Serlby Park Academy

"Update: They lost 2 years worth of A-Level artwork I made before I had a chance to pick it up. Terrible Post-16, OK GCSEs academically in 2016 but bad regarding new build, management and student experience . . . . . . I am a previous student at Serlby Park Academy. I attended the school from nursery to finishing my GCSEs before the school moved into a new building, then attended the Sixth Form. My GCSEs at this school before the new build went relatively well, and I achieved high GCSE grades. I found the quality of teaching at this level to be OK and I did not have any particular difficulty, which is why I made the mistake of choosing to attend their sixth form. This must have changed as my younger sister transferred out of this school during her GCSE studies due to her negative experience. The way behaviour was managed in GCSEs was poor. There is a massive lack of communication in the management of this school making it very difficult to see results from any issue raised. Careers advice given to students was also bad - I was advised to take A-Level courses that did not fit the qualifications to start the course I wanted at university later causing me to take an extra year in Sixth Form. I believe the new building will detract a lot from the overall experience at this school because compared to the old campus-style site there are much fewer social areas and outdoor space to play sports and other activities except for an asphalt rectangle. The old departmental buildings were a much better layout - which have now been removed in place of a strange and confusing three-tier cuboid. The library is in a poor position being tucked away at the end of a corridor, removing much of the incentive for students to take a visit. The main dining hall was always cramped and the new main hall seemed too small. Studying for A-Level/BTEC IT, Art, Maths and Computer Science at this school and other Delta schools was a terrible experience. In place of a dedicated area the Sixth Form now found itself as an afterthought pushed into two seemingly random classrooms. The 'study room' was conjoined to a music teaching room- so much for studying. Monitoring and support for student performance and personalised tutoring was virtually non-existent. There were no extra curricular activities or clubs. The management of the sixth form at Serlby Park was insubstantial, I had to complain on many occasions often about the same things. In the latter half of my experience the head of sixth form position went virtually out of the window and the only way for me to raise issues was directly to higher-up. BTEC IT was made very difficult by multiple teachers suddenly leaving, being transferred to three different schools by the sixth form over the course and very poor teaching - one tutor seriously suggesting MFD stands for "Mobile (Ph)one Device". The web development module was taught with worse resources and tutor knowledge than GCSE IT. Only one teacher at the very end of the course seemed to have a fair amount of solid knowledge. A-Level Maths was made difficult by being transferred to different schools twice and an unengaging style of teaching in first year. The teacher Mr Kairns at Rossington All Saints sixth form was much better and gave my class any hope for progression. The only subject I made consistent progress in was Fine Art with a good teacher and plenty of space available to do extra work - but often shared with GCSE classes. This teacher has now left, and my artwork has apparently been lost before I could pick it up. I'm surprised I got into a Russell Group University through teaching myself a lot of missed content. I never even got my A-Level certificates. I think there are better alternatives than this school. I would not recommend any Delta sixth form in Doncaster."

"this school is the worst they will boss you around they have very strict teachers there is no point going I would rather send my kid to a prison because its better than this"

"this school is really bad, i would definitely advise not sending your children here, there are plenty of other and better schools!"

"If I could give this school no stars then I would! If you care about your childs education, do not send them here! If you raise any concerns, they are not bothered and will not help you. When my child was at this school I often wondered if the teachers were even qualified to teach! Mr McMahon who is the director of the academy is an aggressive and vile human being. I really do not know how he keeps his job. A person in this kind of position is surely supposed to lead by example, believe me, he doesn't! There are much better schools around than this one but I think it is just convenient for a lot of people and that's the mistake I made with my child. In fact after my experience with this school, I wouldn't even send my dog here!"

"I find it disgusting that a school worker comes to my house to check up on my daughter cause she is off school with tonsillitis been prescribed antibiotics from doctor than the school insists she attends and if she feels I'll they will ring me to pick her up early even though I will be at work but I could leave her at home nice and comfy with grandparents"