Info about st swithuns winchester

Hi Did your daughter end up going to St Swithuns? How is she finding it? We are going to apply for a weekly boarding place for next year. We’d really would welcome some feedback from someone with current experience.

Let me look it up. Thank you Erica!

Have you considered Godolphin?

Hi, this has been insightful as I’m trying to get my daughter in St. Swithun’s.
Congratulations on getting a place there! How does your daughter find it so far? What was the pass mark for the pre-test? Any advice is highly appreciated.

Ok thanks. Yes she said she couldn't tell us about the scholarship due to changes and I realised she is pretty new to the school.

PE staff is going through big changes right now so you may have gotten caught in some of that. The Sports Scholarships three years ago were over subscribed and top top top athletes didn't get anything. The next year no one applied for open scholarships based on earlier experience so anyone who did actually apply got one. Development-wise go with Mckenzie for support in lacrosse.

Oh and if anyone was wondering what to wear, it made me smile that the headmistress wore a blouse, trousers and converse trainers (not suited and booted). It was quite relaxed and the sixth formers were in jeans and hoodies.

Thinking about it last night, I was surprised how quiet the school was. We saw some students in classrooms and doing pe lessons but it wasn't full of children, it felt calm which was nice. And in the 2 hours we were there I didn't hear any bells for end of lessons etc. Our guide said it's 30 mins sessions but it's mostly double sessions. Hope this info helps someone.

One final thought, I put in an absence request at DDs primary school for the afternoon and it was approved as 'educated off site'. I gave them a copy of the email correspondence to show we were attending the open day, so there was no issue taking her out of school for the afternoon.

We've just been to the open day.

We had a tour by a year 8 (every year 8 was doing a tour so it wasn't just prefects). There are lovely buildings and lots of space, also saw the boarding houses which was interesting and our guide said they do their own laundry and washing up.

We spoke to some 6th formers, the chaplain and Head of PE after the tour. 6th formers were very posh but chatty and polite. One honestly said she didn't enjoy doing lax, and really enjoyed being able to choose her subjects for GCSE and a level. She also said food is amazing but doesn't like that the chips have been made thinner like French fries! The chaplain said there's 50-70 in each year group with about 20 from the prep going to year 7, and everywhere else comes from a mixture of schools. Interestingly the year 7 boarding house had an empty dorm which was new so hardly over subscribed. The head of PE disappointed me. We told her about the sport our DD does and she's on the Hampshire pathway team and got 'that's nice' but she didn't seem particularly interested (maybe it was the American accent sounding insincere). We also said DD is signed up for the Lacrosse camp in summer to try it, which she said she's running but again not much conversation. When I asked a about sports scholarships she said that is only for 'top, top, top, top girls at national level' as though we shouldn't be considering it. It came across she really wasn't interested.

Our daughter is at state primary, and they all asked where she is currently and what year she is and looked blankly when we named the state school. All the other children were in private school uniform it seemed (from internet searches about local Indies).

Overall came away feeling positive but unsure why the PE teacher didn't want to engage much.

@SMH74 we are the same, currently state primary so all preparation will be done at home.

@Happysummer Yes, our daughter is Yr 5; we went to the taster morning on Saturday and she really liked it in spite of a wobble at the start (because she didn't know anyone there). We were very impressed with all the staff we met.
@Komal5807 How did your daughter find all of the CE tests? Our daughter is at a regular primary school where no prep is done for CE, so I'm a bit concerned as it seems prep schools really prepare them for the CE exams...

Well done and I agree with a previous poster to keep in mind Peter Symonds for 6th form A levels as they often beat St Swithins in the league tables and they are free :)

Well done to your daughter @Komal5807.

It would be lovely to know how she settles in. Do you know if there is a minibus that runs to SS from the train station or are you planning on doing drop offs etc?

Hi, no as she's still year 4, but we are going to the open day on 13th March. I have pencilled in the Y5 day for next year! There is also a lacrosse camp in August which she's doing. She's never done it before, and seen as it's compulsory for the first three years I thought it wise for her to try it out before we apply.

Is your DD Y5? Are you applying?

Happysummer - are you going to the March 9th Open Day for Yr 5s?

Oh gosh that sounds awful. We have an open day in March so hope to get a vibe from that. It really is the sporting facilities we're interested in.

In my day (15ish years ago), it was super sporty, very upper m-c (volvos, black labs and agas) and very academic. I agree with above that pastoral wasn’t great And eating disorders and self-harm was rife. It has apparently improved hugely since but I wouldn’t send a child of mine there for all the world. I am an academic high fligher but the price I paid in other ways was not worth it.

Thanks for replying Komal. Is your DD year 6 now? You said she qualified for a place so presumably would have CE exams now? Yes always important to consider all options and good for her for having the confidence to go somewhere on her own!

I hope she gets somewhere that makes her happy

Komal, I'm curious what your decision was. Our catchment state school is Toynbee too, which seems ok but not great. We're looking at St Swithuns for our very sporty daughter. Whichever school you chose, were there others from your daughter's school going to? I get the impression if ours doesn't go to the catchment state she'll be going elsewhere on her own!