Kings College School Wimbledon 6th form for Girls - any insights?

[snickerstrousers]

DD is currently in the application process - she's currently at an all girls indy and fancies a change of scene. On the off chance she secures a place, does anyone have any insights into the school? What sort of girls succeed there? Is it just full of super bright kids, or do you have to be good at sport/drama/music/something to feel valued? DD is definitely someone that likes to keep busy and extracurriculars are important to her so I wouldn't want her to move somewhere where only the most talented kids get to be in the plays/play on the teams/sing in the choirs etc. TIA

Hi @snickerstrousers , my daughter did this move 1 year and a half ago (She's in y13 now). Definitely full of bright kids, with strings of A* predictions. But lot's of different personalities and interests. There seems to be a party crowd and a more quiet crowd. Extracurriculars clearly reduce in sixth form ... in favour of "supracurriculars" to put on their personal statement for Uni. There are all kind of clubs, it's not all competitive. DD made friends easily, girls are well taken care of, and is very happy there.

I know quite a few girls who have left recently and some that are still there. The girls definitely seem to fall into the party crowd or quieter crowd!
The ones I know who went there were bright but not necessarily all 8/9 at GCSE and didn’t all get A/A star at A-level etc. But most generally happy there and glad they made the move. DD looked at it but we all felt like it was a boys school with girls and wanted a more genuine co- ed.

@Lilleaudesniges I think that DD would be interested in the supracurriculars so that would be a bonus. She does like to play sport as well though so I was wondering if you had to be really good at it to get on a team that plays competitive matches at the weekend. I know these things drop off a clip a bit when they get to sixth form but I think DD would still like the option.
@sevilleseville I have heard that about the party crowd vs the quieter crowd although its a bit like that at DDs current school - they are either baking cakes at the weekend or they are getting up to all sorts at the weekend. DD is bored with the former, but scared of the latter - I think she would just enjoy meeting a few boys in the school environment and not feeling like she's going to turn up to university having never spoken to someone of the opposite sex!!

I think the party scene is a massive thing at all the London Independent 6th forms

My DD did a similar move to this and in retrospect I think she wanted to reinvent herself from a stay-at-home girl to a party animal. It was massively stressful initially for all of us but fortunately she came through it. The transition to university was probably easier.

Just don't underestimate how stressful this move can be.

@snickerstrousers re. sport, I only know about hockey: There are 3 teams and space for everyone to play in matches ...seeing that there is a small number of girls! Not sure about the other sports.
You can PM me if you have other specific questions, I'll do my best with what I know 😊

@jeanne16 I suspect that my DD is thinking along similar lines......I am not thrilled at the prospect of driving around south West London to pick her up from parties but at the same time I know if she stays where she is the transition to university will probably be really hard. If she's going to get her heart broken and have a drink I would rather the first time was while she was living at home. She had 2 older brothers who starting going out in 6th form after having very limited social lives but I guess its more stressful with girls. I was hoping that because Kings is a fairly academic school there will still be peer pressure to keep doing well with her studies - I had ruled out moving her to a less academic co-ed school for these reasons - she tends to adapt to her surroundings and go with the flow. Most of the other options around where we live tend to be party central and I was hoping that Kings might be more restrained!!! (but maybe I am just being naive as teenagers are teenagers!!!)

@Lilleaudesniges that sounds perfect to be honest. She's pretty athletic and used to play a few sports to a pretty high level but in the past few years wanted to dial it back a bit because she didn't like the pressure - she'd like to play on a team at weekends from a fitness and social perspective but doesn't want it to be anything too serious.

@jeanne16 just one other question....do you (or your daughter) regret making the move? Would she have been happier staying put without the "reinvention"?

My DD moved from an all girls school to Westminster. I was shocked (probably naively) by how intensive the party scene was. Pupils attend the school from all over London so weekends meant she went to parties everywhere from Islington to Blackheath. I drove to parts of London I'd never been to.

I think that KCS may be slightly better in that regard as it is a marginally more local school than Westminster .

The first term was very difficult and if I could have changed the decision, I would have. However she came out of it very well and the transition to uni was probably easier. I'm not totally convinced it was worth it though.

OP- if it’s any consolation my DD stayed at her all girls school in the end. She didn’t know or socialise with boys much and didn’t go ‘out out’ much at all until the summer she left school as wasn’t 18 until then. Is now at Uni and all is fine! She did benefit from really strong friendships in sixth form, perhaps more so than in earlier years.
Other DC is at a fully Co- Ed school. They are out a lot more with a mixed group but are not in the (small) wild moneyed party set! But they are also very different personalities and I’m not sure if my daughter would suddenly have become much more social had she moved school- who knows! But I think she really benefitted from staying where she was.

@jeanne16 wow that sounds like a bit of a nightmare - I have heard that about Westminster though so I'm not surprised - its a much more central location and offers weekly boarding whereas Kings is mainly South West London/Surrey borders. But I suppose it really depends on the year group and we could get unlucky. Maybe I'll see if she gets offered a place and worry about it then....there were swarms of girls at the entrance exam so there's no guarantees she will get a place.