is KES right for DS?

[JamesDean]

Flock of seagulls ...

DS's quiff certainly has a whiff of the FoS about it at the moment - cut booked for tomorrow

JD

[Bect1969]

Genuinely my son was told the week before half term that he needed a haircut before he went on a sports tour. He has a number 1 or 2 around the sides and back but it is slightly longer on top. I know of boys who have been stopped by the head of lower school or the head himself and told to be their hair sorted or have a shave etc. Flock of seagulls - if in Y7 may find that the concert was the point where he stood out!

I am sure AGS has things they are tighter on but every single person I know who goes there, boy or girl, and parents, love it! Certainly for the OP with one of each gender, AGS may be the right option and, for the last few years AQS has had a lower AQS than KEas or SGGS, so that is another thing in its favour!!

I have DS1 in Year 9 at KES and in Year 7 one of his friends got told to have his hair cut due to it resting on his collar!

[JamesDean]

I have DS1 in Year 9 at KES and in Year 7 one of his friends got told to have his hair cut due to it resting on his collar!

More than one of the current year 9s fell foul in year 7, Bect - they came from a particularly hairy primary school

JD

[Chuggabug]

One other hair-related thing... when I got 'the call' on DS1's first day to tell me to have his hair cut I asked exactly how they expected it to be cut. I was told to look at the website or the older boys and go for the same. Ha ha. Anyway, there is also something in the policy about having it no shorter than a number 4, so it ends up being lots of frequent trips to the barbers to keep it the right length!

[kenyancowgirl]

Chuggabug...there used to be something in the policy...it changed about 2 years ago (if you look in the A-Z) it now actually says something about "reasonable" rather than specifying a minimum Grade 4 - which is why you see boys with number 1 or number 2 cuts now!

[Rose1234]

We had this dilemma last year. We looked round AGS and KES but although we really liked KES we totally down played it as we didn't think our DS would get in there. Once we got the 11 plus results & found that DS had easily got a place we had to do a bit of persuading as DS had really liked AGS. What made our final decision for KES is that my DS has ASD & the fact it was a smaller school & are quite rules orientated we felt would suit my DS's personality better.

He is currently in Yr 7 and absolutely loves it. We do have issues with homework as he's not very good with time management but we are aware of that and I keep a check on what homework he has & keep reminding him to do it. What works for my DS is that he really wants to follow the rules & is desperate not to get detention so in that respect KES suits his personality perfectly. I've also found the SENCO to be very good and supportive. DS had a massive wobble about going to KES before he started, but that was more about the change from primary school than anything I think. He has settled in well and made friends and absolutely loves it there.

[Chuggabug]

Chuggabug...there used to be something in the policy...it changed about 2 years ago (if you look in the A-Z) it now actually says something about "reasonable" rather than specifying a minimum Grade 4 - which is why you see boys with number 1 or number 2 cuts now!

Oooh, that's good to know kcg! I'm sure we were told number 4 (and DS1 is adamant when we're at the barbers that he'll get in trouble if we went for a number 3, ha ha).
Will save us a fortune in haircuts! Thanks

[kenyancowgirl]

My oldest ds was the same when he was in Y7/8...I think he genuinely thought the Head would come round with a ruler and make sure it wasn't too short!!

[gingerly67]

I can't join in with the hair discussion as my DS has absolutely zero interest in hairstyles and can be dragged off to the barbers as required! However, I can relate to a lot of the concerns/considerations voiced here. DS (Y7 KES) is borderline ASD too, I think, and so far seems to appreciate the clear expectations and well organised homework schedule. He is quite fidgety too and I have no idea if he sits still in the classroom, but haven't had any complaints so far and he certainly seems to find the lessons fun and challenging enough to capture his attention.

He too really liked AGS when we visited, though it's a bit far for us. But what decided us really was the teachers; at KES they seemed so warm and friendly but also inspiring and passionate when talking about teaching their subject. Somehow I didn't get the same 'buzz' from the teachers at other schools we visited. It is a big step up in terms of difficulty of work (from what he was doing at primary) but he's enjoying the challenge and has made a couple of friends which he found difficult at primary.

As for the Mandarin... I have to admit I had reservations as I'm a modern European linguist myself and liked the idea of him learning some combination of French/German/Spanish. However, the teaching seems to be fantastic, he's really enjoying it and I can see it's forming a good basis for any later language study. I can see the difficulty inherent in discussions like this - people are bound to be justifying their choice of school to themselves and others. In the end of course it's down to your own (and your child's) gut feeling about the school(s) you're considering.