Is Kingsdale Foundation school as amazing as everyone makes out??

[Girlmamax3]

My DD got offered a place In year 7 at Kingsdale school really late off the waiting list and had already started the secondary school she got into, because of that I declined Kingsdale but ever since then I can't help but wonder If I made the right decision as I know its like winning a golden ticket getting into that school... and was always our first choice based off its reputation and visiting the school etc
She currently attends Harris Academy....Should I have picked Kingsdale??

Thanks

Good point re the number of kids levelling things out a bit. I'm not sure how reliable my gut feeling is when presented with such a slick open event. We've been really impressed by schools on open days before but the reality can often seem a little different when you get the chance to hear first hand accounts from parents and kids. During the event I was getting visions of my first born playing the trombone while riding a horse and possibly getting an Olympic medal along with her 16 GCSE's... Personally I was super impressed by the campus, facilities and extra curricular stuff but it would be hard not to be. Easy to see why it's so over subscribed.

@Lifesatoot

Jumping in as we looked at it this week. Impressed by the 'sparkly' bits of the school but keen to know what's beneath the surface i.e. they claim it's a super friendly school and that the kids look out for each other but as the intake is massive I found that a little surprising. Is it very strict? Heard positive and less positive things about pastoral care so hard to get a clear picture on that. We have an average child but slightly concerned that if you're not one of the scholars or 'gifted and talented' you might feel a bit inadequate. Don't want to send them to an us and them school... Can anyone shed any light on that at all?

Will try and answer some of this based on what DD tells me.

Is it friendly? DD seems happy, no reports home of anything to worry me. The usual Y7/Y8 girls stuff... best friends one day, new best friends the next. I keep an eye on the class WhatsApp and everything seems friendly and nice on there (no teacher on it). Far more so than I would have actually imagined for a bunch of 12 year olds, was very pleasantly surprised. Nothing inappropriate either.

The year groups don't seem to mix an awful lot - staggered start/end, lunch and break times probably don't make that easy - plus the Covid bubbles last year. But with nearly 400 children in each year it probably doesn't matter.

Is it very strict? No. I would say they lean the other way if anything. They do give out 20 minute detentions for things like wrong uniform or not handing in homework or blatant disregard of instructions. But they have an easy introduction to what is expected and plenty of warnings.

Scholarships - I wouldn't say a huge thing is made of who is and isn't a scholar. Also they have so many. The Sport and Music ones are used as part of the admissions process. But then you can apply for Maths or Art scholarships once you are in the school. There are also other ones on offer. DD didn't apply for the Art scholarship as she already focuses on music and drama and I felt it would be too much to be doing that too. However she was invited to apply for a Graphics scholarship based on her work in class in Art and in Design Tech. and gets to go to classes after school for that. They seem to be very good at spotting talents and maximising potential even if your child doesn't push themselves forward. It feels like almost everyone ends up with a scholarship in something so it's not as if there is a Them and Us situation.

Pastoral care - the staff seem very clued up as to what is going on, and will be on the phone very fast if they think there is a problem in any area. The kids are assigned to tutor groups at the start of Y7 and stay in those the whole way through the school, so their form tutor has a very good feel for those children both academically and socially. You can email them about anything and they will email back or call the same day.

Feel free to drop me a message or ask anything else.

Thank you for taking the time to post your thoughts - that is really useful and helpful feedback. Impressive how quickly the staff get back to you - that is a very big tick and relieved that it seems to have a good balance with discipline. Been on one tour at a school that felt more like a boot camp and really put us off...

Avoid like the plague. Poor behaviour. High staff turnover. Constant stream of supply staff. The head is good at lying and pretending the school is brilliant when it’s chaos. Not too mention The fact that there is 2400 students in a building designed for 1700

I would echo the comments made by OhCrumbs. Our son is towards the end of year seven and I’ve been pretty impressed with the school. It’s big but I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how they welcome direct email contact with teachers and pastoral care staff and I am also impressed with the tracking of each kid’s progress - they seem to have a good system to ensure your kid doesn’t fall through the slats (which was one of my worries about my son who isn’t gifted and talented, and tends to quietly get on with stuff so could be easily forgotten about in a big school). We’ve just had parent teacher meetings and all of his teachers seemed to know him really well. We’re very pleased with his academic progress and are hoping that he might feel more like getting involved in all the extra curricular stuff as he moves up the school

I have two happy children at Kingsdale, year groups don’t mix so children benefit from a large cohort of friends in their year group, with lots of room to play. Some parents around us choose to go private by fear - but don’t have the same facilities & teachers. Some locals love hating Kingsdale- and comment negatively on here- with no direct expérience ( just disagree with lottery/scholarship) On my first visit- the school felt too big and I was scared of chaos and bullying for my year 6 baby-but I have not heard of one incidence of bullying from large parents chat group, friends or my children- the school is very strict- my eldest is a Math scholar, attend workshops at Imperial college & classes have weekly online challenges + daily homeworks They share a sport field with Dulwich college, and have many lunch clubs. Daughter is a music scholar & choose to be part of a percussion ensemble and perform every term. Many children cycle to school in groups ( even with large music instruments) , and my only criticism would be the lack of cycling infrastructure towards the school- but it is more to do with Southwark council than the school. I like the general innovative philosophy of the school. Probably a detail- but in warmer days children don’t have to wear a polyester uniform- just their sport shorts/tshirt- a detail- but shows they have children wellbeing at the heart, and listen to their needs. Happy children-happy parents.

Ah thanks for this, we have got kingsdale but it was quite far down our list and I have been worrying about the size of the school - bullying in particular. This has been a reassuring comment at just the right time. Thank you.

I think because the year groups don't mix (staggered starts, finishes and lunch breaks) it actually ends up feeling a much smaller school in many ways.

DD is now Y10 (still very happy there) and bullying isn't something she has encountered and I've not seen any posts about it on the parents WhatsApp groups. I'm sure it does happen - any school that says it doesn't is lying - but it's definitely not a problem area.