Colet court vs Kings

[Chinni]

Hi,
Can any one advise me which school to choose as my DS was offered a place at both Kings and Colet. We r closer to Kings compared to Colet .Need to make the decision ASAP

Thank you

[Abriata]

Which do you prefer? Which does your son prefer?

[Chinni]

I prefer CC while my husbands choice is Kings due to the conveinience factor. My DS prefers CC too somehow

[upwizard]

Just comparing 2 schools I would select Colet. However, do not underestimate difficult commute. It is a primary school and you have to bring and collect your DS from the school every bloody day. Good weather or bad weather, you are healthy or ill, it has to be done. Plus London morning traffic. Our neighbor drives 50 minutes each way to school in mornings and somewhat less in the afternoon. The school is great and her 2 children are happy, but she is not and exhausted.
If you think you can cope with commute or there is a school bus service in your area consider Colet, otherwise go for Kings. They both are great schools Colet gives advantages if you set your eyes on St Paul's, but in any other secondary school I do not think there will be much difference.

[Chinni]

Thankfully there is a bus service .Can anyone also guide me as to which school does my DS fit well if he is a kind of fidgety,super active and always on the move kind of boy.

Many thanks

[cakeisalwaystheanswer]

KCS keeps changing, when we chose a school both SPs and KCS were similar 13+ entry all boys public schools, the only real difference was that KCS went the IB route that parents were told was "superior" to A levels.
Since then KCS have added girls to the 6th form, re-introduced A levels so IB is now only for a minority of pupils, and they have now completely changed their admissions so that the main intake is at 11+. The last of these in my mind will make the biggest difference, schools with a large 11+ intake like Hampton have a very different feel to 13+ schools like Westminster and SPs. If you choose KCS you must be prepared that the school may be very different in 5 years time to the school you choose now but CC/SPs is unlikely to change.
DS is very happy at KCS but if I was choosing now I would go CC because I just don't know what's coming next.

[Youarenotthebossofme]

upwizard, your neighbours is bonkers! We did that for a short time before we moved! The commute is a killer and you are making your kids go through it everyday, twice a day! When there are fixtures, music performances, school productions etc there is no school coach to bring them home. Or if there is a second coach the junior boys are exhausted. Take into account the sports kit/musical instrument/art portfolio that your son will potentially be lugging around ( or losing!). The long commute will impact on school work and family life. The traffic around Hammersmith, Barnes is atrocious. If you need to be at school for meetings, or school productions etc, if you live so far from school, you may find yourself in the situation where he just gets home and you have to turn around and go back to school! Even early mornings and late returns on the school coach for a junior school boy is exhausting. It's a lot of time out of their day when they could be sleeping, relaxing, not rushing their homework, on a play date, doing after school clubs. To be fair to him and to the rest of the family, either move closer to your school of choice or choose the nearest school. Both schools are very good.
I don't think either school would be keen on the fidgety aspect but they are used to the super active boys ( hence all the sport!)
One of the boys at my son's school received multiple offers, he loved the school that was closest to them and had a convenient coach route. But the mother preferred a different school and uprooted the whole family to be closer to his school now. It sounds rather extreme, But she obviously had her reasons. Her son is very happy at his school now though.
My son also had multiple offers and didn't choose the closest school, we moved.
One of my son's school mates has a long commute to school, the teachers are always commenting on how tired he is, even though he also had multiple offers they chose a school further away thinking that the commute was doable. He is happy at school but the commute is exhausting. A year later he sat again for a school they had initially turned down but is a shorter commute, but he didn't get in this time round! So it's back to the long commute...
Good luck with your decision.

[MissGintyMarlow]

I have a ds at one of these schools. I would choose the closest school, I've seen my ds's classmates pulled out after a year or two because the commute wore every one down. Agree that traffic around Barnes/Hammersmith is a nightmare too. They are both fantastic schools.

[cherokeee]

On the other hand..... There are ways to manage the commute so it isn't arduous on parnets or children. Ie i) If my son has to be at school for an event in the evening, I arrange for him to go home with a friend who lives near school and I then collect him in the evening; ii) he quickly learned to be sure he took everything he needed to school each day and brought home what he needed for homework because return trips were difficult and not usually possible; iii) commute time (within reason) is useful time for conversation.