WHAT? WHERE?

In the heart of pretty Leamington Spa sits small, community-minded, selective day school Kingsley . Formerly an all-girls school, its Prep has welcomed boys for some time and now they are set to join the Senior and Sixth Form cohort in 2025 by integrating into years 7 and 12.

The school caters for 300 children from ages 3 to 18 across three buildings on opposite sides of elegant, tree-lined Beauchamp Road and owns some 17 acres of sports fields just five minutes away. There’s bijou class sizes of around seven in Prep, a maximum of 20 in Senior and anywhere from one to eight in Sixth Form. The majority of students here are girls, but there are more boys lined up to join this year so watch this space!

Originally named Leamington High School when it was founded in 1884 by Rose Kingsley, the school moved to Beauchamp Hall in 1922 where it still stands today. It’s a gorgeous Grade II listed Cotswold stone building which houses 180 Senior School students. Two other Victorian-style houses opposite have been acquired since, one including the Prep and Nursery, and the other housing the sixth form building.

It’s part of Warwick Schools Foundation – which also oversees Kings High and Warwick School. It’s an ambitious, forward-thinking, future-focused organisation, which affords Kingsley the opportunities bigger schools provide, but while keeping the small, community-vibe it’s rightly so proud of. The schools regularly join forces for sporting fixtures and collaborate outside the classroom, but there’s also the sharing of facilities, like Warwick and King’s High’s impressive sport pitches, Warwick School’s state-of-the-art Bridge House Theatre and Warwick Hall – a top-class regional auditorium seating up to 1,000 with a balcony.

FACILITIES

Sports/

It’s a town centre school so you’re not going to find swathes of sports fields on the doorstep, but with 17 acres owned by the school just a five-minute drive away, and a fleet of minibuses to ferry students back and forth there’s plenty of opportunity for sport. Teams are small and there’s a sweet saying at Kingsley that “everyone plays in the A team” because of the school’s size. There’s a total of five tennis and netball courts here along with an athletics track, with tennis courts recently undergoing refurbishment. Next on the list is the gym which is getting a facelift this summer, and there’s two fitness suites which Years 11-13 can use.

Netball and hockey have been the most popular sports here for some time, but cricket has been seeing an uptick in recent years too. In Prep there’s one afternoon of sports per week and weekly swimming lessons for ages 3 to 11 at recently refurbished and nearby Newbold Comyn Leisure Centre.

For those wanting more sports there’s plenty going on off and on the field in after-school enrichment classes. Think everything from circus skills, cross country and dry skiing (with a couple of Kingsley pupils in the UK’s youth ski team) to golf lessons at Warwick Golf Club and horse riding at Warwick International Riding School.

Arts/

Arts are well supported at Kingsey, with a popular choir and numerous ensembles including wind, recorder, chamber choir, strings, a rock band and a whole-school orchestra. There’s also many who join ensembles in the Warwick School Foundation, including The Foundation Wind Orchestra and Foundation Symphony Orchestra. In Prep you’ll find a 70% uptake in music lessons, which is above average compared to some schools I’ve reviewed locally, with many going on to learn violin after taster sessions in Year 3. From Year 7 every child learns a woodwind or brass instrument, and recently performed music from The Nutcracker alongside other foundation schools and local musicians Orchestra of the Swan. The whole school gets involved with concerts at St Mary’s Church in Warwick, and there’s also opportunity to use Warwick School Foundation facilities including Warwick School’s impressive Bridge House Theatre. The theatre also hosts the Warwick Independent Schools Festival and workshops from local musicians Orchestra of the Swan.

Drama can be taken as a GCSE, and earlier than that there’s roughly 20 pupils taking LAMDA from Year 3. It’s testament to Kingsley’s personalised approach to teaching that Drama is running as an A Level with just one student, who works with her teacher and other drama students across the Foundation on her projects. Art is a big deal here and you’ll often find an exhibition running, including Kingsley’s annual all-school exhibition as part of the town’s Leamington Art Week. There are also regular workshops by visiting artists and a whole school art challenge for the Kingsley Art Prize.

School/

A real jewel in Kingsley’s crown is its Forest School, based on the same site as its playing fields. It has longer and more regular sessions than other schools locally, and they’re held weekly until Year 6.

A coup of its Prep and Sixth Form is that students don’t have to traipse over to the Senior school (it’s only over the road, but still!) to have access to specialist rooms. Each building is like a mini version of the school, with smaller classrooms, labs and departments. Though all the facilities are shared, students tell me they like the access to their own in each respective building.

In the Prep School there’s some well-kitted out ICT suites complete with an ‘innovation station’ perfect for budding tech billionaires. It has everything they need to design, build and experiment with robotic equipment and technologies.

There’s a full-time school librarian based in a huge library which can be split into two rooms. Library classes are timetabled in Prep and in older years’ students will listen to the younger pupils read. French is taught from Year 7 with the option of taking Latin from Year 9, while Spanish is taken in Prep and Senior. There’s a popular product design programme too and quirkier sessions like coding, yoga and fashion design available as a co-curricular offering.

LITTLIES

Girls and boys can join Kingsley from age 3 as a Little Aviator, with the Pre-School based within the Prep building. It recently underwent refurbishment and is a lovely, bright and appealing space with plenty of areas to break off in different groups. There are the usual specialist teachers for PE, drama and music, and kids are very much part of the wider school, taking part in Sports Day and whole school events.

Early Years spend every Friday at the Forest School site come rain or shine – no wallflowers here! Kids take a picnic lunch or cook around a campfire on Forest School days, and from Prep they spend at least one or two afternoons a week in Forest School until Year 6.

SIXTH FORM

The Sixth Form is in a separate building just over the road and includes its own common room and coffee shop, which is a big hit with the some 40 older students. There’s an impressive mix of A Levels and more than 30 subjects to choose from including Photography, Ancient Civilisations, Economics, Politics, Food Nutrition and Early Years Childcare. There’s also CTEC (Cambridge Technical Qualification) in Health and Social Care as well as Digital Media.

Most go on to attend their first-choice universities – with more than 30% to Russell Group unis – but there’s also great support for degree apprenticeships and global university placements too. Careers programme starts in Senior School through to Sixth Form with regular speakers, careers education in PHSE, careers day, ‘take your child to work’ day, challenges, workshops, mock interviews, CV writing sessions, work experience and a dedicated careers office in the Sixth Form.

ACADEMICS

Kingsey is academically strong, with students in Senior and Sixth form achieving significantly higher than the national average. For the last three years 46% of grades were at A* to A at A Level and 44% A* to A at GCSE level. Around 80% of Year 6 received scholarships in drama, sports and arts with the majority staying at Kingsley.

Entrance exams in maths, English, foreign language and verbal reasoning are required from Year 7, but if children join the school from Year 5 or earlier there’s no exam for Prep or moving up to Senior School. Sixth form entry depends on GCSE results (a minimum of five at grades 9-4 so the bar is set at the achievable mark for most) along with a reference from the Head or senior staff member.

The curriculum is traditional here but the school is relaxed about running with children’s curiosity and taking a creative approach. A recent history lesson saw students learn about rich and poor instead of Tudors and Stewarts in a bid to make it more reflective of everyday life, for example, and the kids say they like the changeable ‘4D curriculum’ – nothing is really set in stone here and if a subject starts to lead to another topic or an off-plan activity they run with it! At GCSE alongside the usual subjects on offer, pupils can choose Spanish, Latin, Classical Civilisation, Childcare, Dance, Food, Textiles and Drama – regardless of how many others want to take part in the class.

SEND

Around a quarter of students have SEND but they’re in good hands here due to the smaller class sizes and opportunity for one-to-one learning, flexible timetable and in-class support which can be tailored to each child. There’s a learning support department, headed up by a SEND coordinator, though staff try to keep support in-class where possible.

PASTORAL CARE

A school of 300 has a great advantage with offering strong pastoral care and Kingsley takes its opportunities. The maximum of 40 students in each year group naturally helps with community but there are also close relationships formed between pupils across all year groups. More than once I hear the term ‘Kingsley Kind’ which students use to refer to caring for one another.

In terms of practical support, there are separate Wellbeing Hubs in Prep, Senior and Sixth Form, and regular visits from an educational counsellor. A trained therapist (and her very popular dog, Scooby) visit three times a week and two qualified school nurses are based on-site. Heads of Year oversee academic tracking and target setting, and the Sixth Form leadership team works to help supporting younger students. Each student lists five staff members they are comfortable talking to – from cleaners through to the Head – and on my visit students would often pop in for a chat, or schedule a meeting for later on. There’s also an active student council, made up of delegates from each year group, which play an active role in getting the opinions of their peers and suggesting change for facilities and services.

Students have everyday access to meditations through the Headspace app and Prep parents are kept informed throughout the day on how their child is doing through the Dojo app, where pictures, updates and class or homework feedback is posted. There’s also a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, World Challenge and Young Enterprise. Students were keen to tell me about their work with other schools internationally developing leadership skills through the Round Square – the only school in the Midlands to be a member – and work as young entrepreneurs thanks to a partnership with 8billionideas.

THE HEAD

Sarah Howling took over the headship at Kingsley at the start of this year after 25 years working in education. She previously held leadership roles at schools in Buenos Aires, Kuala Lumpa and Hong Kong, before becoming an educational consultant. Three years later she was back as headteacher after missing the school environment, this time at Kingsley where she inherited a positively glowing ISI report and a school moving completely co-ed.

She’s kind but firm, and you get the feeling she’s raring to build on the work of her predecessors and has already lined up some £1million in refurbishments which will be funded by the school’s ties with the Foundation. By the end of summer, the gym will be converted into a fitness suite while the hall, dining room, library and wellbeing hub will also get an upgrade. A new garden and outdoor space is also set to be created. The new and improved school won’t mean herding in more pupils though – there’s a cap of 420 to keep class sizes and year groups small.

QUIRKS

The day is changing for Years 9 -13, with Friday afternoons becoming ‘activity afternoons’ where students join others across the foundation to take on activities from mindfulness and law to cadets.

WRAP AROUND CARE

There’s a full care package here, with a ‘Before and After School Club’ for those from Reception to Year 6 which means parents can drop their children off at 7.30am and collect them at 6pm. Activities include arts and crafts, biscuit decoration, puzzles, quizzes, Lego, movie afternoons, bingo, games, growing plants, outdoor play and quiet time.

ISI REPORT

There was a glowing ISI Inspection held in February 2023 which cited excellence in all areas. Read the report here.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

There are no mobile phones in Prep. In Senior school students can bring phones in but it’s strictly enforced that they are not seen or heard.

TRANSPORT

Kingsley is smack in the centre of Leamington so transport links are good with buses stopping a five minute walk away in town and the train station around 10 minutes away. There’s also the option to get the school bus for those age 7 and over which drops children from door to door and costs £255 to £587 per term.

FEES

It’s about on par with other schools across the region. Pre-school is £3,245 per term, prep is £4,256 to £4,955 and Years 7 to 13 come in at £5,317.

WORD ON THE GROUND

There’s a couple of words that keep coming up when I speak to parents and students at Kingsley and they are ‘community’ and ‘nurturing’. And when you visit the school both of those things are clear. Students really care about one another and the staff are really invested too. There’s no hierarchy across years, younger students can often be seen chatting with those in older years which is a real confidence builder. There’s also high praise for the food (including pastries and bacon sarnies served mid-morning!) and of the ‘seamless’ integration from Prep to Senior.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: Children who would thrive in a small, community environment. There’s a busy extra curricular offering so it’s perfect for those who want to take part but may need some encouragement to step out of their comfort zone.

Not for: If you’re looking for a larger school there’s others locally which would suit. But for a small school afforded all the opportunities of a bigger site (thanks to its ties with the Foundation) Kingsley is your place.

Dare to disagree? See for yourself! There’s a whole school Open Morning on 23 Nov.

The Kingsley School, Leamington Spa

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