King's College School is a mixed private preparatory school in Cambridge, England, situated on West Road off Grange Road, west of the city centre. It is an integral part of and receives some funding and its name from King's College, a college of the University of Cambridge as it was founded to educate the choristers in the King's College Choir. It was opened to non-choristers some time later. In the late 1970s it accepted girls as well, and as the school expanded, it brought in a pre-preparatory department. The school now has 400 boys and girls aged 4 - 13.The headmaster of the school is Nicholas Robinson.
The school has a strong reputation in music, and there are a number of extracurricular activities, including drama and sports. It is twinned with Dikkumbura Sri Siddhartha’ south of Galle, in Sri Lanka.
The school has a number of distinguished alumni, including mathematicians Andrew Wiles and Timothy Gowers, numerous distinguished musicians such as the composer Bob Chilcott along with the UK Liberal party leadership candidate, John Pardoe.
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In 2009 the school had a rare (according to Nick Gibb MP) emergency unannounced Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) inspection following concerns from parents relating to the conduct of the headmaster in connection with a complaint from parents.[1] On 30 October 2009, the School was served with a Statutory Notice to produce an Action Plan and the school was issued with a letter warning that it might be struck of the register of independent schools. In November 2009, the Provost wrote a deliberately and highly misleading letter to all parents claiming that the unannounced inspection was due to a change in inspection regulations and that a few deficiencies were found. In fact, over three pages of failings were found. Furthermore, there have been no changes in inspection regime to allow unannounced, emergency inspections. The Department of Education, through the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) has always had the right to make unannounced inspections at schools where there is good reason for concern. Interestingly, the School was reinspected in 2010 but, this time the School was given the usual period of notice.
The Times Educational Supplement reported that the inspection had found serious issues requiring correction, specifically in the recruitment of staff, and that the Inspection "described its anti-bullying, child protection and discipline policies as "inadequate in various areas". In particular, the school's child protection officer had left the school without bothering to pass on these important duties to someone else. The article was also critical of King's College for withholding information, being unreasonable and not carrying out proper internal reviews.[2] The headmaster and the governors were criticized by the inspectors for not being sufficiently diligent.[3]
The headmaster also showed poor judgement in running the school, particularly in connection with the failed emergency inspection, leading the Provost to resign as Provost of King's College, Cambridge. The headmaster misled governors and colleagues over the seriousness of the inspectors' findings following a two-hour meeting in September 2009.
The Provost of King's College now admits that his letter was misleading and in a letter to all parents, stepped down as Chair of Governors on April 1, 2011. The Provost also confirmed to one parent that the "headmaster didn't take the failed inspection as seriously as he should have done". The Provost has since apologised to the parents of one family for the suffering caused to them by the headmaster and has confirmed that their treatment at the hands of the headmaster was wrong and should not have happened. Some parents are now asking why the headmaster is still employed by the school, having caused it so much damage and disgrace.
In an email to a Cambridgeshire MP, Nick Gibb MP, Minister for State (Schools) Education, in response to a parliamentary question, confirmed that the ISI "rarely makes unannounced visits".
Having been given six months to put its house in order, it received a "glowing" inspection report in 2010 from the Independent Schools Inspectorate.[2]
Following a landmark ruling by the Information Commissioner in October 2010, the school is now subject to the Freedom of Information Act. This is believed to be the first case where a private school has been subject to the Freedom of Information Act.[2]
King's College School, Cambridge
2009 Freedom of Information Act Ruling