Stratford Girls' Grammar School

the students are always lovely, and by the time you’ve settled into year 9 everyone knows everyone and is friends with everyone else. the high pressure environment at the school leads to lots of mental health issues within the community such as depression and anxiety. all of the subject teachers are wonderful and the split-year tutoring makes a very safe and welcoming community. i think unfortunately they have a poor understanding of how to aid those who suffer with mental health issues, though i have never experienced another school so i have nothing to compare to.

The learning environment in this school is far above any other school I’ve attended or heard about. In class, students can be calm and focused as well as having an enjoyable time. The classes are usually easy to tame and are good whether you’re an introvert or not. Most the teachers are nice, obviously some are too strict or not great, but largely are pleasant enough. What I would say though is that the school is largely focused on your exam scores over actual mental health and relationships. Throughout my time, it was constantly drilled into me how ‘this school gets A*s’ and ‘last years students got all 9s in GCSE so you must too.’ The homework isn’t too unmanageable, but the constant stream of pressure lead to stress. Being surrounded by bright people, getting what would usually be classed as an average score feels like you did terribly. Many girls felt anxious and stressed over grades, leading to larger issues. The need to impress lead to many of my peers getting eating disorders which became a normal part of life. The formation of friend groups in Shottery is largely dependent on your Year 7 class, which doesn’t vary between most lessons. Being a small school, you don’t often change who you’re surrounded by day to day, and I didn’t get to know many people even if I did know of everyone in my year fairly fast. Friend groups take a while to settle, it took until mid year 8 for groups to form that stuck. I remember having very few friends in year 7, but people of similar interests soon find each other and I was happy in a not toxic group in year 8. There is naturally groups of ‘popular girls’, but there isn’t much communication between people who don’t know each other. People don’t bully each other face to face, instead talk behind your back and spread rumours. Whether this is better or worse than blatant mockery is debatable. By the older years, this does tend to cease as people don’t even bother talking to anyone they don’t know unless the seating plan makes them. Everyone is happy enough with their friend groups by y9+ and can express themselves without worrying aboht getting judged. It does lead for girls to find themselves and their identites, and everyone is largely accepting. Nobody was outright homophobic, transphobic or racist so everyone felt welcome. Teachers didn’t pick up on bullying at all, but are open to help if you go to them. Teachers did occasionally pick up on students self harming, and did help out with many of my friends who had anxiety or EDs. Also, the school isn’t purely accademic and the wide range of clubs etc that are open to everyone are refreshing and widely encouraged. The sight itself is very lovely. In the summer, eating lunch on the lawn is really lovely. The buildings are nice, even though they get heavily congested at changeover. The classrooms are pretty basic, but rooms like DT, SAM (music), FT and drama have great facilities. The manor is simply beautiful. The food is average, but overpriced. The uniform is quite nice, especially ks3. Sixth form have devent freedom over clothes. However, it’s ridiculous how worked up teachers got if skirts were slightly above the knee, especially at the start of the year. The PE skorts are so short they’re nearly indecent, but the teachers are permanently nagging students about their skirt lengths. If teachers are that distracted by my thighs, they probably shouldn’t be teachers. I remember being given a behaviour point because my skirt was too short whilst I was sat down, when it will obviously be shorter sat down. The year 10-11 skirt has to be short or you can’t move in it, but the teachers are apparently always staring at students legs and subsequently telling them off. Overall, the school is very pleasant in a nice area, where girls can be happy amongst each other and get high grades. It’s nicer than KES, where homophobic comments, sexism and racism are normal. It is nicer than a public school whilst not acting private. However, the school did assume that everyone is extremely wealthy, charging way too much for trips, activities and getting a certain uniform. I recall them asking £45 for a mouth guard, which I used maybe twice (don’t bother, get one from sports direct instead.) Being not super wealthy, trying to pay for trips that nearly everyone is going on was very tricky. Shottery is very nice to go to, despite the stress that most people saw. Having a good mix of subjects and lessons gave me a fun time for ks3, and the nice teachers helped get through ks4. Shottery did feel like a family, the sense of community was nice. Good school, is just good to be a part of.

Before Shottery, I was that timid Indian girl at the back of the class, who would never put her hand up, never speak out and would keep to herself all of the time. Now, I am proud to call myself a headstrong, outspoken woman, who has confidence and intelligence and is unafraid of voicing her opinions. SGGS has a gargantuan role in making me who I am today, and I am ever so grateful for my excellent teachers who, from their passion of their subject, passed on their passion to me. It can be a competitive and stressful environment at times, but most teachers help you through that, and do give emotional support - I have had awful days of breaking down at school, and my teachers have a big role in helping me through that. One of the senior leadership team set aside time in their calendar to sit down and help me through my stress when I was overwhelmed and burnt out, and offered to sit with me every lunchtime for extra support! I love my school, and although some of their rules are annoying (e.g. no skirts above the knee), the academics are phenomenal and teachers are very supportive, you would love it here.

Firstly, the overall atmosphere on site is one of rivalry and competition that seeps into every aspect of life there (not just grades). This reinforces in the minds of these young girls this idea that if they’re not top of the class, if they’re not the skinniest, the prettiest, the most popular, that they’re worthless. In my time at the school, I saw countless classmates fall into spirals of eating disorders and self harm - desperate to stay in control. I also feel the need to address the bullying. Because it tends not to take on the more explicit form of physical or verbal abuse, the coercion, rumour-spreading, and social exclusion that forces some girls to leave the school entirely goes largely unseen by administration. The social relationships at the school worked in such a hierarchy, that if someone “higher up” were to denounce you as worthy of being befriended, the majority of those lower on the social ladder would hesitate befriending you too, for fear of the same fate by association. The strict ideals of beauty also meant that subtle racism, classism and body-shaming was commonplace. Secondly, the insane amount of work that is set certainly means that for the most part, we are on track to achieve the highest grades, but at what cost? By the age of 12 I was experiencing symptoms of burnout and it’s not uncommon for students to become incredibly anxious and/or depressed due to the crippling amount of pressure put on us. One of the worst problems at this school, however, is the misogyny. This may sound surprising coming from a girls’ school, but while we were all called “girl bosses” one minute in some insincere assembly, we would be called “disgusting” for having our skirts above the knee the next. A senior member of staff once sent out an infamous letter stating that because a member of the public had complained about how messy we look, and because we were distracting the male teachers (yes this letter was addressed to children), that we must wear our skirts longer out of respect for the school. I felt betrayed that my own school was comfortable with the prospect that someone they had employed might be capable of being distracted by the thighs of a 13 year old (and that if this were the case, they would hold us responsible), and that they were perfectly happy reducing us to the “image of the school”, instead of honouring our individuality and liberty of expression as young women. On another note, I find it imperative to credit the significant minority of teachers who did care about us - I don’t know how I or my peers would have made it through without them and their insight. Also, the conditions did mean that when I did find my friends, we became incredibly close and still are today after we’ve left. Final piece of advice: if you got into Shottery, you likely have the strength, intelligence, and determination to soar anywhere you go: you don’t need the title of “grammar school girl”. I won’t tell you what to do, but please think twice before coming here, and prioritise your own wellbeing instead.