St Mary's Catholic High School

the teachers at this school are wonderful and will really try to accommodate to your child’s needs as much as they can

Okay so i’m going to do bullet points to make it easier •lunch times are 35 minutes long, and the lunch queues are horrendous so often time you have to choose between being able to go to the toilet and spending time with friends on the yard •the toilets are locked all the time apart from break and lunch, and with there being over 240 students in a year the toilet queues are very long and result in lots of people not being able to go •the food is awful, the only good things are the chicken burgers and the hot sandwiches, the rest is mushed into a pot and tastes awful • the uniform rules are ridiculous, the only rules for boys are have a tie at all time, and tuck your shirt in, and the boys aren’t even given a detention for the shirt. But for the girls it’s no makeup, skirts at or below the knee, no nail polish or acrylics, no earrings, no rings, bracelets or and jewelry and girls are given a detention for every one of these things. The rules quite clearly target girls and since the headmaster is male, it’s quite clearly sexist.

As a former St Mary’s student I actively encourage people to avoid this school like the plague (which we were taught the wrong information about). The bullying is out of control and the faculty do nothing to prevent it, leading to the social exclusion of certain students. The treatment to students from staff is degrading to the point I felt like I was an infant once again. In all weather conditions we would be forced to stand outside in registration order as our uniforms were checked before we would be allowed to go to assembly or to our form rooms. Teachers disrespect and disregard any belief that does not apply to strict Catholicism, and disrespect students constantly whilst expecting the utmost respect in return. Any uniform violation, wether large (no tie, skirt rolled too far up, having coloured hair that is not natural etc.) or small (having nail polish on, wearing the wrong colour socks - yes they check - or having a tiny logo on a coat etc.) is condemned and punished with 30 minute to 1 hour detentions with possible additions of 45 minute lunch time detentions - often for a set of weeks adding up to 15 hours total lunchtime detentions - isolations from 8:20am til 5:30pm for a set of days or weeks, and exclusions. The food is poor and the selection for those with additional dietary restrictions such as myself are abhorrent - I was forced to eat the same meal every day just so that I could eat without dying (I have over 40 allergies all of which the school was aware of). The treatment I received both academically and personally was poor and I could not encourage people to go to that environment even if I tried.

so so bad please dont send ur kids here its a literal prison. the teachers carry megaphones. we have to line up before most lesson and get shouted at if u have a coat with a bit of white on it. pls make the right decision and avoid this school.