Williamwood High School

[ABDearheart]

Could somebody tell what Williamwood is like these days? Heard mixed reports about it recently?

I think it's still a pretty decent school. Has slipped down the ranking a bit but is the 8th best school in Scotland so it's still a great school in a predominantly affluent catchment area. What are your concerns?

Not worried about the academic side. More the sexual harassment, bullying, too concerned about results to care about the pupils’ wellbeing etc.

Not great news today - locking the toilets?

chng.it/BZhzTDMH5m

@Miraloma apparently that decision has been reversed. But shit - I had no idea about sexual harassment. What has happened?

Not first hand (second hand from DDs flatmate who left in 2020). She mentioned all of the above things. Didn't enjoy it at all.

I don't know anything about this school, but would think you'd struggle to find any secondary school containing both sexes that did not have any sexual harassment, in the same way that it exists in broader society.
Obviously some schools will be worse at dealing with it than others.

Pupils were never denied access to toilets - a move to try to stop large groups congregating in toilets to socialise during class time was misrepresented in the media, somewhat unsurprisingly....

Very focused on academic achievement
Great if DC are academic
Shit if they aren't

Are any of the other East Renfrewshire secondary schools (or Glasgow South) more all rounders: children are able to achieve academically, but more supportive in their well being? (I am not sure what I am looking forward, just a bit anxious with the transition from P7 to S1 after not having had very great primary school experiences.)

I think @prettybird rates Shawlands Academy very highly

That's true @readsalotgirl63

What I liked about Shawlands was the holistic way they looked at their young people: celebrating sports, drama, arts and just being well-rounded people as well as the academic side They also encouraged them to be self-sufficient.

The old head teacher was great but I've heard good things about the new head teacher too (ds is no longer there and I'm no longer on the Parent Council).

Ds was part of the School of Rugby which is still going on (involves some of their lesson time in S1 and S2). I think there is also a School of Basketball (and another sport?) but they're not as defined as the School of Rugby (they get support from the SRU and/or Glasgow Life).

Ds and his cohort all did well academically: he got an unconditional to go to Aberdeen Uni (also got one from Strathclyde) to study Politics and International Relations.He was doing AHs in Maths and Physics but fortunately was crashing a Higher in Modern Studies (changed his mind about his chosen career path between S5 and S6 )

Ds was placing request at Shawlands (should have gone to Bellahouston) but I think placing requests are more difficult to get now. But it's always worth trying

Thank you Prettybird, will have a look into Shawlands. That is the type of approach I was hoping for, but didn’t know if it was possible these days.

Have a look at Eastwood HS too

I have friends with children at Williamwood High and they all rate it very highly. They say that the pastoral support is very good and there’s lots of support for pupils with additional support needs.

The press coverage last week was nothing to do with sexual harassment, it was pupils bunking out of class, vaping in the toilets and setting off the fire alarms.

Mearns Castle and St Ninian’s also have good reputations.

However your child won’t get into any of these schools unless you live in the catchment area - they are very over subscribed for placing requests.