CO-EDUCATION AT KNIGHTON HOUSE

Coeducation at Knighton will offer equal opportunities for boys and girls in an environment that supports gender equality and diversity. Our commitment to offering the best possible education for boys and girls will be rooted firmly in the belief that they learn best together as equals and partners. We believe in coeducation in its broadest sense: not just boys and girls learning together, but learners of all abilities understanding that they have much to offer each other. From the most academic to the most creative, the most driven to the most supportive, we want each pupil to enjoy what they do and to be driven on by that delight to achieve more than they ever expected. We believe intellectual engagement, flexibility and individual resourcefulness needed to adapt to a changing world is best developed by boys and girls being together. By building a strong and lasting mutual understanding and respect for one another, we hope this will set them up for a successful and fulfilling future.

Our bespoke KED Curriculum (Knowledge Enlightenment Discovery) which has at its heart how pupils learn through learning dispositions and skills, will strengthen and develop further as boys and girls learn together in the classroom as equals.

As a forward-looking school, we believe this gradual but progressive move to coeducation is absolutely the right approach for Knighton House at this time, although we will never lose our agenda of empowerment and confidence for girls.

Our aim is to welcome boys in to board from September 2021.

In the short term, there are some obvious facility changes such as toilets and changing rooms which initially we will be able to adapt existing facilities for. In the medium and longer term, boarding facilities will be the main priority.

We will always seek to recruit the best staff possible for the role needed.

They are already here! We have always had boys in our pre-prep and we have one currently in Year 3. Older boys will be able to join from Year 3 upwards this year.

Over the next decade, our pupil roll will grow to accommodate boys. This carefully planned and coordinated growth will come from new places for boys – the number of girls’ places will stay broadly the same.

As we grow to become fully coeducational we will seek to achieve a strong and diverse mixed gender environment for both sexes. We are always subject to market demand, especially for boarding places, however our aim is to achieve a 50:50 split in the long term.

There will be a gradual increase in the size of the School over the first three years as boys join.

The values and ethos of the School will not change. The fundamentals of a Knighton House education has stood the test of time and it is just as relevant today as it was when the School was founded exactly 70 years ago.

Boys in the Prep school will thrive just as well as the girls on our commitment to care, independent learning, building confidence, and academic and extra-curricular challenge and breadth. Indeed, because they will contribute fresh perspectives and new interests, our new boys will help and extend all that we offer even further, for everyone’s benefit.

Healthy competition across the curriculum will add to the academic environment and encourage greater achievement.

Knighton House will be a fully coeducational school where all subjects will be offered to boys and girls equally and where they will be taught together.

All of our activities will be open to boys and girls.

Boys and girls will be able to play sports individually and together. We are committed to supporting the mixed team model whilst accepting participation in some competitions will continue to be gender specific.

Your son and daughter will be able to mix informally for much of the day – with boys and girls. Lessons, extra-curricular activities and trips will be mixed. We have a popular programme of weekend activities which will be mixed. Time spent in the boarding house overnight will of course be separate but part of the evenings will be informally mixed.

There will be no difference to the overall quality of our pastoral care. Our deep concern for each and every individual ensures that everyone, boy or girl, feels known and valued at Knighton House. Our current pastoral care systems in place are there for any child and will continue to be robustly followed.

The current configuration of the boarding house will allow us to have separate junior and senior landings which will be split between boys and girls

Daily life at the School will continue uninterrupted for current pupils during the gradual transition. We have the time to ensure a smooth and orderly transition to full coeducation.