Reviews

1.8
Based on 24 reviews and 204 answers
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Other
Feb 16, 2024

nan and her experience

honestly where could i start
i would rather eat the toes of a heavily
autistic monkey than go
my nan spent around 10 mins there and never recovered since she keeps doing kartwheels down the stairs taking the micky now
Former Student
Jul 16, 2023

injustice

i was in p.e one time and like i was in girls p.e even though i am male, this was due to bullying from the males in the school that the school did nothing to help. so like the girl (we were friends) throws a volley ball at me as a joke and i throw it back and i accidentally throw it at her face. i took accountability for the poor throw by the way. and she got all mad and was like u did that on purpose how dare u and this girl pushes me and slaps me on my back which left a mark. and she goes to a teacher and tells her that i smacked her on the face. and her friends are telling everyone that i slapped her and stuff and im like 🤨 so anyway i get called to do statement and they trynna get me to say that it was my fault and they trynna blame ME. it was rooted in homophobia like it was so obvious ☺️. and a few people who saw what happend are defending me and they also made statement. there were 3 people defending the girl and 8 people defending me. all had made statements. so the teacher was telling the people defending me off cus they were trynna tell her what was happening. so a while goes by and then i have a meeting and they telling me that im gunna be suspended and i was like girl- what and they were saying that i was wrong. i said that they are literally defending the minority of people against me who dont even have a set story cus they keep changing it every 5 MINUTES. so like the teacher wasnt even in the room and the majority of people who say said what actually happend and they still belive these 3 girls who said i slapped the main girl even though there was no slap mark just a round ball shape mark. they said that this incident would go on my record (it did not due to them being proved wrong and legal action being threatened against the school) and they never even listend to me they never even got someone to talk to me about it i literally had to write on a paper and wait for that meeting. she was eventually proved wrong and she got no punishment but i still had to serve 2 hours detention for nothing. im still mad. the teacher works in the pe department thats all im saying ☺️.
Parent
Jul 7, 2023

A school to avoid

Poor behaviour, teachers who can't control classes.
Dirty environment and unsafe.
Parent
Jul 7, 2023

Beacon school , Banstead

One of the worst school. Computer department is the worst. Teachers don't teach.
Parent
Jun 13, 2023

Awful school major bullying issues

Awful school, failed my child, I had to involve the police as my child was physically assaulted twice which was later shared on social media. Think carefully before trusting them with your child's safety.
Other
Jun 3, 2023

Control

The teachers don’t control the students
Student
May 30, 2023

Average school, physical fights

I joined Beacon as a student in late 2021 in year 10 after moving house and my old school being too far (i’m now in year 11 about to leave)

The teachers are amazing and it is easy to tell that they all care about the students and want them to do well, most will go the extra mile to offer support to those who are struggling which is something that was not true for my old school. I have noticed my performance academically has increased and I am predicted mostly 6s and above in my gcses when I was struggling to pass before joining the school.

However the behaviour from some kids is awful and it is not dealt with properly. When I first joined the school there were very often physical fights between students in all years and huge crowds of kids would film and watch these fights. The kids involved would rarely face harsh consequences and would generally get away with this behaviour. I must say that this has improved and since the new head has joined things have turned around, these fights are far less common

There is quite a few bullies and mean kids but i’ve found if you stay away from these people you will not find yourself involved in anything

One thing that is great about this school is the mental health support. I have struggled with panic attacks throughout my time at school and the staff have always been very patient and understanding with me when I am in these situations. They put my mental health before my schoolwork and make me feel very safe

Overall Beacon is an average school, it definitely needs improvement in terms of responding to poor behaviour but they have come a long way since I first joined so hopefully they will turn it around completely
Former Student
Apr 9, 2023

Great School But...

Going to this school has given me nothing but traumatic experiences. Having ADHD, and autism and on top of it all as well as being a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, it has been so difficult to go to this school. The staff as well as the other students have been nothing but unkind towards me during my schooling here. Even when I had made complaints against other students bullying me, and when there were staff present during some of these instances of bullying and harassment, nothing was done about it. The staff have been proven to ignore a lot of the students who were in need of genuine help, and many of the instructors didn't quite teach coherently, and they were very impatient especially with me and other kids like me with ADHD. I wish I had never chosen to go to this school but I didn't have much of a choice. Honestly if you're thinking about putting your child in this school I strongly urge you to reconsider, as this school has been proven to absolutely break your mental health and could most likely institutionalize you. I don't know how this school is running, but it should be shut down as soon as humanly possible and reevaluated. thank you
Other
Apr 8, 2023

banging grant duffs mistres

grant duff change your hair line

the school I don't recommend its not good my child came home crying when she went to west blocked toilets it said kill yourself on the mirror and she has bpd and she had to go hospital cause of year 10s kept bullying her and threatened to hurt her and people outside of school vaping doing drugs on the A217 is a massive disgrace i am a mother of 3 young kids and this school is full of dealers and even 2 teachers smoking on a private road is disgraceful i have never been so grim like grant duffs hair line that they couldn't deal with this I'm so ashamed that my child is in a bad school and that no one takes bullying serious that people end there life's for this and the beacon is just a bad school
Parent
Jan 13, 2023

Awful school.

This school did nothing for our child who started in 2022. It was awful and I literally mean awful. There was such lack of support. No follow up meetings. All talk about putting plans in place that did not come to fruition. In fact it was timely as the issues we were facing was around the time the Ofsted report became available and we could almost tick every box to say yes that has happened etc. In the end as we were so let down by the school and its support staff we managed to get a place in another school. I cannot believe how the behaviour is so bad in the Beacon given the area it is located in. My other child who went there did well, but said that the Ofsted report accurately described the goings on of the school. Shocking to think we put our children in the care of a school and they have to encounter the goings on of the Beacon School, Banstead.
Student
Oct 28, 2022

it’s rubbish

Very bad. The teachers are always biased towards the students that misbehave and award them for doing the bare minimum in lessons, when other students (who are much more well behaved) could be spending their time doing extra work, yet would not receive any type of award. There’s always fights breaking out around the school and you literally cannot feel safe in school. Students don’t receive equal opportunities either.
Former Student
Sep 29, 2022

Last Resort - Don't pick first

My experience of the Beacon school was interesting
- Bullying
Bullying at this school is 100% present. The Ofsted report showed that bullying was attended to, but everybody knows the punishment for poor behaviour when Ofsted inspections are happening is always ramped up so people behave.

I was witness to a boy, who for probably 8 years of his life was bullied every single day, with the teachers turning a blind eye and in some cases laughing. I also was bullied by a number of people, fortunately I came out on top, but I know there's a large majority of students here who will be suffering in silence.

- Fights
Whilst I was at the Beacon fights didn't occur regularly, and if they did they were dealt with promptly by the teachers who were attentive. The ones who cover the lunch periods for the overtime (I know this as a teacher had told me) money more than likely turn a blind eye.

I personally was attacked in a classroom on one occasion by a member of the group of people bullying me, scratches and marks all along my throat. The headteacher (not the current one) at the time of this incident handled it immediately, but the same kid was in the same classes, same form tuition group. During incident, good. Post incident, not great handling.

- Unfair treatment of good, hard working kids
It seems to be a common theme within schools to overly reward the terribly behaved kids when they do one thing good. I know it's an initiative in order to make them work better overall but the optics of every situation are terrible. Good behaving children in the school grounds aren't rewarded, there's no incentive to behave so they will crack on. Poorly behaved kids will go to Isolation once in every while or couple of days, and then they'll go to Thorpe park on a massive trip as there's a government initiative to try and improve them. They all still ended up either in Jail or Pregnant anyway so was utterly pointless.

- Classroom Conditions
Terribly upkept, need major investment. Flaky paint everywhere and chipped paint. Carpets weren't good, wooden floors are in terrible condition. The science and tech block floors were old and horrible - Needs major, major investment


- Canteen or "Bistro" conditions
Food quality on a steady decline, we were told at the time by the staff that they profit share in the bistro - Make of that what you will.

- Teaching
Some really great teachers, some terrible teachers - Like in every school. Terrible teachers, 100% memorable for being pure, pure trash.
Parent
Sep 17, 2022

Parent

I have a year 11 child and a year 8 child. There are some amazing teachers who go the extra mile for the children. There are a small minority who are not so great but I guess you get that in any school. The SEN support is very good and they really do care about the well-being and education of the children with additional needs. Unfortunately there has been a very difficult intake of children last year who have made school miserable for the rest of the children but the new head seems determined and able to either turn their behaviour around or get rid of them so the other children can learn in a safe, calm environment. I really hope he succeeds as it is a great school with a lot of strengths.
Student
Aug 31, 2022

The beacon school

I joined the beacon school in October of 2021 as a year 10 as I had to leave my old school. The school is ok not bad I quickly made friends but there is also quite a few “bullies” but if you stay away from them you should be ok. There are quite a few physical fights but mostly between the same few individuals in the younger years. Best thing to do is stay away from those people as well.

I wouldn’t recommend the school to those who are apart of the lgbtqia+ community as there is quite a lot of homophobic and transphobic slurs said despite the fact they do a lot of awareness on these topics. I don’t believe it is a safe environment

I suffer from quite bad anxiety and severe panic attacks. The “link” is the pastoral support building along with first aid and all my interactions with them have been amazing, they never get mad at me and always make sure i’m ok and let me sit in a quiet room to calm down and give me resources to help. I feel very understood and safe with the staff in this department

The lessons are pretty good pretty much the same as most other schools

Overall this school is average. I feel like the school has the students best interests at heart although sometimes this causes them to give the mean students too many chances and are too lenient
Student
Jul 18, 2022

U wouldn’t recommend going here.

My review is bad because as a stub dent there is many physical fights drama and arguments since the start of school there has been many bullying examples which the teacher has not helped there are many students who do self harm have anxiety or autism and not only they not help with that but they don’t even try to at a school I expect it to be calm and peaceful but obviously this school can’t do that but if u are into fights drama and people making others feel bad about themselves this might be the school for you.
Parent
Mar 9, 2022

Disgraceful School

The school has seriously deteriorated since my eldest child attended. The new strict policies of detention for the smallest of incidents are laughable! There is no communication between the parents and teachers and when They do it is condescending and demeaning to the child. Would I send my children to this school….Definitely not! Lunch queues are an absolute joke… So most of the week lunch is missed??? How can children possibly concentrate on empty stomachs? Seriously need to think of their procedures…Escorting them to use the bathroom? Prison or school?
Recommend not at all!!!!
Student
Jan 31, 2022

big no no

i dont like it at all. holly povah is amazing beautiful and smart young lady , barely learned anything. dont come!
Other
Jan 19, 2022

Terrible

This is bad as the hygiene is trash
Other
Jan 19, 2022

Terrible

What even is the school
It’s the worst school I have ever seen . Absolutely no hygiene behavior is ridiculous and some teachers need to work on teaching
Student
Jan 28, 2021

Not good at all

As a student, I had to go to this school as a last resort after not being in the catchment area for any others.

I feel much resentment for the treatment of people at this school, I have had first hand experience of bullying and discrimination and have been a witness to many other accounts. I could honestly list so many physical fights that have happened at this school, even between year seven students, but the list would be too long to fit. A boy with autism in my year was assaulted and bullied by a group of girls, they completely destroyed his prised possession which he always carried with him - his bereaved grandpas umbrella. Even after multiple students, including myself, reported this incident - we all received a copy and pasted response from our head of year, and nothing further was done to tackle the bullying.

It pains me to rate the school so terribly because there are some truly great teachers at this school, who’s work would be much more appreciated somewhere else.

All of the teachers listed have greatly improved my experience at this school and made me feel like I had something worth fighting for.

However, some teachers are not so honourable and have extreme biases. You can tell that they do not care for the students that calmly mind their business and achieve the school the grades they need to be prevented from returning to special measures but instead their attention is predominantly focused on the badly behaved students that do something good once in a blue moon, which hurts when you feel unaccounted for and swept away despite never bending the rules once.

There is also an extreme disregard for people within the LGBTQIA+ community or people who are simply ‘different’. Me and my friends are almost all part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and we have experienced discrimination within the school. My friends brother has been called slurs and insults for years and his form tutor will not remove him from the form that his bully is also present in, so much to the extent that her father had to phone the headmaster to try and get something done - which it still hasn’t. The teachers do not bat an eyelid at racist or homophobic jokes or insults, they simply don’t seem to care and I think having a poster that says ‘Some people are gay, get over it” isn’t going to miraculously stunt the homophobia in the school. Even on the s*x ed days only straight couples are told about how to be safe, there is no information for homos*xual people - which is dangerous as they could be exposed to S*Ds from their lack of education on the matter.

The nursing staff are also horrendous, they’ve never let me go home even despite the fact I was never a regular. I’ve been on the brink of tears in pain and their reason for not letting me be picked up to be taken to the hospital was “you came in here after lunch” - despite the fact I had been sitting in there for over 2 hours.

The teachers seem to have a specific dislike to me, I don’t know why but it’s probably how I look. I know the teachers say they don’t pick and choose who to tell off and stuff but they really do, I see popular kids getting away with literally pushing people down the stairs [this genuinely happened] but if i have my skirt a millimetre above my knee then I’m straight off to isolation - you aren’t even allowed to wear stud earrings or a coat that isn’t black or navy? Do they not realise that money doesn’t grow on trees.

I could seriously go on for days about how horrendous this school is but I’m gladly nearly out and thank the heavens I’m not going to their sixth form.
Student
Jan 28, 2021

BRILL

Absolutely amazing school!
If you want all A**s then come to the Beacon you will not be disappointed.

Although I must warn the neeks are odd creatures.
Student
Jan 7, 2021

Worst school

Horrible, they’ve done nothing to help any student succeed
Student
Dec 3, 2020

review

Been there for almost 6 years now. Bullying doesn't get dealt with very well. I know someone who was hate crimed by another student and the victim was sanctioned for absolutely nothing. The teachers can be quite rude, although some are lovely. The students can be rough. Physical fights happen every few weeks and aren't handled very well. Teaching is okay, but could be better.
Student
Oct 19, 2020

Wouldn’t recommend

The Beacon School is an alright school, but it’s not the best. Being at the school for a while now, i’ve noticed a lot of things that aren’t okay. Teachers a rude to students for no reason. Calling them names and being horrible. They don’t do anything about bullying. I personally know two people who have reported bullying multiple times and nothing has been done about it and it has gotten worse. One of the people emailed the head teacher and he did nothing either. Overall, the lessons are fine and teach you a lot but the environment is bad.

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