Know anyone who has/had one child @ KEFW and one @ KES/KEHS?

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kentish_man
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:46 am

Know anyone who has/had one child @ KEFW and one @ KES/KEHS?

Post by kentish_man »

If so, would really appreciate someone sparing a little bit of time to reply or message - and maybe answer a few questions we have.
You probably know where I'm going with this...

Love KES.
It's < 2 miles away from where we live.
I know some people aren't fans, but I really like idea of IB (Son is a good all-rounder) and of course it's exam results are off the charts.
But KEFW (By any normal standards) is also an amazing school, and of course doesn't come with 100K price tag over 7 years.

Now I don't know if this is a combination of schools that would have cropped up very often amongst siblings of one family, but I thought I'd ask on the off chance.
Problem is I don't feel I know KEFW as well as I do KES.
Have had reason to visit KES for district cricket and chess tournaments over recent years - but my only experience of FW was the bedlam at their open evening, when half of south Birmingham appeared to be squashed in there.
Makes it very hard to make a fair comparison, or attempt to put a value on what (If any) premium KES might offer.

Thought it might be interesting if there was a parent who had experience of both, and would be able to provide a genuine, unbiased comparison.
All the comments on these kind of school comparison threads tend to come from parents championing one school or other... with all the inherent biases and justification of decisions they've already made.
crazycrofter
Posts: 440
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:10 am

Re: Know anyone who has/had one child @ KEFW and one @ KES/K

Post by crazycrofter »

I can't help with those specific schools but maybe you should think more generally about what KES can offer over a grammar school, I.e. what you'd be paying for.

I contributed to a similar discussion recently in relation to KEHS. Have a search through the forum and you'll probably find lots of similar discussions on KES/KEHS versus the grammar schools. It very much depends on your financial situation, what you value as a family and what your son is like. I tend to feel that the major advantage of the independent schools is the extra-curricular offering. There are some girl at KEHS in my daughter's year who don't partake in any clubs and I do wonder what value for money their parents are really getting! Certainly the teaching isn't superior to the grammar schools on the whole - in my experience anyway! But I wouldn't expect it to be -there are bound to be good and bad teachers everywhere. If anything they're held to account more/put under more pressure in the state sector.
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