Bellerive FCJ Catholic College

Bellerive is such a good school I really like it I have been here since year 7 and I am now in year 12 I really like it and I would recommend sending your child to this school.

Just a point about the school uniform. It says in their prospectus that they were the first school in Liverpool to introduce kilts. This is not true. I went to St Francis de Sales school in Walton in the 70s and the school had a royal blue kilt, introduced in the 60s, similar to the Royal Stewart style, which is actually, still worn today. I remember Bellerive's uniform was brown at that time.
It might sound a silly point to make but they think it was serious enough to put in their literature. Maybe someone should have done their homework before posting such statements!

My time a bellerive was quite short, however the time I spent there felt like decades of a horrible experience. This school is beyond strict. Makeup, uniform, shoes, equipment, nails, fake tan and soo much is checked to an extreme level. If your daughter wears fake tan to school she is most likely to be in isolation and in some cases suspended. Another big issue is there strictness on school uniform. This school is so strict that you even have to remove the small colour tags on your shoes. I would also like to address the concerns of the school relating to kilt length. Quite frankly I see no need for a skirt to be at a ridiculously long length especially at an all girls school. Who is it distracting, teachers? I am surprised that they spend majorly of their time on kilts rather than your daughter’s education and mental health. To be honest my mental health has gotten excruciatingly worse ever since I attended Bellerive. Please do not let your daughter suffer at this school like I have and many others .

Overall decent school, In the begging the school didn’t offer a lot of support. My first three years were very hard even though I had friends around me I still felt like the school needed to improve on helping those with mental health problems. My last two years in the school, have been better as they improved mental health facilities and my mental health isn’t bad anymore but this wasn’t help from the school it was from my family. Teachers are kinder when you get into older years which isn’t as fair on the younger years. A teacher walked out my classroom in year11 before my assessment due to a class she had before. This was 2 1/2 weeks into the school year. I find this bad, and the school should look into who they are hiring. My head of year and form tutor now are very kind, but in the past years they weren’t as kind and I think that played a part on my mental health. A teacher threatens to walk out my year11 revision class due to her not being happy that not many people showed up rather than the fact there were several other students in that room who wanted to be taught. There are more nicer teachers then strict but many strict teachers have been told they are not aloud to teach certain years due to complains from students. This is very kind of thr school to take the students words and not listen to us. I think this school is good but needs to offer more support and not let kids down.

Bellerive Sixth Form has been an absolute nightmare for my child. The staff shortage is so severe that teachers speak rudely to students, leading to a toxic environment where children are forced to drop out of EPQ programs after already promising universities they would complete them. When approached for help, students are blamed for their struggles and left to cope with stress without any support. The school falsely advertises bursaries to vulnerable students, only to deny them when offering absurd explanations. It's no surprise the school struggles with constant turnover in its leadership—its declining reputation reflects these ongoing issues.

Teachers are constantly screaming at girls, don't listen to their views and handing out minus marks, even when the child is not in the wrong but down to a teacher's mistake. If you want your daughter to grow up voiceless or sly, send her to this school.

Some of the teachers are not as "Christian" as they make themselves out to be - lots of bullying and discrimination towards vulnerable children.

Muslims In that school aren’t allowed to wear the black wrap around hijab

School does not care for students mental health and is so unorganised. Some days i have gone hungry due to the canteen running out of food yet all they care about is my attendance and if i can remember my school books. Teachers do not organise homework well as sometimes i may have months of non-stop homework, or weeks without any. And teachers are too strict on homework and do not understand that we may be busy outside of school. However, the school is good for helping unfortunate children with free meals and school stationary and i am thankful for that. However, that does not make up for the humiliating experience of attendance awards, stickers , notes, phone calls home , letters and having to tell teachers in front of the entire class why you missed school/ will miss school. All teachers want is a good reputation and do not care for the well-being of students. Definitely needs improvement, better headteacher, and better and more flexible teachers. There is so much more to talk about , like the uniform issues, expenses and rules.

this school is horrible, they suspended my friend for being in a group that she never even said anything in it. skirt checks for what, for our learning to be better? we’re learning and what happens if you have manipulative friends who are trying to say that you’re “gay” but your not? She’s making me say it to year 8s who I don’t even speak to.

The worst school in Liverpool I made such a mistake to come here the uniform is shit and the teachers

So there was a whole assembly today about skirt lengths and I’m not being funny but my skirt was on my knee and the teacher still checked my waist band. I look like a nun if i Roll it down atleast it’s at a good length. How do the staff honestly think it looks good they are acting like we are in the army. Shouted at everyone today telling us to put our hands by our sides. My skirt is on my knee but why do I still have to unroll it it’s not like you can see the waist band.

Today 2nd feb 2023 the school had a 10 minute assembly about skirts before that all of the children were waiting out side and teachers were going round chucking skirts one teacher was screaming at a year8 student because it was rolled and some more were pulling on skirts / putting there hand up skirts and tugging on them I personally think that is unacceptable and should be highlighted as assault this school also expects mums/dads to be buy there kids new skirts that is what the teachers want these skirts cost £38.00 some times even more they are expecting them to buy more which some people can’t afford right now I think this is very greedy of them and shouldn’t be happening because there are more important things to be worrying about , Bellerive is also threatening children to make them wear school pants or they will be sanctioned I don’t like the idea of what is going on hear and all of the kids that are in that school are most probably embarrassed and annoyed making them u roll there skirt is going to make them rebel but I think you can fill up the skirt to a certain length without getting family’s to cash out more money.

Please, do not send your child here.
I am a former student. I attended up until covid, and then went to a provisional school due to my mental health being very poor. I went through Bellerive with undiagnosed autism, and it was, for lack of a better word, hell. Not one teacher in the entire school, not even the school counsellor, treated me correctly. Not one of them cared how much I was struggling, despite me and my parents practically begging for help. I was a distraction, and attention seeker, a liar. I just needed to ''try harder'' and ''be resilient''. The head staff only care about your child's grades, and put this higher than the wellbeing of the individual. The school counsellor's were a joke, and I was made to miss lessons to attend their hour long sessions, in which I would be made to feel guilty for not being able to cope with the school system. I would also then be made to feel guilty for missing the lesson to go to the session. Bullying was also an issue, as girls would basically gang up and terrorise anyone different to them. The busses would be late and break down, which would then cause us to be blamed for being late. The schools catholicism would be shoved down our throats, and we were practically forced to take part in their practices, regardless of our personal beliefs. Money is spent on new buildings rather than improving the abismal facilities already in place. The pastoral 'care' was one tiny room with a lava lamp, and wasn't given anywhere near as much funding or attention as the academics focused parts of the school.

Not a very good school, and needs improvement.

We were blown away by the warm welcome our daughter received on her first day at Bellerive. The school's values of compassion, respect and kindness really shine through in the way the teachers and staff interact with the girls. The facilities are modern and well-maintained, and we're confident that our daughter will thrive in this caring environment.

Our daughter graduated from Bellerive a few years ago and we're still in awe of the excellent education and character she received. The school's focus on academic excellence, combined with its strong values and pastoral care, helped her develop into a confident and compassionate young woman. We highly recommend Bellerive to any parent looking for a school that truly cares about their child's well-being and success.

We've been generally pleased with our daughter's experience at Bellerive so far, but we do feel that the school could do more to engage with parents and keep us informed about what's going on. The facilities are great, but we've had some issues with communication from the school, which has sometimes left us feeling frustrated. That being said, the teachers and staff are all very supportive and caring, and we're confident that our daughter is receiving a good education.

Not good. Needs an update in teachers, and they need to try to stick to they fcj values they worship so much.

i feel uncomfortable by getting changed in a changing room with people who identify them selfs as boys.as me getting in a ALL girls school for people to then identify themselfs as boys is very strange to acespt this in a all girls school is horrible!

i feel uncomfortable with the people that identify as boys they have formed a clut get them out the school or get changing rooms for the boys how yous are letting this happen in ur school is odd and stop locking the toilets it was an emergency and i was unable to go

Many cases of slurs thrown out by students and teachers

There was an incident on a school bus where a student held a knife up to another students neck yet only got a suspension

There are many more things thatve happened but I don’t want to go into detail

The food knocks everyone sick the meat is always either dry rubbery raw or full of veins and the fact that we have to wait in a queue all lunch for it isn’t on. We have to share a small yard with another year but there isn’t enough space so you tend to see students sitting on the floor eating there food

All I can say is don’t send your kids there there have been worse incidents happen but I can’t go into too much detail

I would just like to start by saying that the way young girls are treated in this school is absolutely disgusting. SEVERAL teachers treat their job like a chore and act as if the students are a burden to them when it’s THEIR job to teach us. There has been multiple occasions when me and people I know have been personally insulted by teachers, not being able to say anything back because of “sanctions.” The amount of unnecessary minus marks Ive seen being given out by teachers is just insane but obviously we can’t complain because then we will be issued with hour long after school detentions. One of the biggest problems in this school is the lunch system and I cant even begin to list the amount of issues there is with how they deal with things. I’m in year 8, so we share a playground with year 10s. the playground is NOT big enough for two year groups and we should never be in a situation where we have to sit on the floor in the freezing cold due to our benches being full. The rotor of year 10/8 going first each week is an absolute mess and just isn’t fair overall. the queue is always too long and we shouldn’t have to spend our entire lunchtime in a queue standing in the cold. Not only are we standing in a queue that’s about a mile long but we’re not even queuing for anything good, because the food we pay for is absolutely atrocious. The food cube is a MESS and we are CONSTANTLY left with scraps and leftovers from the canteen. I should also mention how at break time year 8s are REFUSED from the canteen and told that they can’t be served? I find it absolutely disgusting and I’m not the only person who sees a problem with the entire lunch situation. This week we had a blitz about skirt length, which would be understandable if our skirts were unreasonably short but they’re not. We are being forced to line up and get stared at up and down by our form tutors just for them to tell us “your skirt is too short, minus mark.” My friend recently got pulled aside from the lunch line and got told that if she didn’t go and by a new skirt as soon as possible there would be consequences such as detentions and getting pulled out of classes. She also got told by a male teacher that she shouldn’t be showing her thigh at all. This is absolutely unbelievable considering that we are getting told this by female teachers who’s skirts are showing half of their thigh. The whole situation is completely hypocritical and I cant even explain how genuinely shocking it is that girls are getting told to buy new skirts if they’re too short. Teachers are DEMANDING that new skirts are bought, but how can they say this not knowing peoples financial circumstances? uniform isn’t cheap and they have no right whatsoever. I’d also like to add that my class specifically (and probably many other classes) have been repeatedly told off on many occasions for being “terribly behind” in lessons. For example, people in another form have completely finished a topic and are almost finishing the new one when we haven’t even finished the first topic. THIS IS NOT OUR FAULT. We should not be receiving the backlash and consequences of our teachers actions when they can’t be bothered to do certain things like mark books and tests on time or print sheets off that we need. Something that really irks me is that many girls who are consistently well behaved and always up to date with homework are completely ignored and brushed off to the side whilst the children who misbehave are receiving AWARDS for their change in behaviour. Students don’t work themselves to sleep for other students to be getting awards for being misbehaved. I know I’m only in year 8 and I have a lot more work to come but the amount of homework we get can be very overwhelming and if we don’t do it or it’s not finished to the full extent, it’s an immediate minus mark. I think teachers should take into consideration the fact that we are being piled with work 24/7 and sometimes just need a break. But teachers at this school wouldn’t understand that because they don’t care for children’s well-being at all. The only thing that’s ever talked about is attendance and behaviour. They don’t care about us whatsoever. In conclusion, this school is terrible and please think twice before sending your child here unless you want her self esteem to be torn apart by students AND teachers.

Don’t come to this school

MEN (teachers) look at your skirt like why r u looking there? I’m a girl ur a man stop looking, some girls got told they could see there thys by a male teacher DISGUSTING. You are basically sexualising young girls who just don’t want to wear a 50 inch long skirt who would 🤣 food is absolutely disgusting veins in the chicken eee some teachers r nice and funny others are just weirdos and are nonsy they also take your phone if you have messaged somebody at home to pick you up because of an emergency like they could have felt so sick but u wouldn’t send them home so hard to actually find a coat but then keep all the windows open thinking we are all warm and toasty like no I’m suffering from hypothermia sitting in this class 😂 even drama is boring now that the best teacher has left sort it out please 🥲 some weird people in the school mostly teachers but if u want to get your phone taken off u and you want veins in your chicken and want to get pushed down stairs and get told to lift ur shirt up to look at your skirt then come to this school 👍🏻

Rats everywhere, can’t handle bullying , in general the school is bad when it comes to bullying it’s very homophonic and don’t rlly kids especially of what I have read from this page. I also read that the drama teacher are bad.

Very bad , don’t hand bullying or anything such as that , people get away with everything and the kid are just naughty. In my personal opinion I think they should change the rules and take it step forward to teach the kids a lesson.but very bad drama teachers, think they need a up grade.

My child xomes hone everyday with another terribke thing thays happened in school all i can say is dont send your kids here. I made that mistake

i am currently in year 8 in bellerive, last year there was a HUGE rat infestation it was disgusting my friend got covid from a member of staff.

Bellerive is not all round bad but I’m now in year 8 but when I was in year 7 I struggled a lot with my learning no one helped me but my mum an family I asked a teacher for help as I did not understand the work an soon after that I had gotten screamed at there are so many rules about school uniform it makes us all feel stupid . Girls are made to role there skirt down all the way to knee an makes us feel like nuns I understand that they won’t us to look respectful but I had bows on my shoes an was getting much an break detention everyday an the bows were not even big . The food is a show the chicken burgers give u food poisoning an the r vains all in the meat it’s vile an never fully cook they nock me sick we get told that where never going to get away where in life if we don’t SING I’m sorry but like singing are u being proper it makes us so upset as where getting told where getting no where in life apparently

This school is shit and so are the teachers

In year 7 I was sitting on yard and rats ran up to me and my friends yet nothing was done. My friend was jumped on by the rat and left the school a couple weeks later. Although there is a lgbtq+ group many kids and staff bully the kids. Staff are either too harsh or not harsh enough. I am in year 8 and the amount of bad experiences I have had in the bus is horrific flies ants and spiders everywhere with many occasions of the busses breaking down or being very late. This school is very bad. The food is very bad and there was fish skin under the pizza sauce making my friend sick to her stomach.

In year 7 I was sitting on the yard with me mates and a rat jumped on one of my mates bags. Me mate that bag it jumped on a few weeks later ended up leaving the school. Sometimes when I’m walking through the main yard You can see the rats near where the year 10s sit to eat their lunch. The school needs to sort their rat infestation out.

Bellerive is not all bad, it’s the teachers, I have moved to numerous amount of schools and by far this is the worse. I am in top sets in most classes and have noticed how teachers only care about the “smart” students I can’t think of how the “unable” students feel in this school with teachers like this it’s unbelievable how bad the teachers have favourites it puts girls down so much. Teachers do not care about mental health in anyway shape or form which needs sorting out ASAP I don’t know how anyone can survive in here for 5+ years. There is a school counsellor who has a waiting list and a attendance officer who does so much for girls who come to her yet still so many girls suffering in silence even suffering with teachers knowing how they feel yet they only
Care if you done Your homework not if you had A good night sleep. Need to invest in more mental health teachers instead of new buildings that they do not need.

I’ve been a student for many years now and if I can give any advice from those years, don’t send your daughter here. The school as a whole don’t care about the student’s and their mental health and physical well-being -with the exception of VERY few teachers. There is many stories known around school regarding racism, I wouldn’t question a single one as I’ve seen it multiple times first hand. The school seems to care only for grades and attendance as if all the students are simply equal to statistics. Don’t waste your time and happiness on this place

i do not recommend this school at all, specifically if you’re not white, cis and straight.

the amount of slurs thrown around by not just the students but the teachers as well, is absolutely disgusting. the countless times i’ve heard of incidents were a non black people say the n slur like it’s nothing. specifically this one incident were a student who wasn’t black called a student’s dad who was black a money to their face and said the n slur to them. the fact that when this happened and teachers were informed they did nothing. no punishment for the student who said the slur. it was just ignored. it’s so disgusting to know that whenever racism occurs, nothing happens at all. one teacher said to a student to remove their hijab as she would ‘close the door’ and ‘no one would see’. when a the teachers said that students can’t wear the wrap around hijabs because it’s ‘messy’ and ‘could get caught in doors’ where just excuses to be islamophobic. one time when students came back to school after staying off to celebrate Eid, they got yelled at by their head of year. absolutely ridiculous. they can celebrate their christmas, but muslims can’t celebrate eid? blatant islamophobia

the homophobia and transphobia in this school is just ridiculous. the f slur and t slur being said by students who don’t belong to either of those communities. cases were teachers are homophobic and transphobic, agreeing to what what students have said. one teacher even asked a trans student to talk to the year 8s about how they’re too young to know they’re trans. a teacher even phoned home informing the parents of the child’s sexuality. that teacher doesn’t know what their parents are like so that could have put that child's safety at risk. thought school was supposed to be safe but i guess teachers feel the need to out someone and potentially put them in danger because it ‘goes against their religion’. they also sent out a transphobic catholic pic which is extremely damaging the closeted trans students at this school.

this whole taking phone until Friday thing needs to stop. i get that there are rules about not having phones out, but the taking a students phone away until friday should not be allowed. teachers aren’t parents, they do not have the right to be taking students phones for a whole week. needs to be sorted ASAP. it’s just ridiculous.

students who do wrong don’t get punished. one student pulled out a knife and even held it against someone’s throat on the school bus. this student is still in this this school and she only got 3 says suspension. not only this, but this student has said racial slurs to other students and again nothing was done. one student who tried to confront her got in trouble instead. they only let this student get away with it because she just cries to the teachers. having certain conditions or crying to teachers should not be a reason to not punish students who do wrong.

the fact that some teachers think that there is no bullying in this school is astounding. even when bullying is reported nothing is done about it. students were bullying another student just because they were disabled. in one year group a student was getting bullied because she is bisexual and of course nothing was done about it. even within the anti bullying group there is bully which is very contradicting and hypothetical. also the fact that some students say there is no cases of bullying is just funny to me. they can’t even admit to it happening. the ignorance and down right stupidly of these students.

time and time again where student have tried to stand up for the racism, bullying, homophobia and transphobia but get

the curriculum of this school is average. if students want to learn then they will. it all depends on the person. however some teachers cannot teach well and don’t turn up to lessons, not informing the students before hand leading to them not getting their education. there are reasons for teachers not being in but there is never work set at no cover teacher meaning students miss out on work and have major gaps.

from the moment i stepped into this school, i have hated every single fucking second of it. absolute dog shit of a school

{READ PLEASE!!!}
Pathetic excuse for a “safe environment”. Homophobic racial slurs being thrown around by teachers and students. Major bullying issue homophobia n racism. They practically do nothing about students who cause harm and danger to others. For example ******. Not only did she try to******** * **** **** * ******* ***** *** **** **** ** ******* * ********* **** ***** *** *** ****** ** ***** ****. The school did absolutely nothing except for an exclusion that only lasted 3 days and they are doing nothing to protect those victims. This girl is extremely racist abusive physically n extremely manipulative and controlling. Students as repulsive and disgusting as that should not be anywhere near a school or those kids. They should be GONE! This angers me so badly.

I was at the school 3 years ago and nothing has changed. My sisters still attend this school. The teachers punish those who don’t necessarily need to be punished and let the ones who do the harm get away with everything. I was a very good well behaved student and I remember everything. I had traumatic experiences there and the school does not care about those with learning difficulties at all. They failed to recognise I needed more support than I was getting. While I was there they failed to recognise who needed the most mental support. They also failed to recognise those who fake mental illnesses for attention and believe those lies. Students were made to look bad by other students and got away with telling horrible unjustified one sided parts of a story and the teachers would just believe them because of their “mental illness” and didn’t do anything when they heard they speak awful things about other students.

I had many experiences with getting treated differently because I wasn’t white. There was absolutely no reason for me to be treated the way that I was, because I was a well mannered and quiet student. I also would like to mention how teachers love those who do bad and dislike those who do good as they treat the bad students nicely and completely disregard the good behaved students but there is also obvious favouritism within the students who do well.

There’s a lack in teaching skills and methods here at the school. They overwork you and stress you out. The teachers make you feel like crap because they criticise you so badly if you get an answer wrong or you don’t know the answer to something or fail a test. In year 8 me and a couple other girls got screamed at by a teacher because we got low marks on a test which traumatised all of us and made us feel very insecure and small. I tried my best on that test. I gave it my all and then I get screamed at for apparently not trying.

Teachers don’t allow you to speak or express yourself freely even when you are right about something and they are wrong they will just completely shut you down and not admit to being wrong.

I really do hope you don’t send your kids to this school especially if they are kind hearted and vulnerable and I also hope you all read this. Reading all these reviews and thinking this school might as well close down..

From your former student,
L <3
speak up.

Now...

There have been many incidents of homophobia and racism in this school, not only amongst the students, but also among teachers. For instance, girls have been outed as lesbians via a phone call home to their parents which is a potentially dangerous situation as teachers aren't aware of the kind of homes their students are living in. Many kids are picked on by their peers for their gender identity or sexuality, which many teachers will turn a blind eye to.

Numerous occasions of racism, many of the students and even teachers using slurs such as the n slur and the f slur. Also one too many cases of islamophobia from both staff and students.


Teachers have been notified about the bullying of disabled and neurodivergent students, and what do they use their position to do? Absolutely nothing!! The punishments for these actions are either non existent or not harsh enough.

There have been occasions where the safety of students has been put at risk. A student attended school armed with a knife, even holding one up to a peer's neck, and what is this student's punishment? Nothing! They still attend this school and nothing has been done to punish their crime.

Many of the teachers struggle to control classes, some teachers are far too careless. Please do not bring your child here unless you want them to be a victim of some sort of bullying or harassment, particularly if you're child is lgbtq+, Muslim, or a person of colour.

The curriculum is average, it comes down to the student if they want to learn or not, however there are some teachers who are terrible at their jobs. Some don't attend classes (sixth form teachers in particular), others are simply rude and blatantly biased.

There's simply too many cases of staff being homophobic, transphobic and racist. This school has been around for quite a long time but only recently do they pretend to care and CLAIM they will take action towards discrimination against marginalised folk. As if the damage hasn't already been done...

Too many times has a student stood up for themselves or others, tried to complain about blatant racism/prejudice or favoritism, and gotten into trouble. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Complete fuckery, I should say.

racist, transphobic and homophobic school! school didn’t allow students to wear trousers until just last year after students had campaigned for years. they also sent around transphobic leaflets in the catholic pic. no sort of apology whatsoever! they could have taken this chance to educate the students about homophobia and transphobia and the affect it has on people. i’ve heard many racist and homophobic slurs come from the teachers as well as the students over the years as well as racist comments. the school needs to to better at educating people on this stuff, the FCJ values they seem to worship clearly don’t rub off in any way whatsoever. and don’t get me started on the school busses! they don’t get cleaned at all, they are way overpriced and there has been many instances where rats have been running up and down the isles! the school buses are so unreliable as they break down quite often. teachers also don’t hide their favouritism at all and often favour the more naturally smarter students, often giving them extra lessons during the gcse period, rather than helping the students who are struggling. :(

Throughout my daughters time at Bellerive fcj she has enjoyed it. If your child is not disobedient then this is the place for your daughter, however when they get to year 11 there is no consultations regarding 6th form. No parents information given and then the girls are told on their last day of school that they can’t go to their 6th form as there are clashes in the classes even though the application forms are submitted before 31st January. Ruined my daughters last full day in school, she came home devastated on a Friday and had to deal with a whole weekend of emotional mess. The teacher told her in a meeting there are to be no changes to the classes so nothing can be done. During a telephone consultation I was told maybe my daughter should consider college, how dare this person give advice after the event in which my daughter and I had discussed that college would not be an option as she enjoys the strict regimented way of working. I want these supposed education providers think if it was their child’s future, would they be happy for this to happen. This school has disappointed me and would not recommend if your daughter wishes to continue to higher education.

The teachers simply do not care for the students mental health, there are clearly not equal rights in our school and the teachers are racist and homophobic, most students are clearly racist and there is a problem with children being able to get a hold of in our school, some teachers also talk inappropriately to students and the teachers unnecessarily and don’t listen to what others say.

this school is terrible. All the teachers are racist and homophobic and dont care about any students wellbeing- all they care about is education. The teachers are way too comfortable saying the n-word, especially the english teachers. the teachers have no consideration and OUT students to their parents when they clearly dont want to be outed, sort this out.

the teachers are homophobic and racist and don’t like to deal with mental health or abuse . Teachers have made comments like “who’s your daddy” to students . Girl being called the n word got kicked out instead of the ones using the slur . Teachers force children to come out to their parents by phoning them against their will .

Many of the teachers are homophobic. and they stand idle as many students are bullied and harassed but because theres no physical marks it isn't considered bullying