South Oxon/Berks independents advice - girls or mixed

[Mountainscalling]

Does anyone have any experience/opinion of the following schools (aside from Co-Ed vs Single sex, Fees and travel, we've looked at those factors already)

The Abbey in Reading
St Joseph’s in Reading
Cranford House in Moulsford
St Helen and St Katharine’s in Abingdon

We’re considering them for DD who is bright but not super bright (so SHSK may be out of the question). She needs to be stretched academically otherwise she gets bored but can also be lazy if not given encouragement, she’s not especially self motivated unless something really grabs her attention!

The most important factor to DD is to be somewhere where she will 'get some attention' which has been a constant battle at her current primary where she feels she is always overlooked.

Any opinions (good or bad) welcome!

[Halloween73]

Thank you, we went to visit Thursday and had a meeting with head of sixth form who offered her a place. DD loved it and I was very impressed too. She is very happy that they concentrate on 3 A levels, the fourth she is taking at her current school she isn’t passionate about like her other three. So decision had to be made very quickly as she’s missed 3 weeks so would be on catch up as they use different examination boards. She really wanted to join even though she would miss her current friends. So she’s starting on Monday!! A massive change and I did have reservations about her moving as her current school is very good. But I can see that she will be stretched to reach her full potential and that’s what she wants. A lovely girl her age showed us around and she was so welcoming. They hit it off in ten minutes and she reassured DD she wouldn’t have any issues making friends. In fact she’s arranged to meet DD on Monday and introduce her to her friends which I thought was lovely.

[DPotter]

That's fantastic! Best wishes to your DD

[Halloween73]

Thank you DPotter

[roguedad]

DD just started at SHSK. I’ve always thought of her as a bright spark but not at the very top end. Good at some things, less so at others. She seems to fit right in though it is early days, and I think part of her enjoyment comes from being into sports and music. OP you have not said what your DD likes outside the classroom. Sometimes a kid can really benefit from a school by leveraging their self esteem from extra curricular provisions, and SHSK has masses of choice. One thing that was a really positive for us is getting the benefits of single sex Ed in terms of girls not being discouraged from traditionally male dominated subjects like physics and maths while having some balance in the interaction with boys in shared subjects and activities (buses!) with Abingdon. I do not know anywhere else with that balance.

[sallyseptember]

I was wondering if anyone can update further on their experiences with the girls schools in this thread?