Da Vinci Academy

I have been a student here for the past five years, and unfortunately over the years my experience has done nothing but worsened. The students are straight up rude and do not care for or about others. Nobody has spacial awareness- myself and others are always being not just bumped into, but literally SLAMMED into by younger students left right and centre. Bullying is hardly ever taken seriously. It's always swept under the rug if it's not something physical or incredibly serious, like stalking- but even then, my friend was repeatedly stalked and harassed for months by an ex boyfriend, and they didn't do anything about it. They really are not bothered. They only make the school look good whenever Ofsted show up, they give us a warning about a week beforehand in order to keep the bad behaviour at a minimum and to be respectful at all times. Somehow, it actually works, but only for a day or two. Then it's back to the same routine. The badly behaved kids get rewarded for even the most minor things. Didn't throw a chair in class? Here, have a chocolate and 3 A points! No, i'm not joking, that really is their solution to everything. The most disrespectful people get the most praise from teachers, even more so from higher ups, and i really hate that. The kids who genuinely try hard and make an effort 24/7 very rarely get noticed unless they make it super, super obvious that they're trying. The teachers are rude and their only excuse most of the time is that we "back talk." I for one don't back talk, or disrespect teachers. But even if i do the smallest thing that they don't seem to like, they will immediately put me on a B1 (a warning) or even a B2 (detention). I got a B2 once, and this isn't even a joke, for my friend drawing on MY book. She didn't even get a verbal warning, let alone a B2, but because i wanted my work to look presentable and readable, i'm the one who gets sent out? Very fair, isn't it? I'm glad i just went to the right members of staff to get it sorted, but that's besides the point. What i'm trying to say is, it's practically a breeding ground for children who do nothing but misbehave and bully others. As well as this, the toilet rule is just flat out pathetic. I've ended up with countless trips to the doctors, and at one point E.R, because they simply couldn't let someone go to the toilet, when i was visibly in discomfort. I'm not the only one. Countless friends and peers of mine have unfortunately ended up in the same position. The toilets are always full with people vaping or skipping class, and it's so inconsiderate, and hardly anything gets done about it. Most teachers (especially the newer ones) don't really seem to have an interest in teaching, but talking off of the power point. That's not really going to get anyone anywhere. As for break and lunch, there is 100% not enough time. Break food ques are RIDICULOUS. Yes they have tried to solve this issue countless times, but it's not enough. Why? Because they're cramming students into the school like nobody's business, even though there quite literally is NO. MORE. ROOM. By the time i get to the end of the que and should be able to get food, the bell goes off and all of the food is gone. Then again at dinner, by the time i get to the end, there isn't any more food. Therefore, i go hungry all day, and cant concentrate in class because i'm hungry. But it's my fault, right?
In classes, i can never get any work done. I'm no more than a week away from sitting my GCSES and all people do is mess around, talk and throw things. Nothing. gets. done. Then i can't concentrate, and then the teacher stops teaching because they're fed up, so i stop working, but at the end, it's all "my fault", right? Because i don't value my learning enough, and now i'm failing most of my classes because everyone else has no consideration for others. The corridors are also incredibly crammed, it's almost impossible to get by. Not to mention the amount of people around you at once, and how close together you all are, it's like hell. It's not just one or two corridors, but all. Sometimes even the atrium, which is insane, but true. The hall, too, is always packed, especially at break and lunch, even with the staggered lunch times it feels like there's just too many people in one room at once.

Please don't send your kids here, the fact that what i've listed isn't even half of what i could and should be writing should speak volumes!

Most teachers favour the popular kids that school does nothing about mental health , the food is disgusting and people ik got food poisoning when ur physically being ill infront of their eyes they sometimes dont send u home. Also the school cleanliness is bad and it just smells all the time and the teachers literally tell u off for moving one finger , personally wouldnt recommend !!

School is horrid, no good food ,spoiled, Miss Russel the ginger one is mad annoying and her room smells like weed! Got sent out for saying the room smelt like weed☹️☹️ overall stay away from this place you call a school!

Not even a star after my son left to college no joke he would often report to us as having nightmares of it

It's a normal school. Sometimes they don't have enough sandwiches and we have to eat their mank food, the dinner lines are long and a bit unorganised.

My at my best teacher is never there and so I have annoying substitutes (one threatened to give us 47 minutes after school because of one kid messing about and the other has an obnoxious voice). My at my best teacher also doesn't know how to organise things. We were originally in a computer room, but older years have to use that now, and so we were moved into the music room, but there isn't enough seats, so we go back into the computer room, people are in there so we have to go into the food tech room or something.

Performing arts is alright, but we are currently being forced to sing Christmas songs, even Muslims and stuff like that.

My performing arts teacher ALLEGEDLY told my friends brother to take off a cultural scarf because "we aren't allowed to bring culture into the school" which makes no sense at all when we have an inspiration day about culture, we HAD to watch the match on Monday and we are singing Christmas songs.

All the other teachers are alright though, they do their job.

I got a ROE for forgetting my container on the 2nd practical ever. I told the teacher that it had cracked but she didn't listen.

Also the teachers keep saying oens can't explode and there is this strange couple who are allowed to touch but everyone else isn't.

We do get breakfast and snacks there though so it is fine.

Average school environment, safeguarding is not the best, children which misbehave are treated the highest (such as rewarding them with treats when they do behave, although students which achieve above and beyond do not receive these benefits) It was once a good school although changed drastically over the years. Many of the decade long staying teachers leaving after a new head was assigned. Many staff prioritise the popular kids over the non popular. GCSE performance is very poor in comparison to other schools. Teachers used to escort students to smoke out side of school premises during school hours.