After attending a school that neither had the compassion or the space and time for me to heal from long-term mental illness, Bartholomew took me on as a student a month into my last year of A-Levels (2017). With my wonderful, down-to-earth (and patient!) teachers, I was able to gently continue my courses in German, Psychology and History, and started to get a healthier relationship with learning that wasn't based on grades. One of the most important things Barts taught me was that I didn't need to achieve high results in order to enjoy and learn from my courses. Although my results weren't what you'd call 'stellar', I passed my courses, but more importantly, I enjoyed them.
I still use my German knowledge today (a lot of which the exam board didn't really look at to grade me), including teaching my partner bits of German from Rammstein songs and books, and also as I attempt to learn (again) my third language, Polish.
In History, my knowledge and skills are used regularly to look critically into any bits of history I'm interested in, and has given me an interest in books, historical reenactment and historical adaptations, such as the film, 'The Death of Stalin', which I like pulling apart critically for historical accuracy!
With Psychology, as well as being able to understand better what was going on in my own head, it has given me a lot of insight into 'the human condition', which has definitely come in handy as I encounter a myriad of different personality types.
Thank you so much to everyone at Barts. You made me feel supported and motivated in a very difficult period of my life, and after taking two years to de-school myself, I've now got a great base to go back to, as I continue to learn.