The Royal High School

Royal high school is the most unserious place ever, First, people who actually get bullied by other students never get accountability for their actions hence a pupil that used to go there who would get away with targeting and fighting 4 hijabis, fighting two mums whose kids go to this school, being absolutely racist to other students, vaping inside the school and getting away with it which is absolutely disgusting because when other people who would do this would get shamed for it and this pupil would get away with it or if you defend yourself when you are being bullied you would 100% get in way more trouble then the actual bully. I remember one time i reported a pupil being racist towards me , i had proof that she was being racist and my guidance teacher did nothing about it even when i said i had proof the guidance teacher said he didn’t want to see it . I was blamed for confronting her and scolded for it. Till this day the pupil never got held accountable. This shows the unfairness and favouritism they have amongst over students and they don’t even try to hide it. Another thing was school dress code, i remember a time where i was wearing full black (the dress code) i was wearing everything black down to my shoes and i was told that i needed to be dress coded. I find this very funny as they let other people in the school wear white hoodies, CORSETS which highly inappropriate to wear in school, tank tops and more clothes that was not related to the dress code and i saw the headteacher do nothing about it other than harass people who actually wear full black and i mind you the to buy the school uniforms is about £30-£60 for blazers, a hoodie and a tie. They complained that other people in this school would get less confident that other people wore nike or any designer brand to school and made the rule to only wear all black and no logos ( i did this and i still got dress coded). but they charge you that same amount as a nike store ?? what happened to the pupils who aren’t vulnerable enough to afford all of this? . Thirdly , The food if i have the chance to show you what it looks like i would but i cant, the food is utterly disappointing , the food doesn’t look appetising at all. It taste very bland and gross and surprisingly not healthy for students to eat. Lastly , the unfairness again , ive seen them care so much about Ukraine and standings solidarity with them , putting the flag and stuff , donating money but when it comes to a non white country aka Palestine they stay so silent when they need our attention, There was no donation events for them or even solidarity. Which is quite shocking how they are supposed to be a “ rights respecting school” when there legitimately not at all and what happened to equal RACIAL rights ?? Im telling you right now if you’re someone of colour and decided to go to this school my only advice is to leave as quick as possible because if anything such as racial slurs or hate are being thrown out you and you decided to tell guidance teachers THEY WONT DO A THING!!! most of the time they will say they will talk to the person which is completely bullshit , they don’t care that you’re being treated this way , they only care if you’re white and or in the LGBTQ community. The only good thing about this school is the deputies and the teachers , all of them understand you and hear from your point of view, they deal with thing’s smoothly and can be trusted!! If you’re going to this school and experience any hate go to the deputy heads do not go to the guidance teachers they will only blame you for it or do nothing about it. The deputies will listen to you and see your point of view , they try handle the situation perfectly. They never pick sides unlike guidance teachers and they LISTEN which is why i really like them. They are all nice people and they deal with things so professionally.

If you’re thinking of going to Royal high School please dont!! Certainly:

The school's handling of racism and favoritism is troubling. Despite serious incidents, like assaults on hijabis and parents, the administration has been slow to act took them a a year to expell the student. Students who speak out about mistreatment by the head teacher face consequences. This unfairness makes students uncomfortable . Also, their selective response to international issues, supporting one cause but ignoring another, raises doubts about their commitment to fairness."

"The" Royal High School. A Historic Edinburgh Secondary School. When you tell people you meet where you go to school, the first question they ask is, "how did you get in". The big misconception about RHS is that it's an independent school. Indeed, the atmosphere of the current Barton location would suggest so. I have no complaints about academia at RHS, accept for perhaps the fact that there is almost no work ethic at all among the majority of the pupils. Do the school really live up to their values?

To put it simply, the school is stuck up, and has an absolutely appalling atmosphere. 56% of the school live in SIMD 10, which isn't a gripe in itself. However it becomes a problem when you see the unbelievable snobbery and general arseholeness of a proportionally representative group of the school.

Bullying
The school offers a wide range of... methods in which you can be bullied and have it not dealt with. There is of course the obvious, the s3 Rugby team are so good that they usually beat their opposition 50+ to 0, which makes them think they have the right to lock weaker students in the bike cages(leaving them there for hours) and call them appalling names. There is also a disgraceful attitude in the upper school. Not a day goes by when the girls from s4 and 5 shout appalling names at me down the corridor. It's thr typical situation which you see in films. The spoiled pretty girl with an accountant Father spreads a disgusting rumour claiming that someone has done something bad to her, and the whole school "stand with her" to combat the "Monster" who is the real victim. Indeed, your now ruined reputation will trickle down to the younger years, who will no longer see you as a role model, but see you as nothing but a piece of sh*t. Is this dealt with? Absolutely not. The best you will get is "we will speak to them", which they do, I'll give them that. But punishments are rare, even if the Bullying goes as far as that poor child being locked in the bike cage by the S3s. If your child is what you would consider "different" in any way, send them here if you want to deal with countless nights of watching your child in distress after experiencing the horror of this place. Indeed, one of the school values in inclusion or individuality or whatever. Well there's one thing which the school doesn't really have on the whole.

Extra curriculars/sports
They are OK. There are the typical lunch time clubs you'd expect from a functioning school. I have actually enjoyed years of Band at Wednesday lunch. These activities have slowly died over time however, due to the pandemic and people realising that it can be fun to just sit there, on your phone. In terms of sports, I'd say it's great, with the exception of rugby. Rugby has slowly died at this school over the past decade. The school like to call themselves a "Rugby school", but in reality, we don't even have an u18 team. They folded due to a lack of participation. And of course, there are the S3s/u15s discussed earlier, who play amazing, however you cannot call yourself a real Rugby team without showing respect for others, which is after all, one of the core values of the great game. As far as sports facilities go, we have a small swimming pool and a small gym. The gym is not for open use however, and can only ever be used by younger P.E classes who simply mess around with and ultimately disrespect the valuable equipment. I can tell you that Dance is good here though. I see the girls in the assembly hall practicing every day with an excellent teacher. It's offered at nat 5 and Higher level, which is great.

Academics
We are high on the league tables. We get good grades. But we all know that this is simply down to the social class from which our pupils come. The work ethic at the school is generally very poor, with a culture of laziness having become supreme. In this school, you get made fun of if you try hard in your studies. Sounds odd, I know. It is of course course out of jealousy. The reason for our good grades is probably the cramming undertaken by the pupils during exam term, forced upon them by their posh Mummies. The Teachers are generally good, but you of course have that select few who simply come up with every single excuse under the sun not to work hard for their pupils' success. These are the ones who didn't know what to do for a living, and chose teaching to get a decent job with great holidays. They quite clearly didn't consider the importance the job and often opt for hand out "frickin packets!" as a method of teaching. (If you get that reference, you have my respect).

Social education
The school of course, force their political opinions on you, without any consideration of the opposition, often presenting their side as gospel, as opposed to a debate.

As far as personal development goes, I have learned alot. Meaning - I've learned how to deal with utter arseholes, and gossip. You come to this school to develop and learn the hard way. You are plonked in the middle of this environment, with nothing to help you. A bit like minecraft.

In short, the School is absolutely not all it's cracked up to be, and as an s6 leaver (who has to stay to get advanced highers), I can tell you now that the Cliché of highschool being he best time of your life, will definitely never be preached by me.