Bridgewater School

Awful place, please do not send your kids here, they only going to be treated nicely if you are rich and if your child doesn't have any additional support needs. If your child is quieter and needs any learning support they will be eaten alive or forgotten in this school. Bullying is rife, if your child does not fit the mold their life will be hell, staff turns a blind eye, they actually will turn it on you and will tell you that by bullying your child their "friends" are trying to get them out of their shell. The teachers will forget your child exist unless you are loaded or your child is a loud bully. If they are quiet, and well behaved they will cease to exist. None of the teachers were able to tell me what level my child is working at support what support they might need, never missed one parents evening yet same brush off every time "they are reaching their target" - no one knows what this means...well we found out about two months to his faces that 'working at his set target's means he's about to fail almost all their GCSE's... countless sleepless nights and thousands spent on private tutors ensured he passed mist of them, but considering how much we paid every month it's a disgrace, the school took no accountability. And yes they are thriving at college no therapy sessions or additional private tutoring needed. Please protect your children's mental health and save your money, do not send them to this hell hole. Individuality only counts here if you are rich.

The prep school was decent. Lovely teachers, good teaching methods, etc. but when it hit high school, awful. I’d always been dreading high school and it was worse that I thought. The teachers were discriminative,
judgemental and have favourites. For instance, a girl who was in my class wore fake nails, she was forced to rip them off and got a detention. Then, a scholar had been bullying me for months and even beat me up twice, the principal just said “Don’t do it again.” Like seriously. What the f**k?! I was also slandered by a teacher behind my back. My friend was in the room, and heard the teacher say, “That annoying leprechaun is vandalising the whiteboard!” I had drawn on it. (Leprechaun because I'm Irish) I have many more stories but I’m going to spare them.

I personally don’t like it at Bridgewater as a former student form my experience everyone brags on about how rich they are, the head of years don’t know what they are doing, the teachers clearly have favourites, staff are very poor at arranging things for example I would find out a week before an event what all the details are and when I had to pay for them when it should have happen sooner then the week before the event they say ‘Every individual counts’ it doesn’t they don’t care about they students they want the money.

From my experience as working here as a member of staff it was an aweful experience. As a previous member of the staffing body and friend to families still connected ; I have maintained increasing concerns regarding the questionable ethics that appear inherent within the BWS business.
At first, I naively smiled at the anecdotal staffroom reference to the ‘Bridgewater Infirmary’. This was the fictional explanation for the alarming number of employees (across all sectors) that seemed to just vanish over night. Sharing of these ‘stories’ served as a staffroom induction for many new employees; with a warning to keep your head low and do not question the management. On numerous occasions, I heard the question posed, “ who do you think will be next?”
In my opinion, the inconsistencies in the treatment of staff, pupils and families is disconcerting. I witnessed an allegation made against one employee, the condemnation of which mirrored the judicial system of Salem.
It appeared to me that staff ‘connections’ had a direct impact upon status and recognition. I turned a blind eye to the whispers of nepotism, but couldn’t ignore the inconsistent ‘decisions’ made surrounding the discipline of staff and students alike.
Here is a business that prides itself upon being ‘family friendly’, however, my experience would be ‘If you are from a family that fits’.
Bridgewater school has a very talented teaching staff, it is therefore unfortunate that perceived bullying is a dark cloud overhead.
Bridgewater School – ‘Where individuals count?’