Reviews

2.4
Based on 15 reviews and 127 answers
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Former Student
Jun 10, 2023

Please Read.

"Share your experience at the school" Okay.
I despise this school. I truly do not like it. I'm not going to get into this story too much because it's not really the place to write it but I will give a short overview. Long story very short, I was SA'd by another student who was in my classes and tutor in one of the school bathrooms. The day it happened was the worst day of my life. I couldn't tell anyone, I mean, how can you tell someone about that? I then had to spend two whole years sitting in the same classroom and tutor as this boy. I spent two years with that day going over and over in my head. Until one day I couldn't take it anymore. I remember this day quite well, I was in English and my English teacher asked if I was doing okay, I snapped and burst into tears, crying and telling her the story while the boy that did it was sat his chair like a metre away. The only good thing about this story was my English teacher, she helped me so much and I am so grateful for her. She called the front desk of the school and they came up and I told my story again and they took a few notes. A few days after the lesson I spoke with some police officers, I told my story again. I then spoke with a "mental health worker" at the school and she told me that I didn't have to wear my uniform as It happened in my uniform. This was good, apart from every teacher telling me to change into uniform again. I mean even when I let the teachers know that I didn't have to, they still made me. The police then opened up a proper case about my story and was about to bring the boy in for questioning. Then the school dropped the case. The school told the police to end the case. Hearing that hit me like a truck. I don't want to drag her into this but my friend also went through similar experiences with the same boy, and it was her dad that opened up the case again. The boy was then moved from one of the three lessons I had him in. They said "You're fine in the other lessons". I very much was not. Then the police took the boy to court. While he was there, he admitted to what he did to me. He told the court that he did what I said he did to me. The court let him go. The school let him back. It was like nothing happened. He is still out there today. He was still in my lessons. Do you understand how absolutely disgusting it is to have someone that has done that to you, admitted to it and still allowed to be sat a few tables from you. This was all going on at the end of year 11 aswell so I had exams on my back too. Exams which he was still allowed to do. How can someone that has done that, to two people, be allowed to take exams? And also, the school would tell me "come to us when you skip lessons and we will help" no. No because I came to you and you sent be straight back to the lesson. I'm now in college and I still think about him to this day. There is never a day that goes by where I don't think of him doing that do me. He has ruined my brain. I'm getting better though, but it would of been nice if I had a school that is labeled as a "safe space" to help me. Now I have to fight this alone. I'm sorry but this school has failed me. Failed my friend. And failed so many others. This school is truly not the place it seems on the outside. If you are a parent reading this, please, please trust me and don't send your child here. No one was there for me so let me be here for your child. Please don't send them here, it will ruin them. I mean, if you do send your child here, make sure they only go to their English lessons. The English teachers were banging. Oh and the food was gross. Only go here if you want to be mentally ill.
Student
Nov 9, 2022

Sad and depressed

Its bad they make us freeze to death and make us take are coat of when teachers are literally wearing a coat they dont care about are wellbeing just want us to be happy it feels like school is effecting are mental health more if you ask any other student it would be the same
Student
Aug 18, 2022

My genuine thoughts

Oh god, where do I even start...

First off, this school couldn't care less about the mental health of students. The year 10s have received no help during their mocks, there has been nothing done to tackle bullying, homophobia, transphobia or ableism and a giant portion of the students have struggled with depression and anxiety as a result.

Second of all, the school is run like a sweatshop. Students aren't allowed to go to the toilet (which is detrimental to afab students), the food is low quality as well as overpriced and the students are literally locked in.

Third off, the staff treat the students like vermin. There has been students put in isolation for wearing the "wrong coloured socks," their has been sexist, immortal dress codes that do nothing to stop the sexual harassment of afab students and teachers have been able to get away with saying stuff that is beyond disgusting.

There is so much more I can highlight but this school is way down in the pits, they fake reviews online to upkeep their reputation and in all honesty: Those running the school should bow their heads in shame.
Student
Aug 15, 2022

An overview of year 7 and 8

It's an alright school I'm only just now going into year 9 but I have made friends but I understand that's not relevant to the schools. Lunch. The food is alright for me as I only ever buy ham sandwiches made by another company but the sittings... year 7 first one week then year 8 first the next week is ridiculous because you get kicked out of your tutor room halfway through lunch so by the time you're done on average you can sit in tutor for 3 minutes. The people that go here are also horrid. There's a girl who ditches every group to talk badly about them a boy who mocks people for any reason eg. Being gay being trans being overweight being underweight being short being tall being disabled and most importantly a racist. He is a complete racist and this does not apply to only my year. He has said horrid stuff to years 7 8 9 10 and 11 without major consequences. We have also only ever had 3 good teachers and one of them has left school because of a higher up teacher barrading her for following a more fun curriculum for set 1 even though it was required and that poor teacher had to deal with a student having a severe panic attack which caused her to become so drained that after the teacher saying that she decided she had had enough and was going to quit. I hate to see the only nice staff leave. P.E is also sorted horrifically. My sets were sorted by playing a made up ball game and just splitting us down the middle meaning our skill didn't matter it was where we decided to stand. The p.e teacher for bottom set also prefers top set in such an obvious manner it's horrible I feel like I'm going to cry every time she critiques us because she always compares us to top set constantly. Thank you to the 2 remaining nice teachers that I've had and I'm praying for 3 more of the ones I've heard good things about.

In conclusion, only go here if you don't mind being bullied by people in your own tutor, people manipulating you or teachers devaluing you
-L
Student
Jul 12, 2022

PILTON REVIEW

decent school, however no bullying is ever dealt with. most problems are never resolved and the amount of fights that happen are insane, however decent school.. but the workload is intense and threaten with iso for white socks and 2 day iso if you dont hand over your phone and break and lunch
Student
May 22, 2022

Ignoring bullying and lgbt+ discrimination

Have dealt with bullying, homophobia and transphobia and all this school does is toot their own horn about how they're an "amazing school." It's so bad It's UNREAL.
Former Student
May 20, 2022

Pilton

I went to this school a little while ago and have a bit to say about it.

The learning support bit was brilliant, I absolutely loved it and it was very accommodating for my disabilities, my tutor and group were amazing, and a lot of the teachers and teaching assistants were so kind and helpful.

However, I had a lot of bullying issues, that never properly got resolved. When I was in year 7, I was harassed by a group of boys and told “boys will be boys”, I was mocked and treated terribly by other students, for having a disability and using a wheelchair, which has caused me to have social anxiety and insecurities to this day.

I remember being told that my dreams and aspirations were unrealistic, which stuck with me for years. I also remember being told off, when I was only 11, for playing an imaginary game with a friend, at break time.

I failed maths because I was put in a class of disruptive kids, who would say really horrible things about me, in front of teacher, so I wasn’t able to learn, despite wanting to.

Mixed bag of school, some good, some bad.
Student
Mar 9, 2022

The headteacher.

The headteacher is incredible and a real credit to the school.
Former Student
Oct 1, 2021

Pilton

Would avoid this school completely if it was my decision where I went. They completely discourage individuality in every sense of the word, even threatening to put students in an “isolation” if they have on white socks instead of black, is this not more disruptive to learning than the colour of your/ your classmates socks? The staff concern themselves with problems that are causing minimal disruption or issues rather than focusing on the real problems at hand. Tutor rooms are often locked and they expect you to spend your free time how they think is suitable rather than actually letting you have time to unwind with your friends. They show no concern over the mental state and home life of teenagers unless it is taking a clear effect on the amount of homework they’re handing in. Some of their policies are ridiculous and I’ve never felt more trapped somewhere in my life, genuinely feels like a prison yard
Student
Oct 1, 2021

Dogshit school

As a year 11 student, it’s a very stressful workload, with next to no support. My previous two years, I was put in a topset maths class where I hardly understood any of the work and received no help at all, I asked to move to a lower set on multiple occasions, was told that they would look into it, but they never did. Mental health support is absolutely terrible, in year 8 and 9 I was given all of the support I needed, was allowed to leave my lessons for a few minutes if I needed to calm down, had the option to do my work in an empty classroom, then the teacher that had given me that support left and his replacement told me I had to ‘just get on with it’ I was refused all of my previous support in year 10, being told that I ‘was capable enough to deal with it’, this made it even more hard for me and caused me to start doing worse in all of my work.

I’ve been punished for things that have happened off of the school grounds and out of school hours on multiple occasions, have also been given a detention for having to leave a lesson due to a panic attack.

The school food is terrible, as one of the many vegetarians in this school, I would have expected more meat free options, but there are only certain days where this is available, and I normally have to request vegetarian friendly options. As someone with parents who both work full time, having a packed lunch is quite rarely an option for me, so I usually have to go full school days without proper food.

All of the smarter students receive special treatment, while the ones that usually struggle are left to work most of the things they don’t understand out by themselves.

Being a girl, I’m almost always refused to go to the toilet, even when I’ve admitted that it’s the time of the month, which is putting me and other females in uncomfortable positions.

I really wouldn’t recommend this school, they have no respect for their students and their wellbeing, I’ve received no support on my decisions for the future, often being told that I ‘don’t have the grades’ to do what I want to.
Former Student
Sep 30, 2021

Don't Go Here.

The school doesn't advocate for mental health in the slightest - they aren't concerned for students wellbeing so long as they achieve good grades. If someone was struggling at home, they would be expected to leave these issues outside of the classroom. Having a poor home environment wasn't good enough to allow you to miss homework or self-study no matter how bad the situation may have been.

Students who are less able were barely helped, and were often taken away from their friends and treated poorly with the expectation that it would enable them to achieve more. If you weren't able to concentrate in lessons, you just had to focus. The teachers didn't consider other unresolved issues students may have had.

Students weren't given any individuality - we would often be reprimanded for the smallest of things, such as earrings and nail polish, while the teachers were allowed to dye their hair unnatural colours and wear distracting clothing.

The facilities at the school were underwhelming - tutor rooms were often locked, and if not they would be overrun with students and incredibly messy. The library was hardly available aside from an hour after school, leaving students no place to go and study quietly in their free time. There was never anything to do at breaks and lunchtimes, the canteen was always incredibly messy, and the "nurses" just weren't good at helping people. We were either given painkillers or ice and told to leave. They also blocked off the AstroTurf, which means that students were deprived of a place to have fun.

The toilets were usually locked, didn't have a door, weren't cleaned properly and just overall disgusting. There was a lack of disabled toilets and no gender neutral toilets to speak of. The inclusivity for students questioning their gender identity was horrific. There was also no gender neutral changing room, meaning that trans students had to suffer. We weren't allowed access to the toilets during lessons, which made it incredibly hard for female students and students with issues.

The majority of the teachers were unmotivated, short-tempered, and sometimes just genuinely nasty. Some of them were nice, but a lot of them would make it incredibly clear if they didn't like you and favoured the students who misbehaved often because they were too lazy to deal with it. A lot of them would put pressure on less able students by showing them up. It wasn't uncommon for them to make an example of people who hasn't achieved as much, telling them they needed to do more in front of the class. They had clear favouritism towards certain students, and the others would be basically neglected throughout the lessons. A lot of students were scared to ask for help as a result of this.

It was practically a prison - the students have recently been locked in with huge black spiked gates surrounding the whole premises. This doesn't prevent students leaving, but it really does make them feel trapped there. The school is provided with money to source things for the students such as a break room and fundamentals, and they instead use it to trap us in and buy self-indulgent things for the teachers.

The only good thing about the school is the fact that so many of the teachers don't care, meaning that the students are free to do what they want for the most part. This is good for students who like to slack off, but for those who are hard-working it makes the place hell.

I don't recommend going here at all, unless you really have to. There have been cases of people bringing in knives and doing generally dangerous things, and they just don't care. If you have the option, go elsewhere.
Other
Mar 21, 2021

👹👹👹 do better pls 👹👹👹

Bullying is alive and well, there is nothing in place to really stop it and you are expected to stop asking for help or you are accused of wasting time. This occurs especially with lgbt students - who there are no support for at all.
Mental health is advocated for, yet nothing is ever done to help struggling students. You are just a number, as long as you show up to lessons they do not care and you will have to deal with your issues alone.
Schoolwork is average, and the lessons are almost always interrupted by annoying classmates. Teachers always threaten to take them out of the class but they never do.
Safety is very poor - I have seen multiple things I wish I could forget whilst being at that school including a girl bringing a kitchen knife in her bag - she got sent home near the end of the day - imagine what she could have done.
Some of the teachers really have no passion for teaching, and it really has a detrimental affect on the students. How are we supposed to feel ready to learn if the teachers themselves aren’t? Some however, are very good at their jobs but if you
There are no quiet places for students to go, the library is usually closed and tutor rooms lack any discipline so it’s loud and busy. This creates a horrible environment for students who need quieter spaces and does not make their break times enjoyable.
The food is greasy and unhealthy and quite overpriced. The system for the lunch queues takes a long time and people are constantly pushing in.
Students are all treated as a number. There’s no personalisation at all except with a few teachers.
Individuality is not encouraged at all, there is no interest in helping you find yourself and who you are, which is important for developing teens.
Student
Jan 29, 2021

Where do I start....

1. The systems in place for bullying (especially kids of the lgbtq) aren’t good enough.
2. The food is greasy as hell. And there aren’t any allergy friendly options (close to none)
3. In the girls science block toilets the doors don’t lock(locks are broken)
Student
Nov 30, 2020

Superb

Fabulous school... yes somethings sometimes are not done in the way you want. BUT everyone is safe always and any issues I believe are put right in the correct way and all percussions are in place. All lessons are ok some (depending on teacher) are better than others but NO lesson is dreadfully awful.
Student
Sep 28, 2020

Pilton

I wish the teachers treated the students as equals and implemented more help systems for bullying instead of just telling students that they 'shouldn't be having these problems anymore' because its honestly frustrating to hear teachers say they want to help and then shun students for speaking up. Apart from that its not awful.

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