Hey all.
We live in central Winchester and have been checking out both King's and Westgate for our DS who is currently in Y6. Both look really good, but seem to have different styles and I'm not sure which would be best for our DS.
Most of our neighbours' kids go to Westgate and they've generally turned out well, and he was all set on going to Westgate with most of his mates until we visited King's which impressed him (and they did put on a really good show for us at the Open Day and Evening).
So now, I'm stressing about which of these two excellent schools would be best for him.
He's not what I'd call a high achiever, he's about average for his state primary year group, although they do have some incredibly bright kids in his class. He tends to daydream and lack focus and I wonder if the stricter regime at King's would make him pull his metaphorical socks up - or whether he'd be demotivated by being ranked so transparently as they seem to do from Day One. I'm aware that quite a few of the Y7s at King's are coming in from pre-prep schools and are used to a tougher regime, so would DS be a disadvantage?
He's a sensitive lad and keen on history and technology, he describes himself as a "steampunk"! He's popular at his primary school but not very sporty, academic or artistic!
I must admit I've been put off Westgate in the last couple of days after witnessing some ASB on two separate occasions by teens in Westgate uniforms. (I do acknowledge this could have been because there are more Westgate than King's students round here.)
Anyway, I'm looking for some honest advice on what types of student tend to do best at each of these schools - as far as I understand it, the differences are the stricter streaming at King's, its bigger size, stricter uniform rules, and of course the different specialisms.
Cheers.
TwinkleMama x