St. Catherine’s Twickenham

[After8itsgrownuptime]

Hi All, my DD ages 9 is currently year 5 at a local independent school. For various reasons we have grown unhappy with the school and DD has been offered a place at St.Catherine's for this September, starting in year 6. It would also mean no dreaded 11+ for her. She is bright but likes to coast along rather than really push herself. Will St.Catherinea push her to do her best without the ‘alpha’ feel of some other girls schools. For reference, we have also been told to look at Surbiton, swips and KGS.
Apologies for posting this in primary and secondary sections but I’m hoping to hear from parents from up and down the school. I am worried that I’m taking the easy option by going local. I know that surbiton and KGS have higher results for A levels, but they are also much bigger schools with all the issues that go with it.

Good luck, a good idea to take your time. You can always try Surbiton High Juniors too for a yr 6 space.

I am thinking about surbiton too now we have the time. Is it too big though and alpha or is it a school where they are good at supporting all the girls regardless? All I know is that I don’t want the hot house of somewhere like LEH

I heard one of my Dd1's old classmates should be starting at Surbiton High in September after being moved to a prep school for Year 6 and not passing the LEH exams (she is more sporty than academic).

@after8, re HCH, I really wouldn't move a dc from NH to HCH, the concepts of what is expected at school are too different.
I would go with the suggestions you have been given by NH and start with SHS, my dd is there having also got an offer from St Cats (many years ago), SHS is large but it means is has lots of different types of dd & your dd can find her group of friends. The teaching is very strong and as exam results are held with such importance by society you want your dd to do as well as possible. I have another dc who got an offer from KGS, it's a great school too but the urban location & split site school/ sports puts people off. Finally SWPS is a good school and often fills the gap for dd who live near Twickenham aren't quite right for SHS or LEH. Further out all through options are St George's Weybridge, Claremont Fan Court and Notre Dame in Cobham. I'm sure by looking at all these options you will find the right school.

@Singingrain1223 thanks for all your input - you’ve been very helpful . Basically I think our choice is really either St.Catherines or SHS. I’m just worried that she is a bit young to be getting the bus For SHS and for her last year of prep play dates might be a problem - although if we dodge the 11+ it’s a small price to pay.
Swips I loved but the bus leaves twickenham at 7.08 every day and doesn’t come back until 6.30 which is just to long a day really.

My dd is on a SHS school bus (not Twick 1) and it's full of prep school dc. It's a much sounder academic option and if you can get a year 6 place worth going for. The location of the girls prep puts some people off but it would only be a year and they have a good transition programme to the senior school.

Didn’t realise your DD was at surbiton. She will have to sit for a place but they have places available so we are going to try it. I was worried surbiton might be a bit to alpha girl for her but do you find there is a good mix?

It's a good mix but there are lots of confident sporty girls, the prep school seems to be more mixed as some have been there since they were 5 yrs old (my dd didn't go to SHS prep). If your dd has the prep school year she will have a chance to make friends in a smaller setting.

That’s interesting . DD is not sporty but quite arty and is confident......

@After8itsgrownuptime I'm curious to know where your daughter ended up? I went to st catherine's and loved it. It's known for pastoral support rather than academics. The school gets good results but definitely not an Oxbridge feeder!

@Tucksy97 she ended up at St.Cats and we are very impressed. We were lucky enough to have a choice of schools and although we loved surbiton, it wasn’t right for DD. She is thriving at StC

@After8itsgrownuptime ah that's great news I hope she has a wonderful time!

@After8itsgrownuptime we are looking at St Cats for dd Yr 6 entry 2021. We are not religious at all and I was wondering how you had found that aspect - would a non-religious child struggle of feel uncofortable do you think? Overall it would seem very much the best fit for dd otherwise.

@Twoshininglights - she would be joining my DD in the same year. They are a really nice bunch of girls. We joined year 5 this year and have been really pleased.
We are not remotely religious (im a staunch atheist to be honest) but the religious side is no different to my experience of state school in the 80’s.
Think morning prayer and hymns in assembly, and at the start and end of every day .
DD is also not remotely bothered by it all and just goes with the flow at school - she sings and prays and then comes home and moans about it but all in a good natured way.
It would be wrong of me to assume, but knowing the parents there I would say about 50% are catholic and the rest like us - looking for a good local private school without the pressure of some of the other schools.
The only downside is that they have to take RS as a gcse subject but it’s not a deal breaker for us.
Feel free to message me if you want to know anything

Hi, any view about the prep school of St Catherine? My DD is about 9 and I am thinking of moving her to St Cat. Thanks.

@JuneSun - we are very happy with the prep. Our DD is there at the moment. We have found them to be very ‘on’ it academically - a lot more than we anticipated and much more than our previous prep. Pastoral is great too. School is moving to a new 7+ model this year due to high demand at top end of prep and to allow for new facilities. Newish Headmistress is ambitious for academic success but without hot house pushiness. We moved DD there last year and are very pleased that we did. Also love the fact that all her friends are relatively local so no train hopping to see friends once they get to secondary. The smallness of it might not suit everyone but fir our DD it has been the right choice. Be aware that they currently have to do R.E at GCSE and they pray twice a day. We are 100% not religious and my daughter just goes along with it

@After8itsgrownuptime Thanks. How is the support for music and art? I understand most children stay, but does the school support 11+ preparation?

@JuneSun music and art is good. They are about to build a brand new music block as part of the redevelopment programme too.
No 11+ prep as such as the expectation is that the girls are all staying. Girls are at the same standard or higher than those coming in at year 7 and all year 6 sit an exam at achool in January of year 6 for year 7 streaming.
Having just gone through the 11+ with our first child, We moved DD from a very good local prep school and much prefer st cats. If DD wants to try 11+ we will tutor her externally but we have no intention of moving her for secondary - we have been really pleasantly surprised

@After8itsgrownuptime
Thanks, that is great to know. I have two DDs and it would be good if both of them can go to the same school.
The older one is now in year 8. I am learning all of these recently. It seems 5 GCSE are needed for A level, and 3 A level subjects are required for universities entry. My DD is currently in a good school, but students learn 10+ subjects, which is a bit exhausted for my DD as she is not so academic. I read that St Cat prioritises the subjects for GCSE exams. How does it work? Can students choose their subjects at an earlier stage and only study these subjects? Cheers.

I pinched this from the st cats website:

All students study English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Religious Education and a Modern Foreign Language (French, Spanish or German) for (I)GCSE.

In addition, each girl also chooses three other subjects to study for the two years, leading to a GCSE or IGCSE qualification: these options include Geography, History, French, German, Spanish, Economics, Psychology, Music, Drama, Art, Photography, Graphics, Food and Nutrition, Physical Education and Computer Science. There is also a non-exam option of Study Skills.

Most subject combinations are possible and advice on suitable subjects is given during the Spring Term of Year 9.

@After8itsgrownuptime thanks for the quick reply

what is the school hour these days? is it easy to drop off and pick up girls?
Also, what is the entrance exams? There is little information regarding this.

Thanks.

For prep there is an ability test - paper in maths and English. I think it’s the same for secondary

After8itsgrownuptime, thank you for all your posts, which are really helpful for us, as we are considering St Catherine's.
From everything I have read about St Catherine's, it sounds like a great school.
The one proviso I have always had is its proximity to the road, and I was wondering whether that is an issue in reality. Eg do most class-rooms look over the back, and do they have airconditioning or other ways of making sure the road-facing class rooms are good.
Connected to this, I saw you mentioned plans for a new music block. I have searched the website to see if I could find the "development plan" for the school and couldn't find it (I may be looking in the wrong places!). Do you know if it is in the public domain?

@Teddfan the new plans were only announced about 1 month ago to existing parents so not sure if there has been an official external communique yet. The plan is to shut nursery and key stage 1 in a phased way and make the school 7+ Entry
Below is pasted from the announcement:

This planned change to Prep is designed to enhance significantly our provision for Prep Years 3-6 and for the Senior School, and to respond to the increasing demand for places we are seeing in Years 3 to 13. In addition to repurposing the space currently used by Early Years and Key Stage One we will be embarking on a number of other ambitious and exciting capital projects.
Proposed changes to the whole school include building a new Music Department to replace the current one; developing our Sports facilities, including the field and changing rooms; improving our facilities for creative arts and STEM; improving staff work spaces; and developing other teaching and pastoral spaces, including the Sixth Form Centre.
We will continue to keep current and prospective parents informed about the timing and details of these developments over this next period.

The road isn’t an issue fir us in Prep as those classrooms all face the sports field and they move around so much in secondary that I guess they’re not in a classroom long enough for the road to be an issue

Many thanks, After8itsgrownuptime, that is very helpful. I think I am correct in saying that the front part of the school over-looking the road includes some of the staff working spaces, so good to see they are included in the development plan - and the plan certainly sounds very comprehensive from the extract you have posted above!