Kingsdale waiting list

I understand how tough it can be as we also received our third choice for both. It’s difficult to process at first, especially when we had high hopes including a sports scholarship. I just wanted to mention that while Kingsdale is indeed a great school, there are many other wonderful options out there as well. I hope all settles for you.

Thank you. I think with any school one can argue pro's and con's, and the uncertainty of a new school is always stressful. We got our third place school which was a bit of a shock, but it is what it is... There is a small chance of an offer from our first two choices, though I think it's minimal and probably better to just accept where we are and move forward.

Both of my children were placed in Band One and have barely moved since then, although I haven't checked in a very long time.
Honestly, both of my children are very happy at their current schools, one of which I was worried about our child attending.

Kingsdale offers many advantages, as a larger school will have more staff and resources and Kingsdale has a good reputation at the moment.
However, larger schools are harder to staff as you need more of them, and friends have mentioned staffing issues in certain core subjects.
The same friends have also mentioned that many trips require a ballot, which means their children don’t get to go on as many excursions. That said, I’m not trying to criticise the school, as I appreciate its offerings. If you are lucky enough to be selected for certain opportunities, there are plenty on offer.

If the alternative to Kingsdale isn’t what you hoped for, it can feel more uncertain. Kingsdale is more popular partly because of its lottery and scholarship systems, which help accommodate students from areas with very low-performing schools.

Good luck with the school decisions

Good to know, thanks. I'm not feeling too optimistic tbh - I would imagine there is much more movement in band 1, possibly band 2 ..

Are you happy with your child's school?

My child was in the 50s on the Band 3 waitlist last year and it didn’t move upwards at all I’m afraid.

Hello! I understand what you’re going through; we were in a similar situation last year and the year before. While we were ranked lower than your position, we didn't secure a space either. It’s easy to get caught up in speculation since the process doesn’t always follow a predictable pattern like other schools. From our experience, I recommend focusing on the offers you currently have. We didn’t receive an offer from Kingsdale and, although we were initially disappointed, things turned out positively in the end.

We are number 115 on the band 3 waiting list, I wonder what the movement is like these days as this thread is five years old now. We are not holding our breath for an offer, though it would be welcomed happily as we got our third choice school (Kingsdale was our first choice)

@sara75

I know this is an old thread but did your DC get an offer?

I would take it as meaning that, as long as you have Kingsdale higher on your CAF than any other school that you would be offered a place at, you are pretty much guaranteed to get in at the initial offer stage as her score ranks her in the top 15% of music places.

It was pretty confusing at a lot of schools - I had to ring one to find out whether DD was 6th on the list for the 'guaranteed a place as ranked in top 25' or 6th on the waiting list underneath the top 25, and therefore at least 7 scholarship holders would need to decline a place for her to be offered one. Makes a big difference as to whether you risk it on the CAF or not, and it wasn't at all obvious which group was which!

Another positive about Kingsdale .. their YouTube videos during lockdown showing the children and their music.

It is just amazing. Such an amazing output.

Really diverse contributions.

They obviously somehow kept music and art going through lockdown.

I loved the virtual choir too.

Thanks @MrsBloggsJones - great to hear that the music provision is so good.

Our offer letter said "With reference to your daughter’s performance; in previous years, if an applicant with a similar score did not receive an offer from a higher preference school, they would have normally exceeded the benchmark to be ranked in the top 15% on our scholarship oversubscription list for those admitted and would have been
offered a place at the School."

I can't tell from that whether they mean she has scored highly enough that she should be in the 15% who get places on allocation day, or she's in the top 15% of the waiting list? It goes on with the usual caveats about not being a guaranteed place, but that the overwhelming majority get a place by September 1st.

It might say on the letter something that indicates where she is ranked - ours said something along the lines of her being in the top 10% and that would normally mean that she would be offered a place in the initial round (but no guarantee etc), which we took to mean that she would be actually be guaranteed a place even if they didn't say as much.

As far as I can tell, pretty much everyone who was offered a full scholarship got one by the summer, as did a lot of those who were offered a half-scholarship.

Very impressed so far with the music offer under Covid conditions. The music department obviously went to a lot of trouble to match my daughter to the teacher who matches the direction my daughter wants to go in. Lessons currently all on Zoom, but working well.

yellowtulips well done for your daughter - my son is about to sit grade 3 so I didn't think he would be able to go for the music scholarship. Sport really is his thing.

sparklymum unfortunately the schools are really struggling. I so do wish it was just gossip. There is an academy that seems ok but it is new and unknown.

There is still a grammar test to try for but l we just have not done enough to sit it.

I suppose we will just have to hope for a place.

@lovemincepies we put it as 5th choice in end as we live out of borough & i wasn't 100% happy about the travel, the letter of not being successful just gave me the nudge I needed to give up but 3 of his school friends who also tried for sports didn't get it either but 2 girls got music ... it's so random.
At the end of the day your child will do well where ever they go if they are willing to learn and the teachers are good, don't rule out the smaller schools I ended up choosing one I spent the last 3 years saying never ever because I listened to the playground gossip mostly coming from parents who'd never been there but when I went there I was very impressed. Good luck xx

We heard via email a couple of days ago that DD got a full music scholarship and got the physical copy of the confirmation letter in the post today. That still doesn't mean she's guaranteed a place though apparently, because they over offer.

Sorry, your DSs didn't get scholarships - hopefully they'll get in on the lottery.

sparklymum my son did one assessment tired because he has done 2 hours of sport beforehand and had a poor nights sleep.

I am sorry your son didn't get one too.

I agree the timing for the sessions were quite short.

I don't think I can give up on Kingsdale yet as I do not have good local options, that is why I am hoping my son will somehow get a place. I have not told my son either, he felt one assessment did well. We did not watch.
I also don't want to dent any confidence he has.

So I am not going to focus on kingsdale but deep down my son will ask eventually and I will just say you don't know if you get a place until March.

I have had a few friends ask me and ask me about the results but I don't want to tell them when my son doesn't know in case it gets back to him.

At least the Kingsdale process didn't drag on.

Did you get the line about the gifted and talents programme in the outcome letter?

@lovemincepies my son missed out too however watching the assessment take place from my car there wasn't a lot of assessing going on I believe it's a bit of pot luck to be fair my son also plays weekly for 2 football teams.
I gave up on Kingsdale in end it's too stressful I also haven't told son he didn't get a scholarship as he'll think he's not good enough.
Good luck with your school choices.

Such a helpful thread. My son missed out on a sports scholarship.

Has anyone else heard how they got on?

The letter did mention that if he got a space via a different method he would be able to be on their gifted and talent programme. I don't know, and they may just send such a letter to everyone who does not obtain a scholarship as a sweetener.

I am not telling my son. He has some other exams but Kingsdale is what he wants.
I want to see if he is lucky enough to get a place.

He is very talented at sport but is not at national level but has won club type competitions. He was very tired when he did one of the assessments too but he did his best.

So have people managed to get a place in year 8?

Does anyone know who many people apply for each place?

@marytuda thanks for post, Very helpful
my son is white but living in south London mainly Clapham / Brixton my whole life it's quite hard pressed to find any school now that isn't mixed ethnicity if anything I'd say Lambeth academy is predominantly BAME and i find it's really sad if that's an agenda for parents when choosing schools.

I've never been one for statistics of league tables etc, most of the time it's the parents that fuel the bad reputation of the school with their opinion s and stories of having a friends uncles neighbours son went there etc ... lol

I just want my son to be happy and have the best opportunities like any other parent does I guess and although Lambeth academy may not offer all the things Kingsdale does I think surely they follow the same curriculum and children make the most with the tools they have right, I'm pretty sure my school was fairly basic and we all did ok if I kid wants to learn they will I just feel bad if I ignore child's request to put Kingsdale first .. but hey he's 10 what does he know? He can be max for a few months & thank me later when he's home by 3:45 each day instead of 4:45.

Hi sparklymum not sure I can add much to what I posted couple of years back, I'm not a professional so my information is less up to date now my DC is in Y9. Not at a Lambeth school though I'm sure he would have been fine at either of the two we listed back then; but that's because he's the kind of able, sociable, uncomplicated kid who'd do well anywhere (lucky me . .)

He's also not white so perfectly happy at a virtually 100% BAME school, in fact I would never have put him in an all-white school (anyway not possible round here!) . . . I do get the impression that many London-based Mumsnetters are more anxious about too-many-black-kids than anything else, really, though reluctant to fess up . . So they will 'inexplicably' prefer an obviously less effective but erm, whiter school over a high performing inner city . . .
Anyway my DC is in touch almost daily online with old primary school friends now at Platanos, Pimlico, and yep Kingsdale, all happy and doing well as far as I can gather, though my contact with their parents is superficial to say the least.
Lambeth Academy is a bit further away for us but sounds to me like a nice school in the Platanos mould . . . I'm guessing these less fashionable schools will try harder esp with promising kids given they have more to prove . . I'm willing to bet that super-sought-after schools with big white-middle-class intakes are prone to complacency, assuming tutoring widely available, which lets staff off the hook . . . Assumptions schools like Lambeth Academy or Platanos Academy would never make.
If your kid is conscientious and supported, and likely to be a credit to the school, a school like that will do their very best for them I am sure . . . And your child will enjoy being one of the school 'stars' or leaders in a way they may not have been at Graveney or Kingsdale.
And maybe learn something about succeeding from a place of disadvantage in the process!
There are many lovely kids - and teachers - at 'unfashionable' schools, trust me on that.
Best of luck.

I think the bubbles have helped - it's a huge school and the intake was 390 I think this year. Y7 do have their own playground which they seem to like, but the bubbles and restrictions have definitely made it a less daunting transition if a less exciting one.

DC doesn't find the commute too bad - we're an hour on the train from London, and then a second train out to Sydenham Hill. There are lots of them getting the train - DC normally calls me to say they are on their way home, and now it's a case of getting a message because they are with their friends and don't want to call!

School are very good about signal failures and delays and I just email in if they are going to be late and it doesn't count against them.

The hour on the train also means they get their homework done before they get home which is good. Harder if your journey has lots of small changes, or doesn't allow you to read a book etc.

Because of the lottery system, children come from all over the place so there's no feeling that you are the odd one out because you don't live locally.

MirsblogginJones the lockdown really showed me that the primary school my child attend is not coping. Next to no work set.
No parent teachers meeting last year.

Some major playground type fights on the return. Some real aggression from parents.

Have to say though because of covid it woke me up and we have made sure our child has gone through maths curriculum and he is doing so well. So for us, it made me realise we needed to assess things and find the right materials.

He is naturally pretty bright but every child benefits from great teaching.

My son is a great kid - he really wants to learn and he realises that some of the kids who cause trouble have their own trouble.

He did also look up private schools on his own accord (bless) and told me about them and then said he knew we couldn't afford it but said it is amazing what some schools offer.

I truly hope we get a place. I know he wouldn't waste it. The motivation is there.

I just hope for him that it all falls into place.

MrsBlogginJones what a helpful post.
Thank you so much for your insight. That is really reassuring to read.

I suppose in some ways being in bubbles may meant the start go school is more intimate and that can help with children getting their head around such a large school.

How does your child find the journey to and from school ?

I really hope we get a place.

And Sparklymum Apologies for the truly terrible spelling.

Good luck sarklymum too.

soarkymum it is a difficult choice, I suppose you need to weigh up travel and the pros and cons of each school.