I remember joining Alderbrook School at the start of year 10 because my commute to the other school…read moreI went to was too far. I was accused of being a bullying victim, a homosexual and a recent expellee. It was like the first episode of the Inbetweeners. The school seemed to always be in competition with the neighbouring comprehensive school, Tudor Grange. They had the better exam results of the two and the better reputation for behaviour and attendance. The school was a welcome relief to me; I was pushed too hard at the other school by staff and peers alike. This was a new start in a more liberal school. And I got all of my GCSE's at grades A*-C's and was very happy with Alderbrook for all their help and support at the end of my time there. These days' people say that schools should be stricter like they were in the 1950's. If an approach like this had been adopted when I was at school I would have crashed and burned. I've never liked being told what to do, so Alderbrook was great for me.

The annual visit from Immersive Theatres is always highly anticipated in our school by staff and…read morechildren alike. We started many years ago, using the dome to supplement our topic on Space with our Year 5 pupils. These sessions are fantastic. Mario starts with a unique, relevant introduction to the night's sky. He is adaptive and knowledgeable; when a child asks a question he brings up visuals and explains the Science or History in appropriate detail before seamlessly linking back to the previous topic. In the past two years we have developed the programme brought to our school; including Reception aged children, GCSE pupils and even staff. Mario has proved himself capable of adapting his talk to be relevant to the age of the participants and answering questions on a level they will understand. Our Reception girls enjoyed an overview of the night's sky, visited the International Space Station and learned about shapes and distances in space. My daughter was one of the participants and came home thoroughly enthused and full of wonder. From a child who normally tells me school is 'fine' and tells me more about the food she ate than her lessons it was wonderful to hear about the favorite room of the astronauts and the description of how astronauts sleep in space. Our Year 5 girls were excited to enter the dome, exclaimed in wonder as the 'roof' of the planetarium opened, gasped as the size of the ISS and giggled when we discussed toileting in space. Mario even managed to explain star death and black holes in enough detail to satisfy our inquisitive girls without overburdening them with technical language. They loved going through the black hole at the end too! GCSE Dance is probably not a group you would associate with enjoying a curriculum linked session in a planetarium but our girls are studying Fractals as part of their GCSE Dance coursework. They were able to enjoy 30 minutes of 360 degree fractals accompanied by a descriptive overview, explaining fractals. The girls found the session very inspiring and relevant to their course. As for the staff... we have to drag them out of the dome at the end of their sessions! Mario kindly suggested putting on a 'relaxation' session during the staff lunch hour. This allows us to take half an hour 'for us'. With the body and spirit rejuvenated after the session it certainly makes teaching that afternoon a little bit easier! Our Staff Wellbeing Committee was thrilled by the feedback from those who attended and have requested more sessions like this on Mario's future visits. As you can see, we made the most of our Immersive Theatre visits. I hope you do too.

i have a lot of time for this school.my children all go there and they have come on in heaps and…read morebounds,the teachers are very friendly and regulary keep you up to date on your childs progress .there are lots of after school activetys ,and pleny of homework to keep your child studying.the dinners are healthy,and there is also a shore start on site to take your bbies for weigh ins or toddler groups ,or just advice ,so i do recomend this school.

my little boy goes here and it is a great school. cant find anywhere better. teachers are great and…read morefriendly.