Parent's Review of Gems Bolitho School as of January 2011 in Penzance, UK

What is the name of your child's school? (Please report on one school per survey.)

Gems Bolitho School as of January 2011

In what town or city is this school located?

Penzance

How would you describe this school? (i.e. American, British, International, Local, etc.)

British

What grade levels are represented at this school?

aged3-18

How do most children get to school everyday? (bus, train, walk, etc.)

car, minibus, walk

How would you describe the facilities at this school? What extra-curricular activities are available?

OK, but looking rather tatty around the edges. No swimming pool, lots of temporary buildings

What has this school done to help your child transition from the curriculum in your home country into the curriculum in your new country? Are there programs to prepare your child for repatriation?

Not much - you just get on with it

How would you describe the social activities available for parents through this school? Are there parent-teacher organizations?

There is a PTA with willing people, but not the same as it used to be

What advice would you give to someone considering enrolling their child in this school?

It is a small school that should be really good, but is owned by GEMS who do not understand what parents want or expect.. The curriculum is not appropriate, the 6th form facilities are a joke compared to what they were, and the pupils do not have the opportunities which similar schools elsewhere in the country have. The teachers are quite narrow-minded without a sense of the realities of a competitive environment, and pupils ill-prepared for the real world when they leave cosy Penzance. It is not really good enough, and school leadership is pretty non-existent. School comes high in the league tables because the competition is so poor.