Chanel College

I went here a while ago. Send your kids literally anywhere else. Was supposed to have accommodations that were almost never met. Got severely bullied. Teachers would make fun of students (especially those that weren’t top performers or those that already had personal issues.) if you aren’t an athlete, or a high academically achieving student, then teachers find it easier to pretend you don’t exist. When they do acknowledge your existence, it’s only to belittle you in front of the entire class. They would announce reasons you were leaving in-front of everyone, question what the appointments were all for (even if it was written on a note in-front of their face or they were informed ahead of time) and overall do everything they could to make your life a living hell. Only one or two good ones who I’ve been told have since left. This school cares more about uniform than well-being of those that attend. As someone who had always disliked school, all of this obviously made it a lot worse. Stopped attending and eventually went elsewhere. Most kids here leave before they even get to year 12, let alone year 13. Was so mentally fkd up by the point that I left this place that I never attended my new school and ended up dropping out. Without exaggerating, this place is hell. Just avoid it for the sake of your child/ren.

Avoid at all costs. Do not care about students wellbeing or safety among many other issues.

I was r*ped my first week here, at age 14. I didn’t bother telling anyone, as the culture of the school was to make up rumours and shame women. I was only there a year and a half and heard a myriad of tales about myself that I didn’t even know.
Heck, even the hair tying up policy ‘because it distracts the boys’. How about reach the boys to not assault people/treat women like humans?

Some teachers were great. Mr. Muller, Miss Richardson and Mr. Holder were leagues above others.

I started the school having always been in the top 1% for national standards in my age group, and left six credits shy of the NCEA level I was doing. I was bullied by a couple of teachers, actually quite severely. I have adhd, it was undiagnosed at the time although I knew that’s what it was. How it works for me is if a teacher teaches in a lacklustre or unclear fashion, or if they’re rude, I find it hard to pay attention as the learning experience no longer provides dopamine. I found myself studying, really hard, for the first time in my life, because they had taken the shine out of learning and I now had to fight not only their bullying but my learning disability. They belittled me and told me I wouldn’t succeed. I went to another school after, got my grades up (thanks to excellent teaching, funny that) went to uni, got straight A’s, did a masters degree, got first class honours. But it was definitely my fault :-)

There’s a reason this school had so many tragic events, that the town had the highest teen mortality stats. It’s so boring everyone makes horrible things up about each other for fun. Barely any of my peers went on to higher education, most are morbidly obese and depressed. Kids printed out hundred of a girls private photos and put them outside the school. Queer kids were called all sorts of slurs. So fun.

Do yourself a favour, if you’re going to have children, move to another town. I was ‘cool’ at this school, the bullying was merciless for everyone. Although around year 13 apparently it’s quite wholesome, the majority drop out after year 11 or during year 12, so the survivors band together. If you want your child to receive an education, move to the city. Not finishing year 13 is an anomaly elsewhere. Probably quite telling that the teachers can neither raise students enthusiasm or ability for NCEA. Wow.

OK School. Great for people who like smaller schools, and has a pretty low rate of bullying with a 'family' environment as it is so small. Teaching is pretty poor, with many teachers having to teach in something they arent qualified in and many teachers are past their retirement date. Sports culture is incredibly toxic.

It definitely has a lot to offer even if a small school but organising sports are a slight downfall but offers chances to discover who you want to be