King's Norton Boys' School

Teachers end up doing nothing to help bullying despite their so called anti bullying policy. Ultimately resulting in my son and his mom being taunted and threatened by as many as 30 to 40 students. Even when caught on camera they wouldn't do anything. If your kids not able to look after themselves this isn't the school for your kids at all.

KNBS is simply not at all consistent in the quality of its provision. Some teachers seem to try, others seem to be there for just another day to pass. Parents evening - once a year. Do not expect any other feedback, unless it is behaviour related. Some reports come twice a year - some formal grading is given out of context, but even that is missing on some subjects. Home works often come of crinkled sheets of paper. The Satchel system used for home assignments is used for some but not for all home works - try to stay on top of what is where. From it sometimes there are references to other sources and sometimes the deadlines for them disagree. On a few occasions the home works have given the wrong definitions - disappointing. In my son's first year I got a phone call to tell me he is not at school. It made me so alarmed although I drop him there each morning. They did not know he was there. Eventually found him. No apologies. On a few occasions I sent messages to via e-mail - no one is in any rush to answer them and usually it is too late and my issues are still unresolved. If we parents drop off or pick up our sons we get glared by the teachers for parking too close to the school for their liking. But, there are no parking restrictions, and it is not our fault that the road is narrow and there are 800 of them coming out at the end of the day. If my son were more interested in learning I'd move him to a better school. This is the kind of school where anyone can somehow get through because nothing much is required. Oh, they bang on about all sorts of big things and their ethos, etc - nothing much in action though. Bullying amongst the kids is common. I would not recommend it to anyone. Probably too big for its own good.

If l could grade this school a minus, even that would be more than this school deserves. It's merged with King Edwards, so is now called King Edward VI King's Norton School for Boys. If your son has SEN, this isn’t the school for you. Although they say they accept pupil's with SEN, Learning Support is very limited and not one staff member understands the challenges a pupil with SEN has throughout a school day. There's structures, routines and a points system that keeps your son 'in check.' With obsession being a trait of a neurodivergent, PDA, ASD/Autism, my son struggled when he lost points, as basically giving a response after the teacher has spoken is deemed as "answering back," so my son's anxiety was constantly heightened. When he got home, he'd have meltdowns, which the school never witnessed, so it has to "something" or "someone" at home causing him to be like this. My son needed the whole evening to declimatise when he got home, so he barely spoke to anyone and needed lots of space too, mentally. It's renowned for bullying and still is. No school wants to admit it's got a bullying problem, but it's rife and very toxic. They will lie and collude and make you feel it's not as serious as your son says. There's been racism problems and lastly, my son wasn't heard by 3 staff members, strongly encouraged to compete in sports day, goading from his peers, he competed in a race and collapsed upon finishing. My son has been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome courtesy of the ignorance of staff members and Mr Clayton.

My son has been in this school since September 2022.I am very pleased with it ,his last school in Cotteridge (he came home with bruises on his legs /from other lads ..every week ..and his grades have improved a lot ...when he started ,they ,tested him and said he had a reading capability of a 9 yr old ..with lots of help he has been given ,that has now been resolved ..I was worried about him starting secondary school with much older children …but he has settled in like …a duck to water …

Teachers are nice on most occasions
Students can be quite unfriendly to each other (not much intervention from staff unless physical violence occurs)
Less important rules are enforced more heavily than more important ones
Cleanliness varies greatly from classroom to classroom but all desks have gum
Computer facilities are barely functional