Coombe Bank School, nr Sevenoaks and Kent College , Pembury

[Katie172]

Hi...I would really appreciate any views about either of these schools as we are considering them for our dd but don't know anyone at either school to get an opinion. Our dd has 'moderate' dyslexia so we would be glad to hear from anyone who can let us know how well either school looks after girls with sen. Many thanks , Katie

I went on a tour round Kent College last week. It seemed a very caring school and the head seemed lovely- very down to earth. Excellent Music and Drama department too.

I have had two phone calls in the last few months from KC parents wanting to move their dd's and wanting opinions on other schools. Don't have a dd there so don't have a properly informed opinion but I would go and look at CB.

Have you looked at Bethany?

Thanks so much puffinnuffin and eatyourveg....We will have a look around both schools again-it was over a year ago that we last went on a tour. We have thought about Bethany and spoken to families with dc's there but haven't had very positive feedback about it. I don't know if there have been specific problems recently but I was surprised as I thought Bethany was very highly regarded... Anyway Dd would prefer an all girls school and she likes the thought of Coombe Bank because they apparently have an equestrian team !

I have a daughter currently in Year 9 who started in Year 7 and is dyslexic, she is very happy at KC, my other daughter will start Year 7 in September. My elder daughter also got into Woldingham but we turned it down, which was not a fashionable thing to do as it is "one of the schools" to go to. My daughter is a far happier child having gone to KC, the head is lovely and I think their aim is to find something that each child is good at. I have to say that my younger daughter also got into Caterham with a scholarship as well as one to KC but she wanted to go to KC. There are lots of opportunities available to the children there, the majority of girls are down to earth and I think it is an unaffected school. My girls have played sports at Coombe Bank and although it is closer to where we live we did not consider it. KC is definitely up and coming, it's numbers are up and quite a few seem to turn down the grammars to go there.

Thank you P0M1- it's good to have such a positive view on Kent College...Can I ask if you decided not to consider Coombe Bank for any particular reason and also do you feel that your dd is well supported with regards her dyslexia at KC? Someone has told dd that there is a dyslexia club there but I asked the school and they didn't know anything about it ! Many thanks , Katie

Hi, I didn't look at Coombe Bank really because my Headmaster at the time didn't recommend it. Also it does tend to have a reputation for children who aren't that bright although the prep school does extremely well at getting children into the grammars and their chosen seniors, I have to add that KC also used to have a similar reputation but it was good enough for the Countess of Wessex! I felt that KC was the right fit, there are definitely a cross section of academic abilities there and both of my girls are relatively bright. I know that when the eldest started they did a reading group with the sixth formers and that helped, although she can't stand reading, but I did find a publisher called Barrington Stoke and she suddenly found books that she could read which were short and well laid out. She has a 1:1 lesson with the SEN teacher and I think that this has helped in her organisational skills in terms of revision although she may beg to differ. She will get extra time at GCSE and this has been sorted out by the school which I think is good as I have never had an ed-physch report just a one pager from the DRT (part of Oxford Uni). I think that she is relatively well supported in her dyslexia, my eldest also has it and he is extremely mild but has had extra time in his GCSEs and never really needed extra help. I think that dyslexia support is very difficult because it manifests in so many different ways in children, I think that she has flourished at KC in terms of confidence and finding things that she's good at, which I think will stand her in good stead for the future.

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