Hyndland Secondary - current/recent experience

[soundsys]

Hello

Does anyone have kids at Hyndland who could share their thoughts? Thinking about secondary for my eldest who is academically bright but anxious and struggles socially (ASD and OCD).

On paper it looks great - no uniform, lots of extracurriculars (including a teacher on staff for her not-super-popular-instrument and a Pokemon club!) - and looks like a good range of choice for subjects in senior phase by working with other nearby schools...

Would appreciate any words of caution or praise for the school from those in the know though 😊🙏

(We live down South at the moment but from Glasgow so understand about catchments, but as we'd be moving back we'd move to the catchment of the school we want - though this area would suit us for work/family reasons)

It's an excellent school. I have family and friends sending their kids there and they are doing well. The catchment is quite mixed, but in my opinion that's a good thing. I moved home into the catchment of the only direct state funded school in Glasgow, and got a place at that school as its on my doorstep but if I hadn't, Hyndland would have been on my list for my secondary school child. Notre Dame High is another school in the area, but its a Catholic school, so this may not be what you are seeking, but even as a non Catholic this would have been the other school om my list.

This is a very late reply so maybe your child has already started, but current student at Hyndland here. I'm in a similar situation, anxious and currently being tested for ASD. This school is honestly a sensory hell. The actual teaching is subpar but not terrible, but the other students and the culture is awful.

The school was originally built for around 700 pupils, and has i think 1100 enrolled at the moment. The corridors are so busy sometimes it feels like you're more being physically shoved to class than walking. It is too loud to hear yourself think over the yelling, swearing and wrestling of many of the other students. It is very much common to be hit with a can or food item, screamed at or shoved by a complete stranger. The 'playground' is the teacher's car park, full of bins and not much else. The pastoral care team (essentially the teachers who pupils are instructed to come to if they have any health and safety concerns) are constantly overwhelmed and so busy that they've recently had to implement a new barcode system just to try and limit the amount of kids in their room.

By the end of the day, many of us are just emotionally exhausted and downtrodden. I personally would trade the lack of a strict dress code for a school i didn't dread to be, at any day. If you did decide to send your child to hyndland, i hope that their experience is much more pleasant than mine, and that they have a decent pair of headphones. I wish your family all the best.

Also, off topic, but which teacher with an unusual instrument are you referring to? Would that maybe be Mrs Gillies who plays the bagpipes, or someone else?

Do bear in mind that i am being more than a bit negative in this post, just had a bad day (which included getting caught in a mock fight and shoved into a wall because apparently some of these people have less manners than animals.)

(subpar was not quite the right word choice, pretend i said suboptimal or similar)