The County High School, Leftwich

I dislike this place it's not very nice but yummy foods

Priorities are extremely skewed. Bullying was only ever dealt with by having a little chat with the bullies and not much else, leading to more bullying. Meanwhile, forgetting to wear your tie to school would land you in isolation for the entire day.

Uniform code was really stringent, so we had to wear these thick, heavy jumpers in the middle of summer heatwaves. And your socks have to be a specific height too. If there were as strict about bullying as uniform, it would've been much better.

I got bullied for being socially awkward. Instead of actually stopping the bullying, I instead was made to read a book on how to fit in more so that I would be more normal and wouldn't "attract" them. Naturally, it never stopped because they'd already targeted me for a year and a half.

They also locked the bathroom doors so you couldn't go to the toilet. Even when the pandemic started and the news was saying "wash your hands", the toilets remained locked, and the sinks with them. One upset parent's email later and the school finally unlocked the bathrooms, and sent an email back claiming they'd been unlocked all along, which was a bald-faced lie. May I add that sanitation is a human right, as many schools forget this?

They also put so much pressure on the students that a friend of mine developed a chronic illness from stress that they still struggle with to this day.

Ofsted inspections always turn out great because everyone gets called into as assembly and told to behave while the inspectors are there. The school even unlock the toilets during those weeks! Average days bring daily fights between students on a specific field, it's like a daily ritual. And toilets get locked again.

At least the teachers were nice to me. So there's that.

Overall, the school was very good regarding teaching methods, organisation and development of skills. They have a good understanding of how students learn and incorporate this into lessons. The majorit of the teachers themselves were passionate and engaging, communicating effectively with the students and offering excellent guidance.

However, the school has a habit of putting almost obscene amounts of pressure on pupils and not offering much mental health support. It seems it is not understood that there needs to be a balance between discipline and praise. They also need to understand that not every year group is the same, and this understanding should be tailored into assemblies, punishments and advice given to students.

They also respond poorly to bullying, with very lenient punishments, if applied at all, for those partcicipating. Bullying, of which is dealt with by just warning the student(s), should be considered more serious than not wearing a tie to school is - this lands a student in isolation for the day. The disciplinary system here clearly needs some serious reconsideration.