Pilton Community College

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

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

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

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.

The headteacher is incredible and a real credit to the school.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.