Priory School

I came here a few years ago when they first brought in the trousers and had awful experiences from the get go. A teacher shouted down the phone to my mum as my mum was ‘raising her voice’ claiming she was “above her” so my mum had no right to raise her voice at her (for context my mum was only raising her voice because she was shouting already). I was bullied by numerous teachers AND students and when reported nothing would happen but when I retaliated I faced multiple consequences. Many teachers made me have panic attacks and at one point I was suspended for a week for ‘wearing the wrong trousers’ even though I was a top student and this was a first time thing making me extremely far behind as I had no way to get work. The mental health support is little and poor and if it wasn’t for the fact I had a good network of friends and a couple incredible teachers (namely Ms Plant and Mrs Sahota-Lyons) I probably would’ve left or my mental health would have declined even further. Being at this school caused my anxiety and depression to worsen to a degree where I could barely get up everyday and was having anxiety attacks about attending. Furthermore, there are some absolutely useless teachers, one being my GCSE physics teacher who was so bad that me and 90% of my class ended up teaching ourselves the content with the textbooks. Many teachers also definitely enjoy the power trip they get, namely my GCSE food tech teacher who made me so anxious to be in her class that I got special arrangements to be sent to the library to do theory instead, during this time she claimed “my cooking would be better if I actually tried and came to class” which she said in a dead silent classroom in front of everyone and I left crying. The other being my form tutor who when I got in trouble for ‘the wrong trousers’ called me up to the front of the class for a ‘talk’ then proceeded to say “Actually sit down, this is a matter for the whole class” then spoke about how disappointed she was with a student in this classroom as they had specifically gone against the dress code and by this point everyone knew it was me and were staring. This also resulted in a huge breakdown. Throughout my years of having her as a form tutor she consistently singled me and a few others out because we were different in our own ways and it was absolutely crystal clear she picked favourites which no teacher should do and if they do it should not be obvious. I was not a bad student whatsoever, I left year 11 in 2022 with only 9 behaviour points over my whole 5 years there but somehow I was picked on and failed by those who I needed most. My siblings now go here and all are in need of SENCO but they are being severely failed too, my mum wants to move them but they are all reluctant as they don’t want to make new friends when they’re already settled but they struggle so much. My brother isn’t the best behaved but on my sister’s first day of school a teacher genuinely said to her “You’re not ___ sister are you?!” and when my sister said yes she gasped almost in horror and shook her head. This poor 11 year old has just come into a brand new school much larger than her previous one and these teachers already made her uncomfortable, anxious and scared. There are also numerous issues with general under-staffing and uniform strictness and I fully believe this school needs a hard reset and for some grown adults to talk to these children to actually understand the severity of what they are going through. Many describe secondary school days as their favourite time of their life and how fun it was but it’s safe to say if I could erase every memory I had from this school I absolutely would. Unfortunately I cannot detail everything that happened here but I can confirm that what I have said is sadly not even the tip
of the iceberg of my experiences and certainly not others as well. What I saw and heard from students and teachers alike is frankly disappointing and disgusting. Do better Priory, do better.

All in all, do not send your child here, their self esteem and self worth will be shattered by the time they are 15/16 and they will have to really work hard to rebuild that and some may never be able to do that. Save yourself and your child the heartbreak.

Bullied, harassed, depression, and getting painful injuries that are laughed at- so yeah this school is great

mold everywhere, unclean, and overall horrible place. you’d get sick in a few days from the grime of this place. toilets leak all the time having to stand in toilet water, cameras everywhere watching your every move. teachers are genuinely rude and need actual training. teacher also stole someone’s speaker, took it away for a “random stop and search” and never gave it back

just don’t go here

maybe an OK-ish school if the student never has any mental health problems or needs any extra support ever. they swept every issue under the carpet when I was struggling and I never met the SENCO. they care more about if you wear a small necklace and want to wear a coat in an outdoor PE lesson in January weather
the medical care is awful, they might tell you to drink some water and see how you feel in 10 minutes at best
constant ableism and transphobia from the students (and some teachers) and nobody would anything about it apart from maybe a 15 minute assembly in the morning that nobody paid any attention to
the classrooms are either stuffy or freezing cold
the maths department is especially bad. most of the maths teachers don’t know how to keep a class under control and they spend about half an hour on the starter question

it does have a good art and DT department, and a nice library

in conclusion I would never recommend the school overall

I’ve had an okay experience here. Many rules unneeded but it is an okay school, I got what I needed.

ruined my mental health, uniform is uncomfortable, teachers are unhelpful and i taught myself most of what i know. would never send my kids here in future

Very few teachers can teach their subject. The maths department is particularly bad. The head teacher cares more about uniform than anything else and you can’t wear jumpers in winter, even when it’s negative temperatures outside. Do not recommend.