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Kingston Grammar School is one of the most successful co-educational schools in the country. Inspirational teaching and a deep commitment to pastoral care means that students grow in confidence and understanding, and individual talents and creativity are able to flourish. Our students are bright and enthusiastic; their joy in life and spirit of curiosity makes education here a real pleasure.
Our co-curricular programme plays a central part in this. Students develop their self-awareness, skills and competence through an extraordinary range of trips, expeditions and activities, contributing significantly to the rounded individuals they become.
For many, the world outside the formal academic curriculum will provide the key to their future lives. Physical Education and Sport in Independent Schools (2012) by Malcolm Tozer contains a survey of the number of sporting internationals to have come from independent schools since 2000. Kingston Grammar School is ranked equal fifth, and third for Olympians – quite an achievement for a school of our size.
You will also find a strong tradition of theatre, art and music here, with Old Kingstonians making their mark on the stage, in performance and in all aspects of the design world.
Art at KGS is a highly valued and vibrant part of the curriculum. With our bright, well-equipped studios and enthusiastic and knowledgeable teachers, we strive to produce an exciting and creative atmosphere that encourages students to feel confident in both their ideas and their abilities. We aim to ensure that students experience enjoyment, inspiration and success in the studio and appreciate the study of Art as an important part of their education.
Each year our students achieve outstanding results at both GCSE and A Level, with our annual Summer Art Exhibition being one of the highlights of the school calendar and a wonderful opportunity to showcase the extraordinary talent we have at KGS.
We are fortunate to have two exhibition spaces for displaying students' work, with one, The Baxter Gallery, being visible to the general public and being instrumental in raising further the excellent reputation that Art at Kingston Grammar School enjoys.
Each year several students go on to study Architecture, History of Art or Art & Design Foundation courses at prestigious universities and art schools in London and across the country.
Co-Curricular
The Junior Art Clubs offer a chance for very keen artists from the First, Second and Third Year to extend their classroom learning by tackling exciting, stand-alone projects that introduce them to new artists, ideas and techniques.
Each year, the House Art competition provides an opportunity for younger students to work collaboratively with Sixth Form artists in producing a large art piece in response to a set theme. Older students enjoy Open Studio which allows them to use the facilities at lunchtimes and after school to produce artwork of the highest standard.
We are extremely proud of the artwork our students produce and take every opportunity to show it to as wide an audience as possible.
Biology is always at the forefront of modern scientific research and aspects of those key areas of investigation are prominent in the teaching of Biology at KGS.
Biology has its roots in the fundamental questions of how life works and is of great importance to so many issues; to questions of health, genetics, environment, sustainability and the future of the human and animal populations. It is a subject with relevance to everyone, as well as being a fascinating and engaging science.
The Biology Department strives to challenge and stimulate our students into questioning accepted ideas and we aim to instil in them a desire to find out answers for themselves, rather than simply accepting what is known. It is our wish to produce scientists of the future by presenting Biology to the students as a subject with opportunities for free-thinking and exploration rather than as a series of facts for them to learn.
Throughout the years that students study Biology, they develop essential scientific and analytical skills; an evaluative approach and key problem-solving abilities. There is a significant emphasis on developing practical skills with all age groups, something which helps to ensure an independent learning experience and allows for vibrant and memorable lessons.
Chemistry is the science of substances – their behaviour, their properties and their transformations. It permeates every aspect of our lives, from the intricate biochemical reactions occurring in our cells to the industrial-scale extraction of metals and the manufacture of plastics, without which our modern technological society would be impossible.
Chemical advances in the last fifty years have given us an impressive diversity of benefits: drugs to fight cancer, flat-screen displays – even 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner!
The Chemistry Department at Kingston Grammar School seeks to give every student a thorough grounding in the principles of Chemistry, equipping them with the skills to understand the many contributions that chemists make to modern life and enabling them to make informed contributions to discussions on scientific issues. Lessons are vibrant and exciting and aim to instil in our students a sound knowledge of the chemical world and to encourage curiosity and the desire to become independent and lifelong learners.
Practical work forms an integral part of the study of Chemistry and is incorporated as widely as possible into the curriculum so that students gain experience of a range of analytical and preparative techniques as well as the confidence to manipulate a wide variety of apparatus. Computer-controlled data-logging, including spectroscopic devices, the experience of working with modern scientific equipment whilst molecular models bring the abstract, microscopic world of the atom into the tangible, macroscopic world of the student.
The aim of Classics teaching at all levels at KGS is to foster a lifelong interest in and love of the Classics. The study of Latin and Classical Greek enables students to understand how languages work and will improve not only their English but also other modern languages, while being a rigorous and fulfilling study in its own right. Ancient History and Civilisation
offers a fascinating insight into the minds, philosophy, politics and cultures which have arguably influenced Western culture more than any other.
Latin is compulsory for all students in the First and Second Year. We study the Cambridge Latin Course, which follows Quintus, his family and friends through their adventures in Pompeii, Roman Britain, Egypt and Rome itself.
The course combines language teaching using e-resources and online activities with a creative approach to studying Roman history and society. Students can often be found acting out sketches from the textbook, producing news reports on the eruption of Vesuvius or filming trailers for the latest myth-inspired blockbuster.
Co-Curricular
The Junior Classics Club meets weekly and can usually be seen performing plays, producing theatrical masks or making Greek vases.
The Senior Classical Society regularly sees students soaking up the atmosphere on museum and gallery visits or experiencing the cathartic effects of the theatre. The jewel in the Classics crown is the annual Senior Classical Society Dinner which sees us joined each year by one of the big-hitters in the world of Classics, such as Natalie Haynes, John Taylor and Caroline Lawrence, for an evening of intellectual frivolity and Classical fun.
Outside the classroom, the exposure to the ancient world continues through visits to classical sites, both at home and abroad. Last year saw students climbing Vesuvius, walking the streets of Pompeii and exploring the Colosseum.
The modern workplace is changing fast as a result of technological advancement; we cannot predict with certainty the kind of jobs that our First Year students will be applying for in seven years' time. We do know, however, that the increasing importance of the digital economy has already created a technological skills gap in many industries.
In a recent report from the House of Lords, it was estimated that 56% of the UK workforce was required at least to use and configure complex digital systems. At KGS we want to aim higher, encouraging our students to become confident digital ‘makers', not just users, equipped with the skills to create and manipulate technology.
The addition of Art to the traditional STEM disciplines encapsulates the creativity and innovation inherent in modern technology and science industries. STEAM learning is hands-on and cross-curricular, with a focus on using technical knowledge and technology to solve real-world problems. We are fortunate to have a brand new STEAM lab space, designed specifically for hands-on making with digital technology.
At KGS we recognise the importance of digital skills such as programming. Students are given the opportunity to learn basic coding skills, making the transition from visual languages such as Scratch (which many have used at primary school) onto text-based languages such as Python. Our new KS3 curriculum is designed to develop these skills through engaging, project-based learning, utilising cutting-edge educational resources such as Raspberry Pi Laptops (Pitops), Microbits and Lego Mindstorms EV3. In this way, students are challenged to create and problem solve as well as learning core coding skills.
Part of our vision for KGS learners is that we encourage students “to innovate and not to replicate”. We believe that challenging our students to use STEAM skills across traditional subject boundaries allows this innovation to flourish. Our chosen activities our designed to encourage students to take knowledge from subjects such as circuits in science and CAD design packages in DT and apply them to physical computing projects.
Exceptionally well resourced, the DT Department allows students to work in a wide range of materials on extremely varied and creative projects.
There are four full-time teachers, four fully equipped workshops and a modern gallery display area with a suite of computers. There is also a full-time technician and a newly extended storeroom. All the workshops are equipped with up-to-date machinery which enables students to design and manufacture products to the highest possible standard.
Students are encouraged to demonstrate their creative skills through a variety of different tasks and projects. They are introduced to the ‘design process' which involves researching and analysing a need, developing a detailed specification, generating ideas, choosing and developing a viable solution, making a good quality product and evaluating the outcome. Students are given the opportunity to continue the subject and we offer Resistant Materials, Graphic Products and Electronics at GCSE and Product Design at A Level.
Co-Curricular
The thriving Design Technology club meets weekly after school. Recent projects include National Design Competitions, Greenpower Electric Car racing, Vex Robotics and BBC2's Robot Wars. In recent years, several Kingston Grammar School students have won highly prestigious Arkwright Scholarships designed to nurture future leaders in Engineering.
Design and Technology is embedded into the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts & Mathematics) subjects and provides an excellent foundation for students who go onto university to study Product Design, Engineering, Architecture and a variety of other design-based courses.
The outstanding Drama and Theatre Department at KGS combines consistently high examination results and an enviable, inclusive co-curricular programme.
Located in The Michael Frayn Theatre, opportunities include full-scale productions, studio performances, clubs, theatre trips, LAMDA, revues and competitions. Students specialise in acting, technical theatre and design, and alongside the development of their skills, grow to be critical and engaged theatre producers and consumers.
Production standards are exceptionally high. We also have a fully equipped studio space, and flexible green room. The Michael Frayn Theatre is also an NTLive venue, where students can benefit from screenings of top West End theatre, opera and musicals.
Co-Curricular
Open to the Fifth Year and above, the Senior Play has included productions of 13, Nell Gwynn, Romeo & Juliet, Earthquakes in London, Blue Stockings and Anna Karenina. For Third and Fourth Year students, the Middle School Play productions have included Great Britain, Love and Information, Mad Forest, Jane Eyre and School for Scandal. Younger actors gain experience playing lead roles, in preparation for Sixth Form study and Drama Scholarship application.
The Junior Play is open to anyone in the First and Second Year and is always a lively and exciting event where many students gain their first experience of performing. Recent productions have included Peter Pan, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Oliver Twist and James and the Giant Peach.
Economics is a long-established and popular Sixth Form option at KGS. The Department is staffed by two Economics specialists. We take pride in the number of our students who develop a strong interest in the subject; of our 86 Upper Sixth students in the past five years, 34 went on to study Economics in single or joint honours courses at university.
We encourage our students to keep abreast of current economic developments. In addition to textbooks (including the latest edition of Lipsey), we provide students with an electronic subscription to The Economist, a Virtual Learning Environment including a wealth of electronic resources, a closed-group Facebook page and a database currently containing over 3,500 multiple-choice questions.
Our drive to keep in touch with the world beyond school includes our annual visit to Central London to attend Economics in Action, at which speakers have included Tim Harford (FT columnist, author and broadcaster), Lord (Jim) O'Neill (former Commercial Secretary to the Treasury), Vicky Pryce (former Treasury economist) and George Magnus (former chief economist at UBS), as well as representatives from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Adam Smith Institute, the Institute of Economic Affairs, The Resolution Foundation, the Bank of England, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, LSE, UCL and the universities of Bristol, Manchester and Warwick.
Studying English prepares you for life ahead by encouraging you to form, develop and express your own arguments and ideas in speech and in writing. Through different writers and texts we gain knowledge of the past and present, of other people and of ourselves.
The aim of English teaching at all levels at KGS is to encourage students to respond to a wide variety of types of writing with perception and enjoyment, to express themselves clearly and fluently in a range of contexts and to develop an appreciation of the function, variety and effectiveness of language. In short, we aim to inspire students to develop and maintain an enduring love of the subject.
In the first few years, the syllabus is not rigidly prescriptive; members of the Department are encouraged to extend their own approaches to English teaching within the broadly defined areas of reading, writing, speaking and listening and drama, in accordance with the requirements of the National Curriculum, which we shadow. Above all, it is the skills and pleasures of English that we aim to inculcate through varied teaching styles and a lively, creative, flexible and literature-based syllabus.
History is the story of us, had we been born in a different time and place, and therefore it is a story that must be told. In the KGS History Department, we are enthusiastic to tell this story – to inspire students with a genuine love of the subject and to develop their intellectual curiosity and imagination.
Using a variety of activities from class debates to lessons in the School Archive we aim to develop the KGS historian into someone who independently investigates the past, and has the skills and confidence to question and challenge accepted interpretations.
There are plenty of opportunities for students to extend their learning and to deepen their love of the subject. Both the Junior and Senior History Societies allow students to explore eras beyond the syllabus. Whether they are looking at local history, discussing historical fiction in a book group or presenting on an area they have researched, students are challenged to think critically and carefully about the past.
All of our study in the classroom is brought alive by trips to historical sights. The First Year Warwick Castle trip allows medieval warfare and architecture to be brought alive. There is even the chance to re-enact the Battle of Hastings, without the famous arrow in the eye! For many years, Third Year students have travelled to Belgium to experience the World War One battlefields first hand, spending time in a German trench, walking through the Menin Gate in Ypres and reflecting on the sacrifice in the Commonwealth cemeteries.
A Level students are given the opportunity to hear world-class historians speak at the Chalke Valley History Festival and on lecture trips throughout the course. They are also given the opportunity to undertake archival research for their coursework essays on a day trip to The National Archives in Kew. We are also privileged to host a number of top historians and academics at our annual Anniversary Lectures. The Department runs a number of exciting international residential trips, which include visits to Russia, touring Moscow and St Petersburg, and to Washington DC. These fascinating trips are the highlight of the calendar and tie together senior students' understanding of modern international history.
The rise of the Anthropocene means that it is an incredibly exciting time to be a geographer!
The Department's five specialist Geography teachers look forward to welcoming you into their classrooms to transport you around the globe and to investigate the key processes operating across the human and physical world.
Students learn to unravel and understand the major themes and processes shaping the world around them and we highlight the most contemporary theories and case studies to develop their skills.
Our lessons are firmly grounded in academic rigour and we seek to ensure that students have a firm grasp of the abilities required to be accomplished geographers such as being able to appreciate how locational context affects contemporary issues, acknowledge interrelationships between places, environments and processes as well as an ability to utilise mathematical and statistical skills to interpret geographical issues.
Geography is a subject that goes beyond the classroom and we seek to offer our young geographers the thrill of fieldwork, both in the UK and abroad. We explore human interactions with the coast by visiting Seaford and Birling Gap and look at urban regenerations in the vibrant and ever-changing city of Bristol. Students also get the opportunity to visit the geographical wonders of Iceland and hone their fieldwork skills on the Isle of Arran in Scotland.
Politics at Kingston Grammar School is in all senses of the word a ‘dynamic' subject. The rapidly changing political landscape means that a proactive, ongoing inquiry-based approach is essential: it is not sufficient to rely on textbooks and the printed hard copy of articles published years previously. To this end, we organise a varied and full programme of events to complement the classroom teaching.
Each year we invite high profile speakers to talk to our students. In the recent past, we have hosted MPs Zac Goldsmith, Tonia Antoniazzi, Kwasi Kwarteng and Ed Davey. Trips are made to Westminster and the American Conference at the Eccles Institute at the British Library to hear and engage with specialists in their fields and former congressmen. We hold school general elections, mock referenda and European elections in which our students have opportunities to manage, direct and engage in campaigning across the whole school.
We aim to engender a long term interest in politics and an appreciation of the responsibilities and duties of the citizen whilst fostering a pro-active approach among students.
Government & Politics is a popular A Level choice with a very high proportion of our students going onto study the subject or a closely related degree at a top university. We offer additional help and advice, including tutorial classes to those who are considering reading PPE or Politics at Oxford or Human, Social and Political Science at Cambridge. As befitting a high profile A Level, the Department has been awarded a national prize, winning the Best Girls' AS results in an English independent school. Career options are limitless and graduates enter Law, the City, advertising, journalism, think tanks, broadcasting, teaching and the civil service to name only a few destinations.
At KGS we understand that the study of Mathematics is key to developing the problem solving and logical thinking skills so important in life, as well as being a gateway to many other subjects. Our teachers are all passionate about their subject and seek to engender that same enthusiasm in our students.
We aim to engage students by teaching using a variety of the best of both modern and traditional approaches, combining the use of classroom IT with practice of the techniques being learnt. Whilst the National Curriculum forms the basis of what is taught, we seek to broaden and extend students with problem solving activities, investigations and topics going beyond the national syllabus.
Our classrooms are equipped with multiple white boards to encourage students to work in groups, discuss their work and present their methods and solutions. Mathematics is the most popular of A Level choices with almost ¾ of our Sixth Form doing a Mathematics A Level.
We aim to extend students so that they develop to the full extent of their capability. In the First Year, after a term of settling and consolidation, students are put in sets and start on an accelerated Scheme of Work. They have the opportunity to sit the UK Maths Challenges, with many progressing through to the later stages of the competition, including the Olympiad. We send teams to regional inter-schools competitions such as Hans Woyda, Maths Team Challenge and Maths Feast. The best mathematicians in each year are taken out of lessons once a week for more specialist extension work to ensure that they are kept stretched and challenged. The top sets take Additional Mathematics alongside their IGCSE; this course is excellent preparation for those wishing to sit Further Mathematics at A Level. Many of our A Level students also take an AS in Further Mathematics. In the Sixth Form there are extension classes for those applying to Oxford or Cambridge to study Mathematics or related subjects.
Learning a language involves not only linguistic competence but an understanding of a different culture. The MFL Department at KGS aims to deliver a broad curriculum not just by offering a wide variety of languages to study from the First Year but also by organising trips, plays, visits to partner schools abroad and at home, and a range of cultural activities.
Our strong academic tradition with excellent examination results is at the core of our teaching. Being an independent learner is at the heart of language study, developing an appreciation and curiosity for foreign cultures, literature, media and film, having an interest in current affairs and news, and being motivated to communicate with others – all of which are key assets in any walk of life.
In the First and Second Year all students learn two languages choosing from French, German, Italian and Spanish. From the Third Year, ab initio Spanish and Mandarin off timetable in after-school lessons provides the opportunity to study four languages. We follow the IGCSE course for our main languages and encourage our students to study two languages at this stage, with many of them taking a language or two at A Level. Our students benefit from extension classes throughout their Sixth Form life which encourage new interests in the countries where their chosen languages are spoken, and deepen their cultural, linguistic and literary understanding; such extension classes are an excellent preparation for the rigour of top academic universities.
The vibrant department of 10 teachers and 3 native-speaker assistants teaches in dedicated classrooms with access to a mobile IT suite and a range of resources to ensure an innovative and creative learning environment through dynamic and engaging teaching. An emphasis on the use of target language in the classroom might seem daunting at first but is just one of the ways in which we foster a sense of determination, risk-taking and self-confidence, raising aspirations and nurturing ambition in each student.
Study visits are offered for each language at various stages during their school career and students embrace the enrichment that these experiences bring. Fifth Year and Sixth Form students take part in debating competitions, and the successful Language Leader Award for Third and Fourth Year students stands out as a real motivator to engage students' interest in their language whilst learning vital leadership and teaching skills. MFL events provide an opportunity for creativity, engagement and fun – creative writing week, Language Leaders teaching parents, staff and primary school children and MFL drama evenings all contribute to a sense of shared purpose and ambition.
Music is an inclusive subject in the Lower School, and the emphasis is on developing practical skills in a fun and friendly atmosphere. This is underpinned by a solid understanding of music theory. From Third Year, Music becomes an option subject and this is reflected in a more structured approach to listening, performing, composing, theory and the use of music technology.
Concerts
Regular concerts ranging from small informal lunchtime Lovekyn Recitals to large end-of-term events are given during the school year, at which students of all abilities are given the chance to perform, both individually and in groups. Our main concerts are: a concert featuring our main school groups and a whole First Year Choir; a concert in March, usually at an outside venue, featuring main school groups and the KGS Choral Society joining forces with the School Chamber Choir; a House Music competition at the end of the Summer term, which is organised and presented by the students themselves, and professionally adjudicated.
Instrumental Lessons
All orchestral instruments – as well as theory, saxophone, piano, classical/ acoustic/electric/bass guitar, music technology, singing – are offered at KGS by 22 experienced visiting music teachers, and many instruments are available for hire.
Choirs
Choral singing flourishes at KGS and regular groups include the Senior Choir, Chamber Choir, and Junior Choirs. The Senior Choir and Chamber Choirs join forces with the KGS Choral Society in our annual spring concerts, where they perform a large-scale choral work, accompanied by a professional orchestra and professional singers.
Trips
In addition to the busy musical life at KGS, there are regular trips to concerts and operas in London as well as tours abroad. The School Choir toured Salzburg in July 2014 and Rome in October 2015, where they performed at the Vatican and other prestigious venues. Other recent destinations have included Venice, singing mass at St Mark's, as well as tours to Germany, Spain, Malta, Leipzig, Prague and Paris. A foreign tour is currently in the planning stages for 2020.
We're all born with an urge to understand the world around us and Physics is what makes the Earth turn - literally. Physics is the foundation of chemistry, biology, material science, and geology, and it is the basis of all of our human endeavours from mountaineering to space travel, and from Stonehenge and the Pyramids to the World Wide Web.
There are many fields of physics, such as mechanics, electricity, heat, sound, light, atomic physics, nuclear physics, and elementary particle physics. Here at KGS you have the opportunity to study them all. Physicists are just like us. They work in schools, hospitals and universities. They play football, search for the Titanic and develop new energy sources that could save the Earth. They experiment underground, on the Moon and search for life in the outer reaches of space.
Physics is taught as a core subject from the Second to Fifth Year and as part of a combined Science course in the First Year. We follow the Edexcel International GCSE syllabus and the AQA A Level syllabus. Students take either the three separate sciences or Dual Award at GCSE. In 2018 there was a 100% A*- C pass rate at GCSE with 97% A*/A grades. At A level 94% of all candidates achieved an A-C grade.
The Department has a high profile within the School and regularly attracts a large number of able students for A Level. We frequently produce successful Oxbridge physicists (17 since 2006) and enter students to the British Physics Olympiad competition.
Co-Curricular
Outside of regular timetabled lessons, Junior Science Club is a popular co-curricular activity for Lower School students. The Physics Department also organises egg race challenges, together with lectures and visits such as the ever-popular CERN trip and a newer but equally popular trip to The Emirates Aviation Experience where the cockpit simulators keep our young scientists on the edge of their seats (not literally, we hope). The Physics Extension Club and The Faraday Society (Physics and Chemistry) are available to extend and enrich the Sixth Form experience.
All students at KGS participate in two PE lessons over a two-week timetable. Using the facilities of the gym, hall, Fairfield, cage and netball court, they are offered a diverse curriculum delivered by specialised teachers. We cover the activity areas of Invasion Games, Health-Related Fitness, Gymnastics, Striking and Fielding Games, Athletics and Net and Wall Games.
All students are taught the necessary skills and techniques associated with the sports/activities on offer as well as broadening their understanding and knowledge. As they progress through the School, the curriculum offers a wider choice. Activities such as Health and Wellbeing (which includes yoga, Pilates and Zumba) can be chosen, alongside volleyball, basketball and more traditional sports.
The ‘Ac Laetari' (‘be happy') programme is our integrated pastoral development and education programme. Our dedicated PSHE education lessons are enhanced by a wider pastoral programme involving eternal speakers and off timetable sessions as well as talks and advice evenings for parents. We are rightly proud of our pastoral provision and it is widely acknowledged to be one of the best in any school in the UK.
Our comprehensive programme begins in the First Year and continues right through to Sixth Form. For younger students, properly planned and age-appropriate sessions help them to understand the physical and emotional side of growing up as well as helping them to identify inappropriate or unsafe behaviour or experiences. Further up the school, the emphasis switches to issues such as consent and the law, contraception and STIs, and healthy and unhealthy relationships. Students are also given the opportunity to explore and discuss wider issues such as pornography, gender stereotyping and peer pressure.
This programme sits alongside our comprehensive and rigorous academic curriculum to complement and support the pastoral and academic development of each of our students. Delivering targeted, well-thought-out and ground-breaking initiatives at all levels throughout the School, our overarching aim is to equip each student with the skills and tools to tackle life with confidence and enthusiasm, and achieve all they want to.
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behaviour, covering a wide range of topics including the workings of the brain, memory, social influence, mental health and attachment. Psychology is applied in wider settings such as mental health, sport education and forensics.
Psychology is a relatively new science, with most advances happening over the past 150 years or so. However, its origins can be traced back to Ancient Greece, 400-500 years BC. Psychology is perfect for those fascinated by human behaviour and is much more broad-ranging than many imagine. There is something in it for almost all interests, ranging from the ‘hard science' of biopsychology to the complex interpersonal skills of humanistic psychology.
Psychology at Kingston Grammar School is a popular A Level subject, with a significant percentage of students choosing to study it at degree level. Students have the opportunity to attend trips such as the London Zoo Phobia workshop, the Freud Museum and partake in a ‘Brain Day'. Psychology at university can lead to careers in many areas, but education, marketing, advertising, medicine, law and human resources are common choices
Studying Religion and Philosophy encourages students to engage with life's most fundamental questions and issues, such as whether science and religion are compatible, the nature of knowledge, whether God exists, what morals are (if they exist at all), and whether we are free.
Studying this important subject teaches students to analyse and compare different points of view and to develop their own ability to reason and argue their viewpoint. Being a student of RP also provides the opportunity to develop a deep understanding of the world we live in by learning about, and from, world religions. The opportunity to gain both a solid grounding in analytical and academic rigour, as well as a deeply spiritual, moral and cultural education in this subject is part of what makes it such a popular one at our school.
KGS is a non-denominational school and RP lessons are non-confessional. No prior knowledge is expected and we welcome students of any faith, or none, to take the subject as an option. We follow the OCR Philosophy and Ethics course at GCSE and the Pre-U in Philosophy and Theology in Sixth Form. The subject is compulsory in First and Second Year, and becomes optional in Third Year, with at least half of each year group choosing to continue studying the subject every year.
The Department is a thriving one: with excellent examination results and a vibrant co-curricular offering, it is no surprise that every year a number of students choose to study Philosophy, Theology or related degrees at university. To enhance their understanding, our students learn from numerous trips and visits. For example, in 2018 we took GCSE and Sixth Form students to lectures and conferences provided by eminent contemporary philosophers, and Lower School students to places of worship such as the Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon and the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking. Third Year students were particularly fortunate in hearing a moving talk given by two Holocaust survivors.
Additionally, we run a weekly Philosophy and Ethics discussion group for Upper School students called Touchstone which is led by both teachers and students. We also run a weekly club, Have I Got Ethical News for You!, for younger students.
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