Kensington Aldridge Academy A GSG School Review
What is included in the Kensington Aldridge Academy review?
Academic results & facilities
Up to date results for GCSEs, A levels, BTECs and IB; we go to places league tables can’t reach.
Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline
From how the school reacts when something goes wrong to how they tackle thorny issues like substance abuse, consent and mental health. We check they’ve got it all covered.
Information about the head
Our unparalleled access to the head teacher means we can tell you exactly what to expect when you meet them – from leadership style right down to the décor of their study and what they’re currently reading.
Teaching and learning approaches
Detailed info on teaching styles and stand-out subjects. We observe the lessons you’ll never see on an open day.
Entrance & admissions information
Exit information - where do the children go next?
Learning support & SEN information
Arts, sports and extracurricular
Pupils & parents (what are they really like?)
What The Good Schools Guide says..
Lessons are pin-drop quiet, teachers emphatically in charge of classes (maximum 30, average 22 with a full-time equivalent teacher to pupil ratio of 1 to 11). Teachers welcome challenges, eg ‘Your idea of mass being conserved wasn’t really shown,’ a year 8 pupil tells chemistry teacher...
Read more- Kensington Aldridge Academy
Kensington Aldridge Academy
1 Silchester Road
London
W10 6EX - Head: Mr David Benson
- T 0207 313 5800
- E [email protected]
- W www.kaa.org.uk
- Kensington Aldridge Academy is a state school for boys and girls aged from 11 to 18 in London. Interested in reading more? Read our honest and unbiased Kensington Aldridge Academy review.
- Boarding: No
- Local authority: Kensington & Chelsea
- Pupils: 1,265; sixth formers: 264
- Religion: None
- Open days: Autumn term annually - see website for details
- Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
-
Ofsted:
- Latest Overall effectiveness Outstanding 1
- 16-19 study programmes Outstanding 1
- Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding 1
- 1 Full inspection 12th December 2017
- Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report
What the school says...
Kensington Aldridge Academy (KAA) is an 11 – 18 academy situated in the heart of Notting Hill. The academy opened in brand new buildings in September 2014 with just Year 7, and since then have grown into a full school with over 1,250 students.
KAA is a high performing academy with a strong local and national profile. In December 2017 Ofsted graded the school “outstanding” in all areas and described standards as “exceptional”. In 2018 TES named KAA Secondary School of the Year. ...Read more
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Other features
Performing arts specialist school
Sports
Rowing
Since 2013, Mr David Benson. First headship. Previously vice principal Ark Academy for three years and before that at Ark Burlington Danes Academy between 2006 and 2010, joining as head of department, then head of year in 2008 and senior leadership team associate in 2009. First post, through then-new Teach First scheme, was at Eltham Green College as an English teacher between 2004 and 2006, after an unsatisfying year in management consultancy. An academic high achiever - St Paul’s School in West London followed by a first at Cambridge (social and political sciences), teaching appealed because ‘interested in social justice from an early age’.
Saw KAA headship as the chance to create an outstanding school that took children from all social and economic backgrounds and transformed their lives - an irresistible opportunity. Appointed at 33, he...
Learn more about Kensington Aldridge Academy
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Overall school performance (for comparison or review only)
Special Education Needs
| Condition | Provision for in school |
|---|---|
| ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder | Y |
| Aspergers | Y |
| Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders | |
| CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia | |
| Dyscalculia | |
| Dysgraphia | |
| Dyslexia | |
| Dyspraxia | |
| English as an additional language (EAL) | |
| Genetic | |
| Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory | |
| Has SEN unit or class | |
| HI - Hearing Impairment | |
| Hospital School | |
| Mental health | |
| MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty | |
| MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment | |
| Natspec Specialist Colleges | |
| OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability | |
| Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty | |
| PD - Physical Disability | |
| PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty | |
| SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health | |
| SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication | |
| SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty | |
| Special facilities for Visually Impaired | |
| SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty | |
| VI - Visual Impairment |
Interpreting catchment maps
The maps show in colour where the pupils at a school came from*. Red = most pupils to Blue = fewest.
Where the map is not coloured we have no record in the previous three years of any pupils being admitted from that location based on the options chosen.
For help and explanation of our catchment maps see: Catchment maps explained
Further reading
If there are more applicants to a school than it has places for, who gets in is determined by which applicants best fulfil the admissions criteria.
Admissions criteria are often complicated, and may change from year to year. The best source of information is usually the relevant local authority website, but once you have set your sights on a school it is a good idea to ask them how they see things panning out for the year that you are interested in.
Many schools admit children based on distance from the school or a fixed catchment area. For such schools, the cut-off distance will vary from year to year, especially if the school give priority to siblings, and the pattern will be of a central core with outliers (who will mostly be siblings). Schools that admit on the basis of academic or religious selection will have a much more scattered pattern.
*The coloured areas outlined in black are Census Output Areas. These are made up of a group of neighbouring postcodes, which accounts for their odd shapes. These provide an indication, but not a precise map, of the school’s catchment: always refer to local authority and school websites for precise information.
The 'hotter' the colour the more children have been admitted.
Children get into the school from here:
regularly
most years
quite often
infrequently
sometimes, but not in this year
Who came from where
| School | Year | Places | Scholarships | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notting Hill Preparatory School | 2022 | 1 |
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