Longbenton High School

schools alright but rules are ridiculous. can’t go to the toilet even on my period. i can’t wear a bracelet that my grandma gave me before i died. we once had a geography teacher walk into the girls changing room, luckily no one was indecent. and expectations on behaviour are lower for boys than girls. no space to sit down at lunch but if we stand up we are screamed at to go outside in the 0 degree weather.

terrible, notorious for bullying as has been seen in the chronicle and the teachers doing essentially shitall about it. they wait till it comes to blows but know if they try to punish a child for standing up for themselves theyd be in deeper shit cause they were left to take it into their own hands and this seemed to happen many many times. a lot of teachers also seemed to have a favourites and kids to pick on habit, consistently singling out the same one or two if they were in a bad mood or seemingly had something against them. if you ever said you thought a teacher didnt like you it was laughed off although it was pretty evident in the treatment. cramped spacing especially in corridors, lesson changes were the same time for everyone, and for some reason the school decided to send every year group for lunch at once after trialing a half and half when we first moved in (they asked the kids what they preferred and the majority said theyd rather go at different times) which obviously resulted in lack of space and tables. only upside was a few decent teachers who actually seemed to care about the childrens wellbeing, one of the RS and a certain history teacher and a certain science teacher to name a few + a few teaching assistants that made my time there slightly more bearable by being extremely positive/relatable or overall just lightening the mood. personally if i had kids id not be sending them here because my time was shocking and it honestly gives me the fear everytime i think about returning, and couldnt have left fast enough once the time came. no one should be left with anxiety at the thought of highschool memories yet i know im not the only one who hated my time here. really hope they fix it cause it has the potential to be so much better and more bully efficient but the shit inspirational messages inside the planner to tell an adult, that it isnt your fault and the “no tolerance” policy is a load of doo also terrible for sending you home when youre ill, you can be crying and doubled over in pain and youre still sent back to wherever you came from to “get your afternoon mark” and if youre still ill by the afternoon their excuse is that its “almost home time”. i understand school image is important but treating the children like props for it will ultimately come back negatively one of the teachers on her first day working there decided itd be a good idea to say to her class full of TEENS when they looked bored that they “looked like they wanted to slit their wrists” and im sure i dont have to explain how appalling that is a good thing they did do was start a lgbt club but its very difficult to attend things like that in the first place when people scrutinise every thing you do and kids are bullied for being who they are. also seemed to think putting up a few posters that said “some people are gay, get over it” would end world homophobia i guess i can thank them for turning me into a more resilient and thick skinned person because without the bullying and certain incessant teachers who seemed to care more about my appearance and what i chose to do with my own body than my mental health and education and wellbeing id not be the person i am today :)