Mediocre school living off past glory. My child learnt nothing while there for a year. All he learned was to be scared of school as he said the teachers were 'not nice to him'. Thankfully we moved back home to London and he started school here. At his current school, he consistently wins awards and praises from his teachers.
At Sarah Smith each day we picked him up, they had something negative to say about his behaviour. There was a day I volunteered to help make stuff for the school, I happened to walk past his class and saw that his teacher had given him a single desk facing the classroom door. He literally was sitting with his back to the rest of the class and his teachers, whilst facing all the distractions the busy hallway had to offer. I requested a meeting with the teacher and head teacher once I found out he'd actually being in that position for over two weeks. Now I'm not an expert, but this in my opinion was not the right way to deal with a child that "talks too much, doesn't sit criss cross applesauce, does not walk a straight line in the hallways". These were the crimes I was told he committed that got him this sitting position. Not that he hurts or attacks his friends or anything awfully distracting.
The head teacher did the right thing during the meeting and agreed that banishing a child to the exit was exclusionary and child shaming and was not the right thing to do with a 5 year old. She requested the teacher seat him close to her, so he could be redirected once he started getting antsy. Unfortunately, by this point, the harm had already being done and school held little pleasure for him.
We are very happy things have improved since attending his new school. He's reading very well now, writing full page stories, and we've discovered he's an Arithmetic genius but best of all, he enjoys school. He still cries when he remembers Sarah Smith and does not even want us to talk about visiting Atlanta as he is too scared we will send him back there. We have promised him he will never have to go back there. It's being 11months since our son left Sarah Smith and I'm writing this review now because he came crying again this morning saying he had a nightmare that he we sent him back to Sarah Smith. This literally broke my heart! I had to put this down. It was Kindergarten, why did it have to be so stressful???