King Edward VI High School for Girls

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Reviews

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  Kam Kaur

  My daughter is enjoying her time at the school & to add. The negative comments are untrue!!

  26-11-2022
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  marion gooch

  Completely agree with 'one cosmic boi', My daughter was there until recently. She had severe mental health difficulties with crippling anxiety and self harm. In the end she was actively suicidal. Real pastoral care on the ground (with a few honourable exceptions) was laughable, although the talk was talked to us parents. The school is rigid and arrogant. They know that they get the results, so they don't see any reason to change. They go on doing what they do. Really the problem is the parents. If they kicked up a fuss, the school would have to make changes. But the parents want that Oxford place above everything else, and they know that if they stick with the programme, they'll get it, or something close.

  26-11-2022
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  Tricia Baka

  26-10-2022
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  shangxi wen

  26-05-2021
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  蔡家平

  I have been reading these reviews and, as a KEHS student myself, am a little hurt by some of the more negative comments. The club opportunities for students cover a massive range, some ran by Sixth Formers (proving it is not all about grades). Also, the curriculum is wide and yes, it does cover computing in our curriculum. When we chose our language options (which gave us high flexibility with the MFL languages we could choose for Yr8), there was little pressure on any of us, if there was any. The pressure certainly didn't come from the teachers; it was from the choosing of wonderful opportunities each department offered. Also, the new language on offer (Mandarin) is something I don't think counts as a part of a small set of traditional subjects.The teachers are wonderful, engaging and try to put as little pressure as possible. Lastly, I would like to address the matter of the school 'mocking the poor'. I am on their assisted places scheme and I am really grateful for it. The school tries to raise as much as possible for this scheme yet they cannot do everything they want.

  26-05-2021
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  zahra diyanah

  26-05-2021
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  a n n a

  Extensive Sports, Academia and Arts facilities and polite staff. Students consistently achieve high grades and are offered many opportunities.

  26-05-2021
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  Missy Classics

  Poor training experience

  26-05-2021
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  Student

  Coming across these reviews, I have to admit I am incredibly surprised. KEHS is honestly one of the best schools I know, and I am incredibly fortunate to be able to say I am a student there. I saw quite a few reviews saying that parents who aren't rich shouldn't send their children here, but over 25% of pupils at the school are helped in some way by funding from bursaries or scholarships. As someone who took the test in Y7, having come from an inner-city state primary school, I have NEVER been made to feel like I didn't belong at the school, and the financial support (which lasts from Y7 through to Y13), has been nothing short of incredible. The school doesn't "aim to take your money", it's quite the opposite, and they are extremely transparent with increases of fees . As well as two counsellors (available free of charge to any pupil who asks for help, which can also be done anonymously), there are always teachers available, who care MORE about your mental health and wellbeing than what grades will be on a piece of paper after public exams. Before sitting my GCSEs, Mrs Clark spoke to our year and explicitly said, "To me, it's more important that whatever you get in these exams is a true reflection of all the hard work I know you put in". I don't think this is a headmistress who only delivers "lip service". I have never personally felt pressured to "perform" during any End of Year Examinations or public ones, and I can safely say that although there are of course teachers who may be seen to be "putting pressure" on girls, the vast majority of them don't do this purposefully or maliciously. I think, from personal experience, the pressure felt is a result of a small group of girls, or even one, talking about their fears and worries, which sets other girls off, and can spread like a wildfire. It easily becomes a culture of "X did 3 hours of History homework last night, so now I need to do 4". This toxic behaviour is in no way endorsed by teachers, and, especially during exam season, they try to quash this type of rising angst. Teachers at KEHS are one-of-a-kind; everyone will have their favourites, or teachers they feel most comfortable talking to, and whichever teacher you decide to talk to about an issue will be extremely sensitive and considerate when advising you on what to do next. It's safe to say they go above and beyond, which I've had many experiences of. Where else can you go where a teacher will spend their lunchtime sitting and eating with you because of your relationship with food, or where you are able to have a year group discussion with the Headmistress about things that need to be changed in the school, or where teachers allow you to email them over the weekend for help with a question? Over the years, there have been problems with the amount of homework given, however in the last few years I've seen this more than resolved. Teachers are not allowed to give homework that has to be in for the next day, which teachers will not do unless agreed by the WHOLE class.Generally, teachers are very flexible when it comes to homework deadlines, providing you talk to them in advance. There are also meetings set up for pupils with their Form Teachers or members of Senior Leadership to discuss things such as pupil wellbeing, homework, and general happiness at school. I think it's a lot easier to complain about all the ways in which something is bad, than to take a moment to reflect on what is good, and KEHS is more than just a GOOD school. A great example of this is the end of my GCSE period, when girls in my year were deciding where to go for Sixth Form. The majority of the year decided they were leaving because "it's rubbish here", "it's too expensive", "I just want to chill", but here we are, further down the line, only a handful of people in my year left, and for a brief period of time those people stopped complaining. They all thought KE was bad, so decided to look elsewhere, but when they didn't find anything better, they stayed, and realised it wasn't actually bad.

  26-05-2020
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  Uday Rachineni

  26-05-2020