Kings International college

[Riz02]

Is anyone able to share if this school is worth considering as a second choice after Tomlincote given the location ? I have heard the school has had a good Ofsted report this year ?

[helenwilson]

Kings (in Camberley - there is also a Kings in Guildford) does not have a great reputation locally, it is a small school, but it's not a popular choice. I don't have personal experience of it though but know the area, visited Tomlinscote and know lots of children there. Collingwood is a much more popular choice as a second choice and has been undersubscribed in recent years which I can never understand, probably because people prefer Tomlisncote but it has a much better reputation than Kings. I think you should go and see the schools though if that's possible, Kings is very small and apparently good at drama etc, so worth looking at if school size is important to you, but statistically Tomlinscote and Collingwood are definitely superior.

[Riz02]

Thank you for sharing will also make an appointment to see Collingwood helps to get a feel of the school

[FrimleyIsTheCentreOfTheWorld]

Hi.

Personally, I do not like Kings International. However, a lot of people who send their children their are really impressed and say that the school is really nurturing and cares for the individual child. This is possibly because it is a small school. However, with the growing numbers in the area, the intake in 2016 will be bigger than it has been previously. When we looked round last year, we really got the impression that it prefers arts subjects to the traditional ones like maths, so it would depend on where your child's strengths lie. I really did not like the head mistress (who showed unlabelled irrelevant graphs and wrongly used "literally" in her talk, amongst other things) but others love her so swings and roundabouts I guess. Because it is small, GCSE options are limited, as are opportunities for other activities like DofE awards. Kings has a nice cafeteria though! And what seemed to be a very passionate PTA.

Tomlinscote is supposedly good, but was outperformed at GCSEs in 2015 by Collingwood. They have a catchment area and you don't stand a chance if you don't live within it, but even if you do not everyone gets in and it goes on strict distances to the school which obviously change every year.

Collingwood is a big school and quite spread out. However, they got excellent GCSE results last year. It is aiming for status as an outstanding school. By being big, they can offer a larger range of subjects at GCSE, school clubs and other extra curricular activities (I think they had a car they had made on display when we looked around). The school buildings look very shabby and there are rather dubious patches where it looks like someone has put their fist through a wall. The whole school could do with a makeover and a lick of paint. They seemed quite nuturing in their own way, with a separate playground for year 7s. Their cafe facilities were non existent and children seemed to be forced to stand around outside to eat.

[Riz02]

Thank you for this information we shall be visiting both schools Kings and Collingwood soon for a tour so hopefully so this should also help in the final decision.

[Foxyloxy1plus1]

King's International has suffered, as many schools do, from a poor reputation which it has struggled to overcome.

Collingwood is massive, even if it is undersubscribed, because it has the capacity for 12 form entry. That's what it was when I taught there. It's catchment is very wide and varied. Tomlinscote is slightly smaller, but over subscribed and unless you live close by, difficult to get into. It has a good reputation, probably better than Collingwood, but Collingwood's results have been fairly consistent for many years.

[GU24Mum]

As the others have said, Kings doesn't have a great reputation and that seems to have been the case for a while - it used to have a different name (albeit when I was at school back when we still had dinosaurs....). Collingwood though is HUGE and I'd find that a bit off-putting.

I'm pretty sure you're asking about Camberley not Guildford as that one doesn't have the "International" tag. It doesn't have a great reputation either though.

[panda00]

If you are after grade, i would suggest you look at their A-level results, not GCSE as it doesn't mean much anymore now.

[AmandaSmith]

Kings is a fabulous school. It is a small school, which means all the teachers get to know all the children. Something that a larger school could not possibly do.
All the schools is Surrey Heath are different. We are lucky to have 3 great schools in our area.
You must look at all schools before you decide to get a proper idea.