St Helen St Katharine - Oxford - How is the school environment?

[IneedSomeCoffee]

Any parents with girls in this school would give me some feedback regarding the school environment? Is there a lot of pressure put on the girls? Are the girls well supported by the school and do they support each other? What is your experience with pastoral care?
Many thanks!

I have a daughter in year 9 atm and we are very happy with it. I think it's likely that any group of girls in a selective school will put pressure on themselves but the school is very good at managing that. Certainly the school itself doesn't seems careful not to add to that pressure. There is homework each night but it's not excessive and often there is no homework in the holidays at this stage of the school (or at least that is what she tells me!!).

It's a very happy environment with a good balance of fun. The Head is excellent and seemt to really 'get' teen girls. Happily we've not really needed pastoral care but when there have been any issues e.g. with missed homework (see above!) they seem to step in pretty quickly and supportively. I have nothing but positive things to say about it. They were also fantastic in the pandemic.

oh and it is definitely in Abingdon not Oxford - which is much better from a traffic point of view!

DD very happy at SHSK. She did go through a difficult period earlier on. She is maybe upper middle academically there and seems to manage the work well, though she is rather selective about where she makes an effort. Pastorally we are very pleased. Earlier she went through a difficult period with friendship issues, and the school was very helpful and assigned a counsellor, no longer needed. The school made a huge effort with online learning as well.

It is not remotely a hothouse school. Kids are taught to their ability do GCSEs and A levels at the normal ages. She usually gets her prep done before getting the bus home.

Extra curricular provision is staggering with a wide variety of music, drama, sports , art and extension clubs exist.

I recommend it highly. Fees are towards the lower end of day fees for the area. If I had to find one thing wrong I would say there is too much religion in the life of the school. It’s not oppressively evangelical but should be more elective and not bound into assemblies. The RPE curriculum is broad though.

The school has some amazing facilities, good teaching and lovely girls. Pastorally not too hot and a really difficult environment for an anxious or shy girl. I know of quite a few with eating disorders, anxiety, self harm etc. Not sure if more so than other schools or not. Good for the self confident.

I would really agree with the above, think twice if you have a shy/anxious daughter. We found it pastorally not great, and ended up having to take our daughter out of the school as she developed anorexia. There was a toxic mix in her class and the school failed to get a handle on it. Maybe we were just unlucky with the cohort.

Thank you for your experiences with SHSK. I can see that there are mixed views on the pastoral side. I am really in two minds if I apply for a place for my DD or not. She is not shy at all but I would not say she is super confident either. I am not worried about the academic side as I think DD would cope fine. I am just trying to decide whether the environment would be suitable.

Agree with others, not impressed at all pastorally. I would also add that personally I don't think the sport is that good, ok if you are in the A team but otherwise limited. Great school if your DD is at the upper end academically and is self assured/confident.

On the positive we have been very impressed with the teachers, at parents evening they really seem to know our DD well and were happy to be direct. None of this wishy washy stuff we've had at other schools.

The thing is year group can have such a dramatic impact and you won't know what they are like until your DD goes there. Is she going into year 9? more difficult than if starting in junior I think.

Another thing to consider is that some of the subjects are joint with Abingdon boys at 6th form, not a problem for most but just so that you are aware.

Hi AnotherSHSkParent, she would be going in year 7.
I don't mind the joint activities with Abingdon boys at 6th Form, but thanks for mentioning it.

I think one needs to be careful with comments about eating disorders. There is quite a high prevalence in young women and anecdotal statements on this forum (which tends to attract complaints) are no substitute for hard evidence that any particular school has a bigger problem with it than the general population. That is absent to be honest. I’m always sorry to hear these stories, and it is so important to find out if a school is a good fit, but in a school of this size it would not be abnormal to have 20 girls with eating disorders. The rate is around 3-4% in teenage girls.

If you are looking for a caring school with good pastoral care, I would caution against SHSK. Our daughter is bright and sociable but was badly bullied. We got no support from the school and it was suggested that the girls resolve the bullying between themselves! She became one of the abnormally high number of girls at the school to develop an eating disorder and her self confidence plummeted. Thankfully we moved her to another school which takes pastoral care much more seriously and she was able to, largely, put the SHSK experience behind her.

Dear Parentvoice, may I kindly ask if you could recommend another good academic school than SHSK, please? I'm really sorry that your daughter ran into trouble at that school, and I hope that she is happy now. I’m just looking for different opinions about the school, and since I don’t know anything except a bit more about OHS(where is pressure even more than at SHSK), I would like to look for more options for my daughter. I wish you peace of mind and your daughter happiness and success. Thank you very much for your opinion.