St Paul's Cathedral School

[mummyof2boy]

Hi, I am wondering if there is any parents from SPCS here? With the principal Simon Larter-Evans moving on, who will be the replacement? Are you and your children happy with the school? My kid will be going to reception so how are the teachers like in the early years section of the school? We went for the school tour but still feel like I don't think I know enough yet...

Feel free to pm me. My DD went to the school

Likewise, please feel free to PM me. We've been extremely happy (3 going through the school) so have experience through the years.

Thank you, I have just PM'd you :)

@mummyof2boy , I've also had DC at SPCS. It's a great school. Academics are strong and music is amazing. Sport is on the up thanks to a wonderful new(ish) HoD. Drama used to be a highlight but now less so. A wide range of extracurricular clubs and there is better wraparaound care for working parents than there used to be. Pre-prep have forest school, which they all seem to enjoy. The switch to 2-form entry in the pre-prep appears to have been very smooth. Happy kids, and a cosmopolitan and down-to-earth parent community. Feel free to PM me with questions.

Following.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. That's really reassuring to know. I was comparing SPCS and Charterhouse and picked SPCS. But still feel like I don't know quite enough about what to look out for and worried that I would regret my choice. It's really helpful to know that other parents and their children have been happy with the school. Thanks again!

I am a parent and have been disappointed by the school. The academics/results are not as good as Charterhouse. Large numbers leaving to go to City in pre prep. The head is poor. He is more interested in his dancing activities or other personnel endeavours than actually leading school. Read latest School inspection report. IMO it was shocking- justifying to parents that treating girls as second class citizens was ok because it was not really the school; it was the Cathedral.

I am a parent at the school and am extremely happy with it. My children both joined in Reception and absolutely love school. I’d be delighted to answer any questions if you would like to PM me.

Hi - I’ve been following this thread because I’m also interested.

Does anyone know who the new Head will be from September?

(Sorry OP - this was one of your questions! Hope you don’t mind my asking it again.)

In the past, SPCS has often had a small number of children moving elsewhere at 7+, and I think the opening of City Juniors was always going to cause a shift in the local school landscape because it offers a very tempting pathway to City Boys and CLSG senior (both of which are popular SPCS destinations), while avoiding the stress of 11+.

@AA23, what you are basing your comparison with academics/results at Charterhouse Square on? I don’t know anyone with recent experience of Charterhouse Sq, but the popular leavers’ destinations listed on the Charterhouse website look almost identical to those of SPCS. The 13+ leavers’ destinations at SPCS are impressive, and academic and music scholarships at 11+ and 13+ are common. The music at SPCS is exceptional for a prep school (for non-choristers as well as choristers). I know of a small number of children in my DC’s year group who have been tutored, but it is by no means rife. Neither of my DC was ever tutored but the education they received at SPCS enabled both DC to achieve academic scholarships at well-regarded selective senior schools.

With respect to girls and the cathedral choir, I’ve discussed this with some friends who are SPCS chorister parents, and while the news about the new girls’ choir is universally welcomed, it really is a lot more complicated than simply saying “OK, we’ll have girl choristers.” The logistics and infrastructure alone are not straightforward given the school’s space limitations (the school is like a Tardis, but space for new boarding accommodation for 30 girls isn’t easy to find), and it has to be done in a way that preserves the excellence of the cathedral music (in terms of enabling the boys’ and girls’ choirs to each have enough singing time to develop properly). It is a common misconception that the school supplies the choristers for the cathedral. In fact, it is the other way around – the school’s role is to supply an education for the choristers who audition successfully for the cathedral. The school has limited say in how the cathedral chooses to run its choral programme, so I don’t think it is entirely fair to accuse the school of treating girls as second-class citizens over this issue. I’m firmly pro equality for the girls, but the recent ISI report was, quite frankly, ridiculous in the extent to which it fixated on this single issue beyond the school’s control to the exclusion of any other matters.

@user1471592953 , no communication yet about the new head. The remaining senior leadership team are excellent (and no sign of any of them moving on any time soon).

The OP asked for current parents view. I am a current parent and therefore giving my view.

from your comments it’s clear your children have passed through school. Therefore you are giving your view of your past experience.

i would highlight the obvious conflict in your comment - 13+ is predominantly boys because it is predominantly choristers. Thus thanks to the privilege of their sex they get more opportunities. The school has not recognised that at all in their response to the ISI Report.

Hi @user1471592953 please feel free to PM me. Current parent x3 and without being too outing, not only boys! Am extremely happy with the provision for girls. Increasingly more girls are staying until 13+ for top boarding schools. I personally haven't tutored (and I don't think that's too unusual in our year group) and my child has done extremely well with senior school offers. I share Methren's assessment on exit results etc. Anyway, happy to answer questions!

@AA23, I am also a current parent. I'm not disputing your right to post about your own experiences. I was just interested to know what information you were basing your views about the academics on because the impression I have is different.

Yes, 13+ is boy-heavy, but that is only partly due to the choristers. A significant factor is the lack of 13+ options for girls amongst the London day schools, meaning that most of the girls leave at the end of Y6. The proportion of choristers at the top end of the school varies; I happen to know that in the current Y8 cohort, less than a quarter of the year group are choristers.

From my observation, being a chorister comes with pros and cons with respect to senior school entry. One of the disadvantages is that parents of choristers sign a contract to remain at the school until the end of Year 8. With fewer and fewer London boys' or co-ed schools offering a standard 13+ entry point, this means that the senior school choices for choristers are basically limited to boarding schools or a very small number of London day schools (most of which are geographically nowhere near SPCS). There is privilege attached, in that choristers stand a good chance of being awarded music scholarships - and so do many of the excellent non-chorister musicians at the school - however the choice of London day schools is certainly much more limited (which is one reason so many end up boarding for senior school). This is also a serious issue that has to be factored in to the introduction of girl choristers. The girls will need to have somewhere to move on to at 13+, and given that the day school options at 13+ are even more limited than for the boys, it may be that a choice to become a girl chorister at age 7 or 8 becomes by default a choice to board for senior school.

I do understand your frustration and share some of your opinions, but I also believe that this issue is more complex than a conscious and deliberate choice by the school to treat boy and girl pupils differently, and some of the key factors that are feeding into the apparent disparity are genuinely beyond the school's control.

I agree on this. Girls are treated as second class citizens. It is not simply a distinction between choristers and non-choristers

I’m really surprised to read this. I have a son and a daughter at the school and I would not say that they are treated any differently.

I’m interested in the school as well from 7+. Do you have an idea where kids go at 7+? On the school website there is not much details for the breakdown per year where kids go.

I mean school leavers at 11+

@FE2022, the website has some general information on leavers' destinations and scholarships, but not a breakdown of numbers by destination. It hasn't been updated for a couple of years but is still reasonably representative.
https://www.spcslondon.com/about/destinations-of-leavers

SPCS isn't really a feeder to particular senior schools so tends to send small numbers to a wide range of schools at 11+, aiming for best fit for each individual child. It's quite a small cohort compared to some prep schools - around 32 pupils in Year 6 and about half will leave at 11+ (most of the girls and a few boys). A large proportion of families live in North London so tend to go for senior schools that are easily commutable from Camden/Islington/Highbury/Stoke Newington/Hackney.

For co-ed, Forest is a popular destination, with smaller numbers to Highgate and the Northbridge House schools. For girls-only, CLSG, Channing, Queen's College, the Francis Hollands, and sometimes Blackheath or JAGS for those living south of the river. SPGS isn't really on the radar, but I think that's just geography; academically able girls tend to go to CLSG. For boys-only, CLSB, UCS, sometimes Dulwich. Wetherby Senior is becoming a more popular destination for boys. Boys aiming for Westminster (1 or 2 per year) stay until 13+. Academic and music scholarships at 11+ (and 13+) are reasonably common.

Some parents cast the 11+ net wider, e.g. with the intention of moving out of central London - for example, within the last few years I've heard of 11+ places offered at NLCS, Habs Boys, Whitgift, Eltham.

Hi FE2022

The school goes through to 13 so the children go to a mix of schools - it isn’t a feeder for any one school. Looking at the past lists I have, the schools shown (over a three year period up to 2018) are:

11+

South Hampstead
Forest
Channing
Queen’s College
Fortismere
North Bridge House
Francis Holland Regent’s Park
City Girls
Wycombe Abbey
Tonbridge Grammar School
More House
UCS
Highgate
Portland Place
Dame Alice Owen
St Marylebone
Alleyn’s
Cardinal Vaughan
Emanuel
JAGS
Francis Holland Sloane Square
Habs

13+

Westminster
Forest
North Bridge House
King’s Canterbury
Brighton College
City Boys
Rugby
Uppingham
Winchester
Whitgift
Tonbridge
Dulwich College
St Paul’s
Wellington College
Kingston Grammar
St Edward’s Oxford
Wetherby
Lancing College
Eton College

A few children have left because they moved away (overseas or to another part of the UK). I haven’t listed those schools.

I do wonder why the leavers' destinations list hasn't been updated in so long since that is often one of the first things prospective parents look for. I doubt it has anything to do with the recent destinations, more likely the school is not keeping that part of its website up-to-date. Current SPCS parents might want to mention this to the school!

They haven’t updated the list online nor do they internally publicise to current parents because I don’t believe they actually do that well in placing all the kids … I know of a few that have had to stay on to 13+ because they got nothing at 11+.

AA23, I appreciate your experience with the school has been negative, but I don't believe the outdated leavers' destinations list is anything other than an oversight. I'm aware of plenty of excellent leavers' destinations and scholarship results for the cohorts that have left since the list was updated, so I can't see what incentive there would be for the school to deliberately conceal this information.

The school has never itemised individual offers/leavers' destinations on the website or internally, but parents do share this information amongst themselves. Everyone is different, but I personally don't find offer/acceptance numbers terribly helpful in isolation - knowing that x number of kids had offers from Forest last year tells me nothing about whether my child is likely to get in or whether it woud be a good fit for them.

Thank you Methren and CruCru for taking time to write to me and for sharing all the useful information. We are more in the west of London and your answer confirm more why less kids go to west London school considering as you said more kids in the school are closer to north London school. I have my older daughter in year 7 who goes to top west London secondary and we want our younger daughter to go more after for west London secondary. Last one please I see the holidays schedule is completely different to other schools, like now spcs is off on the 7th of April while I have my older daughter in holidays from tomorrow and would be only one week overlap. Is the holidays schedule like this all the time or can change?

Hey, you’re welcome FE2022!

The holidays are a bit different from other schools. The choristers sing in the cathedral on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday so the term usually keeps going until a few days before both those holidays. There are usually three weeks for Christmas and a month for Easter. One knock on effect is that the summer half term is in mid June. I absolutely love it (we are doing an overseas family holiday in June) but I think it can be a juggle for those whose older children are in senior schools.