St James Senior Girls / St Augustine's Priory

[JavaTeak]

We are applying to both for our DD for year 7 Sept 21. Are there any current parents who can offer their views on these schools? Thank you so much, very appreciated.

Just bumping this in case anyone does have anything to add. We are also really happy to hear from any parents who have seen St Augustine's Priory in person (we have never visited!) or even anecdotal feedback from friends of friends! The school looks to be very nice and the farm element is interesting to us. Results look to be good, but again we do not know a thing about it beyond the GSG report and what features on the website.

For St James's Senior Girls- we have visited ages ago with another child so again literally any insights you can help us glean would be very helpful! Thanks so much!

My daughter has many happy friends at St. Augustine's. A nurturing school, set in beautiful grounds with terrific facilities. It is an amazing place - you would not think you were in London.

Thanks so much, @Utility , are they secondary school students? Do you know which station they travel to if they take the train? DH worried about DD traveling to Park Royal so trying to see if girls get off for example at Hanger Lane or North Ealing instead?

Yes - secondary.
Ealing Common, Ealing Broadway, Hanger Lane - like all of the Ealing schools, St. Augustine's pupils mingle with those from Twyford, NHEHS, St. Benedict's etc. at all of the main stations and bus stops!

@JavaTeak How are you getting on? Not many people get to review these two schools. Here our my reviews from our past visits:

SAP (St Augustine’s Priory) – You guys might not even know this school, but the it has fantastic grounds with a working farm – what a delight to have one in London! It is Catholic, but you do not need to be one to be here. The girls here were very nice. The teachers and staff were warm. The Head Mistress was sooooo proud of her school. Unfortunately, this is a school that is overshadowed by stronger contenders in W and SW London. A quietly confident girl toured us. I earnestly hope that this school gets a break in the rankings in the future. For Ealing people, choose this one instead of the others. We heard that their old-school Selection Day was enjoyable for the kids. However, they joined the 11+ consortium this year – a good strategy in order to get more applicants.

St James’ Girls – I liked this school. The Head is proud of the ethos of the school. There is a sense of calmness here. The girls were kind. The school is vegetarian and the students do a lot of meditation. There is an opportunity to study Sanskrit here – a rarity these days. Whilst they are okay at GCSEs, those that stay (or move here) for A-levels get really superb results! They are obviously overshadowed by other bigger/louder schools for GCSE. Also one of the few which does lacrosse.