Ambrose Treacy College

We returned to Australia last year and after our eldest was bullied at another school we moved him to Ambrose who did not provide us with a soft place to land. My husband works in aviation and we have travelled abroad with multiple schools but this was our worst experience ever. Our son with ADHD was bullied at a previous school in grade 4 and this was our first experience with bullying because our child is very social with lots of friends at our previous school and we needed support when this happened in Aus as this experience was new to all of us and very traumatic for him. Ambrose provided no pastoral support and never bothered to check in with us. We never even met the guidance counsellor. Our son is an A/B student and we asked for the most BASIC forms of support since he has ADHD and they made every tiny request an issue which required numerous parent emails and phone calls. We asked for maths revision before an exam and not only did they not provide this but a senior staff member asked us if we wanted a copy of the entire curriculum. Staff communication was consistently disrespectful and had a distinct tone and we were thinking that these people are educating our child and speaking to us in this manner which we don’t deserve and asking ourselves if they speak to the boys in the same manner. Why is this happening? The principal appears to have no idea what’s happening in his own school and unaware of how staff are communicating with parents. It’s outrageous. We know we are not the only parents with this experience because we witnessed staff members talking to parents in the parking lot and we know we were not the only unhappy parents who have left ATC. The Ambrose boys swearing during lunch on and off campus in uniform was very concerning to us as parents and not only are there no consequences but this seems to be part of the culture at ATC. Furthermore, their sports program is seriously lacking for a boys school and our son had PE only 1 day a week and no swimming in grade 5! The coaching was greatly lacking in passion and we had to drive our son to the other side of St Lucia for squad swimming. Some staff members were lovely especially the digital tech teacher and really missed by our boy and it’s a shame that not all staff members are aligned and concerning that there appears to be a problem mostly in the primary school. We took our son out after 3 unhappy terms at ATC and now he has settled and easily made friends at another private boys school which is both excellent academically and in the provision of outstanding pastoral care.

ATC in 2022 is a great school and offers many opportunities for the boys. This school most defiantly embraces the culture of EDP445 which is soo amazing to see in todays society.

The school is definitely a place I recommend you send your child to. However the school will be raising school fee's by 9% due to inflation next year (2023). If your willing to pay the extra price it is a place your son will thrive and enjoy.