King's College School in Cambridge

[xuannao]

We are thinking to move to the independent schools in Cambridge. DD Yr5 and DS Yr3 next year. After school visit of the Perse, Stephen Perse and Kings College School, our preference school is King's College School in west road Cambridge. Talking to the headmaster it sounds quite positive both kids can get through the entrance exams. However a few questions that I am hoping I can get some opinions here

1. I recently heard kids in KCS normally come from rich family compare to the Perse or Stephen Perse. Is that true? We are scrimping and saving to send both kids to private and we wont have much to spare if they both start the private, would our kids fit in KCS just fine?
   
2. DH and I both working, I am working PT so there are two days of the week we are struggle to do the school run. We are thinking to relocate to the village in south Cambridge. What's the best area to move that are convenient for school mini bus or car sharing?

[HereIAm20]

What is your plan post year 8 as King's only goes to year 8. If it is then to go on to The Perse or SP it might be just as well to go there immediately but do be aware that The Perse will let you know if your child is unlikely to be able to stay on in the Upper.

[xuannao]

Plan is daughter to perse and son to Eton if possible. I do like to put both kids into perse this year but no space at all for yr 5. SP the facility is really poor.

[PippaFawcett]

My colleague's son is there and he is very happy. That's all I know really!

[HereIAm20]

Kings College has a good reputation but they would usually frown if you try the Perse entry for year 7 and would expect your daughter to go for entry at year 9.

[xuannao]

PippaFawcett

thanks for the info,

HerelAm20

Yes, we were told Perse is not taking kids from them at yr7 only at yr9, is that true, no idea.

But to me it makes sense for both kids go up to yr9 with them as their final two years' fee quite competitive comparing to other upper schools.

thanks

[HereIAm20]

Yes Perse fees very competitive compared to say Leys or King's Ely - probably because there is no boarding at all.

[JanLady]

Is there transportation to King's from other parts of Cambridge?

[xuannao]

Thanks HerelAm20.
JanLady there are no mini bus from other part, one from Trumpington Park and Ride and one from a village from the south. We are thinking to move to Trumpington area at the moment.
After a few chat with the headmaster and some parents, I noticed Kings is going to change headmaster (current headmaster retire next Sept). Will that be lots changes to the school? Dont know who's going to be the next headmaster they dont even start to recruit yet.

[HereIAm20]

I think Perse will take them at yr7 subject to passing exams but I don't think Kings like it

[HereIAm20]

Yes a friend who has kids there said about Head leaving. Maybe they are going to recruit after Christmas or promote internally but don't sant to announce yet.

[SeniorWranglered]

We looked around Kings and quite liked it (it reminded me of my own prep school, which probably helped). but the lack of transport put us off, as did the current head (he was nice enough but a bit 1950s, and for some reason I always got the feeling there were things he wasn't telling us, perhaps that's just me). We also visited St John's and St Faith's, but we weren't overly taken with the setup in either. In the end we put the kids in local state primary schools and it's worked out surprisingly well.

Most of our neighbours seem to use local private schools but in terms of outcomes for all our kids they seem fairly comparable. I think a lot comes down to the affluence and education of the parents rather than where you send them to school, so I would say around here if finding the fees is going to be a stretch don't feel you absolutely have to. The vast majority of the state primary schools are just fine. What you do seem to get in the private sector is more of a ready made friendship base for professional parents, which I would kind of like, but there you are. Nothing is perfect. ;.)

I think the demographic using Perse/Kings/John's is pretty much identical to all intents and purposes and I wouldn't worry about that, by the way. Press is probably more academic/professional parents, Kings and Johns perhaps slightly more old money but the groups definitely overlap.

For an easier commute the answer is bicycle and if you consider Trumpington I think it might be just about manageable. I think I have seen kids doing this with their parents.

[Tweetinat]

DO is in Year 2 at King's and absolutely loves it. It was by far the best choice for us and we really love the school.

[Tweetinat]

Ah FFS. That posted before I was ready! To answer your questions though:

1. absolutely not at all, in fact the opposite is true. Most children at King's (at lest in our year) have parents that work and come fron relatively 'normal' backgrounds. This was precisely why we liked the school so much. Many parents are either academics or work at Addenbrookes. Yes there are a few super rich families in each year, but for the most part we're all just regular people. I know lots of parents at St John's / The Perse and the ratio of rich parents is way higher. We felt very uncomfortable at both schools when viewing as we didn't feel like we fit at all. And in fact the head of St John's tried his hardest to put us off applying for a place as he clearly felt we didnt fit the mould/have enough money!
   
   
2. best place to live would be south Cambridge with quick access to park and ride busses. We live in Duxford and it's absolutely perfect. There's a bus that collects from the village at 7.50 but it only takes us 25 minutes at peak rush hour tor get to school in the morning and 12 minutes in the afternoon for collection.
   
   Feel free to PM if you have any specific questions I could help with.

[yawningdad]

It is hard to compare schools, since people tend to pick ones which suit them; however at school matches the parents from Johns and the Perse certainly seem to have a higher proportion of expensive cars, smart clothes, and look much posher. I don't know about SP. Most Kings parents think it is best; but for exactly the same reasons (the Kings children look relaxed and don't pull their socks up) parents at the other schools tend to think it isn't. Kings is very friendly, others feel military by comparison. So, go and look round again and imagine your child there. In the end, it depends on them.

[BikeRider33]

I think the wealth and poshness or otherwise of the parents at the different schools will depend on who you talk to / know. I would rank St Johns as the wealthiest , then Kings, then Perse for example, but there is a huge overlap. The first 2 seem to be more children going to the same school as their fathers (& I would put the scruffy cars seen by yawningdad as due to very posh old money) but all anyone can give you is a snapshot.

TBH if your aim for your ds is Eton, I think you are just going to have to get comfortable with wealthy parents and look at which school gives him the best chance of getting in. This is more likely to be St John's or Kings than the Perse as they go up to 13 and will teach to common entrance I assume. Look at leavers destinations - I suspect quite a few St Johns and Kings kids must end up at SP/Perse/St Mary's at year 9.

[Perilla]

TBH if your aim for your ds is Eton, I think you are just going to have to get comfortable with wealthy parents and look at which school gives him the best chance of getting in. This is more likely to be St John's or Kings than the Perse as they go up to 13 and will teach to common entrance I assume. Look at leavers destinations - I suspect quite a few St Johns and Kings kids must end up at SP/Perse/St Mary's at year 9.

This is good advice, the Perse and SPF are very much 'all the way through' schools - I don't think they do any preparation for Common Entrance etc; that would be much more the preserve of the prep schools that take them up to the end of Yr 8.

I've no direct experience of Eton but know people who have taught at other fairly major public schools and if you're worrying about the wealth/poshness of parents at the Cambridge private schools then that will be magnified 10 times over at somewhere like Eton I would imagine. Although all the public schools offer scholarships and bursaries they will by their very nature have some extremely wealthy parents there both old and new money.

Most of the Cambridge schools come in around £16,000 to £20,000 a year in fees for secondary, Eton is around £36,000 and then between £1,500 and £3,000 a year 'extras' on top of that (the Cambridge figures are excluding extras). If you're worrying about fees for Cambridge private schools then Eton, even for 1 child, is a huge jump in expense.

[moonlight555]

Kings college school Cambridge is a total waste of money at the moment. Lots of talking and no action. The parents’ voice is dismissed. It’s like being at a state school at the moment. But for lots of money. Many are leaving, even more are unhappy but won’t say anything until leave themselves. Invest your money elsewhere! First hands experience- 3 kids there and thinking of leaving!!

[Happybusymum]

just realized the thread started back in 2016, a bit of nosy if xuannao's children are happy at Kings, and DS has an offer from Eton?

[mastertomsmum]

Moonlight555 - independent schools are often like state schools in regards to getting any say in matters, the difference is you pay for them and many are more blatantly selective. Paying doesn't get you security, if your child doesn't fit you will be in fear of being asked to leave. Standards of education might not be higher and - without SATs - you've no benchmark as to how they are doing or what standard they are aiming for.

That said, Kings and Johns used to be the schools folk said good things about hereabouts if we're talking traditional prep schools rather than Perse grammar school model

[moonlight555]

Mastertomsmum- good addition “used to”. We’ve been with King’s long enough to see the difference then and now. My two eldest left after year 8 and are now at the Purse Upper. The three youngest are still at King’s. The new headmistress is very unpopular and the changes she brings make more and more people unhappy. I don’t agree that payment doesn’t give you a security. We came from a state school into year 2 with my eldest and have never regretted the move. The children do sit a rather higher equivalent of SATs and the results are shared with parents. The gap between the state and private education is enormous and growing bigger. A very few children are asked to leave. Very few. And the reasons are different. The problem is not in the system or children. The current King’s problem is in incompetent head. And that’s what makes people leave.

[mastertomsmum]

moonlight555 - it seems like we had different experiences. Glad not all prep schools are like the one my DS attended. No testing equiv to SATs there. Heavy dependence on sporty children to deliver a respectable looking scholarships result.

Perse Upper is very different, glad yours are happy there

[moonlight555]

Mastertomsmum- May I ask you which school your DS attended? Also, as you speak in the past tense, where is your DS son now? I totally agree about sporty children, often trained outside school but the school takes credit. Same here at King’s- very musical children that win music competitions worldwide are filmed by BBC and alike at the school grounds, the school takes all the credit of make such talented children but in reality these kids don’t do music lessons at school (!), their teachers are from outside.they are at King’s because every child must be at school by law. Shambles! Same with sports! Same with academic competitions. The new head found a “clever” way of making quick money- selling the school overseas- double money, no responsibilities as most kids come for a term or two, sometimes a year or two. We don’t have talented kids from council estates that don’t pay any fees anymore. Used to have. Not many but still had some. Now if a parent loses ability to pay- they are out in a blink of an eye! Bursaries are only mentioned to attract customers, no intention to give them to anyone. Everything commercialised, such a shame as we are talking about our future. Our kids are our future! So sad!!!

[mastertomsmum]

My DS was at St Faith's. Original headmaster was the excellent Mr Drew, whom we knew through a family connection. Then there was a new head and newish approach to promoting the school.

Pastoral care talked the talk but didn't walk the walk. Something about my DS just didn't fit. The grading system they used from Yr 3 was called 'Effort and Attainment' and was for Maths, English, Science and Sport. They didn't rate him in any of those disciplines, weird because - with the exception of sport - he's now getting predictions of 8's and 9's for GCSE, he could read when he was 3 and sort out a 5 way split restaurant bill with individual costs and without writing it down at age 7.

He left in Yr 5 to local school, got offers at both Perse schools for secondary but didn't really want to go. We figured that if he'd worked for tests he didn't want to take then he'd do ok anywhere. He's at St Bede's.

Agree re music - I know 2 people in National Youth Orchestra. One is ex Kings and one is current St Bedes

[Kingsnothappyparent]

I agree with moonlight555 mum, please DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON KINGS! The worst private school at the Cambridge right now! Kings was an amazing school until 2016-2017, we were there from 2011, then all gone down with the new headmistress no one likes, she has ruined school bring her own team from Durham, ruined the school many ways, only cares about money and choristers and forgets is she suppose to be the head of the school and she has no idea how to run the school, teacher and parents running away, school is chaos, there is bullying because she takes anyone pays money! this attracts all sorts of people. no assessment on kids, no decent family criteria, there are very very bizarre parents at the school, there are even chaws with bully kids, these sort of people would never able get place before 2017, luckily my kids passed Perse exam left kings behind , one in primary one in secondary now, School is going from bad to worst! totally waste of money! they do not listen they do not care about your kids. Perse, Stephen Perse, St John'S and St faith'S all great schools , Kings SCHOOL CAMBRIDGE is worst than state right now.