Paddington Academy

"Disgusting school. Children are constantly being bullied and the teachers are rude. They drill an idea into their heads and try to make themselves look better when they really are not. Take my word, you can keep replying to these reviews and making yourself look better but you should be embarrassed from the lack of respect and care for these children. If you want your child to develop many mental health issues and be stuck in a room for over 8 hours here is your place. Disgusting school."

"As an ex student of the school I can say that intally I enjoyed my time at pa. This was however when it was a performing arts school and was run my Ms Tomlinson. The school valued not just purely academic subjects but creative ones too, had supplies like musical instruments, music teachers, dance classes, theater productions, music concerts, dance concerts. Progressively as the years went on this seemed to change. No more showcases of non-academic creativity and an agressive tug on achieving the best grade at what seemed like any means necessary. The inventive was no longer the children's happiness, creativity and their learning but their ability to produce good grades. Silent transitions when walking to classes may seem like a good idea on paper but having an hour detention for asking when and where a class is when you're lost with out being able to explain yourself simply isn't fair. Many of the rules and consequences were unfair.This school creates many petty rules just to force students into submission . Creating an environment that was no longer fun to be in, learning at this school became a chore . If you would like your child to be a well rounded person I wouldn't recommend this school.if you'd like a child battling with depression but produces grades this is the school for your child to go to."

"This is an excellent school in our area and is very popular with parents that I know. It gets really good results and the pupils behave well when I see them on the streets near the school. I’m glad that local children have the chance to go to such a good school"

"I am a former student of this institution. From year 7 all the way till year 13. It started off fine, but it developed into an abusive institution. I struggled with depression and PTSD, and the staff remained abusive towards me. We were expected to act like robots with the same values drilled into our heads; "hardwork, integrity, and excellence", meanwhile most of the teachers themselves did not preach these things at all. They lashed out at students with whatever internalised anger they never learned to deal with, towards children as young as 12. They punished you for the slightest of things; dropping a pen, forgetting to pass an equipment check, speaking in the corridors on your way to lessons. It's indoctrination, and it's inhumane. The only times we could socialise were break and lunch time -- that leaves roughly 30-45 minutes a day in an 8 hour schoolday, to socialise. They also have something called the isolation room -- where you could not speak at all and could not go outside unless you had to go to the bathroom. For 8 hours. This school is corrupt, abusive, and needs to be shut down. I explicitly told sixth form staff and the principal that I was suicidal and had to go on study leave as external environments where my caretakers could not supervise me, was unsafe. I even had a written letter from my psychiatrist - and yet they disregarded me. Luckily, the pandemic hit and the school closed down anyway. This institution is nothing short of inhumane."

"So I was a former student at this school and as much as children do not like school I cannot stress enough as to why you should not take/ send your child to this school. So to begin, I knew lots of children who were bullied and let's just say that teachers did absolutely nothing. People I knew were bullied up from year 7 to pretty much the end of their years at this school. Now if we get on to the behaviour system, they will say they are trying to help but by a child getting sent out they are left in a room, with no window, just a closed door and I can tell you from experience, it is unpleasant and they will not even let you go to the toilet no matter how much you need it. There are many good teachers but I think they are going downhill. Now as for what students are "learning" it isn't really much. The teachers drill information in your head and then you vomit it in the test. It shocks me that after leaving I now have forgotten almost everything I have "learnt" at Paddington Academy. The food in the school is horrible and truthfully speaking 70% of the time is under-cooked / raw. They also love to repetitively force the same words in students heads. Hard work, Integrity and of course Excellence. They force it in the heads of students and make the students experience at Paddington Academy unpleasant. This is why I stress that you don't send your child here."