Duke's Aldridge Academy

Last year they invited me for a tour of the school so I could get a feel for the school and see if I wanted to proceed with an interview.  I had very little money as I was a student teacher and was being selective about how many places I could go; but went up there to find out more.  They expressed a very keen interest in having me back for interview after our initial meeting. This was a Friday, interview time/date to be scheduled for the following week. I had one or two reservations about the school (the headmistress barely acknowledged me when we were introduced and carried on talking to another member of staff, they had also misled my agency (and me!) about the start date) however I happily accepted the invite to interview and began to prepare.  By Monday, they called the agency who had originally sent me there and told her interview was cancelled without giving any explanation.  My agency spent three weeks trying to get even one shred of information about why (e.g. was it my fault, was there a change in their needs...?) and they singularly refused to even provide an explanation (I would have accepted anything by this point - a lie, change of circumstances...) and quite early on started screening calls from my agency, forgetting my name and suggesting that my agency was trying to sell them amazon alexas and trying to hang up on her (my name is Alexa, for context).  As a student teacher I am comfortable with rejection of course, but as we all know feedback is hugely important and valuable to candidates and to students - its what teaching is all about. I wanted the opportunity to learn from the experience, if I could.  And if feedback is not possible, anyone who shells out travel costs and makes an effort to visit a school deserves at the very least an explanation when a role is suddenly no longer available. I was aware that the school had had a pretty tumultuous few years going through academisation, but still I could not believe their behaviour and there is no excuse - it says a lot about the SLT when they can't or wont make time for early career teachers or potential future candidates. I see they are now rehiring for that same teaching role. I found a great school elsewhere, but even if I hadn't... I wouldn't touch it with a long barge pole!

Please don't even consider Dukes Aldridge Academy as a school choice for your teenager. This school is extremely poor. The senior staff who are meant to protect your child, they really don't care about your child's safety and will openingly tell you this to your face. They discriminate you for having a disability and are serious hypocrites. They encourage uniqueness & tell your child to be 'themselves' but as soon as your child trys to discover who they are, Monica Duncan will give you whip lash with how fast she will suspend or exclude your child. Whom maybe only coloured the tips of their hair, red, for example. Most classes are unteachable at how noisy & disruptive the students are. The general teachers have little control. The school is utter useless and your child will most probably end up with PTSD. Don't send them here!!!

I am a student at this very bad schools, im a year 10 student and im here to expose the school, the schools rules are atrocious and there is fights everyday, the teachers swear during conversations with students, they name call students by calling them idiots etc, they also back chat by students back saying inappropriate things about them, a teacher instructed a child to clear the booger out of his nose by using his back hand, i threw a packet of tissue to him because i felt bad that he is being treated with this disrespect and then I got in trouble, I received whats know as a refferal, this school teachers are full of imposters, and they act wonderful in opening evenings and to year 7s to trick them but then they show and reveal the true school!! Nobody likes the school do not attend

Had to walk out of reception at 4:35 after the meet and great that I had. Went in the receptionist was typing stood there for a while she looked up then went back to what she was doing when she looked up again I said hi . She looked at me and started to help the person behind me & said take a seat I said it's a quick question she put her hand up and proceeded to help another person. If this is the first point of contact when entering the school what does it say about the rest of the school. ??????

as soon as you walk in you’re greeted with an extremely rude receptionist, you do not want that women as the face of your school. the teachers themselves cannot teach apart from a few good ones that they managed to keep. the school is extremely broke; having to make several teachers redundant, not having enough equipment etc. the school does not care about mental health at all, they say they do but they don’t. they’ll tell you that they’ll support you but they won’t. the school councillor is very unprofessional along with many other staff members. do not send ur students here. honestly i hope i get hit by a car before i manage to finish with this school.

I am reviewing as an external student who came to do the exams for one of my GCSEs here. The building and displays are nice, but I noticed the n-word written in Japanese Kanji on one of the walls. As this school has many black students and staff you would assume the teachers would catch on to this and remove it. All the exams that I went for started HALF AN HOUR LATE. Papers were not ready on the desks as is customary, but handed out 10 mins after sitting down (???). The Listening paper was conducted in a large, echoing hall with a metal roof that clangs every time water falls on it, I don’t know how that was approved.The Head Invigilator is a foul woman. She treated the external students like dogs- one of the external students turned around to look at the back, didn’t talk, and she screamed at us saying we were going to ‘sabotage their student’s exam.’ They told us to LEAVE the hall and come back in silence otherwise they would disqualify all of us when none of us had spoken. Meanwhile their students were screaming and throwing stuff while waiting to enter the hall. After that fiasco the exam went on. At 5 minutes left there was no warning as is procedural in all exams, which threw some younger students when that lady told us to stop. The girl in front of me (also external) was very confused as there was no warning and wrote maybe 2 more words on her paper before shutting it. This woman berated her in front of everyone, repeating how the girl had to write a report and how she shouldn’t try and justify what she did. With everyone looking at this girl she broke down into TEARS. The invigilator could not care less. Absolutely heartless and completely biased to home students versus the externals. Glad my exams here are done. Shocking.

The rudest receptionist ever! Amazing school but the receptionist take the whole school down, very serious. Women without manners, and clearly without any respect for other people she doesn’t care what you are. I get people have taught days but this is every time I have to go to the school.It makes you doubt what is the school teaching to the kids; bad manners, no respect for others....

I feel sadden by most of the negative comments about this school as my experiences have been nothing but positive.The head teacher is a great leader and she runs a tight ship which is good enough for me.I never had a problem with the teachers. They have a no nonsense approach which I think is necessary, but at the same time they are apporoacable. They are determined to get the best out of the children and will do their hardest to make sure they achieve in their subjectsThe head of year Mrs Bailey is a straight talking, no nonsense teacher with a warm heart and is so dedicated to her work.She's always on the go and gets the job done. Don't underestimate her! .As for the receptionist, Miss Lees, I never had any problems with her personally. She was always polite and very helpful each time I've contacted the school. I think she is just misunderstood.I'm sure people would like her,as I do, if they took time to acknowledge, and get to know her.No school is perfect at the end of the day, but if my child wasn't happy/not doing well, then I would be sure to remove them.People take for granted what goes on behind the scenes at school. I'm sure some people would be more respectful if they were aware of the additional hours that the teachers incurr after school has finished.As a parent, I think you get out what you put in. Communicate with the teachers, and I dont mean just when there is a problem! Be polite, respectful and try to build a good rapport in the interest of your child. By doing so you may find teachers are more receptive.

DO NOT EVER send your child here.I'm a year 11 student and my 5 years at this attrocious school has been a living hell. Tecently the school kept all year 11 students behind after school until 5:00, bare in mind the school's regular finishing time is 3:10, without informing parents- I'm pretty sure that's ILLEGAL.Furthermore, their standards" are absolutely rediculous. You can't wear more than one pair of socks

The teachers at this school have been some of the worst people I have ever dealt with. Constantly doubting the students and aiming to humiliate them in front of their peers. Sending my child to this school was my worst mistake.