King Athelstan Primary School

[RunJHC]

Hi we're hoping to move to Surbiton/Kingston from South East London in the next few months. There's a couple of houses we're looking at in Surbiton where the nearest non-CofE primary would be King Athelstan. It doesn't have great Ofsted/SATs results, but I was wondering if anyone knew what it's really like? Thanks...

Hi we moved to Kingston from Peckham a few years back, and unaware of school position in this area! We do not go to church and so are not eligible for church schools, and have ended up sending our two children to King Athelstan.
My older child is in year one, and the little one in nursery. I have applied for her to come to King A too. The main thing for me is that they are both happy! They are being taught together with children from all over the world, as well as other non-church children from around the corner. I think this is an accurate reflection of the way the world is, and a good preparation for adult life.
The school is in the process of living down an old reputation, which precedes the current head, and also making the improvements that it needs to make in order to meet the ofsted requirements. It really is improving, and gradually acquiring more children with parents keen to become involved with the school. The atmosphere in the school is positive and friendly. I think there is a fair bit of hysteria out there amongst people looking for a primary school. It is worth having a look for yourself as it is really not as bad as its reputation suggests!

Reading the Ofsted reports one should keep in mind that their policy has been changed recently (allegedly after some criticism) and now they focus almost solely on the attainments. In practice, it means that instead of an in-depth analysis of all the good and bad things about the school, they simply check the final exams results and that's it! As most parents at King Athelstan, I deeply disagree with the most recent ofsted report, which is absolutely unfair and one-sided. In fact, my opinion is that ofsted should be scrapped - they are wasting taxpayer's money to produce a crap report that provides no more information than the attainment sheets that are anyway published, for much less money. Going back to King Athelstan school, with its dedicated staff it's probably the best choice if you don't want to join the local parish only to earn the privilege of sending your children to a church school. This is a truly multi-cultural school, with a high number of pupils for whom English is a second language. I know well what I am talking about. Myself, I am a Pole, atheist, and 4 years ago I sent a child who hardly spoke any English at all to King Athelstan. She's now thriving, and her attainment is much above the nation's average. Unfortunately, progress made by pupils is not what ofsted would be interested at all. What King Athelstan will not teach your child is hypocrisy. Here, you don't have to go to mass. Among the values this school will teach, are: tolerance, respect to others, openness. And no worry - most kids attainment is really high, and the progress achieved by some of them (including my kids!) is absolutely amazing! The school's website is probably not their best point, but you should visit their PCSA website - a parent-teacher organisation that is thriving at King Athelstan! Visit that page to learn about the school's real life!

Great thanks so much for your replies! We're currently in the process of buying a house just near King Athelstan so very reassuring to hear your views of the school. Sounds like just the type of (non-religious!) school we'd like to send DS to. Might see you there