The Trafalgar School at Downton

The Bullying policy put in place is absolute bullshit.. The teachers will call out the students who have bullied a particular student and continue to explain who told the teachers about it which makes the bullying worse. Some students suck up to teachers to gain favor with them to make the teachers think they can do no wrong and ignore other less favourable students. There is no monitor on the busses which make it a perfect spawning ground for students to abuse and harass others. Students chuck stuff at some students which makes other students feel scared to sit anywhere but the back of the room. Teachers call on students in class to "boost confidence" in the quiet students however that in fact makes their anxiety worse and makes them worried about what other people will say which again.. Makes the bullying worse. Instead of picking out people and putting them on the spot the teachers should ask students to raise their hand and if nobody does they should back off and explain it themselves. I remember pretending to be sick all the time just to get out of the classrooms toxic atmosphere and to get out of being called apon by a teacher. I struggled severely with my mental health but school was the main causing factor. The school's mental health support was awful and still is. I had to go to a councillor meeting for my mental health as I stopped eating and began self harming but none of their advice helped me. I didn't get any refferal to see a professional to help me. I am now chronically ill with a lot of physical health issues that the school was abdoment I was faking. I remember only having one member of staff that I felt safe with and she was an administrator at the school. I couldn't even trust my actual teachers. I remember teachers being violent and would slam things on desks near students, shout at students and swear at them. I left school in 2021 and this is all still stuck with me. My younger sister still goes to this school, she's on the spectrum and it's only become worse. The doors are taken off the toilet rooms which makes the students feel uncomfortable to use them. Maybe instead of calling out students and making bullying worse you could monitor the class properly or introduce a class monitor who solely looks out for this kind of behaviour. Or install cameras in the classroom to prevent this and make a SAFE SPACE for students to go to and I'm not meaning for groups of students to go to. Like a support club for students to talk about things with a member of staff in a group discussion.

Some teachers make lessons unbearable due to how patronising or boring they are. I honestly don't think that they care enough to engage their students. I like the atmosphere especially around summer (aside from how hot it is in classrooms) because it puts you in a good mood or something. I don't know how to describe it other than saying it "radiates positivity" but that's pretty cliche. I also like a lot of the food. Despite this, i have to complain how bad the uniform policy is currently. First off, apparently white socks aren't allowed. This is stupid because I see everyone walking around school wearing white ankle socks anyway and wearing black socks, especially in the summer, makes us even hotter than we have to be. Another thing is jewellery, we are allowed one stud earring (god forbid hoops of any size or anything dangling) one stud nose piecing (ok?) but... woah! if a teacher sees someone with more than one ring or a bracelet... AHH!!! Oh goodness gracious that is absolutely disgraceful! Apparently we aren't allowed them because they look untidy and/or can be unsafe. "AHHH! David is cutting my arm off with his multiple rings!!!!!!" or "OH MY GOD!!! Jessica your bracelet is so ugly, it's burning my eyes out!" You've got to be having a laugh guys and unfortunately it's always targeted at the girls (as well as skirt lengths.) My final thing I want to add is that some teachers, despite the school being overall pretty good at equality and things like that, teachers definitely favourite the popular boys or the loud and annoying girls. When i'm just trying to do my English work in silence all i can hear is my English teacher joking around with all the popular kids and praising them for being funny (or something) when i've been working nonstop for the whole lesson. My English teacher doesn't even care! It makes me not even want to try. Similar to this, even though as i've said before the school is quite good a equality and such, i've heard countless times "i need two strong BOYS to carry this box," It feels very dehumanising when you get treated differently everyday because you're not a loud, strong, funny boy. You're just a weak girl with stupid opinions, a very strong sense of justice, and five bracelets underneath my jumper sleeve. In conclusion, the school's fine but some of the teachers are bad. (By the way, I really appreciate how good the school is with supporting the LGBTQIA+ community and educating students in our school about it so that there is less stigma around it and less bullying, even though there still is)

All issues that are thrown up and reported are not dealt with in and effective way.

The school is ok I guess

i currently attend this school and its okay. i have dealt with bullying since day one and not much has been done about it. i have been mocked by teachers because of my mental illnesses. most of the teachers are amazing but some,however, are not.