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Original poster

Once again: Experience with independent education!

17 replies

hase7 · 29/01/2010 08:57

We are new to Cambridge and are just discussing were to put our kids.
I read a lot about independent schools here, but I am still not sure which one is the best.
As I understood The Perse is hard to get in and almost not manageable if both parents are working full time.

St Faiths is quite religous, The Leyes for the rich ones and Sancton wood is a school where the kids have more fun and dont learn anything.

St John`s seems to be a nice mixture.

Has anyone any experience with King`s?

I`d appreaciate any tips or experiences. Thank you!

OP posts:

coolma · 29/01/2010 09:21

Kings has recently been in the paper for performing rather badly, that's all I know about it. We're considering St Faiths for our dd, as it seems to be a rather less academic and more pastoral school, also Kings Ely, which again, is not hideously academic. The Leys is the senior school for st faiths.

boundaryRider · 29/01/2010 16:07

hi Hase -

just about kings school - the poor performace thing was a bit of a beat-up. Kings is a higher-performing version of Johns, academically and musically. The school is absolutely lovely. The kids are really well-educated, and they all seem to like school a lot.

It got into the papers for a last-minute appointment of a teacher who had been CRB checked at their previous school but not at this school - and because a couple of parents at the school got very annoyed about this. Yes, that was a failure of proper procedure, but the only reason it got into the papers is because the school is famous - and because the college (the parent organisation of the school) has recently had an unrelated tragedy that might be seen as related in the minds of the gutter press...

coolma · 29/01/2010 16:55

ah, sorry - wasn't in full possession of the facts

Lilymaid · 29/01/2010 16:59

What age are your DCs?

St Faith's and the Leys have links - the Leys doesn't have a Prep school and is for 11 or 13 to 18s, but St Faith's is a prep school up to 13.

There are two Perse preps: Perse Prep (now co-ed)(7-11) and Perse Girls Prep as well as the Pelican Pre-Prep. Then there are two senior schools: Perse (going fully co-ed in September) 11-18, and Perse Girls 11-16 with a co-ed Sixth Form called Stephen Perse.

Confused?
There is a old thread all about these schools which may be of interest.

Original poster

hase7 · 29/01/2010 17:02

Coolma and boundaryRider,
thanks for your information. Thats realy helpful. Havent heared about the press of Kings but will try to find out more.

My problem is that I dont know wich of all the schools will suit best. My DD(3) and my DS (1) like musik but I dont know if they are actually musically talented - I know I am not!

OP posts:

Original poster

hase7 · 29/01/2010 17:10

Lilymaid, thank you also!
Was just writing my message while you posted your`s.
I read the other thread but was a bit confused by it. Learned that it is important to know how to ski :-)

OP posts:

cazzybabs · 29/01/2010 20:35

St faith's is not religous - my girls go there

st johns is posh - lots and lots of old money

kings just got slated in the papers but its a nice school - musical though

Leys is expensive abd it is a boarding school..it does have day pupils but alot of stuff happens at weekends and after school.

the Peilican nursery class is unworkable if you both work and don't have a nanny, however for the prep and senior school it is the least posh (a lot of children have both parents working to pay fees) but is very academic

thegrowlygus · 31/01/2010 20:03

Have one at St John's - dunno if there is a lot of old money there but we were a bit in the dark about all of that when we were looking at schools (apparently St John's mums are the most stuck up - didn't realize that either!) The mums that I know aren't stuck up at all. And I don't think I am (and I am deffo NOT "old money" unless you count scrabbling around for an old style fiver down the back of the sofa!!)

DS seems really, really happy there. He has really come out of his shell and obviously I don't know what he would've been like elsewhere but he seems to have just come on so much in terms of reading, writing, drawing and music it is astounding (in one term). They have a really good reputation for pastoral care. And from the St John's side of the fence - there is much more money at Kings!

We also loved St Faiths, but there was no room by the time we were applying.

Original poster

hase7 · 01/02/2010 19:51

Thank you cazzybaby and thegrowlygus,
seems to me as if everybody is quite satisfied with St Johns and St faiths.
Tied to find out what the troble with kings was but couldnt find anything but the facts mentioned by boundaryRider above.
There are apparently no parents of kids from king`s in this talk.

This might be a silly question - but what do you do with the Children during holiday times.
Do most of the schools operate holiday clubs?

OP posts:

thegrowlygus · 01/02/2010 19:56

Ds1 is only in kindergarten. And we very luckily have my mil who is acting as a 'nanny' otherwise we would be totally scuppered for school holidays. We do pay her as a nanny/childcarer!

She has said that she will continue to do it until DS2 starts school at which point the hours we need won't be worth her travel. So in 2 years time I have NO IDEA what I will do about school holidays. I am trying to brush it under the carpet and worry about it later. I imagine by that time we will have won the lottery, I won't need to work and the fleet of nannies will be dealing with it whilst I relax in some exotic place or other

cazzybabs · 01/02/2010 19:59

hase7 - I am a teacher so no holiday worries, but there are plenty of holiday clubs around some run by schools others not.

BTW for what it worth I know several kings parents who love it. Go and look round each school...you'll get your own flavour. They are all different

neolara · 01/02/2010 20:10

I think the tragedy referred to was that one of King's College (not King's school) clerics committed suicide after allegations of paedaphilia. I'm not sure if it was proven or not. I don't think he had anything to do with the school though.

cazzybabs · 01/02/2010 20:28

It was a false allegation

boundaryRider · 01/02/2010 20:45

yep. was a false allegation - he was a lovely bloke. Kings had dealt with it completely appropriately too - as soon as the allegations came to light he was banned from the college and school premises. He kept to the ban. It (is) was terribly sad, particularly as he and the chaplain were the first in a long time to really work well together and make the chapel a happy and welcoming place for more people than supremely gifted musicians...
(the choir are awesome. but people sometimes forget that there is more to Kings than a treble singing Once in Royal David's City)

This is off topic though.

Hase7 - I don't know the other schools well - but if your kids like music Kings is totally the place to go....

hopkins1 · 20/04/2010 19:32

I am a parent with my child attending St Colette's. I cannot praise it enough. He is just 4 years old (last month) and is already reading and writing beautifully. He loves school, and literally would go every day given the choice.

The teachers are wonderful and the level of pastoral care is so high that i feel i am leaving my son with a relative rather than a teacher!

The company that own St Colette's prep school have just announced that it will be closing at the end of this academic year, but a parent body is setting up a "new" school in its place which will be run as a charity and will be opening in september. This we hope will continue to grow into a full prep school (ie to take children through to year 6/ age 11)

If you are interested in more details, please contact me and i will send you all the details.

The fees are set to be one of the lowest in the entire of Cambridge and having two children in state schools and 1 in St Colette's i can honestly say that the value for money is exceptional! I would never now consider the fees to be an issue (we aren't rich but just perhaps have different priorities to other people?)

The classes are so much smaller, the teacher is approachable, he has one on one tuition every day, the lunches are fabulous, the facilities are great.... i could go on and on.

Anyway, please just let me know if you'd like more information about the school. I promise that for once in life the value of theservice you receive will far outweigh the cost!

Very Happy Parent

DrummingBunny · 22/04/2010 16:16

My ds is at King's, and it's a wonderful school. Fairly academic, but goes out of its way to cater for all, regardless of ability, and is very high achieving considering non-selective intake (officially), although you might feel left out if not musical in any way. BoundaryRider absolutely spot on re: ridiculous non-story in the press by the way, as any other King's parent I know would testify...

muddleduck · 27/04/2010 13:25

Cazzybabs

I am interested in your certainty that it was a false allegation - did any evidence come to light about this? I don't want to hi-jack the thread or get into tabloid gossip, but I would like to know if anything more certain was ever discovered.

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