King's College School, Cambridge
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 chool 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. It has received excellent inspection reports in 2006 and 2010 from the Independent Schools Inspectorate.
The school has a number of distinguished alumni, including Andrew Wiles.
In September 2009, the School received an unannounced emergency inspection at the request of the Department of Children, Schools and Families (now the Dept of Education). The actual investigation was carried out by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) following concerns raised by parents. These concerns related to the conduct of the headmaster in connection with a genuine complaint and to his total disregard for the welfare of two highly regarded children at the school; and their parents. Both children left the school at the end of that academic year. The ISI made its unannounced inspection at the earliest opportunity after the children had left the school. The ISI found over 3 pages of regulatory failures, including failings in recruitment. The headmaster and the governors were crtiticised by the inspectors for not being sufficiently diligent. On 30 October 2009, the School was served with a Statutory Notice to produce an Action Plan and the DCSF issued a letter warned the school that it might be struck of the register of independent schools.
In November 2009, the Provost wrote to all parents informing them of the unannounced inspection. His letter was drafted on the advice of the school's solicitors and governors. The letter told parents that the inspection had taken place following a change in inspection regulations and that a few deficiences were found. These statements were inaccurate and highly misleading, but many parents assumed that because it came from the Chair of Governors, it could be relied on.
As a result of the failed inspection, the Provost offered his resignation as Chair of Governors because of the damage done to the school and when that was not possible, even considered resigning as Provost of King's College Cambridge. 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.
According to Nick Gibb MP, Minister for State (Schools) Education, in response to a parliamentary question, the ISI "rarely makes unannounced visits".
The circumstances of the unannounced emergency inspection were published in the Sunday Times and the Cambridge Evening News. For more information on the Sunday Times article, please go to www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6954383.ece. For more information on the two Cambridge Evening News articles, please go to www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Top-school-criticised-over-CRB-checks.htm and www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge/Professor-makes-pledge-to-repair-damage-at-school.htm
In February 2010 the School was inspected by ISI as part of the regular programme of school inspections. In addition, the ISI inspectors carried out a follow up inspection from the one that took place the previous September, which found serious regulatory failures. King’s College School received a glowing report and it was seen to have complied with the Action Plan that it was required to serve under a Statutory Notice issued in October 2009. For full details of the ISI report and for more information about the School, please go to www.kcs.cambs.sch.uk
Although the School is happy to publish the 2006 and 2010 ISI Inspection reports it chooses not to publish the Statutory Notice and DCSG letter relating to the failed inspection that took place in September 2009.
In October 2010, the Information Commissioner published a Decision Notice on its website which stated that, for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act, King's College School is part of King's College and therefore the information held by the School was covered by the Freedom of Information Act. The Decision Notice came as a result of a complaint which arose because King's College School refused to provide certain information held by it. In particular, the School refused to provide details of the damning 2009 ISI inspection and related documents. The Commissioner ruled that King's College must comply with its duties under Section 1 of the Act in relation to information held by the School. Despite King's College School openly stating that it is an integral part of King's College, whose governors are appointed by King's College, whose Provost is also the chair of the school's governors, King's College surprisingly tried to argue that its School was not part of the College and as it was an "independent school" it was not subject to the Act. The Information Commissioner rejected this argument and other arguments put up by King's College. This is believed to be the first case where a private school has been subject to the Freedom of Information Act. For more information please go to www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_resources/decision_notices/~/media/documents/decisionnotices/2010/fs_50285876.ashx
In November 2010, the Times Educational Supplement wrote an article about the ICO Decision Notice under the headline "Choirboys' school tried to 'conceal' protection lapses". It went on to say that "In a landmark ruling, King's College School - which teaches the choirboys who perform at Cambridge's King's College Chapel in the annual televised Christmas Eve service - has become the first independent school to be made subject to the Freedom of Information Act. For more information please go to: www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6063608
In December 2010, the Information Commissioner published a second Decision Notice in favour of the complainant which came as a result of the School refusing to disclose certain information relating to, amongst other matters, the conduct of the headmaster and a member of staff. The Commissioner ruled that King's College must comply with its duties under Section 1 of the Act and disclose such information. For more information please go to [http://www.ico.gov.uk/~/media/documents/decisionnotices/2010/fs_50318306.ashx
External links
King's College School, Cambridge