Canberra Girls' Grammar School, Deakin School Reviews

Canberra Girls' Grammar School, Deakin

School Reviews

By Alumnus - 24 Apr 2024, Rate: bad

I kinda agree with the review from the 7th of April 2024. Although it is a multicultural school (well, as multicultural as it can be for a small anglo-saxon dominated country town), I did sort of notice that the white girls sort of seemed to 'matter' more, amongst the students at least.
All the other girls would sort of look up to the loud white girls more if you know what I mean. Like amongst all the loud, popular girls, even if there were girls of other races, most people would still mention a random white girls name if you were to ask them who they thought was the prettiest girl in the grade. Even if there were other prettier girls who weren't of anglo-saxon descent, nobody would acknowledge them as the 'prettiest' in the grade because in everyone's head, a white girl is still supposed to be number 1 for everything.
I did actually once have an unpleasant experience where I had to hold hands with one of those loud, bitchy, popular girls in PE class, & she was a white Aussie blondie. She made a really disgusted face when she had to hold my hands, & I'm pretty sure it was just because my skin is brown. That is extremely disgusting behaviour for anyone in this modern day & age, & even worse at a school worth $40k a year. As far as I was aware, this girl was from a wealthy family like most other families at this school, & she had been attending that school since preschool or kindergarten. You'd expect girls that have been at a private school their entire lives to be a bit more educated & disciplined than that, but it seems that the richest girls are the most isolated & narrow minded sometimes.

By Alumnus - 07 Apr 2024, Rate: average

I feel like only the popular girls matter at this school. I mean obviously at any school the popular people stand out cause they’re loud, but it shouldn’t take over everyone’s school experiences. Everyone should matter equally.
It’s also very obvious that the white girls at the school matter more & are a more respected & trusted compared to girls of other backgrounds. Especially the ‘popular’ or ‘cool’ white girls.
I mean, there are girls of other backgrounds who are respected if they’re very loud, confident & are captains & leaders & things like that, but there’s still some sort of a vibe that there always needs to be a white girl in everything to make things legit. I guess it’s just the nature of a school in a small Aussie country town

By Alumnus - 22 Dec 2023, Rate: average

I’ll admit that obviously this is a good school for discipline & academics, considering that it’s an expensive private school, but personally I didn’t vibe with the girls there. Obviously there were some nice enough girls that I was able to temporarily get along with whilst I was there, but I knew I’d never speak to them again after high school. That’s exactly what happened.
I’m from Sydney & only went there for my last 2 years of high school, & I’ve noticed that the girls that have been there since kindergarten or preschool are a bit too attached to the school & never let go of their friends even years after high school.
They go to university & travel overseas but still don’t become close to anyone they met after high school. They continue to hang out with their high school friends & at most, maybe just other girls from other Canberran schools that they met at parties whilst they were in high school. They don’t seem to branch out very much.

By Student - 11 Jun 2023, Rate: average

Honestly my experience at this school was fine. The best part of the school was how the school taught about other cultures everything else was ok it could have been better and worse. The school also had a very strange standard on mental health, at first the school makes it seem like they really care about mental health. They constantly tell the students that mental health is something we should worry about and we can talk to people about it but they don’t actually try to help people with mental issues and often cause students depression and anxiety. A story I tell people a lot is how at the end of each year we have to take a survey that asked questions like how do you like the school, what was your favorite part of this school year and one question was what is something exceptional that you did this year and I responded that I don’t think that I did anything exceptional because I got mostly Cs and Bs that year and I wasn’t part of any clubs or anything else with the school a day after a submitted that I got pulled aside and told that I have depression and the school called my parents and told them that I need professional help for essentially for saying that I’m not amazing. Yet that same year they did nothing to help student who told the school that they need help. Most kids who where struggling with mental illness in my Year group at least where able to talk about it with other students and those people would consistently check up on each other which created a really good environment for the students with the other students.

By Student - 18 May 2023, Rate: poor

I'm a student that just moved to CGGS this year, and so far my experience has not been what I hoped it would be. I came from a public school in the US where everyone was always getting into trouble for doing actual criminal activities and somehow this school makes me miss that. At this school, you can't fully trust your friends, because people are always talking behind each other's backs and will leave you in a heartbeat for other friends that are more popular than you. It's so bad that I've heard two friends start talking crap about their other friend as soon as she got up to leave. No one talks to anyone outside their friend group and everyone is very anti-social. You can tell that no one wants to be at this school. So many students are transferring because they hate the school so much. Ever since I started at this school I've noticed my mental health significantly decrease.
On a positive note, this school has a great support system for students and great academics. The House system is also really fun. Those are the only three things good about this school. Please don't send your child here.

By Student - 17 Aug 2022, Rate: average

I love this school. I was bullied in the junior school but i eventually found many friends. The atmosphere is great and everyone is so encouraging. At house sing everyone cheered for every house and I loved it. a lot of the girls are quite arrogant but the bunch that arent are the best people ever

By Parent - 03 May 2022, Rate: excellent

So this school is absolutely amazing you learn everything you need to know and the girls there are so nice and not mean or weird you make lifelong friends.
The teachers are great and so nice and DON'T OVERLOAD YOU WITH HOMEWORK.

By Student - 22 Apr 2022, Rate: excellent

The school might have a few weird students but it is absolutely wonderful. Everyone is so included and we all feel welcome. In primary school, you learn all the basics and when you go into year 7 are above all the other students (new girls).
Overall it is worth the money and definitely go there.

By Alumnus - 25 Mar 2020, Rate: good

I sense some bias around here - if ya'll got this supposed education, wouldn't it of taught you how to structure a cohesive argument?

By Alumnus - 14 Feb 2020, Rate: bad

So funny! It was terrible in the 60's too.

By Student - 21 Dec 2019, Rate: bad

the school itself isn't bad, but it's always the students that make the atmosphere of the school and the girls are trash here. as private School girls normally are, they're bitchy, judgemental, arrogant & superficial.
There was a girl in my class who once said out loud 'when I get my spray tan for formal, I'm not gonna look orange like the other girls cause I'm rich and I can afford to get the good tan'.
Do you really wanna go to a school where girls speak like that?

By Parent - 18 Apr 2019, Rate: average

It is such a shame that many are not happy with this school.Some are talking about lack multiculturalism...I am a non caucasian migrant bringing my 8 y/o to this school...Is she going to feel welcomed there?!

By Student - 13 Mar 2019, Rate: bad

Everyone at grammar is just weird, bogan, antisocial, & a bitch. I mean, there are some girls of other backgrounds there, but not many. Most of them are just caucasian Australians.
When I first came to grammar, I couldn't believe how weird everyone was. It felt like I was in a weird 1950's school full of nuns. I was absolutely mortified seeing how ugly & long the winter skirts were, and I literally wanted to yell at the uniform ladies and ask them why the uniform was so ugly, 1950's and nun like.
All the girls were so weird, bogan, country-minded & so antisocial. I come from a very multicultural and diverse big busy city and coming to grammar was the biggest downgrade of my life. It took me more than a semester to settle down & start feeling somewhat OKAY at grammar, but that only happened when more new international people started coming in the senior years. If it weren't for that, I never would have been able to settle down or become friends with any of the original grammar girls. Before some more international students came to grammar, I almost felt as if I was trapped & as if I couldn't have survived.
Despite new international students coming in, I never truly enjoyed being there. Grammar has a strange vibe to it that always made me feel uncomfortable, unwelcome & just plain crap in general. I have definitely not made any lifelong friends here.

By Employee - 10 Mar 2019, Rate: poor

All I can say is I left. The students hated it.

By Student - 15 Nov 2018, Rate: bad

The most bogan private school I've seen.
Full of bogan Aussie countryside boarders
Lacks the multiculturalism that most private schools in Australia usually have

By Student - 02 Sep 2018, Rate: poor

It’s a pretty bad school & I’m not saying that just based on any personal experiences or anything. Even girls who were popular and had a good time here all talk about how much they hate grammar. It’s just a shit school in general and everybody hates it. If you talk to anybody in Canberra about CGGS, they’ll make a face and just say ‘ew, grammar’

By Student - 21 Jul 2018, Rate: bad

I definitely agree with the parent who posted the review on the 11th of July 2013. It’s not at all worth the money.
It’s a school that doesn’t know how to use our money properly. You’d think that the $25,000 + that we pay would be spent towards improving the ugly, old, dirty and bushy school grounds. Do something about those ugly plants, hire some gardeners. Fix the gardens, replace the old ugly plants and trees with nicer, more cleaner plants. How hard is that to do? Clean up the old disgusting gum on the ground and under the tables in every classroom. Oh and don’t get me started on the toilets. The only good toilets are the new ones in science block. I literally walk all the way across one side of campus to the other just to go to the science block toilets because that’s how DISGUSTING and dirty the other toilets around the school are. The toilets are absolutely revolting. How hard is it to put in an air freshener? Put in a pad and tampon dispenser as well for god’s sakes. It’s a GIRLS school and supposedly ‘the best’ in Canberra, so why can’t something simple like that be done? And honestly some of the buildings are like over 100 years old. Do something about it. The library is an ancient, damp, disgusting dungeon. Fix it.
There are also a lot of unfair teachers. There are a lot of rules at the school for uniform, hats, nail polish etc, which means that ANY student that isn’t following the rules should be told off. But there are some teachers who only tell some students off and leave others alone even though they are also breaking the rules. I’ve had so many teachers tell me to take off my waterproof jacket indoors, whilst another girl walks past them with a waterproof jacket on without getting told off. I’ve had teachers yell at me rudely to put my hat on when a whole bunch of girls are openly sitting outside without their hats. As a junior, I had teachers ask me why my hair was out when other juniors openly walked past them with their hair our. Teachers need to stop picking favourites when it comes to rules and just apply them evenly to everyone.
& also use the $25,000 we pay to teach the girls to behave themselves. Teach those rude, obnoxious and ungrateful bitches to behave properly and not yell at teachers and talk back to them. Nobody is ‘popular’ or ’superior’ enough to yell things like ’STOP GIVING US SO MUCH HOMEWORK SIR! Don’t you know that we have things called OTHER CLASSES?!’ Absolutely disgusting behaviour. How can such revolting behaviour be accepted at such a ‘sophisticated’ school? Why do the teachers do nothing about it? Give them a strike or a detention for god’s sake. Nobody wants to be in a class with loud, obnoxious bitches that believe they’re better and more superior simply because they are ‘prettier’, or because they’re most popular between the boys at boys Grammar or at Marist or whatever. That’s superficial, immature and stupid as hell and this school needs to increase their standards.
A lot of the girls are also very unwelcoming and judgemental and it takes forever to make friends there as a new person, unless you can make it into the popular group. It’s only then that making friends can happen for you in a matter of minutes.
CGGS is like a weird anti-social cult. The girls that have been at CGGS all their lives are too involved with CGGS to the point that they almost don’t have a life outside of CGGS. They stick to being friends with just CGGS girls years after graduating, they’re not bothered to make friends out of CGGS, and the only boys they talk to are the boys from boys grammar. The girls at grammar in general are just very odd and weird in general.

By Parent - 11 Jul 2013, Rate: average

It is not worth the money. Period .