Oxford High School or St Helen's and St Katharine's, Our Lady of Abingdon

[maggieu]

Hello Mum;s
I am moving to Radley, Abingdon in the summer 2022 and shave been on the hunt for schools for my two daughters who are currently at Northwood College GDST. My younger one currently in Yr6 has passed both Oxford High and St Helen's and St Katherine's 11+ exams and so has been offered at both. We are now not sure which one to go for. Any advice please?
My older daughter currently in Yr 9 did not get through to Oxford High and is sitting a year 9 assessment for St helens and St Katharine's in the next week or so. Any advice on the Yr 9 exam or where we can find past papers? She has been offered a place at Our Lady of Abingdon. Any advice on how good the school is?
Thanks in advance.

how about Headington for y9 dd??

We have contacted Headington but were too late as they had already done the exam and offered places. They have however put her on their waiting list.

OLA isn’t in the same league as St H, Oxford High or Headington. I would look at Cranford House in preference to OLA. Cranford always lose a fair few at the end of y8 to 13+ schools, so although they don’t know it yet (parents give notice just before Easter), chances are they’ll have spaces.

For your youngest, St H will be far more convenient and there’s nothing to choose between it and Oxford High in terms of results.

Hi @maggieu

We were in a similar position like you last year after a relocation and here is a link to my thread that I posted and found really valuable with other posters replies.

We chose SHSK in the end which my daughter loved from the 1st visit and we have been extremely happy with the decision. Our daughter has been so happy from day 1 (started Y7 in Sept) and has really settled in, fantastic high academic standards without feeling like a hot house, a reasonable amount of homework is set per night but the girls cope with managing their time really well and still have time for downtime which is very important , great pastoral care, amazing choice of extra curricular activities ( sports/ fab drama studio / music clubs ) and all the teachers are so professional and approachable. The school has a great atmosphere and vibe and great communication links between parents and school. We have been lucky and managed to meet quite a lot of parents at sports fixtures which is usually on a Saturday and there has been quite a few parents social events too in the last term. Any questions, pls contact me.

Advise please - Oxford Girls schools - honest opinions www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/4226497-advise-please-oxford-girls-schools-honest-opinions

They are all great schools and I would urge you to visit and make your mind up for your daughter’s interests only. Marketing departments (!) and historic accounts tend to dominate these boards I find… Your daughter sounds terrific and I’m sure she’d thrive at any: which school then chimes with your own values and offers the activities and subjects which reflect hers. Do you feel you fit?

I wish you the best of luck with your search.

Please remember us marketing people are mums first …. I gave my daughter the choice of school and after being impressed with SHSK facilities she chose OLA because she spent the last 6 years hating being in a large school. She genuinely is so excited at the prospect of a small school like OLA where she will get to be an individual and experience more tailored tuition and education.

I have a daughter going into Y11 at SHSK and she is incredibly happy there, doing amazingly well. Do not feel that it is a large school where the teachers don't care - we have found it very supportive indeed and know of cases where girls have been helped through tremendous challenges well beyond the point where some schools would have 'given up' on them I suspect. I personally did not consider Oxford High as there have always been rumours of girls with mental health challenges there due to the academic pressures (and these are just rumours, I do not know any specifics). The girls at SHSK are bright (though not always excessively so, I think it is more about attitude than IQ) and they work hard (at their music/sport/drama/art as well as their academics) and enjoy making the most of the opportunities they have.