camden and westminster schools?

[glitteryprincess]

Does anyone have an oppinion on these schools...
ST Marylebone Girls
La Sainte Union
Parliament Hill
Camden School for Girls

Any stories or experiences would be much appreciated ta.

[glitteryprincess]

anybody???

[mdrooney]

My two dds go to La Sainte Union and are in y7 & y8 and have both settled in well and the daughter in y8 had a great year last year. accedemically and socially her conferdence soaring, it is very strict and has high values, the girls seem to come from all areas of north London, it had great gcse results this yr 81% getting between a & c gcses and it has a wonderful music department. there is a new head as sr Thersa retired but the new head has a good reputation. and both my dds seem to be flourishing there.
The thing I would point out though that it has a strict admissions policy and you need to be a pracatsing catholic as the school contact your priest to see if they know you, and it is highly over subscibed. hope this helps a little.

[bellabelly]

St Marylebone Girls has a v good reputation and results, as does Camden School for Girls. If I had daughters, I would be v keen for them to go to either of those. Don't know the other ones, sorry.

[glitteryprincess]

Thankyou so much to the both of you. I'm planning to apply for all those schools unless someone says something that changes my mind. The order of preference is what I'm trying to work out at the mo.

[Posey]

Dd's best friend from primary is at Parliament Hill. Very early days but so far so good. Teacher at school regretted sending his dd to Camden girls, said they were a certain type and his dd didn't fit in. Academically great though but she wasn't happy there. Don't normally hear much negative about it.

[glitteryprincess]

Thanks Posey. I'm considering Parliament Hill because they did quite well in 2008 re gcse results. On the other hand CSG has a good reputation academically but they seem to have had quite a dip in 2007. I can't find any results for 2008 though. It's something for me to ask at the open evening. Do you know what the teacher meant by 'a certain type of girl'?

[frogs]

I can't quite see how you could meet the admissions criteria for all of those schools, tbh, let alone think that all would be suitable for the same child -- they're so different from one another. You really need to go and feel the vibe to get an idea of what you're after, and check the LEA websites v. carefully wrt admissions criteria.

LSU fill all their places with girls from actively practising catholic families. They don't take any non-catholics at all. Good school if you like that kind of thing. V strict and uptight, sometimes a bit excessively so (I know lots of girls who go there). Some lovely girls, but if you're not regularly practising Catholics who are actively engaged in parish life (and yes, you will need baptismal and 1st communion certificates, plus glowing priest's reference), then forget it.

Camden Girls has a tiny catchment area (varies according to ability band, but particularly for the top ability band you need to live on the doorstep, or within a couple of hundred metres). Completely the opposite of LSU in ethos and attitude liberal (no uniform), critical, intellectual and outgoing is the general atmosphere. But tiny catchment we're within easy walking distance of the school, just north of Kentish Town tube, and we're well out of area.

St Marylebone seems like a lovely school, they do lots of art, drama and dance. Complicated admissions criteria, largely based on CoE church attendance iirc.

Parliament Hill has a larger catchment than other popular schools. Don't know much about it though (am doing boys schools atm, girls' schools was 3 years ago for us).

[bunny3]

I taught at Camden School for Girls for 5 years. I loved it there. I now have 3 children - 2 of them girls - and I would be very, very happy to find a school as good as CSG for them to attend. The art dept is excellent, the best I have ever seen, so if art's your thing, CSG is a good choice. The school atmosphere is a happy one, liberal and academic (lots of journo kids, a bit of champagne socialism thrown in. I feel quite nostalgic sitting here now .

[glitteryprincess]

I'm within a mile to a mile and a half of all those schools and we are are practising catholics, so fulfil the criteria regarding the religious schools. I'm yet to visit all of them so haven't made up my mind about any of the schools yet. I know they are very different, but all I have to go on so far till I actually do all the visits is academic success, which is important to me.
LSU did seem quite strict but I don't think that is a bad thing for my daughter.
I hope all goes well with your son, thanks for your help.

[glitteryprincess]

Thanks for that bunny3, art is not her thing but I do like the idea of no school uniform and liberal and academic sounds good too!

[Posey]

Sorry I didn't get back to you last night.
Re CSG it really is just one person's opinion, but the teacher said his daughter was/is v. shy, not all singing and dancing, not particularly self-assurred, and he felt she was overlooked to a certain extent.

However that is the only negative comment I have ever heard! We are not in catchment for them at all so didn't go and look there, and dd is actually now at very local, co-ed school which seems perfect for her.

[glitteryprincess]

Oh I'm sorry to hear that was the case. I'm glad I asked because my dd is very outgoing, does child modelling and is very much a performer so if that was the only negative comment then it might still be alright for us.
Thanks for your help Posey, glad your dd is doing well too!