Don Valley Academy

Hi gjhhghhyxhffjfjfkfkglglfo
fidirididududud

I’d like to start this off by saying hello, by the title it is clear that I’m a former student of this academy and what I have to say isn’t good.
My first year there I was taken aback by everything I was enraptured, drawn in by their lies. I was so naive to what the teachers had said etc.
I shall start this off about form time Year 7-Year 11:
In year 7 everything was new so I tried making friends etc but I was instantly anxious and put down by the fellow students within the form itself of course they were in the older years but still, they were complete and utter arseholes. They made me feel insecure etc and they were of course with the “bad crowd” and yet nothing would be done with the way they acted except a simple “stop it boys”. My form tutor at the time was nice but she left to go onto maternity leave when I was In Year 8/9 thus leaving us to have this woman who was absolutely horrible. Then covid occurred, however after covid our “form groups” were now our class rooms and our teachers would move around to get to us instead of vise versa. The class itself was dreadful however I’ll get to that part in a bit. Moving on to Year 11, form time was okay I had a teacher I didn’t like for a while but then got moved into one that I adored she was a lovely woman always made sure you were okay and would provide help with anything.
I’m going to give insight on
1) lessons
2) students
3) punishments such as detention etc
4) rules
Starting off with lessons:
They were okay to say the least, most like English, Maths and Science were okay. I say okay due to the fact that I’m Science I learnt literally nothing for 9 months before being put back with a teacher I actually learnt from and no I wasn’t being difficult it’s just the previous one I originally had didn’t explain things to such an extent that it made sense. Maths was alright you would be given help if needed, and English became one of my favourite subjects due to the two teachers I had. One of them was like a mother to all you could go to her for absolutely anything and she in turn would do anything to help you get a decent grade, it’s fair to say that woman sparked a passion for English within me. And the other; she indeed was nice too, you could have conversations with her like you would do your friends however this hindered her teaching slightly as some of the students within my now former class decided that they could take the piss and get away with it.
A subject that made me feel like absolute crap however was PE or Physical Education if you will. I was not only picked by students last but also by teachers, we would be lined against a wall and she was choose every other one to go to a specific team etc but I was always picked last even if I was in the begging of the line, the middle or the end no matter what they would make sure to pick me last. I had to do things that made me feel uncomfortable to the point that I had an anxiety attack in Year 11 before I had that class.
Now the classes that I think were actually decent was the ones I chose for my options; for example:
Engineering; my old engineering teacher that I had when I first started attending there managed to spark a passion within me that made me want to do the subject and now I can thank him for that because I’m completing a diploma in Engineering at college. The teachers were great they helped and were so kind if you were kind to them, not only that but they helped me achieve a grade 9 within the subject thus further showing that they actually wanted to help because I can guarantee that I would not have achieved that without the support they actually provided.
My second subject was Imeadia, I will be honest I didn’t care much for this subject and mainly pissed about in it however when I reached Year 11 I realised that I needed to do something or else I would fail hence again the teacher support, this also managed to help me achieve a grade 9.
And my final subject I chose was History, at first I hated it as my original teacher went through content way to fast and gave you hard questions followed along with several more when you hadn’t even finished. His lessons were hard exceedingly hard as he expected a lot, however I will give it to him that he did help me with my mental health. I won’t go into it but I wasn’t in a good place and he was actually really good to go to for that sort of things. After a while however of somewhat failing his class I was moved into the new history teachers class more of a sub par class of people who were falling behind. And here is where I began to absolutely adore the subject, he drew pictures, explained things and he gave so much support to each and every individual. However some students took him for granted as they would take the piss out of him but he was a great teacher. He helped me achieve a grade 6 when before I was at a 2/3. I am forever thankful of his support.
Now I’m going to move on to the students:
In my year group there was a mixture, I myself was apart of the kids which would’ve been classed as “weird” or “freaks” perhaps and I hate that I hate how every school has an arsenal full of spiteful names for people who they dislike for absolutely no apparent reason. You had your cool kids and the sun cool kids, face full of makeup snarky attitudes towards others and teachers and would always cause drama. And in my class I had all the bad kids that would never want to sit anywhere their told because they would go “I’m not sitting next to that” etc. They were horrible, they would talk crap behind your back etc and would make you feel insecure those are the types of girls that I hated being around in PE because they were friends with everyone except me. Another thing that happened was I got laughed at for my glasses, my glasses are prescription ones that have a blue tint to them to stope me from getting migraines from light, two boys in my class decided to take the piss out of me for wearing them when one of the lads wears glasses himself I genuinely don’t know how more pathetic my generation can get. However I don’t care for that now as I stopped caring and started living.
The following thing I’m going to talk about is punishments such as detention:
Within the school itself they have a system this being
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
And technically a C6
From C1-C3 those were your typical warnings a C4 was a detention to which you would be handed a slip and be sent to “matrix” ie another classroom for the remainder of that lesson and you would have to attended an hour after school the following day for said detention. A C5 meant that you would be in the “isolation room” up to half a day to potentially a full on followed along by an after school detention. And a C6 was essentially permanently removed from the school itself however something drastic would’ve had to occur.
Now I’m moving onto the rules on things that weren’t allowed and how stupid it was:
When I was their I had these dolly shoes as we call them and they had a gold aglet on each end of the bow on the front of the shoe. The teacher saw this and said I had to cut it off as it classed as a “distraction”. I myself find this stupid as how could a small piece of plastic on my shoe affect someone’s or perhaps my own learning the answer is it can’t. Another thing was that we got told off for wearing hair ties on our wrists, why you may be asking yourself right now, I don’t know I genuinely don’t know maybe they thought it was another distraction thing. Another rule was that you weren’t allowed to dye your hair I found this relatively stupid as-well as no piercings as once again how are they going to distract others? With piercings in general you can get discreet studs but you know something they checked for the plastic clear holders and gave detention if they found them. However, one rule I understood but was also a bit annoyed by it was chewing gum. I will admit having it under the table is absolutely revolting however it can actually help students focus as it gives their mind something to do whilst they’re processing information. Another thing that occurred during my time at Don Valley was the rolling of the skirts, I did take part in this due to the fact that the skirt was too big for me and everyone else to the point we rolled them. Some girls did it for the look though because it made the skirt look shorter etc.

Boshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

As a former student from there I can list of some negatives that did impact my ability to actually learn within the classroom;
After the school opened back up after covid of course safety measurements were put in place, ie; distance, desks being shifted around etc
The students would participate in what only I can describe as “class wars” the reason I describe it like this is because glue sticks were lobbed around the room aswell as scissors etc the teacher didn’t do anything to stop this as it would happen after they had left and in the time waiting for the next one to arrive
-students weren’t allowed to switch classrooms as it would mean colliding with several other year groups at once-
Another instance is that my class was being so disruptive that it made teachers frustrated; to the point that they would then angrily shout of course this would be a natural reaction but the disruptive people weren’t moved out the class but rather kept in, to the point I had to sit next to one of them 🤦‍♀️ for context, I’m the type of student to just want to do work rather than piss about, and my teacher decided to sit me next to one of the most disruptive people in the class and wouldn’t do not say shit to him when he was being annoying.
Overall my year group was full of knob heads
Moving onto teachers however;
Most were exceedingly nice, however the odd one or two that were rather strange, but have left I recon
The lessons provided are actually okay they do in fact provide good information; the PowerPoints are well structured and taught well.
Some teachers actually help you to achieve you goals if you give them respect and listen to what they say and to those who don’t or didn’t in my case, we’ll they didn’t do as well as they could’ve.
The building itself is quite easy to grasp once your in it, rooms may be hard to find at first but overtime you get used to it
From Year 7 onwards you find out what lessons you actually like as they give you all of them on timetable so when it comes to the end of Year 9 you can choose your “options” this consists of three subjects you choose aside from English, Maths and Combined Science as they are the core ones that are made mandatory to do;
Now moving onto the rules;
Some of the rules I will admit were a bit whack; by this I mean you weren’t allowed piercings, had to be all delta uniform, which isn’t cheap, you weren’t allowed chewing gum etc
I have to admit I agree with the chewing gum ban as plenty of times I have found it under a desk and to me that is disgusting seeing as it has been in someone else’s mouth; as for the uniform I think they should allow families to purchase shirts and skirts/ trousers from normal local shops as they are much cheaper and will still look as smart especially for families who can’t necessarily afford it.
Another issue I encountered was the late rule:
If you so happen to be late you receive detention, I was at least one minute late keep in mind it isn’t a quick journey to the main building via the back entrance oh no it is a walk of at least 5 minutes and received detention
The conduct system is fairly simple to understand
C1 C2 C3 and C4 you get three tries and then your out C5 is isolation though, you’re put into a room for a full day or half day and then have detention afterwards
I hope this helped

as a student myself i would highly recommend any parents concidering sending their children here to rethink.

they care more about making a profit, with the extreemly overpriced uniform that children are forced to wear, if teachers dont think that things such as your shoes are acceptable you could get punishments as severe as a c5. for poorer familys getting this uniform is a challenge, meaning that in uniform inspections their child may be singled out.
teachers make empty promises, saying they will speak to children struggling with their mental health only to never do this. some teachers cannot control classrooms, with students screaming, throwing things and being overall disruptive. don valley has also hired substitute teachers that are also not fit to teach, one of which making many female students uncomfortable with his lack of boundaries and comments. some teachers even humiliate students infront of the whole class, calling them names and doing things such as pinching their ears and hitting their heads with paper, no teacher should ever put their hands on a child unless they are attempting to help them and not to inflict pain.
classrooms lack supplies, having to share a singular gluestick around a class of 30+ kids is something im not new to. ofcourse expecting children to bring the bare necessities is not too big of an ask, however accidents happen and students may forget things and a teacher not being able to supply them with this may impact their learning greatly.
toilets are constantly covered in graffiti including mean things regarding other and sexual imagery. this is not just limited to the toilets, the entire school feels unclean, many a time i have felt chewing gum under the table.
not letting students go to the toilet during lessons is irritating for me and multiple other people. not letting a child go to the toilet will distract them more from their work as they are trying to hold it in, rather than letting them go and loosing a few minuets of a lesson.
many of the students are openly homophobic, transphobic, abelist, racist etc not a verry nice environment to work in.

i could go on and on regarding the negatives of this school

They care more about the attendance and uniform then the actual students itself. Don't get me started on the teachers- yeah there are some good teachers but there are some weird ones. I had this teacher in history he kept coming close to people's faces and saying some creepy things so we reported him nothing happened obviously but the 5-6 peeps reported him and he left(finally thank god). They do nothing when you have a problem they say they will speak to you but they never do they just wonder off. They have massive field area but we can't go on it at break and lunch like what is the point-

They don’t know how to do their jobs, they believe teachers over students, leave students at other schools and forget to pick them up, share personal information that’s meant to be kept private and also push kids about. Not only that they use their hate against your parents towards you