St Faith's (Cambridge) Year 6

[Adri28]

I am looking at moving my daughter to St Faith's from September when she will start Year 6. Her current state school is doing basically no teaching under lockdown and I expect there may still be some periodic/partial lockdown in the autumn. She is rather advanced (e.g. two years ahead in Maths) and the few worksheets the school is sending out are laughably easy for her - she needs more individual attention.

I would love to hear people's experiences with St Faith's. Many thanks.

Our experience was from Reception to Yr 5. Basically, left because lots of bullying, way too much sport and not enough learning. Very worried to leave, but zero regrets afterwards. A complete epiphany. Reception to Yr 2 a good investment, Yrs 3, 4, 5 total waste of money and paying for misery where academic, non sporty child didn’t thrive.

I had a friend whose 2 dc were at St Faith's. DC1 went on to the Leas but DC2 failed to get a place. So don't assume that moving on to The Leas is a given

I’d probably add that the Leys is not necessarily for academic kids. Although, that said, it’s a good school.

Thanks for the posts.

My daughter is absolutely not sporty, she is utterly rubbish at sport; we don't want to send her to the Leys. We hope she will get into the Perse from Y7 but the Perse don't have a space in Y6 at the moment.

Most pupils there go on to year 8. If you are already planning to try for The Perse at Year 7, wouldn’t you be better off just waiting?

I would also say that I know quite a few extremely bright children who go to The Leys and are very happy there, as well as some not so academic children at The Perse who were heavily tutored to get in and are not so happy. An academic child will do well at either, but they are quite different in their ethos and pastoral support. Have you looked at any other schools which go all the way through, like Stephen Perse?

Have to say I agree with BellaVida - I don’t think moving for year 6 when you intend to try and move somewhere else at year 7 is necessarily a great idea. For a year 7 Perse entry she will have an entrance exam in January which St Faiths just won’t be geared up to (as they want children to remain). Could she not stay where she is but have tutoring and other extra curricular stuff?

Also I don’t think the Leys as sporty option and the Perse as academic option is really true anymore - both schools have all sorts, but getting the right fit for each child is important.

Thanks for the comments.

Unfortunately, we don't know the Ley's as their open days were always clashing with those of other schools when we were looking for schools for our older daughter. We have been going there for swimming lessons and were somewhat intimidated by the huge posters displaying bulky, fierce teenage boys on sport scholarships, ha-ha.

The Perse entrance exam is not something you have to learn by rote: it is Maths, English and verbal/nonverbal reasoning. Surely good teaching prepares you better for that than mediocre teaching or - in case of lockdown - lack of teaching?

We are not keen on the Stephen Perse; looked at it for older daughter. We did consider going there now but they only have spaces in Saffron Walden. Don't really fancy my daughter spending 90+ minutes on school buses every day!

We did consider tutoring instead of private school but it's not great to have to have extra lessons after a tiring school day. Even if she is not academically challenged, she still has to spend all day in a class of 30.

Also, state school Y6 will be all about catching up the kids that haven't been doing any work during lockdown - then straight into SATS preparation. They were already threatened with SATS all the time in Y5. Not great if you are the brightest in the class and just want to learn!

You are right that the entrance test isn’t learning by rote but the child does have to have covered all the material, especially in maths and it is a good idea to practice verbal/non verbal reasoning just so they understand how the test works. For an able child this isn’t hours of extra work, but it will be beyond the normal school teaching, even at St Faith’s. For their year 5 pupils they have the advantage of having 3 years to do any necessary catch up due to any missed work this term and I’m sure will plan according. That probably means they can deliver a more rounded curriculum, where state schools may focus on SATs subjects, but presumably that’s what your dd needs for the entrance tests.

I personally feel moving a child for a single year is unnecessarily disruptive, and might not give the boost you are hoping for. Your dd will miss out on the end of school trips and events with her friends, and may struggle to fit into established friendship groups.

It sounds like you have been through the process before with your older dd, so you know what is required. Unless you think your dd will be unhappy at her current school I think you could ensure she was prepared for the entrance test with fairly minimal extra work at home without a major upheaval.

Bear in mind that the school day in private is a lot longer than state so if you feel that private tutoring on top of a shorter school day may be too tiring for your dd then she may struggle with the longer hours that a private school requires. If you’re aiming for the Perse you’d be much better off spending your money on a one to one tutor once a week and it would be less disruptive to your dd too (unless she is actually unhappy with her current school).

Regarding the entrance tests. Prep for them is essential. Private tuition may not be absolutely necessary but some advice and test practice probably is.

Regarding SATs in year 6 - unless school has changed radically the approach is generally focus to the max on SATs prep. I actually think that’s good and a plus. Or experience of Yrs 3-5 at independent school was that learning was unfocused and a diet of sport and independence training. By the latter I mean asking 7-9 year olds to behave like they are 11. Waste of time and money, they will achieve the independence level of an 11 year old roughly when they are 11.