September entry to Year 9 Cambridge Schools

[MoronikaFaceache]

Hi all,
just after some views and advice regarding in year transfer to start year 9 at a Cambridge secondary.
We are in London at the moment but moving to Milton in July.

There are a few schools that have started handling their own admissions for in year applications out of main entry point: Impington, Chesterton, Parkside.
Applications opened 6 May. So we have applied for all but Chesterton, as they are full, didn’t even get a form.

For schools that have to go through Cambridge Council, so we will be applying for St Bede’s, Comberton and Cottenham. Deadline is 9 June.

We know that the many of the local state schools are highly regarded but unfortunately also extremely oversubscribed.

So we are also considering an independent school, if we don’t get offers elsewhere.
Perse has 20 on waiting list, St Mary’s and Heritage probably waiting list. Sancton Wood has places.

If anyone has any feedback on any of the schools mentioned, we’d appreciate it. Particularly St Mary’s and Sancton Wood, as that seems most likely if no state school offer. Although DD would much prefer coed setting.
We have seen several mentions on Mumsnet re Sancton Wood, but very mixed, not sure what to make of it.
One poster had very negative feedback but first it was nephew’s experience, on another board it was friend’s son??

TIA

Sanction Wood used to be well known for handling children who had difficulties but ad the pressure for private education places has grown due to the expansion of companies like Microsoft, AZ etc in the area they are much more mainstream these days (within last 5 years) so I wouldn't hold much store by those with historic anecdata!

If they qualify for a Perse place it is worth putting the name on the list. There is a turnover of places due to the sometimes transient nature of some parents' employment and often if kids are settled elsewhere they turn down offers. However having said that year 9 is a standard entry point for The Perse for those coming in from other prep schools in the area.

My DD is at St Mary’s and she loves it. It’s friendly, supportive and sensible and the girls seem to have a good balance of academics, sports and fun. Big stress on wellbeing and supportive but sensible pastoral care - they frequently have wellbeing days with visits from animals to pet (alpacas, cuddly dogs etc.), ice cream and hot chocolate. The new headmistress seems very impressive so far. Very little evidence of bullying or pastoral problems that I’ve seen - the girls all seem very happy and polite and the teaching is good (not as academically pushy as the Perse but still pretty focused). The school food is apparently excellent too according to DD!

I have friends whose two girls went through St Mary’s. They speak highly of it.

Oh and St Mary’s has a much bigger stress on girl-focused sports and the arts than the Perse (which DD liked less than St Mary’s when we looked at schools). There are scholarships in arts areas like creative writing, art, drama and dance as well as the usual music ones.

DD is very academic but also loves dance, girls’ football and gymnastics, none of which are particularly well-catered for at the Perse despite their very well funded sports department. St M is especially good at drama and dance - the school productions I’ve seen so far have been nearly at professional standard with a lot of very talented girls in the main parts, but any of them can get small parts in productions if they want and get involved with production and stage tech. Ditto music - the Perse is super competitive and has several layers of audition-only orchestras, (and they want you to switch your music teaching to their own teachers to qualify for being in the orchestras).

St Mary’s is a smaller school and much more relaxed about encouraging participation, even if the girls are doing lower grades or just starting out. Lots of lunchtime clubs and activities too - they tend to do less after school, but have a slightly longer day than some of the other Cambridge independents, because they have a long lunchtime to allow the girls to focus on lunch and have a break, as well as attend a club if they want.

@Spirallingdownwards @Daysofcake @Octavia64

Thank you all, really good to know.
She is at a very academic school at the moment, so will do OK in terms of pushy. But would prefer a better balance if possible.
To be fair, have heard nothing but praise for St Mary’s as well so far. If DD can get over the single sex aspect. She loved the look of the Art Centre. But is picking at minor things, like the dining hall we saw on the virtual tour!

Is that from St Mary’s virtual tour? That must be a very old photo as the dining room doesn’t look at all like that - is now very nice with attractive benches and more like a nice workplace lunch cafe. But the girls can also take their lunches outside to benches and tables in the garden when it’s good weather if they want. The food is v nice with things like American pancakes with choose your own toppings, fresh gnocchi and salads, they have water available with slices of lime, cucumber etc.

(DD groused because they had four different water urns with different flavours of freshly cut fruit every day, eg lemon, lime, orange and cucumber, and recently cut them down to slightly fewer fruit-flavoured waters….I had to point out to her that in my 1980s state comp the idea of flavoured cucumber water at lunch would have been absolutely fantastical so she was being a bit spoilt 😆)

@Daysofcake that all sounds absolutely lovely! DD will be so relieved 😂
They don’t know how lucky they are sometimes!
Yes, these were taken from the current website.
We will actually be going to their open event tomorrow, so will be great to see in person.

St Bede’s: I think it's religious. you have to Christian.
For private: you can also check with Leys and Stephen Perse whose academic level is good.

Sorry but that's nonsense about arts and girls focused sports at The Perse and sounds like the sour grapes of someone who perhaps didn't get a place. Both are extremely well catered for. The Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre is testament to that as are the national awards winning girls sports teams. Not only that they are able to field a number of teams in the sports catering for all abilities and are therefore more inclusive. Similarly with the variety of music ensembles and groups. There are also music, drama and sports scholarships as well as academic but like most schools a nominal financial benefit. However The Perse does have a very high number of bursary students.

I am not saying St Mary's isn't an excellent school - simply saying trying to big it up by attempting to denigrate another is a bit sad.

@CrazyArrow that’s right, St Bede’s does accept non-faith pupils, although prioritising Christian then other faiths. But worth a shot. Difficult to select just 3 options based on overall performance, distance etc. For year 7, we were able to select 6 schools in London.

@Spirallingdownwards appreciate your thoughts. DD isn’t much into sports or music, so sure that wouldn’t be much of a compromise either way.
We would like to get a place and let DD settle rather than have to move again.

We didn't look at St Mary's, but the Stephen Perse art department looked much more impressive than the Perse art department, so I can believe that St Mary's may well have a better art department.

I think you'd be unlikely to get St Bede's unless you are catholic or C of E. Even then it's probably fairly unlikely. We live very close and know numerous children of other Christian faiths (Baptist etc) who had the form signed and didn't get a place.

On the plus side there is a fair amount of movement in the Cambridge state schools, even the ones that are full. Lots of people move into and out of the area all the time.

Not trying to denigrate it at all, we had a place at both but DD preferred the more girl-focused option. DD is academically very gifted, so I was initially concerned that she wouldn’t have enough academic stimulation at St Mary’s, but this hasn’t proved to be the case. But the Perse is undeniably much bigger (about twice the size), and takes something like 60 percent boys to 40 percent girls (again, this was info the head gave us repeatedly). St Mary’s also offers entrance scholarship routes in arts options at Yr 7 and Yr 9, whereas the Perse doesn’t. DD also asked specifically about girls’ football on each occasion we went, and we were told they don’t offer it by the PE teachers themselves!

Not sure why you’re so defensive - the Perse is an excellent school but it isn’t the only good school in Cambridge. One thing that swayed us was feedback from friends with children there (of both sexes), that it their girls sometimes found the school more boy and STEM focused than they would always have liked. This was a less good fit for DD, but that is more to do with the individual child!

Re bursaries - actually the stats they published in the Times schools guide suggested actually a very low percentage on full bursaries. (Part-bursaries may be different, I don’t think they include the stats for those.)

Also the kids we met at St Mary’s and the Perse (we went to two different open days to both plus the assessment days), all invariably seemed very happy and to enjoy being there. It’s more about which school is right for the OP’s DD, which could be either or a different school entirely!

The Perse definitely has at least some intakes that were 50/50 boys/girls.

But with a waiting list of 20, I'm not sure there's much point in looking at it.

We sent our two DDs to St Mary’s, and completely agree with earlier positive comments. They thrived and did exceptionally well academically too.
I was initially sceptical of the academics of the school, having heard its focus is more on the pastoral care, but our expectations were truly surpassed.
I really like the international feel of the student community too, having lived overseas as a family. Highly recommend.

Your information is incorrect about the lack of arts scholarships at The Perse. Historically it was 60/40 male/female which isn't surprising for an ex boys school. Nowadays it is closer to 50/50.

Not defensive just don't like incorrect and disparaging information being given as facts.

Yes The Perse has an excellent reputation for STEM and indeed secure lots of places for medicine/dentistry and vet medicine each year but also have a high Oxbridge/competitive uni entrance for Humanities and Arts too as expected from a selective school with excellent results in all subjects and indeed publish all their results online on their websites subject by subject.

I am glad your daughter has enjoyed her time at St Mary's and I agree their are definite benefits to single sex education (that some people disagree with). So by all means sing their praises but I just ask please don't use incorrect or out of date information to put down other schools to justify the decision you took for your child.

@Spirallingdownwards Edward Elliott, the head, literally gave those 60/40 statistics in his last two years’ presentations to potential applicants/parents!

This is their current info on scholarships, as it’s been for the last couple of years at least — they only have them in music, and only for existing Perse pupils at the end of that academic year, not entrance scholarships:
https://www.perse.co.uk/admissions/upper/register/scholarships/

Not defensive just don't like incorrect and disparaging information being given as facts.

Really not sure why you are saying I’m giving incorrect info! It’s very easy to verify the facts yourself on their website. These are the St Mary’s ones:

https://www.stmaryscambridge.co.uk/admissions/scholarships-and-bursaries/enrichment-scholarships.htm

And SPF for comparison:

https://www.stephenperse.com/scholarships

Just an update for anyone in similar position or have any thoughts on specific schools mentioned here:
We have been offered a place at St Mary’s.
We didn't get a place at IVC, but have been offered a place at Netherhall (decided against Cottenham at the last minute).

Anyone with any experiences at Netherhall School?
the travel may definitely be a setback.

depends on child really when it comes to nether hall. if your DC is disciplined and not get affected by others who is not, should be fine as I know few of DS's cohort going there who is really good and topsets in primary

Netherhall and St Mary's are very different. St Mary's is fairly small whilst Netherhall is pretty large. I think every year with the exception of the current year 9 ended up taking an extra class so there are 210 children per year.

If you go to Netherhall from Milton you may find she doesn't have very many local friends. The catchment area is fairly small and the vast majority of kids walk or cycle. There are no school coaches.

Netherhall seem fairly sensible when it comes to uniform and discipline. They aren't handing out detentions left right and centre for ridiculous things.