Headmaster Kings Worcester

Definitely horses for courses - absolutely. In our case, it was direct action of the headmaster that resulted in my child leaving for another school. My comments are based on real solid experience of the man and more than once. More than 3 times. In our case, it was a definite impact on school life and enjoyment of the school which for 12 years prior to that, we had rated highly.

im not a ‘hater’ - far from it. Still one child left on the school. This has been our experience of both schools. People have asked for opinions - so I have provided just that.

Well said.
An absolutely great school. My children and all of their friends are so happy there. Had no interaction with the head as he really did not make the school.
the only sad thing about this is it gives the haters an opportunity to have a dig.
However people find fault no matter where they are and every child is different. I have friends with children who left RGS due to bullying and came over and vice versa. overall Kings is a great school and it will only continue to flourish.

I do totally agree with Mickiehunt123. I don’t know the true facts on what’s gone on with the headmaster and my daughter and friends didn’t have anything to do with him either. They really don’t seem bothered at all that he’s gone. My daughter was at RGS for 5 years, she wasn’t happy there and we personally didn’t rate the school and some of the teachers in the prep and senior school - rude and unprofessional basically. King’s for us all was far superior and she is so much happier there. It also depends on the child and what school suits them at the end of the day. King’s for us all the way and we look forward to a new head coming in.

Still have one child at kings..

There are plenty of parents and children that do love their experience of the school. You’ve swapped to RGS now, so crack on and stop moaning about a school you’re no longer part of. Your comments have a knock on to people’s jobs, and children’s happiness. Wind it in, and enjoy what you’ve chosen. Live and let live.

It’s been a wonderful place and will continue to be. Don’t listen to the haters. Make your own mind up. Our children and all of their friends have loved, and continue to love every element of their time there. Not every school is the right fit for the parents or the child, no need for people to be so unpleasant and judgemental.

It’s all been quite ridiculous and very stressful! I actually don’t think kings can recover from this for some years. Not properly. Their reputation and numbers are down. There’s no way their fee structure is sustainable on that basis and I fully expect a full vat increase by September 25.
so many red flags were ignored by kings and the board. Teachers were told to shut up and keep quiet. Parents complained to the board and were repeatedly told that the head had their full support. Frankly, I’m glad he’s gone. But even though he has left, there’s too much ground to make up. I’m not sure how people can say the head isnt anything to do with the school. I think it’s everything to do with it. The board are truly in charge and they’ve ignored it. The culture is flawed. We moved to RGS because of it and have found it a far superior, friendly set up with a much better pastoral ethos and an excellent head/leadership team.

What exactly are his 'stupid and immoral' actions? I'm just wondering what he did specifically?
I understand his social media posts may be quite narcissistic, but that is often par for the course these days! I don't see a problem with referring to 'my pupils'.
There seems to be more to this than meets the eye, with all the deleted comments on WN. Was he more than just annoying? The rushed exit is highly suspicious.
I suspect it's a case of him being too woke? If that is the case then good riddance! Too much of that in schools these days.

I find the gossip the worst part. I spoke to lots of kids in my DS’s year today and they are truly not bothered, they were more upset that people will use this as a way of talking badly about their school that they love! They don’t want this to be used as a way of tainting the school they loved so much. Doodes in their minds was not part of that, they separate him from their own experience of kings. The school, the teachers and their friends. Altogether the best school experience possible. Doodes is aside to this, he didn’t interact with them and the school continues to have many many positives. Unfortunately what his stupid and immoral actions have resulted in is the opening of the flood gates for the haters to pick the school apart and that is really not fair on the staff or students who are going to be rebuilding and ultimately make Kings the great school that it is. NOT Gareth Doodes.

Well he must be the only one, unless the close connection your DH has is Mrs Doodes! I have heard nothing positive about Doodes -check out the comments on the Worcester News, oh sorry you can’t because 90% of the comments deleted were voicing negative opinions. I want the school to flourish and return to its former glory. The first step towards this as been taken - Doodes has gone, the next step is to appoint an excellent leader who has no skeletons in the closet!

www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/24547704.kings-school-worcester-headmaster-gareth-doodes-leaves/?cmpid=cmt#comments-anchor

The worst instagram post by far for me was “My queen meets my pupils” when Camilla came to the cathedral earlier this year. Just an awful self-publicist.

Can’t agree with that at all. DH has very close connections with the school and has heard nothing negative.

This awful man was full of his own self importance and everything he did was for his benefit and not the schools. In the time my DCs were at the school they had 3 heads at KSW. Mr Keyes was pretty much perfect, Mr Armstrong very focused on the academia and Mr Doodes focused on himself! Don’t let this dreadful man taint your view of KSW, it will be better now he has gone. The governors will have to choose the next head very carefully. The staff are wonderful and will flourish again now the Doodes dictatorship is over and the normal excellent schooling will resume. It was the best thing I did sending my three DC there. I sincerely hope that Doodesgate isn’t the downfall of Kings and that things get better.

I didn’t go to RGS so i’m not very good at maths but I heard they had 11% increase this term plus 20% when Starmer gets his way = shafted. But like I say my maths ain’t that good !

Yes, there was an audible cringe amongst the parents at the couples very, in your face social media presence. It’s not really a school that runs on public social media, hence there is absolutely no mention of his leaving on the official FB site. I haven’t asked DS what the unofficial pupil sites contain. Never actually met her, he didn’t really put her on show at the smaller social events.

There is a very funny Instagram post on his site. Where he posts about the assembly where he talked about “likes” on social media and the effect on confidence and mental wellbeing. Every child that attended “liked” it, in minutes, after one pupil spotted it. A more than subtle dig at his preaching.
One thing that constantly irritated me was how he always referred to “my school” and “my pupils”.

I always found the "heads wife" handle odd and a bit cringe. We're at RGS but we wish the best for our neighbours.

Totally agree with the previous poster who said the rivalry between the two schools is mainly between the parents! The kids in both schools all socialise together and often switch between schools for 6th form with no problem.
The School will tick over just fine without the Doodes show and so far any children I have spoken to who attend the school are non plussed he has gone.
One thing I found quite strange is how the wife of the headmaster has an open social media profile where she calls herself ‘the head’s wife’. Does she not have her own persona? Was her entire identity that of her husband? Considering she is a ‘educational marketing specialist’ you would have thought she would have realised the archaic implications of such a name for her open profile!

Honestly despite him not being everyone’s cup of tea it has not affected my childrens time at the school. The teaching staff are excellent, the SLT is strong. My children are genuinely so happy and achieving incredibly well! That is the most important thing. They would never consider being anywhere else. The friendships they have are amazing and that’s what makes a school… children who are happy and achieving.

Bobsfriend you make me smile. There has always been a bigger rivalry between RGS and King’s parents than between the children. Apart from the sports field.
The problem with looking at the academic achievement of the current cohort is that a lot can change from yr7-13. Kings suffered the tragic loss of a headmaster who was, like RGS’s head a quiet and effective figurehead. Then the pandemic hit so the staff, children and parents had no real contact with the new head for nearly 12 months.

With the ongoing restrictions, in such an extraordinary period I suspect he was given much more slack than he would normally have had. By his third year it became obvious that he was not the right fit.

I would caution against choosing a school based purely on academic achievement. Much better that it is the right fit for your child. Having supported DS through the last 4 yrs ( cancelled GCSEs and the grade debacle of Alevels), school was much more than results.

I have heard the rumours and have also read some of the comments by dissatisfied parents prior to deletion - some clearly feel very let down by the Head and the GB.

Bear in mind that finding, appointing and inducting a new Head is generally quite a lengthy process (especially now as it will be done under a microscope) and any required change also takes time. An Acting Head generally keeps the wheels in motion, rather than implementing change/new policy. Any uncertainty or conflict at the top can also cause a flurry of staff resignations, further disrupting learning.

There is a popular view that the King's VAT pledge is not sustainable, especially if they continue to lose pupils, so parents may get a shock down the line - pure speculation of course.

The PR machine at King's has been extremely active over the last four years, but some information reportedly did not stand up under scrutiny, so be sure to fact check anything important to your decision making.

RGS does have an amazing Head with a wonderful, calm leadership style and I think the school is currently outperforming both King's and Bromsgrove. If the numbers continue to increase as they have been though, there could soon be complaints from parents at RGS because there is definitely a physical limit to their capacity, and no obvious investment in new facilities.

Hope that helps.

I'm not sure I would read too much into the school's announcement about him stepping down - the fact he's acknowledged at all in the announcement is an indication that he couldn't have departed on entirely negative terms: https://www.ksw.org.uk/a-new-acting-head-has-been-announced-at-the-kings-school-worcester/

Compare / contrast with the departure of the Head at Dulwich College in London who has decided to resign prematurely this summer, 1 year before his planned retirement, owing to his behaviour at a staff party (as has been reported in the press widely over the last week). He has pretty much been erased from the school website with no announcement about his departure whatsoever.

I’d check the VAT for RGS first they’ve already had a large increase in fees for this September and apparently adding 17% in January. My child used to go to RGS but pulled them out at Christmas as we weren’t happy with how they dealt with bullying.

I don’t think you should worry too much about the head leaving suddenly. Both schools have the usual problems because they are full of teenagers. The RGS head is a lovely man and although there is a local rivalry my DS’s friendship group ( they left 2023) is a mix from the two schools. Both schools produce well mannered, considerate young adults. They all go through the usual teenage problems but the ethos in the schools is very similar.
There are a lot of rumours banded around but like most educational institutes it is often only true of a very small number of pupils.
The head leaving has nothing to do with the school.
Do visit the school, the pupils do the tours and will answer questions. We chose it based on how the children came across rather than the glossy PR.