Mercedes College

I am currently a student at this school, and I can honestly say it is an absolute nightmare. This all-girls school completely fails the students it’s supposed to support. The staff are incredibly old-fashioned, rude, and out of touch. They speak down to students, show very little respect, and act like they don’t care about the wellbeing of the girls at all. It feels like they’re stuck decades in the past and refuse to listen or adapt.

Racism is a serious issue at this school and it is constantly ignored. When incidents happen, the staff either brush them off, make excuses, or do absolutely nothing. There’s no proper follow-up, no accountability, and no real consequences. The message they send is that these issues don’t matter, which is honestly unacceptable.

The school environment is full of unnecessary drama, and instead of addressing it properly, staff let it spiral. On top of that, there is a lot of negative peer influence. Drinking, vaping, and similar behaviour are normalised, and there is strong pressure to fit in with it. The school does very little to challenge this culture, which makes it easy for bad habits to spread and hard for students who want to avoid it.

There are also serious safety concerns. On one occasion, students arrived at school to find dirty needles on the grounds. Alcohol is found regularly as well. This happens because the school does not properly secure the campus, allowing people to enter freely after hours and leave rubbish behind. The fact that students are exposed to hazards like this is shocking and completely unacceptable, yet it is treated as just another normal issue.

If you are a parent considering sending your daughter here, don’t. This school does more harm than good. Being here has a serious negative impact on mental health, increasing stress, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion. Instead of feeling supported or safe, students feel dismissed, unheard, and constantly on edge. A school should help students grow, feel confident, and make healthy choices — this one does the opposite.

The only decent thing this school has is the café, and even that comes with a downside. The prices are insanely high and completely unreasonable for students, which just adds to the feeling that this school cares more about money than the people attending it.

Overall, this school is toxic, draining, and damaging. Between the rude and uncaring staff, the unchecked racism, the constant drama, the negative influences, the lack of basic security, and the complete disregard for students’ mental health, it is not a place where young people can thrive. I strongly urge parents to look elsewhere.

We had a horrible experience here. My daughter was bullied and ended up leaving the school. This was quite a serious offence that happened, and the school's discipline policies were outdated and ineffective, and it seemed no one really cared enough about my daughter or the abuse she received. They bang on about reflecting on empathy, community and social responsibility as outlined in their socials, but none of this filters through to the school as a whole, from the students to the staff and especially the leadership. You don't expect things to happen to your children whilst they are in the "safety" of the school grounds, but at Mercedes this seems to happen all the time, hence why the year group numbers significantly decline as the girls get to year 10 on onwards. Also, the teaching and staff here are very old fashion and really need to be updated. Very behind the times. I can see this now I have another school to compare it to. Big disappointment.

Mercedes College does not have any disciplinary actions or strategies to confront bullying. Many student have left the school as bullying is very common and the teachers and principle turn a blind eye.

Bullying is not a priority at the schools no matter how extreme it may be. Even when taken to the principal and school counselors it is pushed aside. Mercedes College is not a safe or uplifting environment for any young lady.

Mercedes focuses closely on building the reputation of the school and refrains from setting disciplinary boundaries or consequences.

The school represents the perfect example of the archaic school system and lacks education that is valuable unless the student doing ATAR.

Mercedes does not hold their students and accountable and fails to educate them as young women turning to adults, and instead excuses childish behaviours.