St Aidan's Church of England High School

It's a wonderful school! I love it so much!! The teachers are so supportive and knowledgeable, as well as making lessons fun and interactive. Furthermore, there is such a wide variety of subject choices available both at GCSE and A level. I love it so much and would completly recommend.

Without question, the teaching is exemplary with a wide range of subjects and additional activities at lunch and after school. Unfortunately having had one child here bullied from year 7 to 11 to the point where we had to call the police, we were (on reflection) fobbed off with false promises at every stage. Certainly not enough action was taken by leaders to tackle our child's awful situation. I also know of other parents who are reporting the same thing as early on as year 7. The school has a bullying undercurrent which cannot be dismissed. I would say to anyone thinking about this school to really consider if your child had any differences that may make them stand out because if they do, my opinion is they will be targeted. Diversity is not promoted enough in the school and by that I mean even the basic differences such as height and weight. The bullying can easily escalate to affect mental health of your child and even then, leaders do not work effectively when action is clearly and most desperately needed. It's disappointing as all other aspects are good. Yet safeguarding the child's well being and safety is the most important job a school can do and in my opinion, St Aidan's do not do this properly leaving a child vulnerable and parents anxious.

hellish school, hellish kids, hellish teachers, hellish environment. not a friendly vibe to the place i would say as a passing visitor.

great teachers and facilities but not many of them are good at dealing with mental health

education wise, aidans is a pretty good school to go too, and by far one of the best in the area. however, this can vary subject-to-subject and teacher-to-teacher, but i suspect this applies to many schools. the problems lie with pretty much any other aspect of it. it’s unfortunate to say that i have seen many instances of bullying and have even experienced it firsthand, with little done about it. having read the other reviews, i can agree that there is competitiveness between teachers and subjects, and this often effects punishments on students who deserve discipline. most often this applies to sporty kids and anyone who is looked favourably on by the pe department. there is a lack of pastoral care, or help when it comes to mental health, and the school counsellor often does nothing to help. i have heard many instances of people being outed in homophobic or transphobic homes, due to the counsellor believing that was the best course of action, despite there being no need (it was not helpful, and instead made situations worse). it’s my belief that since the last head left the school, it has somewhat deteriorated, with me and other being subjected to homophobic, transphobic or racist nature in terms of lack of action or being told that something is not possible but not being provided and explanation. despite the school liking to brag about their care for students of all background, the only time sexuality, gender or the lgbt community is ever brought up, is in an RS lesson, where, to my dismay, other students were allowed to DEBATE, on whether they should be allowed rights and whether it is a sin. sitting in a classroom surrounded by people who talk about how it is wrong and that you should burn in hell really doesn’t make anyone feel great about their school, i can’t lie. however, as i said at the beginning, aidans does generally provide good education for the students and allows them access to means by which they can grow and understand subjects easier. on a final note, they were not the best at handling the covid situation the best, many a level and gcse students were left with no knowledge as to what was happening and often only found out weeks (or even days) before such things happened. also big ups to mr wilson in the physics department lol

I've read the other reviews and believe they are unfair, as a current student who has been there for 6 years I see most things that happen and they are generally very positive. Firstly, the academics are second to none, I struggled with English for example and my grades were nurtured from the lowest to one of the highest due to an Excellent quality of caring, nurturing, thoughtful teachers. The best think about this school is its teachers and as it is a school that's how it should be. There is a problem with bullying, the 'sporty' kids pick on the smart kids. Unless you talk about this problem to the senior leadership team (SLT) or the PE department, all the teachers and staff are very supportive and attempt to intervene with detentions and even the occasional suspension. The only problem is the SLT who don't care at all, I was once told the excuse that someone's behaviour could be excuse because he was kicked off the football team. In conclusion, this school is beyond a doubt the best school in the area in terms of quality of education, but leaves something to be desired when it comes to pastoral care and dealing with bullying, especially by the SLT since the last head teacher left.

Managing team maintain poor control and show tyrannic traits against students they dislike, tends to be coloured students due to underlying racism. However the actual teachers lower down in the school are mostly high quality but could do with more motivation.

I went to this school for 4 years, and it was hit or miss. I'll start with the positives as that seems fair. I always enjoyed the special events, like children in need day. we always did something unique and it was always memorable. Also from an academic sense, I think most people I knew at least hit their grade targets or excelled them. I also made some friends I still have, and intend to keep for a while. But if you're reading this, please good god don't think it's all sunshine and rainbows. It took FAR too long for teachers to take mental health seriously, by the point I did I was already hitting rock bottom. Every single mental health talk seemed half-hearted and almost an after thought. They always have the same generic advice and only once properly were explained. Also I had some teachers that were quote harmful in their handling. I was told once to "man up" and almost made to feel like my panic attacks made people around me almost enraged. Oh and the people! The boys that saw humour in picking on those that were viewed as weird were nearly always protected by teachers because they were sporty, and that obviously has more leverage than emotional harm. And although yes, I came out of it quite academically I also was crushed by pressure a whole lot of the time. Academic talks pushed on work, but never really considered those with other problems. It was yet again, an afterthought There you have it