Headington or St.Helen & St.Katharine?

[Seashell5]

My DD got into both schools. She is bright but also a very happy, easygoing girl and I don't want her to lose that so am thinking although SHSK is great academically and she'd cope fine with the academics, maybe she'd be happier at Headington? My concern is that I tried to interact with the head at the Open Days and she really didn't seem interested. I've no doubt she runs a good school at Headington but I did prefer the head at SHSK - though I find the school much narrower in scope than Headington which has the IB and option of boarding and is more international. Any thoughts out there please?

Congratulations on your daughter’s offers! We are waiting to hear about Y5 at SHSK so cannot compare Headington. But I think the idea of SHSK being narrow in scope is rather odd considering the number of options girls have inside and outside the curriculum. I would not ignore the links with the boys school down the road either which gives a bit more balance. Good luck with the choice.

May I know if anyone has more recent sharing on Headington School, such as their pastoral care and boarding life? Are the majority of the girls happy and thriving there? thanks a lot!

hello,

here is a broard range of the schools in oxford. we have seen them all and heres what we think.
sorry it's quiet long

my daughter goes to Headington and she is not just going into year 10. I can say it is a fantastic school. not only is the pastoral care amazing but the diverse range of extracurricular activities is amazing. my daughter joined in year 6 and enjoyed it from the beginning. the girls are really easy to make friends with and my daughter has many friends due to extracurricular and also it lets so many children come in. They also offer to learn support to children who have and do not have learing disabilities.
if your daughter is interested in extracurricular I would recommend rowing. you can check out their website at hsobc.com. they start off in year seven only doing 4 hours, two days a week) and now my daughter is doing 18 hours of rowing a week (6 days a week). some people say this is too much but we have found it has taught her how to balance out friend, school and rowing and she has had some great opportunities to perform. it also opens up so many doors to ivy league universities.
if she is interested in music they have a wide variety of teachers and some great opportunities to perform.
if she is interested in art. they have a great art department with most girls receiving a/a*
if your daughter loves drama the facilities are amazing and I would suggest putting her forward for the scholarship for drama as not many people apply.
the P.E department is all really friendly and willing to support your daughter no matter what her ability is. my daughter also does tennis and the coaches are so friendly and helpful. she does 4 hours a week of training in summer for the competitions and 2 hours in winter.
if your daughter is purely academic or might want some extra help there are so many extra help clubs and fun groups and all teachers (especially maths department) are very happy to help your daughter if she is struggling at a lunchtime.
the homework load is not too much they get about 1-hours work a night. also because they start GCSE'S in year 9 for sciences and math it makes is a lot easier and stress-free in the build-up to the exams.

as for Oxford high, I went to look round it and it didn't offer enough extracurricular for my daughter ut it's results are astonishing. I have heard the girls get put under some pressure but I think if your daughter enjoys learning and pushing herself beyond the limits it would be a great school just as long as you support her all the way through.

as for other schools in Oxford, we looked around St Helens and St Katherine's and we liked it. however, my daughter did not. when we put her forward for the exam she purposefully failed it to make sure she could go. the said the girls weren't nice to her and she actually got left behind in the dining hall. she said the tried to cramp 20 girls into a room as big as her bedroom (which is mall) and the teachers didn't seem friendly.

when we looked at cockthorpe we got the impression the children weren't being stretched as the work they were doing in year six my daughter had done in year 3 at a bad primary school with terrible Ofsted ratings.

if you were looking at St Edward's (Teddy's) I wouldn't it because i got the impression the children ran the school more than the teachers.