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?

You misunderstand me. I am most certainly not a Brexiteer or a racist. Quite the reverse. Perhaps you just typed in haste (as I do, and I concede I have made errors too) but you omit articles before nouns quite frequently, which led me to think English might not be your first language. It wasn't an insult. I was trying to understand and find an explanation for how you could possibly not grasp just how offensive your words were. It looks as if you're not willing to reconsider though so we'll have to agree to differ.

👍articles in a text style message! 🤔Cool 😎 👍

I also used “chavs” in my messages. Not! Not a single time! Yes, we are definitely different. Like chalk and cheese! And I’m proud of it! Good afternoon!

Moonlight - I am finding your comments so offensive and intolerable. I wonder if you realise how you are coming across? ()

Perse is extremely selective school. No one moves out unless they don’t cope and are asked to leave. Fact. It’s hard to accept, isn’t it?
@moonlight555. as I said, my friend moved her child because he was unhappy. He wasn't asked to leave. Why accuse me of lying?

You really aren't coming across very well.

Just to return to this thread. My kids' secondary has just announced they are running a food bank every evening after school for families affected by Covid-19 whose livelihoods have been impacted by lack of/downturn in work. Instead of slagging off kids from poorer backgrounds they are pulling together and offering help. As I said, upthread, when it comes to choices about education it's up to individual families, but I know what sort of behaviour I want to see modelled for my kids within their school community (students, parents, staff) and it's 100% this sort of thing and not the vile snobbery we have seen on this thread.

I've children in some of Cambridge's private schools (not King's College) and I am appalled and disgusted by the language used by some people here to describe children from the council estates. I'm certain that these disgraceful views are not shared by a majority of parents of children in Cambridge’s private schools. I also know that all Cambridge private schools are opposed to such views and forms of discrimination.

Some people here have attacked King's Head for her attempts to make King's College School a more inclusive and diverse school, a school that prepares children for a 21st century world. If parents are leaving King's because the Headmaster has been encouraging "the wrong types" and international students to apply to King's, then no school should want such parents as members of its community. They should leave and take their prejudice, xenophobia and racism elsewhere. As a parent with children in Cambridge’s private schools, I would be concerned that there parents like that in my children's school.
The best schools are often the most diverse and inclusive. One of the academic and intellectual strengths of UK's private schools is that they are also INTERNATIONAL schools recruiting from across the world. They are also striving to be even more racially diverse than most state schools. That social, cultural and racial diversity and inclusion is an important ingredient in creating a strong academic and intellectual culture.

Thanks @Cantab2020 for reassuring us that the two posters upthread are the exception and not the norm. I am sure the vast majority of fee-paying parents reflect your views and not those displayed above. Anyway, things have moved on since this thread and I am sure that private schools have had ample opportunity to demonstrate their worth (or otherwise) to parents in lockdown and pandemic conditions.

Thank you for speaking out against the ignorance shown in some of the vile and hateful comments. All children deserve an excellent education, wherever they are, regardless of their backgrounds or economic circumstances. As parents we should be supporting that and passing such values to our children, not the ignorance demonstrated in some of the views here.

I hope that the solidarity between private and state schools, and also communities, that emerged during this lockdown will flourish and lead to more concrete things which will benefit all children and communities.
Stay safe ❤

King's College School is fantastic.

It has given our children confidence in themselves and academically they are doing wonderfully. King's is diverse and welcoming, a great entry point, you just have to stuck in and join in. I find the new head a refreshing change from our previous experiences.

In terms of parents, (very generally speaking stereotypically) St John's probably has more "rich" parents, King's has a wide range as does St Faith's and the Perse.

Sorry to hijack this post but I was wondering if you please give me more information on your experience with kings @bielka. Which class does your child/ children go to? Do you have any experience with the perse at all?
We're currently in the process of choosing between kings and perse both of which my dd has been offered a place. I know perse is pretty high pressure, unfortunately because of the pandemic we couldn't visit the school or meet any of the teachers/ head etc. We've literally applied because of their results and reputation. We don't know of anyone with first hand experience of the place.
Kings, however, managed to give us a tour and literally everyone we met was so lovely and warm.
They retained all the information we had told them about us and we felt like we were on a tour with a friend. During the tour we ran into the head of prep and he was beyond lovely. He too spoke to us like he"d already known us for years.

• I love their facilities (which is also available for use by the little ones) and I feel they're probably less pressure academically (judging by the assessment they did of dd vs. the perse)

But on second thought, she will need to get used to that pressure at some point (,after yr 8) and it may be in her interest to continue in the same school from start to end and have all/ most her friends with her thru her school life. And I feel being offered a place at Perse (with only 8 intakes per year) is an honour in itself. Or am I not thinking this through the right way?
Thanks in advance to anyone who has made it this far.

You are asking all the right questions @M0msthew0rd! We had the same questions.

I don't have direct knowledge of the Perse, except from other parents and the children but by all accounts it is a great school. It does have the reputation of being "high pressure" academically competitive compared to the other private schools, but it boils down to a couple of questions.

Are one's children competitive? Do you have the time and willpower to spend time helping the children with their homework? You only get the best out of private school if the parents get involved, you can't expect the school to do it all.

Our daughter needed help academically and while bright she was let down before and kings identified this within a week and are giving her all kinds of help and she is improving at a impressive clip. Our son, who is competitive takes pride in his homework and gets good results. He was thrown in at the deep end but swims well. He wasn't like this before.

The advantage of the Perse is that it does go all the up up to A level, whereas we will have to find a new school for both after 12+.

We had a similar experience, like you, with the tour of Kings and found the staff to be welcoming and warm. We did have the option of St Faith's but geographically Kings was easier for us in terms of pick up/drop off.

For us, Kings has worked wonders and I can only speak favorably about it.

Thanks very much for your response @bielka. Very useful things to think about for sure. I'm glad your kids are getting on well at Kings.
Sounds like they've taken a good approach with both your kids ❤️

Since we haven't had a chance to go to perse we're not sure just how accomadating they would be to our needs in general. We got the feeling that kings is very responsive and keen to help. The only experience we've had with perse so far is an email confirming our registration payment and an email with details on the assessment and a final email offering dd a place.
The process has been quite disconnected but it has been entirely down to pandemic. Kings on the other hand (in the same pandemic situation) has been liaising with us over several emails and calls and have asked us lots of questions about dd and had taken a great interest in us. We were taken on a tour around the school and managed to meet with the head of the pre-prep, who addressed DD by her first name and asked how her about some of her interests, etc which we had mentioned in an email to the admissions coordinator. It goes to show the effort and interest they've made in getting to know us on a personal level.
I can't help but feel that The Perse gives off a vibe where they know they're in high demand and perhaps don't need to make a big effort.

I wonder if there are any Perse parents / ex Perse parents on here that can give us a bit more insight on the general feel of the school?

I have also heard nothing but positive things about King's College School Cambridge, how friendly and welcoming they are.

As a Perse parent, I can say that our DC is happy at the school and is now in Year 7 (joined in Year 3). We've had a positive experience with the school. It has been accommodating to our DC's and our needs, even going out of its way to do so.
The pandemic has affected different schools differently in terms of how they have to learn to engage with new and old families.

Thanks for your response @Cantab2020. We have been able to chat with the head which has now helped a lot.
We are truly in a dilemma now between the two schools. Especially since we have a 1 yr old who we plan on sending to the same school and after giving that a lot of thought I worry about having to face the reality of them not making it through and the having them in two different schools. That would be far from ideal for several obvious reasons.
But because they don't guarantee the entrance of a sibling, it does put us in a difficult position.

@M0msthew0rd. I have two in different independent schools. I agree that it's far from ideal. I would suggest choosing the school where there is some guarantee that they will both be together. I wish I had made that choice. It would have made a lot of things easier for me. However, the most important thing right now is that they're both happy with their schools.

@M0msthew0rd I wonder what decision you made in the end? We're also torn between King's and another school at the moment

@mnetter21 we went ahead with Perse. My husband is not a gambling man, our first choice for secondary was The Perse so we felt that we would be in a better position for Upper Perse if we started from ground up. If that makes sense?
Although, I must say, I do still feel a bit heartbroken over Kings. We start in September. I shall keep anyone posted if you need an update :)

[quote M0msthew0rd]@mnetter21 we went ahead with Perse. My husband is not a gambling man, our first choice for secondary was The Perse so we felt that we would be in a better position for Upper Perse if we started from ground up. If that makes sense?
Although, I must say, I do still feel a bit heartbroken over Kings. We start in September. I shall keep anyone posted if you need an update :)[/quote]
Thank you for the reply! Perse should be a really good all round school from what I hear. We decided to go for King's despite having had an offer on a local outstanding school. Hope it's for the best!

Hi, could anyone let me know their current experience of kings college school pre-prep and the staff? How are you finding it? Any issues? Thank you.

@M0msthew0rd Hi, thanks for sharing your experience. Just wondering how you feel about the assessment at Perse Prep. Is it particularly hard? I am thinking to send my DD to the perse prep but have missed the year 3 entry. So not sure how much chance there is for year 4-6 entries? Thank you so much.

Woah, this thread took an unpleasant turn but ended up asking some questions that I'm still wrestling with in 2022.

So for any of the parents who still have children at Kings, or whose children have recently left, can I ask what your thoughts are on the school now?

I would strongly advise you ignore the strange change of tone above. Luckily parents who attend are not like this. You should go to see the school yourself and speak to the teachers/heads directly. Please do not use this thread as a reference. The teachers and staff are lovely with a strong emphasis on pastoral care. The school works with the parents for any concerns you may have. Children are taught to be smart, kind people who do not speak to other human beings in a derogatory way. The music department is also excellent and there are plenty of options for children to explore what interests them. Good luck!

FWIW I would currently choose Stephen Perse, although my kids are mainly finished. Kings has a lot of good caring staff but the current head is not strong. The problem with the Perse is with the Upper School, not the Prep. The Perse Upper School gets everyone their grades but has significant gender issues and a tin eared Head who thinks parental concerns exist to be batted back. Stephen Perse is quirky but has the best Headteacher of the three, in my view.

Thank you both....interesting range of experiences. I'm sorry I wasn't entirely clear but I have children both at Kings and Perse Upper at present and I was startled by the overt snobbery upthread, which hasn't been my experience of either school.

Very helpful to hear about Stephen Perse as well as that's on my list of next options after Kings.