Kingston Grammar School

thanks countess & Shooting.
actually after an afternoon digesting i'm a bit more back onto KGS. If she will do some NVR prep and watch newsround she can sit the LEH exam just to give us til March incase we change our minds!
Interestingly on the tour we were with another family with a DD who also got the 10+ at KGS and had a brother already at KGS. They were not overly impressed by LEH. maybe i am just too superficial

Tess Well worth finding a bit more about a school via the interview process at the same time they are finding out more about your DD. It was the interview process that switched my DD1 off SPGS and on to the school she went to and me off G&L. So that very much simplified the decision

From past experience, yes it isn't so much a decision as a choice because a decision tends to be something that is rational whereas it really is important that you allow this to be a subjective decision about where you and your DD feel she will be most happy, a choice that could not have been more different for my DDs. Don't be swayed by rational things like facilities, league tables etc. With my DD2 at 16 we even went so far as to construct a decision tree on the same basis you would for a management decision with all the factors that mattered to her weighted according to how much they mattered to come up with a score for each. It may have helped her Maths at GCSE but she thankfully disregarded the school with the higher score! I seem to remember someone on here said, make the decision, then if you feel disappointed you will know it is the wrong one......

I think we were very lucky in that all of us had the same gut feeling, it really helps.

Absolutely - I couldn't agree more.
If I were you I would put her fwd then decide if she gets in.
We did that with Latymer as I didn't feel we had had time to get a feel for it (one open day in the freezing cold and rain, no tours).

We pretty soon did get a feel and knew it wasn't right for her socially at all.

i know i wanted dd to come back and say no way but she said "hmm maybe". she's been very anti all girls all the time. arghhhhh

dh can't choose between them either, as he insightfully said "we can't make the right decision because there is no right decision, it is just a choice."

That's interesting that it feels so different.
It was the school that really made dd's mind up about single sex vs co ed. She came out of the bit where they take the children away saying "I'm not going there or to any girls' school, it's just weird"

i felt like that last year, terrible atmosphere. it felt different today.
i actually hate the Hampton boys relationship LEH has. it is neither one thing or the other. they pitch it as best of both worlds but i actually think it is the worst combination -boys there but you can't get to know.

apart from boys!

I didn't like LEH at all, it left me totally cold
Weird isn't it!?

oops wrong thread, sorry!

went to the LEH open morning today
now i really don't know what to do
new head seems down to earth, friendly, relaxed, great
all the girls we saw, heard, met, all perfectly fine
amazing facilities, it really does blow KGS out of the water buildings/space/facilities wise, it has everything.

Don't want to out my DD but yes, excellent experience of Humanities, especially History, English Lit, Philosophy, couldn't have been better:-)

But most of all of the relaxed and friendly pupils.

There are prob only enough girls left for 2 netball teams after the hockey I should think - only 60 girls in a year, and in the first year you can't do it all - if you want to be in a team you have after school practice and that would mean an awful on top lot for a girl coping with transition to secondary. You can do both if you want obv.

Ohtobe, 4 hockey teams in 1st year is 44 girls! Intake is 120 I think, less than half girls, so a v high proportion in hockey teams!?

Alana, it was the emphasis that appealed to me, dd only been there a few weeks so you would be better asking people with dcs higher up the school. Though they are encouraged already to research for themselves and do extra where they feel they can. Other schools we saw didn't emphasise this and indeed I know from friends with dcs there, they are not encouraged in this respect.

Anon, the sports kit is indeed fab! The lunches leave a little to be desired so I hear - am hoping the new head will do something about this (pls Mr Lehec )

Speaking of him, he seems a lovely man, very down to earth like the school, not yet as impressive a speaker as Sarah Fletcher (but tbh I have not seen a head at any of the schools we visited who was, including all the "top" ones) . He is a very good fit for the school I think.

• the sports options are fab higher up the school, inc pilates, Zumba, etc

• the dc are encouraged to be independent in every respect
• it's perfectly OK, indeed normal, for dds to be quirky, clever and individual
• the extra-curricular activities are amazing from a pastoral point of view (I speak from the heart)
• the female teaching staff are outstanding role models for the girls
• being in the middle of Kingston adds to their ability to be streetwise and independent
• they mix well with the Tiffin girls and boys on a social level

I have been on three tours of KGS and all the guides(boys and girls) were very articulate and their brightness shone through.

Would love to know the school your dd is at?! Sounds fab!

Countess, thank you for sharing your experience with KGS. Could you please clarify how the principle of "The emphasis on independent learning and allowing the pupils to explore for themselves" is put into practice.

I think Saturday one busier

I was at the open evening on Thursday, I loved it.

Oh also, because of the size of the site, open days are a nightmare. Book on to a tour, you will get a much better feel for the school