Hillpark Secondary

[MotherOfMonkeys0]

Hi,
Looking for recent experiences - good or bad - of Hillpark Secondary. I know there has been a new Head in recent years and things are improving, and there's also a big push for children to attend their catchment school. Just information gathering just now, we're a couple of years off S1.
Thanks!

Is it getting easier to get into East Rem schools these days? I'm surprised you say people got their placing requests. Or did they end up doing the placing request for 2nd year or upwards?

It’s funny to hear that so many are eager to send their kids to east Ren schools-they are an absolute mess.

so many kids with mental health issues due to the bullying which goes unchecked because of overcrowding.

disrupted lessons, theft from teachers, violence, knives and drugs in school from S2+

it’s a miracle that they get the results to stay at the top, but their students have statistically been some of the highest drop out rates at glasgow Uni.

don’t fall for it!

This is what I hear too. Mental Health problems through the roof, high uni drop out rates.
Anecdotally, peers of my D who went on to attend East Ren schools have all been exposed to/involved in cyberbullying, drink, drugs, vaping, shoplifting etc ftom S1, and under much more pressure with homework and tests.

I know someone who did a student placement at Hillpark and they were shocked at the behaviour they encountered, from both staff and pupils. They never met the headteacher (there were other students on placement in the school; how much effort is it to have them all together for a meet-up one lunchtime over several months?).

Can I ask what local alternative you sent your daughter to? Was it an easy process? My son is primary 6 and Hillpark is our catchment school and i'm so worried about it. Never heard any positive feedback from anyone.I personally attended another Glasgow school nearby but unsure if son could apply as it's a Catholic school and son attends a non denominational primary.

I'm interested in up to date feedback. Does anyone have any recent experience of the school?

Also interested

Also interested! Hillpark is our catchment school (even though it's a fair way away from our house). We border East Ren and DC are currently at an ER primary. We want Woodfarm but heard it's cracking down on placement requests. So that's worrying. We are planning to move but really don't want to. Still open to Hillpark as an option but obviously major concerns about its reputation. That said, I know people whose DC have started there and none of them have a bad thing to say about it...

i went to hillpark, finished 6th year in 2024. my experience was very mixed. I was a high achieving student, receiving 5As at higher and going on to Glasgow uni, so the school isn’t all bad, a lot of my s6 cohort did really well but we were a very small group. the younger years (1-3) are definitely harder, class sizes are massive with most subjects being 30 students in a class so teachers are spread very thin, it’s extremely hard in most classes to get help from teachers if you’re a quiet, respectful student who works well as the teachers are so consumed by the “problem” children. the senior years are far better, smaller cohorts, doing subjects you actually want to do, teachers have more time for you etc etc. there is however a problem with rude teachers, particularly the art and maths department, if you aren’t particularly good at these subjects the teachers are very uninterested in you. this happened to me with maths, i really struggled and now suspect i have dyscalculia. the teacher was very clearly annoyed by me not understanding things she found easy and just had no interest in helping me learn, if your child is experiencing that please tell them to speak up, i never did and i suspect most others don’t as well which is why it still continues. in first year their head of year is Mrs Downie, (unless this has changed since i left) she’s a very lovely woman and always ready to help so i would encourage them to speak to her if they have issues. i’m happy to answer any questions folk have if there’s people still reading this thread :)

Hi there- my son is due to start hillpark next year. How were things socially? I hear such mixed reviews and he is someone who has quite a limited social group as it is (awaiting assessment for autism).

@wingingit1987 hiya, i’m a girl so i may not be much help with the boys side of socialisation, but from what i saw it can be hard for boys who are a bit different to fit in, a lot of the boys especially in the younger years as they try to “prove themselves” to be cool or whatever are quite neddy! but if your son gets into a good club or finds some nice people i’m sure he’ll get on great, does he have friends from primary school going up with him? my advice would be to stick with those friends for the first couple weeks until he settles in and is able to branch out a bit. i know autistic children typically have special interests, does he have something he’s quite into? there could be a club for it! also, if you’re still feeling worried theres nothing wrong with phoning the school and asking for their advice on settling him in, they are quite good with neurodivergent children as there’s a whole seperate part of the school called the ASL department where kids who are neurodivergent and struggle are given extra support! i hope this was helpful <3

Thank you- that’s incredibly helpful!