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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

St Columba's College, St Albans

3 replies

happytodayhappytomorrow · 05/11/2020 15:42

Does anyone have any personal experience of this school please?
We are looking at it for DD for Sixth form.

TIA

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Zodlebud · 07/11/2020 07:58

My only comment is that the school is literally just starting to admit girls into the sixth form with a move to making the whole school co-Ed over time. What sort of provisions are they making for girls sport? Are they offering the A-level subjects your daughter is interested in? Number of female teachers, particularly in more pastoral roles. It’s a very male heavy school right now and I am not sure that feel will change very quickly. I might be wrong.

It has a great reputation locally for pastoral care but does suffer from being known as the school you send your child to if they don’t make it into St Albans. I guess it’s all just a bit of an unknown at the moment.

Not sure what is prompting the move but there are other schools in the area that you should also look at - even at state schools where catchment areas aren’t as tight for A-levels e.g. Sandringham and STAGS. Private you have Aldenham, Berkhamsted, Queenswood, Haileybury and even Bedford Modern and Bedford Girls on the direct train.

I have friends with boys at St Columba’s and they are all exceptionally happy with it though. Not trying to put you off, I just think you need to look really hard at how they are managing the admissions of girls.

Decorhate · 07/11/2020 16:30

I agree it is hard to predict how a girl would settle in there as it’s just started taking them. However, STABS & Verulam have been taking girls in the 6th form for a good while & generally girls settle in well to all-boys schools as they are all new to the school so no existing friendship groups to break into.

I don’t know that the A Level results are so amazing in comparison with state schools that I’d pay to send my daughter there, but you may have different reasons for looking at it.

happytodayhappytomorrow · 08/11/2020 07:44

Thank you both for your comments; I really appreciate them and they have certainly given food for thought.
DD herself has asked to look at St Columba’s - it wasn’t on my radar at all as it’s even further away from home than her current school.

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