King Edwards Secondary Bath?

[LittleNelly]

Anyone with any experience of or kids at KES in Bath. Specifically the secondary school?
What are the children saying about it etc?

I have a big decision to make

I don't have any there but it is in the top two on my secondary schools. I have visited it also. Great school, great repuation locally and further afield. The children who we met there were great.

I've heard lots of good things about it. Seems perfect so far!

can i revive this thread pls?

any news/thoughts on this topic anyone local to bath/wilts?

our boy is in yr 5 now and so we're starting to think more about secondary schools...we're just outside bath and not terribly excited by the local comp (though it seems reasonably ok and wouldn't be disastrous by any means).

speaking to many other parents it seems like we're possibly the first generation to be sending our children to schools that are not as good as our's were. any opinions on this?

i'm starting to think that the way things are going, independent/private sector schools will dominate all the top positions in society again like they did up until macmillan and douglas-home's day.

cameron and clegg are the first manifestation of this perhaps. their granfathers were probably horrified when grammar school oiks like wilson and heath started taking over and would probably be delighted the way things have turned around because we've let so many of our state school pupils down over the years.

so what to do? go to the local comp or look to the private sector? it's a first in our family and would mean a (big, but do-able) financial sacrifice but what price can you put on giving your children confidence, choices and opportunities in later life?

anyway, i digress, KES/Kingswood/Monkton/Prior Park - what does anyone know/think about them? Would be interested in your thoughts.

Thanks in advance

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I've looked into all three. I will be brutally honest - I felt that they all placed very heavy priority on academic achievement, and that they all drew their students from wealthy, priviledged families.

If I wanted to criticise, I would use words such as 'elitist' and 'hot-house'.

I appreciate that this is what a lot of people are looking for!

I was looking for a school which wasn't heavily academically selective, and which had students from a mix of backgrounds. So they're not for me.

(KES in particular has a reputation for being fiercely academic.)

Good luck in your search!

Thanks for your thoughts, Guilden; to be honest, we're not over wealthy or excessively privileged, so realistically we're probably not going to send the children there, but you're right, I'd absolutely love my children to go to elitist hot-houses!

Our local comp (a few miles from Bath) is rated "outstanding" by Ofsted, yet only 54% of pupils get 5 A-C at GCSE.

I don't call that "outstanding" myself, but it seems I have a view of education that's a bit old-fashioned perhaps.

The whole emphasis on the "average" in state education worries me.

I'm an ordinary person from an ordinary family but at no point in my school, university or work/life would I (or my parents when I was young) have worried about what the average was - we'd have been looking to see what the best was and compare ourselves to that. Who wants to be average/ordinary?

Hey ho, that's probably a discussion for another thread, but I am concerned that the children's schooling will not be as good as mine - and as a consequence their life chances and chioces won't be as wide as, say, the kids from KES and their ilk.

Sad, but true, so let's hope all the posh boys from the good schools in the government sort it out. Ha.

JandLandG Oldfield girls school in Bath is going co-ed from September 2012 and is an OFSTED outstanding comp where more than 70% of pupils get 5 or more GCSEs at A*-C. They do take pupils from outside Bath itself so may be worth a look especially if you LEA is BANES.

My experience of KES is somewhat different. The school are at pains to stress it's non-elitist. Scholarship and bursary applications are welcomed and encouraged. Having known many people who attended in the past and recently meeting present pupils I feel assured they aren't all young Boris Johnsons in the making

The entrance exam is fairly difficult so yes KES, Kingswood et al are very selective schools but certainly in the case of King Edwards I wouldn't say exclusive.

Hmmm. DH went to Kingswood, although this is many moons ago, and he wasn't from a particularly wealthy background, nor was he academic. He was good at sports, however. Mind you, this was over 20 years ago. His nephew is currently at King Edwards in Year 9 and is thriving.

My first kiss was with a boy from KE. Lovely boy. That's all.

Our son will be going to KES when he turns 3, I've only heard good things about the school and we felt it was the best option for us as it was the only non-denominational independent school and being atheist, for us its very important. We're not wealthy/privileged and I don't think it matters as the school is very good value for what you get :)

Hi all
Just to say: KES is FAN TAS TIC! I went there as a child in the co-ed sixth form, my mum taught there, it is so caring and, yes, it's academic, probably the most so and Bath - good! I work in education and can assure you all that the whole KES structure is great - the junior school kids are really happy in their purpose built site, and the senior school is very good. Not sure what a co-ed senior KES is like, but I know some ex Kes students from the past 10 years, and you could not ask for a brighter, happier, more balanced child. I was a bit bemused by some of the posts attacking the academic focus KES places on its students; I think the parents would be a bit concerned if they didn't, this enables them to have the choice of the top universities. The school offers so much more than this, and is a caring community. However, it probably is not the best bet if a child is academically weak; what tends to happen is that they won't get the attention they need to reach their own potential. Very very able or able and diligent students are the best suited for this sort of school. I don't think this is snobbery, it is intelligent catering to a niche of students. Ralph Allan is also very good, and less selective. I just prefer the curriculum and leadership style of HMC schools. It's the confidence thing, really, that HMC do so well. Boys thrive in this sort of environment. KES is far and away the best independent day school in Bath. So there

Only ever heard great thingd

Ralph Allen is a comprehensive, mrstigi - so not remotely selective (other than geographically I suppose).

Do you mean Prior Park maybe?

I went to KES from 91 - 93 in the co-ed sixth form and loved it not very relevant to you now, i know. Happy days!