Kingsdale Sixth Form - Experience Welcome

[Agapanthus2005]

Hi there

Interested in applying to Kingsdale Sixth Form. Would be interested to hear the thoughts from parents whose children have gone through the school at this age. To be frank, attended an open evening which was pretty shambolic (to say the least), but was won around by the output of the art department in particular. Just left with some big concerns about how the school operates, and the general state of the facilities, all of which didn't leave a great impression on us at the time. Some feedback on this and the teaching would be greatly received.

[Soylent Green]

Both my children attended Kingsdale from year 7 and the younger one is now in Year 13. Kingsdale is a hugely creative school with fabulous art, drama and music. These subjects are highly valued and showcased. Academically, students also perform well because the teachers are hugely dedicated and supportive and help the students believe in their ability to succeed. Both of mine have achieved extremely well there, but more importantly have been happy and enjoyed school life. Everyone jokes about Kingsdale being a bit chaotic, but it always pulls through in the end and outcomes are reliably good. It is an enormous operation with 2,000 students and a proportionately enormous staff, so logistics can understandably go awry. If you want a creative and nurturing ethos, then it is the school for you. If you want regimented structure and rigorous protocol, it probably isn't. My kids both thrived there and I have nothing but praise for the school.

[Agapanthus2005]

Thank you so much for this helpful and honest feedback. Much appreciated. Best art creativity we have seen in any school for a long time - so was quite blown away by that. Wow - 2,000 students is mind boggling. As mentioned was concerned about the administrative chaos (crossed our minds - and some other parents who were there - that if they couldn't organise an open evening then how could they organise anything more complex...) and the school did appear pretty run-down - but guess that's the state of affairs in state education these days.

Thank you

[redjam]

I don't have direct experience of the sixth form as my daughter chose to move elsewhere at that point (through no 'fault' of Kingsdale - it was a really, really tough decision). But I would echo what Soylent Green says above. It can be a bit chaotic and the open days can be quite bonkers (I remember Mr Morrison's speeches, jeez...) but honestly it's a great school, particularly good for the arts and sport, but that's not to say it doesn't get excellent results academically too. They were brilliant during the pandemic - I don't know how they managed to pivot a school of that size to remote learning but they did it incredibly quickly and it felt like my daughter didn't miss a beat. Obviously like any school it's not perfect (the science teaching was v. hit-and-miss pre GCSE) but overall I am a vocal supporter and my daughter was very happy there.

[MelbourneMama]

How interesting that you thought this!

We attended the Sixth Form open afternoon and were really impressed.

The art/sports/drama/music facilities are really excellent. The classrooms and common areas are just state school standard, what else is there to say? Unless you are looking round Charter ED which was built yesterday that's pretty much what you're going to get. Not sure if OP is coming from the private sector... in which case you may need to lower your expectations!!

However the teachers I spoke to were eloquent and passionate about their subjects, the courses my son is interested in sounded really interesting and the results they get are on the whole really strong, so we came away with a really favourable impression.

My son is already at Kingsdale.. there's a lot I like, there's stuff I don't like but that's been my experience with every school they have been in.

Am looking forward to viewing other sixth forms for a comparative view, so if anyone has any reccos I would be happy to hear them

[mumra]

Our daughter started 6th form this year and is really happy. I am really impressed with the pastoral care as well as the academic - they?ve been brilliant at communication too and extra-curricular. The windows are being updated at present so it does look a bit like a building site but I wouldn?t let that put you off.