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St Aidan's Church of England Academy
Secondary · Academy · Darlington
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Horrendous school- do not send your children here.
If I could rate this school a 0 I would. Terrible systems, staff don’t support each other which means pupils lack everything. Kids are spoon fed which again makes them less able to do things on their own. They have 10 mins to eat their lunch which was cold food for nearly a year. No hot food was provided.
Great however there is still slight improvement needed
Although the school mag have a bad reputation there is improvement in the systems and teaching as well as the opportunities provided. Although my year group was a Covid year it has meant we missed out on the opportunities there, However during the first two years at the school there were a wide range of extra-curricular activities provided and as students we had the chance to take control and voice our concerns. Unfortunately however these concerns were not always listened to and were sometimes just looked over. However as we progressed and as students voiced our concerns louder they were starting to listen. The education they provided although may not always be enjoyable was to a very high standard with almost all students passing the core subjects and students getting high grades in other subjects making sure they get entry into the college of choice.
Parental Advice
As the parent of a child that has just left year 11 I would not recommend this school. She started year 7 as a happy, bubbly child and left like a different person, all of the fun and personality has been sucked out of her. The school is run like a prison and the children are treated like numbers, not humans. If they have any issues the staff member who deals with these issues is either unavailable or on the sick!. The staff turnover is massive and there is no consistency. One staff member wont listen to anything you have to say as a parent, all they say is 'I have been doing this for over 20 years, I think I know what I'm doing', even when you explain that your child doesn't understand because they are going too fast, they don't want to know, he knows best and talks to you like you are an imbecile. As a parent I would urge you, if at all possible to send them to a different school. This school has ruined my child and they were the unhappiest 5 years of her life, the consequences of which we will be dealing with for years to come.
PLEASE DONT GO YOU WILL REGRET IT
Absolutely disgusting school you get punished for stupid reasons like not walking in single file putting your pen down in a lesson or looking at the clock food is horrible it always cold they dont have enough cutlery or desserts they say you get 15 minutes but in that 15 minutes you need to get out of your lesson on time wich most teachers let you out up to 5 minutes late get your stuff out of your locker go downstairs and half way through eating your lunch they get you to stop to do appreciations or just complain about something we have done so at the most you would probably get 10 minutes to eat your lunch wich isnt alot at all most the teachers are horrible you get punished the same way if you have short hair as the same way as if you have even assuslted someone your not allowed to go to your lockers inbetween lessons but if you turn up to a lesson without a book you get a call back after school they only care about tests and how high you get and if your not happy in your class you will just have to "try harder next time" its basically like a prison only allowed water have to walk on the right no talking not allowed to look at the clock cant put your pen down cant go to the toilet (wich i understand if you have just went into a lesson or you just mess about and ask to go to the toilet every lesson but even if you actually need to go they wont let you or have a valid reason or a pass your not allowed)you have to get permission to be out of school and your influenced to if your friends arent in school to text them to come in and if your sick you still have to come in.I have to miss school for opontments quite alot and i give proof to the school and everything but i still get punished for having to come out of school its all about "merrets" i see it as a way to trick students into coming into school so they can see theire name at the top of the leader board but the teachers dont even put them on anyway the only good thing is they dont accept people being racist wich is very good but they couldn't care less if someone experiences sexism transphobia or homophobia they told me that people at st aidans dont get bullied wich is one of the most biggets lies ive ever heard they favourite the popular kids (wich are typically the bullies) so if you tell them about getting bullied they dont do anything at all the teachers just stand theire and watch it happen or invalidate you its ruining to many peoples mentall health both the other students and staff make it worse luckily alot of people have left already wich everyone needs to do it seriously needs to shut down it treats us like we need to be perfect our books need to be extremely neat no "doodling" no crossing out no spelling mistakes and you have to always use alot of green pen you cant bring your water bottle outside of the lunch hall or you get a call back PLEASE do not go to this school it has ruined to many peoples mentall health they only care about the schools reputation how high your grades are and how many people go to the school.
Fear-based, but getting better
I am lucky to be leaving this school this year. Throughout my time here, the systems in this place have bullied students into silence, making us fearful of voicing our true thoughts due to fear of punishment. We are made to walk in "single file, on the left, in silence" (a direct quote that I hear more than a dozen times in a day) in between lessons and have to stick to a strict seating plan during lunch times, in which we only get approximately 15 minutes to eat (though this is more like 5 due to the amount of time it takes for food to be served) following what is claimed to be a 15 minute break but, after going to lockers to take things that are needed after lunch, you are lucky if you get 5. All of this is very military, monotonous, repetitive and damaging to many students' mental health, both in the present and in the future. That said, a recent change in management has lead to this becoming more relaxed but I do still believe that it is too extreme. I am not against school rules, I just believe that they should be relatistic and enforced in a humane way, not by threatening students with an hour long detention after school if they make noise in the corridor. I do think there is now hope for the school, but it has a long way to go to become "good" (as it is rated by OFSTED).
Bad school
To put it straight it could be better,
Most of the female students favour the missbehaving boys because theyre 'funny'
If you are faced with racism, bullying theyll make you write a statement on a piece of paper that wont do anything and the people who do get in trouble its a light slap on the wrists.
Most of the students that go there want to leave because of how poor the attidtude to students are, the teachers usually look down apon you instead of talking to you like you are a person
School lunches are terrible they never change the menu and are actually disgusting unless you get lunches on a week where they just recieved a supply of food
The education is actually quite good if you can understand it they rush to quickly into tests and you end up remembering nothing unless youre genius
Top sets are basicly taught that theyre better than everyone beneath them
Some teachers straight up bully their students by insulting them and how they 'should have higher standards'
Most of the female students favour the missbehaving boys because theyre 'funny'
If you are faced with racism, bullying theyll make you write a statement on a piece of paper that wont do anything and the people who do get in trouble its a light slap on the wrists.
Most of the students that go there want to leave because of how poor the attidtude to students are, the teachers usually look down apon you instead of talking to you like you are a person
School lunches are terrible they never change the menu and are actually disgusting unless you get lunches on a week where they just recieved a supply of food
The education is actually quite good if you can understand it they rush to quickly into tests and you end up remembering nothing unless youre genius
Top sets are basicly taught that theyre better than everyone beneath them
Some teachers straight up bully their students by insulting them and how they 'should have higher standards'
Bad school bad environment
To put it straight it could be better,
Most of the female students favour the missbehaving boys because theyre 'funny'
If you are faced with racism, bullying theyll make you write a statement on a piece of paper that wont do anything and the people who do get in trouble its a light slap on the wrists.
Most of the students that go there want to leave because of how poor the attidtude to students are, the teachers usually look down apon you instead of talking to you like you are a person
School lunches are terrible they never change the menu and are actually disgusting unless you get lunches on a week where they just recieved a supply of food
The education is actually quite good if you can understand it they rush to quickly into tests and you end up remembering nothing unless youre genius
Top sets are basicly taught that theyre better than everyone beneath them
Some teachers straight up bully their students by insulting them and how they 'should have higher standards'
Most of the female students favour the missbehaving boys because theyre 'funny'
If you are faced with racism, bullying theyll make you write a statement on a piece of paper that wont do anything and the people who do get in trouble its a light slap on the wrists.
Most of the students that go there want to leave because of how poor the attidtude to students are, the teachers usually look down apon you instead of talking to you like you are a person
School lunches are terrible they never change the menu and are actually disgusting unless you get lunches on a week where they just recieved a supply of food
The education is actually quite good if you can understand it they rush to quickly into tests and you end up remembering nothing unless youre genius
Top sets are basicly taught that theyre better than everyone beneath them
Some teachers straight up bully their students by insulting them and how they 'should have higher standards'
no just don't come here at all
This is just the most terrible school I've been to and I have moved alot and went to many different school's...and this school is the WORST,please do not come here.
oh and the amount of pressure they will put on you is insane.
oh and the amount of pressure they will put on you is insane.
Bad school
Terrible school really hard to focus in lessons the teachers only care about themselves and their reputation,,people feel scared to speak up about something or give an opinion as the teachers will just give you a verbal warning,,very bad for your mental health and their isn’t enough help for it either,,I have had very bad experience with that school and honestly do not recommend and I have no idea how ofstead has said it’s a great school trust me it’s not !
awful school
the behavioural system is awful and doesn’t work, they have a new set of rules almost every week and it never does anything. students are too scared to speak out if someone does something wrong in a lesson as they will be given a “verbal warning” for shouting out, which they have attempted to fix with “ambassadors” but everyone sees the week that it’s their turn as a daunting experience, we can’t focus on our lessons when we’re writing down everything that happens in a lesson. they don’t test out systems before using them, instead they implement them instantly and don’t listen to the students’ opinions, which in theory would be very important as it is a school full of children, but no ! three only care about their reputation, not the students’ wellbeing. they’re super focused on popularity like a hierarchy, and even the teachers are in on it, and the popular kids are usually the bullies, so they never get properly told off because all the teachers like them - the school had a massive bullying problem. they have abysmal mental health help, i’ve had multiple panic attacks in lessons and they’ve done nothing to help me. the dinner time “family dining” is terrible and i don’t know anyone who likes it.
It’s just a bad school
There is a lot of bullying the teachers don’t listen and if you try to get a teacher to call If you have a problem they don’t do anything
worst experience of my life
Genuinely could not imagine a worse school to be taught in. The head teacher only cares about her self and her reputation and the damage that school did to me will never go away. The education was not even that great, i taught myself all of the content and was lucky to achieve and 8 grade in english language. The maths department however was exceptional. The mental health support was abysmal and the staff did not understand how to deal with panic attacks and the like, once telling me to stop having a panic attack as i was scaring people. The school thrives off of a popularity hierarchy, even involving the teachers. Absolutely disgusting.
Terrible
Terrible school with behaviour systems that do not work and a headmistress who only cares about herself
Very bad school
Terrible. Absolutely shocking behavioural systems and the lunch is terrible.
Ok overall, behavioural systems terrible
The school as a whole is OK, but the way its behavioural system works is absolutely terrible and only teaches students to behave through fear of having to go through it. The words of the headteacher often don't help either, once telling the school that "you're lying" if you tell your parents you have been given a detention (or call back as they call them) for no reason, which is often the case (I know a student who asked for a rubber from another student and was put through this)
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