St Marks Church of England Academy

"I was in year 7 for two weeks and got 2 detentions for coming late (30min long) 3 min being late like come on have some sympathy. All kids i talked to said they wanted to leave. Great job st marks"

"simple don’t go to stmarks. the students are the worst, the teachers are fed up and don’t care. they don’t even give the support to people who need it. This school should be stopped and should be under new management"

"This school is good when it comes to education and communication with students and teachers but when it comes to bullying and taking things seriously, they don't know how to deal with it. I've witnessed people get bullied and I've been through it with them but nothing has been done. They've spoken to both students but they haven't sanctioned the bully. Only a few IEC's but come on now? A few? For a bully? Also, they favourite students so when they do, do something wrong, they are not correctly delt with. This school has problems when it comes to hiring staff causing a disruption in GCSE options and messy classes with many cover teachers having to come in. The school is too small and yet they're still trying to fit more students inside. However, among the many negatives, there are positives. For example like I said before, the communication between students and teachers is good when it comes to seating arrangements and sorting out homework as the students are able to email their teachers. They are well kept when it comes to uniform and they have after school enrichments available even if they do lack resources. I must say, the open evening this year went better than previous years and that's something I'm sure parents would look forward to. -AX"

"I was a student at St Mark's from year 7 till year 11, and my experience there was the worst. I would never recommend anyone I encounter to go St Mark's because of how they treated me once I came out. Once I came out to them in year 7 and asked them to change my name on the register, with my parents' permission, I was denied that, with them asking me if I'm sure and that I should go to youth clubs to make 100% sure of my choice. I was devastated when I found out they still hadn't changed my name when I came back in year 8, I had to ask them again. A teacher there almost gave me detention, because of something that wasn't my fault at all. I used to change in different changing rooms because I couldn't go into the men's changing rooms and felt uncomfortable using the women's ones, I had to change in the disabled bathrooms, I had to wait a while for them to be open, and because of that, I was late to my lesson, and when I tried to explain it to that teacher, she didn't listen and almost gave me detention, which was disrespectful. Another teacher also told me off for attempting to use the men's restrooms, to fix my hair. They said that it's "inappropriate". In what sense is me using the bathroom I feel comfortable using inappropriate? I didn't even need to use it, I just wanted to go in there to fix my hair. They also mentioned how "the others would feel uncomfortable and it'd be inappropriate for me being there". I'm sorry, but I'd just be there to do my business and leave. They should really invest in having gender neutral bathrooms instead of spending their money on chairs they don't need and oversized clocks, maybe then they wouldn't have to complain how inappropriate it is for someone to use a bathroom. The only good part of that school were some teachers that genuinely helped and listened, and were overall good teachers, who treated their students with the respect they deserved and didn't play favourites. The two things this school cares about is their reputation and the dress code."

"St Mark's Academy is an amazing place to learn and work. As an ex pupil who attended the academy between 2010 and 2017, I witnessed the rapid progression of both the teaching and learning within the academy. I am now an employee at the St Mark's, welcomed back by our current principle Hannah Fahey and many other staff members that once taught me. St Mark's has demonstrated they not only genuinely care about your progression and development within the academy, but also when you leave too. The Academy values of Love Hope and Trust really permeates throughout everything that we do here at St Mark's and I encourage you to visit and see for yourself! I couldn't possibly fault them."