16+ KCL Maths School (Sixth Form)

[bexxx]

Considering KCL Maths School as 6th form option, would be grateful for any thoughts or experiences that could help in decision between this and remaining at other very good 6th form school?
I would be interested to hear of past experiences, whether it was felt that the narrow subject range KCL Maths School was a good or bad thing in retrospect?
What was support like, prior to/during Uni application process?
How long did it take to settle in at new "school"?
Where could we get impartial advice on final two school options, particularly regarding university opinions on respective schools?
They don't yet know what career they want to pursue, but definitely leaning heavily towards Maths/Science subjects. Has anyone found that this changed between age 16 and 18?
Would really appreciate any feedback.
Many thanks

[evenstrangerthings]

The KCLMS maths entrance exam is very much like the specimen paper on the website. These can loosely be described as Maths Challenge style questions. For the maths interview students are "taught" a new mini concept in maths and then asked questions on it. Any tutor who can teach up to A-Level should be able to help but it's actually the type of testing which is difficult to specifically tutor for.

[ethelv]

Hello,

My son is in year 10 now and would like very much to go to King's math school. I would like to have some support for math exam and interview. Does anyone know any tutor who is experience to prepare for King's math school?
Thank you.

[WeirdOne]

On DD's offer e-mail there was a link to the prospectus which shows a sample timetable. Perhaps that might be useful?

[bexxx]

thanks for the details
justanothermother16, not sure why they are needed, but apparently they are!

[justanothermother16]

DD is in Year 12,

With regards to the school timetable:
9:00 - Time pupils are recommended to arrive for (There are 8:30 Head of Year detentions on a Friday however,)
9:15 - Check in - Seems to be five minutes of form time, announcements etc.
Then there are two (50?) minute lessons.
11:10 - Break
11:30 - Two more lessons
1:15 - Lunch
2:15 - Two more lessons
4:00 - Check Out (similar to Check In)
4:05 - 4:30 - May have academic mentoring which is catching up on progress etc, usually with Form Tutor.
The school is open until 7:00 for the pupils.
DD says she has quite a few double lessons - I think 6 of them a week at least?

[MrsSchadenfreude]

For those of you who have DC at the school, do any of the students do tutoring? I am looking for a tutor for DD2 (would have to be Saturday or Sunday morning), and thought it might be nice for her to have someone who is close in age. I used to tutor in 6th form (not maths!) and loved it. We are very local to the school.

[titchy]

Why don't you ask the school!

[bexxx]

Can anyone tell us please what time are the breaks and lunch time at KCL Maths School? And how many periods fall inbetween...

Many thanks
bexxx

[bexxx]

Just to go back to our specific query, anyone who might have details of school day timetable (see post a couple of posts back....)?

[toobloodycold]

Toomanyworrieds attendance is am issue in all schools because it affects student's performance. Unless there are strong mitigating circumstances I imagine most selective sixth forms would look at school attendance records as part of their decision making process.

[WeirdOne]

That's very impressive

[bexxx]

yes but I'm trying not to get involved too much

[WeirdOne]

Hi Bexxx, we're no use to you re timings, but my DD has been offered a place.
Does yours have one too?
We have a hard decision to make!

[bexxx]

Hi there, can anybody tell us what the school day/timetable looks like timings-wise please? ie start time, lesson lengths, lunch time, finish tiime, double periods etc?

bexxx

[Toomanyworriedsonhere]

I know schools get judged on attendance, but I wasn't sure whether sixth form colleges have to be so rigid.

[alittlebitprivateforthis]

I asked my dc as it's something we haven't had to face yet. They think that the school is reasonable if people have good reasons. Less strict than their old school which was very obsessed.
They are strict about time keeping, but human with it.

[Toomanyworriedsonhere]

Are they strict about attendance?

[alittlebitprivateforthis]

For those worrying about public transport woes and the impact of being late. So far they seem to have been very reasonable when travel goes to pot. I'm still a bit concerned about the possibility of the trains going horribly wrong during public exams, but that must be a risk of going to school anywhere in central London.

[evenstrangerthings]

"I just know that he has finally found his people, is taught really well and is very, very happy."

• Ditto this!

Also just remembered - laptops are essential - they have access to digital text books and other digital resources - and I've been told the schools internet is so good that some students have been known to use it for downloading non academic material :-)

[TheCheeseAlarm]

DS1 is also in Year 13. He loves it and has friends in a way he didn't before. He would have studied the same subjects whichever 6th form he went to and is applying for Maths courses at University. Having had to drop the Computing A2 due to lack of teacher, he has had the opportunity to do a much more interesting undergraduate course at KCL. So he's happy and it hasn't affected his university applications at all.

He does all his Monday to Friday prep and homework at school and leaves when it shuts at 7.30pm. He gets home around 8:45pm. He saves bigger stuff for the weekend. He is lazy child and does no extra papers or reading as far as I can tell. He is keeping up academically but they despair over his personal organisation and ability to get his homework in on time. They haven't given up trying to help him improve though.

He has been thoroughly supported through his university applications. He was well prepped for the additional Maths exams that he has done for various universities and will be ready for the STEP papers in the summer

DS is always in trouble for being late - he is, however, doing 3 additional Maths units on top of his Maths and Further Maths A2s so I suspect actually doesn't have any frees. I have found that they do not entirely follow through with the agreed sanctions we have set in place for him which. The pastoral team have been very supportive though and his SEN has been dealt with professionally and sensitively.

He has been very creative with the TfL journey planner and managed to find himself a route which involves getting a bus from outside the school.

I find parents evening a pain as it is a 4 hour round trip for a 10 minute meeting for me at that time of night but I have good regular communication by phone and email.

The sport he has chosen is... walking. I think he walks to a local park and sits on a bench once a week.

I just know that he has finally found his people, is taught really well and is very, very happy.

[Toomanyworriedsonhere]

Thanks from me, too - I can't wait to show DD this.

She has the interview next week and we didn't get a chance to go to an open day so the school is quite an unknown quantity really. Although I've read every page on the website about twenty times!

She will need strong pastoral support, which we'll have to talk to them about if she gets an offer.

[alittlebitprivateforthis]

evenstranger - I didn't know that about being able to go in later when there are frees. Something to look forward to.

The geographical distribution is huge. Goes way beyond London. Admission is by grades (A* and A for maths and physics) an exam and by interview. They look for potential, so not the traditional background of a selective school and it has a very diverse community. The results can be found on their website.

bexxx - happy to answer as many questions as your dd has!

[Ciutadella]

This is very interesting! Also interesting that they have dropped computer science A2/A level - do you know why this was? Sounds as though they may have had difficulty getting the teachers if dd had three teachers last year?

I'd assumed it was for total maths genii only, but if there are students not getting BCC, presumably it is a wider range than that?

I have no practical interest as don't have a dc who is interested, but would also be interesting to know what the demographic is - is it quite local, or do students go there from all over London?

[bexxx]

Thanks very much for the feedback, you've been really helpful, and you've reassured me about the commute. Will wait to see how the next stage goes; she actually seemed really excited by the school on first impressions, but her alternative also has a lot going for it. If she gets an offer it may be quite a tough decision for her I think.

[evenstrangerthings]

The Year 13s are allowed to come in late/leave early if they have frees at either end of the day. DD does most of her H/W during her frees and then spends evenings and weekend going over notes and doing extra papers. Some students manage to fit in part time jobs.

Lambeth North is the closest station. It is closed for refurb now but should be opening in a few months. There's usually other KCLMS students walking to/ from the station.