St Christophers School Hampstead

[Mightywislon]

Can anyone please provide up to date opinions on this school? Are the kids happy there? It's a long journey for us: is it worth it?

I have had a rumour that they've had a very bad 11+ with several girls getting no offers this year, but I have no idea if it's true or not! we looked round it, friendly place, automatic sibling entry, small site. v competitive to get in, probably 200 applicants for 24 places some of which will be lost to siblings. Further entry in year 1.

there may be something to the rumour, last year they published detailed results with numbers of offers and this year only a list of schools that their leavers are going to? that's strange.

I know very little about this school but I think in general, London schools are moving away from publishing offers versus destinations. As the head of a prestigious school said, they can't exactly demand proof of offers from parents so you are only going on their word. You can imagine the scenario - "X got Habs and NLCS but decided on Habs", possibly to spare the child's feelings. A nightmare to validate in any scientific way.

The only thing that stands out is how few state schools there are on the list - no grammars at all despite having Henrietta Barnett on its doorstep. The only state school mentioned is the non-selective JCOSS which is surprising given the distance from Hampstead (7-8 miles?) - this school has a small small catchment area for those not in feeder schools.

Hi LePetitPrince,
Private preps will have low admit numbers to Henrietta Barnett because the exam (for the last 3 years ) has been in September and their 11+ prep work begins in the 1st term of yr 6. This is so that the school can teach actual, interesting, stimulating stuff (science, history, MFL, geography,art, etc) until the last minute instead of doing endless practice papers through yr 5. The HB exam is very different from the indie papers. Many people just aren't inclined to switch to state anyway- having holidays out of synch with siblings is a big factor.
JCOSS is a good option if your DD isn't academic and/or robust enough to thrive at a selective school.

I think schools copy their offer letters to the school/nursery the child is already at, so they should know.

Generally speaking I would assume that the less info on the website, the worse the school has done that year. This could be very bad for St C, basically the whole reason for spending a fortune on a prep school (£4325 per term so much more than some comparable schools) is to get into somewhere good at 11.

Compare to these published 7+ results, very open:

www.goldershillschool.co.uk/exam-results/

Good friend of mine's dd is in final year here and results this year have been pretty good - not sure why they changed the format of results on their website but there were a lot of offers from NLCS, City, Habs, Highgate - with 3 going to St Pauls.
OP not sure if any primary school is worth a long journey but it does have a fantastic energy when I've been in and all the girls I know are lovely.

Thanks for these thoughts. I remain keen to know more about how 'content' the girls are, and would also be especially interested
to hear from any parents of current pupils. For me it's more important for a child to be generally 'at ease' between age 5-10, than to have a list of 'classy' secondary schools.

Just come across this thread and felt I had to respond to slowcomputer's comment, as my own DD is currently at St C's. All Year 6 girls had offers this year! I don't know how these rumours get started, but would hate this kind of unsubstantiated gossip to spoil the reputation of what is an excellent school.

My DDs both went to St Christophers. The Y6 girls had good offers this year - 3 to St Pauls as the poster above says, lots to Highgate, others to North London, S Hamp, Haberdashers etc – the usual suspects. As well as JCOSS, Forest is a state school and there's also a girl going to St Marylebone.

St Christopher's is an amazing school where the happiness, confidence and self-belief of the girls is prized above all else. They are encouraged to be lively, questioning and to have a lot of fun. A kind of cheerful, organised chaos reigns and the atmosphere is warm and inclusive. It also happens to have excellent results. I would recommend it wholeheartedly.

I live very nearby and have been to StC a number if times when my DD has played netball against them (she is at NBH). As an outsider my impression is very positive. The premises are nice and the girls always seem happy and friendly. We didn't look at it because we wanted mixed.

Our experience was exactly along the lines of monstrouscarbuncle. It's really warm and inclusive. Our daughter loved science in particular, and as a result is working hard towards applying to do a medical degree. But she was always encouraged to explore all options.