’ve seen.
(my sister is in year ten at the moment, a bit of this is based off of what i’ve been told)
also seating areas:
-canteen: crowded, apparently only year sevens are able to sit inside at the moment (considering it’s winter and only one year group is allowed to sit inside, it seems quite unfair). my sister hasn’t been in there since the last academic year. she has to use the pod outside to get her food, which means waiting in a line with no protection from the winter weather.
-quad: not enough benches, a lot of students have to stand up (i’ve been told year eleven use this area). protected from rain.
-field: due to weather, sitting out there is quite obviously a bad idea. having to stand up all break isn’t great either.
-in my last year, sitting inside the corridors was banned due to mess left behind. this could’ve been solved by not allowing specific groups/students to sit there or punishing them for leaving rubbish. instead, the school chose to put all the students outside (including those well behaved).
since the new head teacher change, apparently mufti days have also decreased significantly. at one point there was a “mufti” day which consisted of being allowed to wear your christmas jumper OVER your uniform, ridiculous.
some of the teachers were kind to me when i attended but from the sounds of it, it’s no longer the same.
it’s a shame because i never had many complaints when i was there so it’s quite sad to hear how much my sister is struggling with it all.
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Zero support was given to students. I was being abused heavily at home and opened up to the school counsellor about this who decided the best course of action was to send me home early with my parent. I gave up telling people after that, infact I never opened up to anybody about my abuse until I was 19. Being so easily dismissed by somebody who was put in the school specifically to support students absolutely ruined my self esteem and even made me doubt myself.
Growing up, I had undiagnosed ADD, and what I now know is BPD. I clearly struggled with this in school due to receiving no support, I would constantly go to the school counsellor and beg for her to talk to me and she’d tell me to stop attention seeking and go back to class. One time I had a full breakdown in the hall and had to be pulled into the headteachers office where I just cried because I couldn’t explain what was wrong. The teachers are NOT equipped to help students with SEN or mental health needs at all, so if you or your child struggles with these, I would not send them here.
There were two sexual harassment and misconduct cases whilst I was here in the space of 3 years against teachers. Anybody who spoke out about this was sanctioned. Similarly, the school did not take anything to do with sexual assault seriously. There was a girl in my year who unfortunately was raped, and the school ignored this and labelled her as an attention seeker and she was treated similarly to me by the counsellor after that.
Bullying was, and apparently still is, a huge issue in this school. I was targeted online and in person due to me struggling with my sexuality and just being labelled as a “weird kid”, and nothing was done about it. The only time my bullying was touched upon was when a kid said something to me and I responded by punching them in the face. I didn’t get in trouble since my mum pointed out that they’d ignored everything that had been said to me over the course of the past 3 years. But after that they never listened to me about my bullying due to me being physical in response.
Some teachers were really supportive, most of which have left the school, but a few notable ones are still there. I don’t doubt that some of the newer staff are nice and understanding towards students, but on a whole the bad outweighs the good. I don’t have a single good memory of my time here. My manager at work also went here and left 2 years before me and had her fair share of horrible experiences.
If you are thinking of sending your children here, don’t. Unless your child fits the “mean kid” type, they will not excel here. It is disgusting that they are able to stay open.