King Edward's School Bath / Kingswood School Bath - decision time!

[stickyvicky71]

We have been extremely fortunate and been offered a place for my daughter at both schools but are really struggling to decide which to go for. They both seem very good schools albeit that kes seems slightly more academic but has fewer girls (more difficult socially?).

Unfortuantely I don't really know anyone who goes to kes and only one child at Kingswood so am trying to get some feedback - good or bad! Thanks

[TriggersBroom]

Hello Vicky.

I have a Yr10 daughter at the Royal High and a Yr7 son at KES.
I can't really comment on Kingswood although we did look around it for both of them and were fairly impressed, particularly with the pastoral care system for Yrs 7 and 8.

We settled on KES for DS because it seemed to be more academic (scholarship kid). Also as a committed atheist, he would have struggled with the strong religious ethos at Kingswood.

So far, I've been extremely impressed with KES. The quality of teaching has been excellent as far as I can see, with DS getting very enthused by some subject teachers.

There is definitely a higher proportion of boys. I think there are 6 girls in DS's class of around 20, so just under a third. (Not sure if that is replicated across the year).

Pastoral care has been excellent. DS is a bit of a geek and has been slow to settle but his form teacher has been very pro-active at finding strategies to help him make friends.

I hope this helps.

[stickyvicky71]

Thanks Triggersbroom. Glad your son is happy there. Daughter is also lucky to have an academic scholarship - does your son find it very competitive? I think I am slightly concerned by the lower numbers of girls in terms of friendships although kes do seem to spend time trying to make sure your child has someone similar in the same form but 6 seems like a very small pool!

[TriggersBroom]

LIke I said, I'm not sure if 6 girls is consistent across the year group. It might be worth checking with KES to see what the average is.

TBH DS has a small pool to make friendships from. Most of the boys in his class were previously at the junior school in KES and are sticking together a bit. They are all quite sporty and he's not (lots of emphasis on rugby), and he only has a small pool of geek kids to make friends with. LIke I said, he's been slow at making friends but that's more about him than the school itself (he was bullied at junior school and has lost some confidence).

In terms of competitiveness, if your dd has a scholarship, I'm sure she'll be fine. There is is definitely a strong emphasis on achieving. DS is being stretched but certainly not struggling, and is (mostly) really enjoying the work.