The Garibaldi Secondary School Garibaldi Road, Forest Town, Mansfield NG19 0JX

"Good education but bad for bullying"

"Honestly, such a bad place to send children when it comes to mental health and well-being. I was bullied mercilessly from Year 7 to early Year 10, and the only thing the school did to help was tell me to 'ignore them'. Given that the bullying was about my homosexuality and appearance, one thing I can't change and another that's difficult to change, I constantly felt horrible about myself to the point where I cried about going to this 'school'. They don't care about how you're feeling or what you're going through, as long as your grades are continuous and you make the staff look brilliant. It's rather disgusting how it takes a child to do something awful, for them to finally bring in professionals and for them to start THINKING about what others are going through. The Sixth Form is also rather ridiculous, in the sense that you get told 'you're an adult now, there's a sense of freedom, you may come and go as you please with your fob'.. But this changes when you are actually inside, given that I was actually FOLLOWED to the toilet because they 'thought I was going out of the building'. There's nothing 'adult' about Sixth Form, especially when you've been apart of a year group that the entire school has hated since day 1. My year had no Sixth Form trip, but every year before us have had one and they've now decided to give the years below them too. We had no end of Sixth Form celebration, no prom-related activity, just a very quick 'assembly'. Alas, there are a few pros but not nearly enough that there should be. There's a HANDFUL, of lovely teachers, who are open-minded adults who genuinely care for students' well-being. The other being that when you are in the year group that they don't like, it gets to the point where they stop talking to you and begin pretending that you aren't there. Before, if I were to miss a day in Sixth Form I'd get a phonecall home about my wear-abouts, (which in Sixth Form they shouldn't be doing as you can 'choose when to turn up'), but towards the end of my time there they just stopped bothering. I'm sure other schools are the same when it comes to not fixing bullying issues, and the disrespectful attitude towards certain individuals, but no one school is perfect. Overall, I've made some lifelong friends from this 'school', mainly due to them agreeing with the same beliefs and opinions I have of this place, but I wouldn't send my child here. Not a chance."