Rugby School, Bablake, Kings High & Princethorpe

[JuliaDpink]

Hello,

Does anyone have any recent/current experience of Rugby School, Princethorpe, Bablake or Kings High in Warwick please? We're currently researching secondary schools for our daughter who is in year 5.

Thanks

Friends with daughters currently at kings do say it is cliquey - they are describing the parents, not the girls and went to kings themselves!
Princethorpe isn't particularly academically selective, neither is Bablake.
King's high definitely is, as is Rugby. I don't really understand looking at rugby - you realise it starts for year 9 unless you are looking are one of the feeders? Fees for kings high are half those of rugby - it's not a big name public school but they know how to get impressive exam results and leavers destinations are good. If she's not a straight A pupil or is going to be representing the school at music or sports it's not what I'd choose though unless she's very robust and won't feel disheartened never being praised . Kings attracts high achieving ambitious girls - and therefore they do have issues with mental health at the school (I don't blame the school for this, it's going to be the case at a very academic school), but I was keen to protect my own DD from this having seen my own school friends buckle under the pressure at Kings- and they inform me it's harder now for their own daughters

My daughter didn’t go to the prep and I would say that yes, it is a bit cliquey in terms of the prep kids/parents who all already know each other.

@TizerorFizz, absolutely, I'm sure that not all parents at Rugby School are unhappy with safeguarding (I'm sorry if I implied this, it wasn't my intention). I agree that given the low levels of understanding of what safeguarding actually is within schools, it is unlikely there would be any school where all parents were unhappy.

However, I had heard that there were/ are some Rugby School parents who felt the school were slow to train their staff team on safeguarding and slow to enforce their own policies. I honestly don't know if this is true or not. Hopefully not. It is a school that I am contemplating for my own child and I definitely wouldn't do that if I thought all parents were unhappy with the schools ability to safeguard their students.

@mummyofhyperDD, thank you for sharing your knowledge and being so honest.

You've hit the nail absolutely on the head in terms of my worries about somewhere like Kings High. I'm not sure it's worth the pressure for my daughter or the risk to her self-worth.

In terms of Rugby, yes, I was contemplating moving her to a feeder school until year 9 if she got a place there. I know the fees are higher, and it has confused me because I've struggled to understand what they have that's better than Kings High.

If you wouldn't choose Kings or Rugby, do you know what you would choose?

@mummyofhyperDD Sorry I think you have already answered my question about what you would choose. Kingsley or King Henry's? I will explore these options. Thanks

@JuliaDpink I was a state school governor and this legislation has been live for 22 years! I was very well aware of the role of school staff and governors for 10 years during my governance period. It’s almost inconceivable that Rugby was not doing what they should have been in recent times unless they were very lax. The report of 2022 by ISI says safeguarding standards are met but they are much more lenient than Ofsted would have been. If parents meant bullying complaints, that’s not the same.

I went to Princethorpe (albeit some years ago) and personally it's a pretty average school. Nothing that sets is apart really. Some teachers, although not all, lacked in pastoral support and care. I felt the main school was ok but sixth form was not good but they may have changed over the years. They were focused on their results rather than the prospects of future skills of the child. Again just my own opinion here.

I had family members go to Rugby School who got on really well. It's also a league above Princethorpe so tricky to compare. More public school vibes.

@JuliaDpink - my friends are happy at King Henry's but I don't know the school well myself as we aren't based in Coventry. I think being local is really helpful for their social life as teens - we live in Leamington and know children travelling to Stratford for rhe grammar and they say this mates it hard for them to meet up with friends at the weekend. So I think there are benefits on choosing a local school.

My daughter is academically able enough- a solid B student, but the small size of Kingsley means the staff and pupils all know each other, which I find reassuring and it suits her. I think the smaller classes will help boost her but the main thing for me is mental health as I was a very anxious teen . I was a straight A student so Kings suited me but it would not suit my DD. If DD was as academically gifted then I would have chosen Kings - I don't see Rugby offers anything in addition and I like the single sex teaching at Kings - they really push them in science especially. However my DD wouldn't keep up .

I don't have children at any of these schools but in my work as a mental health practitioner, we get a lot of referrals for kids who attend these 4 schools. The mental health support, SEN support and pastoral support in these schools are shocking. They only really seem to cater for the most academically able kids!

@Littleguggi - what I appreciate about King's high is their honesty that they really are catering for the brightest girls. Obviously many girls are tutored for the entrance exam and sit this alongside the eleven plus, so gaining entry doesn't necessarily mean being able to keep up without keeping up the tutoring as well.
I think that with a group of very academic, driven, competitive girls in a high pressured environment mental health issues are going to be rife. Anorexia and self harm were an issue when I was there and the school are honest that they have girls with these issues now. I don't blame the school for causing these issues - more the personalities that are attracted. Stratford grammar has the same poor reputation for mental health - my belief is this is due to the intake not the institution. (I went on to oxbridge where the mental health situation was even worse , my peers were very driven and very self critical and am now in a profession which is notorious for poor mental health for the same reason - the personality type it attracts.

I wanted to shield my own DD as much as possible as I found some aspects of my peers poor mental health -in particular self harm- quite frightening myself.

Kings are clear they won't support SEN - particularly dyslexia, and the prep and Kings manage our children who aren't keeping up.

@TizerorFizz, I think it's certainly conceivable that any school may have safeguarding weaknesses regardless of the length of time the legislation has been in place. Hopefully a Rugby School doesn't have any safeguarding weaknesses, however, I don't think it's inconceivable. A safeguarding weakness can be something like a failure for safer recruitment processes to be followed or a failure in inducting staff to ensure they are aware of/ understand the school's safeguarding policies. This situation at Rugby was interesting and I think it suggests that safeguarding failures are conceivable: https://edcentral.uk/ednews/schools/16397-rugby-school-housemistress-suspended-after-sexual-banter-with-female-student

I think you're spot on with the difference between ISI reports and OFSTED inspections.

I think that with a group of very academic, driven, competitive girls in a high pressured environment mental health issues are going to be rife.

Even more reason why these schools should have mental health as their top priority! Why can't they employ trained mental health workers/ counsellors and build time in their timetables to focus on mental health and wellbeing.

@Littleguggi - this is already happening - Kings employs a school counsellor and has done since the 90s when I was there, there is a huge focus on mental health and well-being , lots of resource given to this but I think this is a problem inherent to highly academic selective schools.

@JuliaDpink That is probsbly what parents are talking about. However - she was caught! So you could argue dc were believed. That’s actually how the policy should work in the first instance. Whether the teacher should have been employed in the first place - I don’t know from the link. Were safer recruitment policies not followed? I’d also say that once a school has had an issue, they might be very vigilant now. Most dc won’t have issues that give any concern but sometimes action needs to be taken. Hopefully any issues are rare.

We all know the case of Caversham School and not following safer recruitment policies. Ofsted uncovered what everyone believes were minor discrepancies but in Ofsted world, that was a fail. I think for ISI, not the same outcome but they did inspect in 2022. I would say most parents are not in a position to know whether safeguarding is working or not unless a case is public or gossip is accurate and can be verified.

@TizerorFizz, I think the employment tribunal did find some failings with Rubgy School's recruitment and induction processes in that case. I imagine they are all over it now and any failings there wouldn't happen again.

I just don't think it makes sense to assume that the existence of policies means that it's inconceivable there would ever be an issue. The police, social services, hospitals etc all have policies but we know mistakes and failings happen in those organisations. An organisation can have brilliantly written policies. However, if there is an issue with staff being inducted so that they understand the policies or there is an issue with the culture of an organisation, then the paperwork can be ineffective regardless of it having been in place and understood by some for 2, 10 or 20 years.

A very good friend of mine took her son out of King Henry's last year due to him being very badly bullied- to the point where a group of 8 - 10 boys were messaging him, telling him he was a shit person and he needed to do everyone a favour and kill himself. The main bully was excluded permanently, but was still messaging him, and then the other boys in the group continued to bully him and said it was his fault that their mate got excluded. Said they were going to make him pay etc. The school couldn't exclude all of the culprits and couldn't guarantee the bullying wouldn't continue so my friend took her son out.

@hookiewookie29, I'm so sorry to hear that. That sounds horrendous. What a terrible experience. I hope he is happy at his new school now.

We have offers for two of those schools for September and are still deciding. Princethorpe being Catholic was a concern initially, but actually it’s not uncomfortably so and a lot of families aren’t Catholic.

I would also consider the pastoral support provided by the school as you never know what support your child may need during the teenagers years so I certainly wouldn’t dismiss it as not being relevant and important. How a school behaves when your child needs support is critical IMO, whether you expect them to need it or not.

@JuliaDpink Yes. I do see your point of view but schools are relatively small employers. They have had an issue and they have seen the problems a lax attitude can bring. Ditto Caversham. These are warnings to any school that safeguarding matters. I would think Rugby will learn and I don’t think it’s inconceivable in the education sector but I would be amazed if Rugby repeated any mistakes. I was perhaps too generous in my assertions earlier. I do wonder if they get keen to start staff and overlook necessities? I think schools run this risk but it’s a huge mistake if they do.

My son is at Princethorpe now. He's in year 9. We're happy with it so far.

That's really great to know @Blueuggboots

Did your son know many other children when he started/has he found it easy to make new friends?

Congratulations on the offers @BangingOn.

That's a good point about pastoral care.

Thanks for the info about the religious aspect of Princethorpe.

How did your child find the process of sitting the entrance exams for the different schools?

Thanks @JuliaDpink we were really pleased to get two and the decision is a nice dilemma to have.

My child is at a prep school that does a great job of preparing them for the exams which I think helped them. Bablake offer a pre-admission test in May, which is essentially a mock exam that you get feedback on so I’d highly recommend registering for that that for getting experience of going somewhere new and taking an exam.

It might be worth listening to Princethorpe’s admissions podcast (it’s in Spotify and Apple Podcasts) which answers a lot of questions about the admissions process and what happens on the day of the exam.

@JuliaDpink - he went from one of the feeder schools so did know quite a few children but has made friends with others too...
They have a form system where they stay in the same firm for the whole school journey and have children from each year in the form which helps break down age barriers too.

And btw, we're not catholic...we were both a bit concerned about the religion thing...it is a feature, and they have to do RS at GCSE but they do learn about other faiths too. There are lots of children who aren't catholic.