St. Paul’s girls school

[R272727]

Hi I was wondering if parents who have girls in this school can describe the atmosphere in this school. It is the only school that says the school does not suit every girl and wanted to really understand which type of girls are in this school( . I understand the academic part). Also how diverse is it financially? Are most of the girls from super rich families etc. any advice will be fret appreciated

Greatly

I do not have a child in this school but my close friend has 2. She describes it as academically very pressured. Her girls look a bit tired out. That said, they have both done very well. One is in an Ivy league and the other acing her A levels. not sure how diverse financially. Another friend has a daughter who was there and made it to Oxford to study medicine. My friend's husband works in the City and is self made, not inherited wealth. Several parents are on that category I think.

A family member used to work there.
I would say that the school are referring to it suiting a certain character - ie. ambitious, determined, confident and thick-skinned.

Our daughter goes to SPGS. We all love it. There’s a real mix of backgrounds and girls. I’ll DM you.

It has a liberal background but alongside this is very academically rigorous. It works for girls who genuinely love academics, are incredibly ambitious, want to debate and dig deep into topics. It is not a school for the rebel, the one who needs nagging to do her work or will feel the pressure. The selection is such that the girls there are all incredibly academic and capable so even if the school don't put pressure, there is always going to be natural pressure and competition. Girls who were top at their prep school are suddenly amongst equally bright cohort.
Girls I know who go there are the type who will walk to school debating astro physics or what is on the news. Some of the girls are alongside this very sporty, sociable and into fashion. Others are more serious, quiet types who come alive when discussing academic topics but otherwise are just studious and get on with it.

I see it as a school which is catering for a real niche type of girl. If my daughter was that way inclined, I'd be so proud of my DD to get in and be there. But equally, (and more likely) if my DD wasn't that type of super-academic girl, then I would avoid it as it really just doesn't cater and there are lots of still very academic options nearby.

My dd is in the lower years there. I’d say she’s the opposite of ambitious and thick-skinned! She is quietly confident, determined - very much a self-starter. Another thread, a while ago, described the type of girl who thrives there as the sort who never had to learn their times tables at primary school, aced their SATs without really trying, can easily learn 20 new bits of French vocab on the tube home after a netball match, then do a quick bit of maths homework and finish off with some online debating for fun - and enjoy all of them, for the intellectual stimulation. Which is sort of what SparklySnake said, too.

I think, weirdly, coming from a state primary helped. We told her she’d be with lots of girls cleverer than her, that she’d have to work hard, that it would be very different. As it turns out, she loves the pace, the breadth and depth of the lessons, the music and drama opportunities etc and she doesn’t have any trouble at all keeping up while still doing hours of outside school activities.

On finances, I have no idea. Dd has been to a few friends houses (pre lockdown) but I never have, and not even dropped / picked up as she takes herself by tube. It’s just not a subject that has come up in her friendship group, other than in the context of ‘going to x country this holiday to visit granny’.

I think that is a good summary HighRopes.
It is a school where academics come sort of effortlessly and your DD just enjoys it all and is very happy to do intellectually stimulating work. They don't get stressed out about it as it all comes quite easily so the challenging bit is thinking deeper, debating and taking it all to the next level.

Which is why I sort of laugh when people are trying to push their DDs so hard to get them in there and see it as make or break. Your child really either is that type or is not. There isn't really an in between.

Thank you very much everyone, that is great information. Based on the information it seems a perfect fit for my daughter. Where do most girls travel from? Any that live outside of center London. Any idea of ratio of state vs private and how many people usually apply and how many spots per year.
Any help on preparation and past practice papers will be very much appreciated.

Also for those of you who applied did anyone also apply to GL or LEH?

I'd say about 10% of the girls are from state schools and the school is actively trying to up those numbers. My daughter came from a state school. We're in NW, many girls from SW, some from East and even outside of London. I think for state school girls, the first hurdle is the online pretest as many will not be prepped for this at their primary.

Lots of good commentary in this thread about the school and its strengths. The “school suits some girls not all” is definitely a remark about academics; otherwise there is a broad range of girls in interests and personality. The extra curriculars are superb and not all schools offer my daughter’s favourites to anything like the same level. I always thoroughly look forward to parents’ evening as so many of the teachers are so interesting to talk to, passionate and articulate about their subject and the teaching of it. We always felt instinctively it would likely be the right place for our daughter and (a number of years in) we have certainly not been disappointed.
There is a wide catchment but the school prefers a journey no longer than an hour I believe.

What pretest do they use?

As previous posters have mentioned there is a variety of personalities at the school. I would say that at 11 most come across as articulate and mature girls. My DD has been there for a number of years (currently in her GCSE year) and has been very happy there.

In terms of preparation the pretests are currently CEM ones. They are adaptive as I recall. English, Maths, VR and NVR. Pitch the English/Maths prep to 13+ level if you can. Also, focus a bit on science, including interpreting graphs, tables, how to conduct a scientific investigation, what is a fair test and history: evaluating sources. Again have a look at 13+ material for this. The science and history prep relates to SPGS's "Comprehension" Paper- not to be confused with English Comprehension which is part of the English Paper. The school has some sample papers on their website but you can google older papers too.

Also expose your DD to a variety of experiences. Art, drama, sports, news and current affairs. A "rounded" girl will perform better at the interview stage.

Wide catchment area. Mostly West London but quite a few from NW London too. There is a school bus serving NW London and another one for the Wimbledon area.

Hope this helps!

I've been in similar schools and it is very intense. You have to be very thick skinned, able to handle constant ongoing pressure and never be seen as good enough as you are constantly compared to each other. Some girls thrive on this or just get on, others feel like failure and find it too much. If she's a budding artist who happens to be smart, may not be for her. I find these schools very obsessed with certain careers too.

Lelophants I would refrain from speculating about a school that you have no personal experience of. spgs.org/academic/departments/art-and-design/

Really unhelpful and false post

make no mistake, despite what @SparklySnake and @HighRopes said, there is a big portion of girls that are uber tutored to get in. So on top of smart, you have to put on the hard work. Only 10% from state, and about 20% or so from the top 3 local preps (which by the way, their girls will have also tutored to get there and catch the high wave. If it takes too much hard work to get in, then it is a struggle to keep on going, and the mental issues that they have experienced with some girls show up. (and that is when being thick skinned may help too ). But bottom line, as @SparklySnake said, your child either belongs or not, and if she scraped the entrance with tons of tutoring, then you are on for trouble.

and A LOT of girls turn down SPGS for GL, at the end of the day when they have both offers in hand, because of the pastoral care. I know at least 3 cases who did turn down SPGS and went to GL last year, just through friends and colleagues and contacts, and it is the same theme - less pressure, more pastoral care and same results (albeit you miss on having the SPGS badge in your linkedin profile for the rest of your life).

I couldn't disagree more Lelophants. St Paul's offers an Art History GCSE (in addition to Art GCSE). I am not sure that many (or any) other schools offer Art History GCSE. Art and Art History are quite important to the school and curriculum. There is an artist in residence, a termly newsletter with all art exhibitions in London, an Art magazine etc. Dozens of plays every year, a dance show (which the girls themselves choreograph and direct), concerts, jazz bands, R&B band. This is not a school where academics is the sole focus. It has a university feel and girls are encouraged to participate in as many co-curricular activities as possible. My DD has not experienced internal competition either. Possibly with other schools? In sports? The girls get on with life and their work. There are intense moments with tests and exams of course, but nothing like the craziness of the 11+. 😂

@hampsteadmum completely agree! Hoping mine gets back to physical school in time for her term of photography. Really wish people wouldn’t claim to know, when it’s pretty obvious they don’t! Sigh! GCSE art is extremely popular.

Thank you for posting hampsteadmum and Monsterandmonkey.
We are anxiously awaiting results from SPGS next week.

We didn't know about the offerings in Art, Dance and Music - R&B band? That is just awesome.

I don't think I phrased my post very well. I didn't mean to imply that my friends' girls were swots. In fact, they both do art to a very high standard, play instruments, do sports and are very well rounded. Basically the kind of girls that Highropes described. Very bright and motivated.

No direct experience but I went to Cambridge (from a state school) and knew lots of SPGS girls there. They were all lovely and more “normal” than many from other well known schools. They all seemed really proud of their school and I got the impression it was supportive rather than pressured. I graduated 10 years ago so not the most up to date report but there you go.

@dinosaurinmybelly fingers crossed. It really is a lovely school. I know girls at a variety of top schools and they all have regular tests and need to keep on top of homework. It’s no different really. They don’t get set homework unless the teacher feels it’s important. Languages, including Latin seem to have the most ‘regular’ homework set. Their ‘how to learn any language course’ is brilliant, although I do know other schools are now using similar courses in year 7 too. Sport is very inclusive and the PE teachers get a big thumbs up from my daughter. Her old school PE teachers only favoured the outside of school squad girls. Maths and English are pretty full on though. The English teachers do a great job of making lessons fun e.g. turn all the desks into a gigantic boat. Pre-pandemic, one teacher would hand out chocolate biscuits in her lessons. Real mix of backgrounds of girls.

The art/creative negative comment was particularly ill informed. Art/creative and languages was a big selling point for us. We have a mathshead and didn’t just want it to be all about maths and science. In her interview, she was even asked about why creative subjects are just as important as academic ones.

Let me know how you get on.

Thanks for all the helpful comments.

Morning does anyone in here knows when Francis Holland Sloane Square offers would be posted ?