Somercotes Academy

It is probably one of the worst schools i have seen. the bullying that goes on is awful, and caused many students to be upset, skipping school, and even leaving. the teachers do not care for bullying at all, everytime it was reported they would talk to the bully and give them a warning. There is a crazy amount of hate crime and anti LGBTQ behaviour which goes on, it is NOT a safe place at all. Autistic children were bullied, made fun of and attacked by others for being different. The staff have favourite students and do not punish them when they need to be. People were constantly getting away with bullying, and probably still are.

Uniform is awful aswell, the rules are so so sexist. Boys can have trousers which show their whole shin, but if a girl has a tiny bit of ankle shown then they put her in isolation and expect her parents to afford a new pair, which is impossible in the money crisis. Boys also were allowed to get away with alot more than girls do. You cant wear coats, or jumpers when it is minus or in the single digit weather. They leave students out in the rain as they dont want them to "fill the hallways". They line you up for uniform checks and if your trousers are tight (girls) THE MALE teachers would grab your trousers and pull on them, all the way up your leg to check if they are stretchy.

this school feels like loosing all your human rights. you have to ask to drink, to take your blazer off in dangerously hot weather, you have to ask to go to the toilet and you are always told "no you just had break", you have to have all the correct uniform, you arent allowed to be different.

"the rules are the rules to stop bullying" i was bullied my entire time at the academy, i could argue that its going to impact the rest of my life, and the rules and punishments NEVER stopped any of the vile behaviour from other students. Reporting things only made them worse, DO NOT go to this school if you want to keep your children sane and not traumatised.

The teachers were OK, some good. but they can not control a class, or teach because they are too nice. I lost alot of my education to people messing around and being stupid, many people would cause a scene in class and pick on others just for the fun of it.

The indoor and outdoor environment was OK, but the people are terrible. The food was also SHOCKING. stale cookies, watery pasta, dry rice ect. It is not ok to feed students the food they did!!
The school is NOT SAFE unless you are a straight white person. the hate crime, racism and homophobic behaviour is on another level.
There is no activities, and if there is itll be very limited and unfair.

honestly some teachers are lovely like the English, art, imedia, geography, re and history but most others are ALOT inconsiderate about how they’re making the students feel, I have left now but a few teachers have made me cry due to the pressure I was under, making me feel as if I will fail at life If I do not pass things like maths and making me feel stupid for asking help in science they said “I could not be arsed” and that it was “year 8 work” when I genuinely struggled in what I was doing.I kept to myself most days and was never a bad kid so I don’t understand why some teachers I get just took a disliking to me. Many nights I came home in tears not just because of situations like that but also bullying on many occasions by the same student which they still proceeded to allow in the school which I have no idea why, I was added to group chats of the person just making fun of me, she would constantly make comments about me in class, slam doors in not only my face but teachers too and verbally abuse them. This is just an example of a student they allow in this school there are many others. Somercotes say they have a 0 tolerance bullying rule but they more so favour the bullies as I feel due to her still being there and worse yet her being allowed to take a subject which I wanted but wouldn’t let me as there “wasn’t enough space” when I joined before this person. Additionally the attitudes of these teachers are sometimes worse than the students themselves I felt as if I was talking to someone my age it was that bad. oh and I almost forgot they are so passionate about your attendance, that if you are having the same day off as someone else they will ring both ur parents up and ask if you are skipping school together. They knew I had mental health problems as I took a whole year off but still thought I had magically just gotten better and assumed I would not have days off school as it is very difficult for me to be there.

Although I hated my time here I still thank those teachers who did act as if they cared for me and had regular conversations with me to see if I was doing ok in work and on myself. Those teachers are the good thing the school has going for it.

This school is a joke and to top it off the bullying that goes on here is beyond me not to mention the lack of communication from staff the receptionist is rude stay clear this school is terrible!

This school is honestly the worst you will ever see. If you are thinking of going here to get education , please dont .