Hello, I am a former student of St Teilo's CIW High School. I am writing this review to list my…read moreexperiences about my time here. If this gets taken down, it's either due to moderation or the fact that this review will "damage the school reputation." I am stating the truth and nothing but the truth, and if they don't like it, then the staff should've thought about the consequences of their unprofessionalism.
Quick note to the Headteacher or anyone of power that the name "Tony Fiddlesticks" is a simple alias. I am not revealing my true identity as I know that you will show up at my house and force me to take the review down.
To start off, I joined the school during a troublesome era. This was during Covid-19. So, I didn't expect the school to be as it was promised due to the strict regulations at that time. I was correct to assume this, but I didn't have any issues with scheduling or anything of the sort. If anything, Year 7 was probably the only year I actually felt happy in.
Moving onto Year 8. Year 8 was a year where I had begun to receive homophobic remarks from some of my classmates. The teachers had me write a note, to which they read and talked to the kid about his behaviour. Did he stop? No. Infact, I had told the staff members to not put me in any classes with him, yet they proceeded to keep me in the same classes with him throughout the rest of Year 8 and Year 9. My safety was completely ignored.
Year 9 was a smooth year to begin with. I gained a few friends and life felt complete. However, one day a male student grabbed my butt without my consent. This went down as sexual assault, as it was clear it had sexual intent behind it. I spoke to a teacher and the word went to the headteacher, Mr Lloyd, who inevitably pulled me aside and spoke to me about it. He began trying to find excuses for his behaviour such as "maybe he was joking, boys are always like that." Mind you, sexual assault is far from a joke and should never be treated as such. He then began to switch topics and went on to talk about my sexuality, which shouldn't have even been mentioned to begin with. Apparently, the boy who SA'd me was not spoken to by Mr Lloyd and the event went unspoken.
Another event that occurred in Year 9 was that I was groomed online by a woman and was facing false allegations from my ex-friends who knew about her. I talked to my Head of Year about this incident, who pulled me aside once to talk about it. Once. It was never talked about again, just like my sexual assault. I had nobody to go to for help at this point and it felt like I couldn't even be taken seriously.
Nothing worth mentioning happened in Year 10, the majority of it has been blocked out of my mind anyways.
In Year 11 however, is where the line was drawn for me. I had been continuously getting sexually assaulted in my PE class, this one was more brutal than the rest, as this guy would wrap his arms around me and thrust his penis onto my butt. I went to my Head of Year as one last attempt to secure my safety. She spoke to me about removing me from my PE classes and letting me sit in the Hwb, which was a room where kids could go if there were any issues. She also spoke to me about taking away my SA'ers lunchtime, which is not a threatening punishment at ALL. He was one of those kids who would always cause trouble, so a punishment like that is basically a bit of dust on his shoulder.
Remember when she had said that I was allowed to sit in the Hwb? One day, I did exactly that, as I did not feel comfortable enough to go to PE that day. The people in the Hwb ring her to confirm if I was allowed to sit out for that day. She then responds with "He needs to go to PE." So, not only had she completely forgotten her promise, but she basically proved that there's nothing I could possibly do to feel safer in that school.
Now that I am out of the school, I have one question for you, the person who is reading this review. Do you think going to this school would help you? There's more to my personal issues that should put you off going to this school.
In lessons, the teachers would constantly spend the majority of their time yelling at the children instead of teaching. That's right. Yelling. They wouldn't peacefully talk to them, they would straight up scream at them. This school is not a peaceful environment, it's far from it.
So, to any parents reading this review. Would you want your child to endure this treatment? Would you want them to face years of them not getting any help they need if they go through any sort of hardship? No matter what the school says about providing support for mental health, don't believe a word. If you complain to them, they won't help. My mum has complained many times and yet they never bothered to help after that.
St Teilo's CIW High School is a place of false hopes and dreams. It's not the best school in Cardiff, it's far from it. They only have this "great reputation" only because the teachers act positive and professi