“Our son, Alfie, joined King’s Ely Senior in Year 9 at the beginning of the 2017 summer term. We transferred Alfie to King’s Ely from a state secondary school as we were watching him visibly slip in most subjects, despite being enthusiastic and positive in interests outside of college.
“Feeling that he needed a different approach to learning, we contacted King’s Ely just before Easter 2017. We encouraged him to have a taster morning, take assessments and meet with senior staff. After that first visit, he’d remarkably already told friends that he was going to King’s Ely! A memorable comment from the phone call accepting him into the school is “There are peaks and troughs but we can work with that” – how very true that has been.
“Within a matter of days of being at King’s Ely, Alfie had a completely new attitude and he settled into the school quickly and easily with a ‘buddy’. He was enjoying the house system, study and small class sizes, and almost overnight he took pride in the house system, his uniform, and he finally started to take some responsibility for his learning.
“A year on and Alfie’s grades are noticeably improving. His passions are being catered for and the enthusiasm in those subjects are moving across to others. There is still much work to do but progress is being made. Outside of his academic studies, Alfie has thoroughly enjoyed participating in school teams in Rugby and Football, the Christmas drama production, the Senior Music Festival, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and most recently a very challenging Ely Scheme expedition to Dartmoor.
“The bi-termly period grades, regular parents’ evenings and contact with Alfie’s tutor and teachers have helped us to see his progress towards GCSE. We are delighted with the rounded education King’s Ely is providing and now look forward to him hopefully remaining at the school for his A Level studies; a prospect which we thought very unlikely 18 months ago.”
King’s Ely Senior parent, Mrs Watkins