Should i accept a place for dd n year 6 at St Catherine's Twickenham.

[Kolkata3]

Hi my daughter has a got a place in year 6 at St Catherine's (SC) in Twickenham. I liked the school and so did she. We are struggling with a decision whether to accept a place there or to wait until the 11plus and see if she gets a place in the SH and LEH. Though in terms of her profile match SC suits her well. We moved to London 2 years ago and she has never really studied in academic hothouses which seem really competitive. While she may get in I am concerned about the Emotional quotient later on. Will she be happier in SC ? i am clearly not chasing brand names but want a school well suited for my dd. i was in particular impressed by Sc's value added scores and also the nurturing atmosphere created. My dd is not competitive and a go getter as far as academics go. She is a happy and all rounder who does well in sports/ art/ drama and studies. Her present levels would be a 5c in year 5. Do i take this opportunity to accept SC or wait it out. Any parent who has her dd in year 6 /7 at SC and can share their decision to continue in SC and not move to SH/ LEH ? I don't want a too easy going school too -so does SC push their kids reasonably well? Some feedback is is LEH is tough if you haven't are not se to hothouses and SH is not all that great - bullying/ overcrowding ..any confirmations on this will help.

DD went to St Catherine's. We chose it because she was very shy and we felt she would drown in a bigger school, and our decision was totally vindicated. She was able to do things like singing in public that she would never have contemplated in a larger school, and she got excellent results.

thanks for that Icimoi.... but do they also push on academics reasonably. or is it very laissez faire?

Have you tried posting this query on the local site? You may get more responses.
You know your daughter best and will realise that some children will ultimately achieve better as a 'bigger fish in a smaller pond'.
Value added is really the indicator for a highly achieving school and is therefore now being used by the government as 'Progress 8' ie the progress made by a child from yr 6 key stage 2 to 8 of their best GCSE's taking into account their prior achievement. Private schools in the area all track this too and will advertise for 'positive value added expected' in their job vacancies. St Catherine's has extremely good value added averages, indicating a child would fulfil her potential. The school is well thought of with teachers I know in the area, this is a positive sign. I know parents with girls there and they pleased with both pastoral and academics. Most families in the area would say that the 11+ is a highly stressful process which lasts nearly a year, which might be worth bearing in mind. LEH and SH are different, much larger with vast coach networks. Do bear in mind location, proximity is rather overlooked and very important consideration!

which is the local site that could additionally post on? thanks ... just wondering from your feedback SC comes across more as a school all-round balanced sort of education and not uni dimensionally focussing on academics. would i bright in my definition relative to the LEH/SH/Kingston Grammar...

And being a much smaller size more suited for girls who would thrive in a smaller set up...?

Any idea if class sets are in more or less equal ratios or definitely not skewed to be bottom heavy ?

At all the schools mentioned the primary aim is to achieve the first choice university place for the child and are focused on academics in addition to exploring individual talents in arts, sports etc. In a smaller school, there is often more chance to shine at the extra curricular. The league tables of A/A at say, GCSE level are a reflection of the selectivity of the school, a school that has a vast 26 route coach network will be far more selective than a school which does not. 21% of children nationally will receive A\A at GCSE so it is a reasonable assumption that if a school is selecting within the top 20% nationally they should mainly get A\A if working at expected progress levels. A more reliable measure of how effective the teaching is would be to look at the 'value added' which is a measure of progress above expected levels. Bright girls will achieve their individual potential at a school like St Catherine's with the same string of a\a's. There is another thread on it recently. If you liked the ethos and thought your daughter would be happy and well suited to the school, these are the most important considerations.

Hi - We are sending our DD there next year as we are convinced the ethos will allow her to thrive academically and socially. Our friends DD left St Catherines with a string of A*'s. The school has taken an additional class this year as so many parents accepting offers. Also we were told that the maths curriculum was being reworked for year 7 as none of this years intake would fit into the old 'bottom' set for maths which is a reflection on the intake I guess.

We have friends with daughters at the other schools mentioned and they are all happy. There's no doubt that LEH is much more demanding academically - I have a friend who took her daughter out because while very bright, the pressure didn't suit her - another friend is over the moon with the school and both daughters love it. All depends on what your looking for.

I went there many many years ago. Wanders off realising how old I'm am.

Just for anyone glued to Wimbledon at the moment, Laura Robson went to St Catherine's.