St Paul's Girls School - Year 8 admission??

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

silverflora
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:47 pm

St Paul's Girls School - Year 8 admission??

Post by silverflora »

Due to a change in personal circumstances, I am considering moving to London, and a major factor influencing my final decision is schooling for my two daughters who are currently in Year 7 and Year 5.

The older one attends a very prestigious, academic girls school outside of London, and really the only school I would consider in London is SPGS - but I wondered-

Do they take girls in at the start of Year 2 (Year 8)?

How hard is it to get in? What is the competition like? and how hard is SPGS to get into compared to other top schools around the country - which would help me to gauge how successful she is likely to be.

Thank you in advance
Silverflora
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Post by hermanmunster »

I would not have thought they would have many starting at the beginning of year 8 but all schools have some

- kids come and go at all schools, probably more in private schools as people change their minds about fees etc - also more in areas of high mobility eg London....

GS tend to be more difficult to get into mid session but my experience of indies is that they tend to stretch the numbers on occasions (sometimes because they think people are leaving and don't :shock:

try phoning and ask if they have and spaces.... :
silverflora
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:47 pm

Post by silverflora »

Thanks .

Have left message with registrar on answerphone 2 days ago and have heard nothing. I'm sure I will do this week - but still wonder if its as hard to get in as I think.

At a recent open day at my DDs school, I spoke with a prospective parent who lives in London, whose own DD goes to SPGS but who was looking at my DDs school as an "insurance policy", just in case her younger DD wasn't able to join her sister.

Made me think that getting intoSPGS was equivalent to climbing Everest!
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Post by hermanmunster »

schools tend to want to give this appearance... never found a private school advertising places (except queen ethelburga's who advertise on TV :shock: ) - it is not good for the image.

Year 8 is an in betweeny year. usual entry for most places is 7 or 9 so it may be that there is some leeway at year 8.

I was a KEHS in B'ham and there tended to be some coming and going - usually with academics pitching up from other Universities.

I also get the feeling that there is more angst in London and some other cities than elsewhere. the feeling that disaster will befall if they don't get a place at x, or won't get into x if they don't go to y pre prep nursery.....


Had a colleague who was beside himself at the thought that his DD would get into a indie high if she did not go the right prep where they had to be interviewed by the head... He could not see that the prep only sent about 10 of the 150 who got places and that kids could get in from a vast variety of schools - however the prep liked to make him believe it was that way :wink:

Annoying not getting an answer from your message .... I find e-mail produces responses where phone calls don't... Just tracking down a copyright holder in the US - no good by letter but hey ho e-mail works like magic
KB
Posts: 3030
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:28 pm

Post by KB »

Not in the area I'm afraid but having seen previous threads it does appear that the top London schools are very hard to get into. Presumably to do with demographics & the -perceived at least - poor comprenensive alternatives.
There have certainly been some threads before that you might find helpful (think you can search on the name of the school?).
Nou
Posts: 198
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2005 12:55 pm

Post by Nou »

Silverflora - why would you only consider SPGS? I know several girls who are very happy at Godophin, Latymer Upper and Queensgate for example? I do know girls who go to SPGS and they vary between absolutely loving it and hating it. There is a thread on the Mumsnet website called St Pauls' Girls School (search Mumsnet talk) which might be worth a read. Don't just consider one school!
dinah
Posts: 147
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2008 12:25 pm

Post by dinah »

I would think they have a waiting list based on entrance exam results. I don't know if they would expect your daughter to take the entrance exam and place her on the waiting list accordingly but I imagine that is possible. It may be that they would take a school report from your daughter's current school or they may have so many on the waiting list it wouldn't be worth your while. I think 'a full and frank' discission with the school is your first issue. As many people on here say, there are a number of other schools you could consider.
SPGSmole
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:40 pm

Post by SPGSmole »

At St Paul's there is a possibility for y8 entry but it's unusual - nevertheless worth asking the registrar Lindy Hayward.
Entrance at this stage is not competitive re versus other pupils but anyone hoping to join the school at this point will have to achieve a certain (high) standard in entrance examinations and interview. TBH the waiting list doesn't really feature by this point as girls not getting a place at y7 have settled into their new schools (and loving them!) so it's rare to have an entrant off the waiting list - entry at year 8, 9 ansd so on usually comes from families relocating to London.
Having said this, would definitely endorse the fact that there are plenty of excellent girls' schools other than St Pauls' Girls' - Godolphin and Latymer, North London Collegiate, City of London Girls, Putney High, Wimbledon High, Notting Hill and Ealing High, other GDST schools in fact...St Paul's is a special place with unique things to offer but all schools have their own unique brand and your daughter needs to ensure that she will get what she wants from her secondary school. A string of A* grades is pretty standard for most central London girls' schools.
Last edited by SPGSmole on Tue May 25, 2010 9:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
silverflora
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:47 pm

Post by silverflora »

You're right - of course there are other excellent schools in London.

I have always seen SPGS as my personal gold standard - somewhere where I really wanted to go and where some of my firneds went in the late 60's ; however, I passed the grammar school entrance and was trundled off to a neighbouring Grammar school ; my brother who did not, went to Latymer Upper.

Years on ( over 30!), SPGS is somewhere I would have tried my utmost to get my daughters into if I lived in London. Now we are likely to move there, my first choice school has to be St Pauls.
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Post by hermanmunster »

ooops - schools can change.... I think many of the schools are very different from how they were 30 years ago.


I was at KEHS (when Miss Diggory was there - before she went to St Paul's, the intake and I think outlook feels very different different to 30 + years ago)
Suggest you go and have a look at several schools before deciding
Post Reply