St Catherine's twickenham. -- any opinions on it?

[smilesandsun]

Hi,

I don't know much about the school. But am looking for schools for my daughter. The school sounds great from the prospectus,

I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge of it?

Thx

I live locally and know a number of parents who are really happy there. It's understood to be a nurturing and more gently-paced school than other, more selective schools in the area.

It is Catholic, they do take non-Catholics, but there is a omni-present strong Catholic ethos, which you need to be aware of. I did not visit it myself as following discussions with current parents, that was a factor I was not prepared to consider.

Thank you that's really helpful.

A friend's dd left at the end of Y9 - they were rather underwhelmed tbh and during a rather difficult personal time the school's pastoral care left quite a bit lacking.

My friend's dd is now at a bigger, faster-paced school and is much happier although had to work extremely hard to catch up as the teaching at St C had left her far behind in maths

Very interesting.

I have heard very positive remarks from parents at the school both on the academic and pastoral care. The head is meant to be excellent. I know some of the teachers at the super selectives nearby send their children there. My friend (who was a teacher in the area) used to say that the schools with the best 'value added' in the area were Ibstock, Kings College, Wimbledon and St Catherine's which is interesting. Really I would visit, that's the best way to gain an insight/ feel for a school IMO.

A friend sent her daughter there and they were very happy. Daughter came out with 10 A* at gcse. Went elsewhere for A levels and are very much missing St Catherines. We loved the school and Do is going in September.

Argh DD!

DD went there. She's very shy and a good singer. They gave her the opportunity to sing in public where it would never have happened in a larger school, and the praise she got did wonders for her confidence. They also nurtured her talents in many other ways. She got excellent GCSE results in a year where a couple of larger schools which had turned her down didn't do so well - I was so tempted to contact them to suggest they clearly needed to look at their admissions processes!

I wondered if any one had any comments on Notre Dame school Cobham verses St Catherine's school in Twickenham for a secondary school?

Yes, have friends who worked at both. St Cat's probably has the edge and is very well located for transport. Probably slightly lower fees too. The Dt Cats girls are always well turned out and behave so well outside, at bus stops etc.