Kings International College for Business and The Arts in Camberley is currently run by Surrey County Council in a soft federation with Tomilinscote School and Sixth Form in Frimley.
CAM is a group of people brought together by the desire to ensure educational choice and excellence in Surrey Heath. We are made up of parents with children at both secondary schools as well as local primary “feeder” schools, local residents and councillors. CAM has an elected, executive committee, and open meetings are held each week to which anyone is welcome.
KeepKings is a committee made up of parents of Kings students, with the support of CAM. Our mission is the establishment of a “strong, independent and successful Kings providing a choice of excellent schools in Surrey Heath”. After debate of the options, KeepKings has concluded that soft-federation will not achieve these aims and that the best option for Kings International College would be conversion to an academy with a strong and successful academy sponsor.
- Soft-federation will not enable Kings to become a strong, independent and successful school while it is the junior partner to a stronger school with overlapping catchment areas.
- Hard-federation amounts to a merger/takeover and removes choice for children and parents.
- Surrey County Council community school (as Kings was before special measures) would not provide Kings with the ambitious leadership and resources to build a strong, independent future.
- Sponsored Academy – the best option for Kings. A school in a national group of academies, managed and supported by a strong Partner Academy Provider. KeepKings would like Kings to become a sponsored academy with the Oasis Community Education – a national educational charity with a record of building successful schools with a community hub. Kings will become a distinctive and successful school providing children and parents with a real choice for an excellent education. [Note that converted academies may not become selective and they must provide the core, government defined national curriculum and must fulfil the same obligations for the support of students with educational or social needs.]
We are able to demonstrate significant support for the aims of KeepKings and for the sponsored academy option from a wide cross section of the Surrey Heath community, including current Kings parents, parents of children in local feeder schools and local councillors.
We have submitted a request to the Department of Education and Surrey County Council for Kings to become an academy with the support of Oasis Community Learning.
If you would like to know more, or support us in our aims, please feel free to contact us at KeepKingsorg@gmail.com, or complete our online petition on the right hand side of this page.
Thank you from the KeepKings committee: Steve Lapthorn, Tina Carney, Mark Reynolds, Barbara Lapthorn and Louise Nicholas.
KeepKings.org 