Protea Heights Academy

Lovely school. Teachers are very kind and nice. The school field does not look good though. I would recommend it though.

The school cares more about the length of my hair then my education

"...nothing changed in terms of the leadership at the school." No words could have been more incorrect.

The current principal might value the same ethos, and indeed tries her best to live up to the legacy left behind by the previous principal. However, the things that have changed at PHA are evidence of the change in leadership. Racism, bullying and general acts of misconduct has significantly increased after the previous principal left. One could argue that this is due to the increase in students, but the lack of proper management of these situations is the reason. The current principal is obsessed with appearances; making PHA seem accepting and diverse, when it's not (anymore). Instead of addressing a situation, she tries to control it and sweeps it under the rug. The punishment for misconduct is inversely proportional to the actual misconduct. Saturday detentions were once the worst of punishments. Now it's given for something like incorrect hair. Basically, I'm trying to say that she doesn't know how to handle students. She refuses to acknowledge others' points of views, and this has caused conflict with students and teachers alike. The large amount of teachers who left last year should be proof of her poor relationship with staff. The previous principal had an aura that demanded respect, rightfully. The current principal has one demanding fear.

I didn't mean for this to be an attack on the current principal, and I hope it won't be seen that way. I truly wish for PHA to become the school it once was.

I've been reading these reviews and cannot comment on those since as a parent I can only speak about my childs experience. PHA really introduced us as parents to think about the life beyond schooling, the actual world where you need to stand on your own two feet and become not only independent but an independent thinker, individual and responsible adult. The new principal we met as the deputy previously and nothing changed in terms of the leadership at the school. The current principal embraces the same ethos, values and thinking as the previous principal. Yes you must put in the extra work to excel since the primary school years are a thing of the past and learners are young adults and need to act like responsible young adults. If I had any issues either with my childs academic progress or personal I could easily approach the principal who has an open door policy and sits with the parent to suggest a way forward in order to deal with any matter. The on-site school Social Worker deals with so many issues of learners which is always not brought about by the environment in the school but from home and this person dealt with it in a professional manner keeping the parents informed of the session detailed feedback I would add. PHA prepares all learners for the next level or current level of reality the Fourth Industrial Revolution where everything you do will be maintained by either robots or yourself and what better way to assist learners by introducing new innovative ways to learn, explore and get equipped. As a parent I value the service received from PHA for the betterment of my child and educating my child. PHA allowed my child to think of the beyond, the world that lies out of the confines of the school and found direction for the future years and for this I am truly thankful.

If you had a bad experience as a learner, do approach your parents to meet with the principal in order for the principal to be aware of the problems and if nothing is done thereafter, then follow the necessary steps but ranting and raving and tarnishing the image of a school on public platforms will not improve your situation at school. Speak up and if no one listens follow the proper procedures to remedy the issues.

Its alarming that any person can bad mouth an institution on such a public platform without having any evidence or knowledge of situations or circumstances.

It's really not worth it💀 They aren't as LGBTQ+ friendly as they appear to be, I've been called slurs and names in class and pressured to come out to the class multiple times with the teachers present not stepping in?? And don't even get me started on the racism😐 I've even been mocked for my tics, a teacher trauma dumped on me and invalidated my issues while I was having a breakdown. Some of the teachers are really nice like** ***** or ** *****, they are super sweet <33 plus one of the teachers is literally openly racist and nothing is being done???

TL;DR:

Homophobia and Racism is very present amongst both students and teachers

As a student at PHA currently, and writing this "review" based on all of the others that I've read, all I can say is that in my experience, PHA is a good school. The teachers try hard, put in a lot of time afterschool into extra classes AND they record every lesson so that you can watch videos as well. As for rumors mentioned in some of the other reviews, I wont comment on that because I dont know about any of them except for one of the teachers saying things to class that got him into a lot of trouble. My experience with my principle has been amazing, she is a very sweet and kind person who has helped me to feel welcomed as a learner. Someone had also said that the teachers are too hard on us, or the work is much harder than it should be, but thats a lie. In my classes I have seen so many learners, sometimes even half or more of the whole class, just take their phones out and talk to eachother, completely disregarding the teacher and what they are trying to teacher.
One review that has made me especially upset, the one that talked about the white boy who got permission to have his hair long vs another student who isnt allowed(most likely because of race). First off, as that "white boy" I just want to say I am offended because my pronouns are she/her and I am a transgender student here at PHA. I would secondly just like to say that its disappointing to know that whoever wrote that review didnt bother to do a lot of research as I cant see many facts in the entirety of the review.
All in all, PHA is a good school to me, it has made me feel welcome as a student and the teacher work hard to help all of their learners. I personally think the problem lies more with lazy students than it does with the teachers

They issue a disciplinary hearing for a male educator who stepped out of line with his words yet a female educator who has sexual intercourse with a student faces zero consequences and is still held in high regard at the school.
The so called equality and diversity at the school is a mere illusion. Equal punishment is needed.
In PHA if you are not more qualified/in a higher position as a staff member or if you are not a top ten learner as a student, this toxic social hierarchy will lead to an individual always feeling out of place, pressured, disrespected and disregarded.
I certainly do not recommend ANY person to work in this institution , nor any parent to send their child to this school, your child deserves much better. Rather not sacrifice their mental health and well being. Send them to a better school.
The school was thriving with *********** but after she left , it has led to a total downfall of a once amazing , welcoming environment for all.

This was an amazing school. I miss the environment and my teachers

As much as I want to rant about how s*** this school is , it can all be simplified into one word:

Migraine

When buying the anvil that they call a bag , be sure to buy some anti-stress pills and some therapy appointments

They give you way too much work and they don't care about your mental health

This school is so dom, like I couldn't even talk in class 😤

Protea heights Academy is a school where** you're not a high achieved learner, they dont care about you. Protea heights academy only cares about their top 10 students,** even that.. maybe top 3. They dont care on helping you better your grades** you're not on that list. Dont be fooled though, they are very persuasive on telling the public that they do, do so. The teachers at PHA. i have no words for them... We're supposed to go to school to*** an education and be ready for the outside world, yet the only thing i have learnt from these teachers is lying and manipulation. We're taught from young to respect our elders which i do, but teachers at PHA expect you to respect them, but they can disrespect you as badly as they want and you have to sit and be quiet. I have made a lot of mistakes in my past at PHA, but i have grown from them over the years and im young, yet can do that with in a year. These teachers (some of them) have been teaching for NUMEROUS years and still are manipulative and quite frankly i doubt they will ever change. The teachers that have had the most outstanding success in the school with learners AND parents, they all left all because of the same reason.. "PHA's management and the way they operate" neither am i surprised that they left either. it can't be a coincidence. ******* was a very good principal. She knew how to handle the school really well with the learners problems and so forth. When ******* left the teachers were fighting over the position like kindergarteners fighting over candy. Now********* is given the opportunity to be the stand in principal. MULTIPLE learners have stated that "the school is going downhill".********* has a very horrible way of talking to learners when they have issues with things in the school, its quite aggressive.
There are multiple teachers at the school who are incredibly racist and sexist, yet PHA's management chooses to keep them because they cant afford to lose a staff member, again horrible management. i personally have experienced horrible encounters with teachers. I first thought what i heard from learners encounters with teachers were exaggerating the story, but i was very much proven wrong when i had a few of my own experiences with teachers. A teacher at PHA had said to my face and i quote "i will********** day you********" and yes there is more to the story, but can there really be any excuse for an adult/teacher saying that to a child/student ? i dont think so.
Another more serious incident had happened to me, but i will keep that confidential because its too personal for me to share. This teacher was proven guilty of lying though (with witnesses).
There is a teacher who was sleeping with a student, yet she was allowed to stay employed working at PHA. (the teacher denies it, but there are NUMEROUS witnesses that can confirm this) and might i add there are OTHER teachers who can confirm this, but they keeping it a secret for the teacher as they are all friends. i dont need to say this, but this is ILLEGAL.
A few students have *personally* told me that they feel PHA pressues sexuality on learners to be LGBTQ+. supporting is*** thing, but pressurizing LEARNERS/CHILDREN to be a certain sexuality? ALL this information can be confirmed by witnesses, yet no*** wants to speak up publicly?
This school is not even 10 years old...
I cant express this enough PHA is not a school.
You might be thinking "if you hate the school so much, just leave then". Good question. i should have left the day i came here.

Protea Heights Academy is a great school with excellent facilities and a great education system however it seems like a percentage of the staff are all fighting to become the next principal after our former principal. I would recommend that the school board hire's a principal that hasn't been teaching at the school we need a fresh mindset.Other than that our school is diverse and doesn't discriminate but I would not recommend this school for a learner that is sport orientated as our school focus's more on academics, our school also has higher academic standards than most other schools which is tough on learners but also good

Not worth it......
Trust me been there.

This school standards are to high and expect way to much from their learner's when the teacher's dont even give the same amount of effort and when it come to test or something the teacher always make the papers harder then the department requires it to be and all the school says is its because of it been and academic school which is a load of nonsense they treat the children as if they don't have a teenage life its ridiculous.