St Catherine’s School, Twickenham

It is in the Prep Department, which takes girls from 3 to 11 years of age, that the firm foundations are laid to prepare pupils for the challenges and opportunities available in the Senior School.

The girls certainly rise to the challenges posed by public examinations. The School is proud of the value that is added to their achievements as they progress through the school and that their academic predictions are consistently exceeded. This is borne out of their excellent GCSE and A level results.

With the present AS/A2 system it is important for pupils to have continuity and stability from GCSE into A level. Public examinations in Year 12 leave little time to get used to a new environment and adjust to new expectations. The teaching staff are passionate about giving the girls at St. Catherine’s the opportunity to build on their outstanding GCSE results in the environment where they feel confident that their teachers know them and will both support and challenge them. This gives them the optimum chance of obtaining the best possible results in order to achieve a place at the University of their choice.

In partnership with parents, the Headmistress and her staff strive to produce well educated, confident, balanced young people who are outward looking and are able to meet the challenges of adult life with common sense, integrity and resilience.

Those who visit St. Catherine’s often remark on the warm, caring and friendly atmosphere and the self confidence and enthusiasm of its pupils.

A School can never stand still and St. Catherine’s is no exception. In the last six years major building projects have enhanced the facilities of the school, added new subjects to the curriculum and changed syllabi and schemes of work to make them more challenging and interesting. The new Sixth Form offers further opportunities to the girls in both curricular and extra-curricular programmes, as well as supporting them and helping them to prepare for university and beyond.

St. Catherine’s School is committed to providing teaching and learning opportunities in class to challenge and stretch all pupils. However, the school holds a list of pupils who have been identified as ‘more able’ in one or more subject areas, which is subject to review throughout the academic year. These pupils’ views about the provision the School makes for them are regularly canvassed by way of surveys, diary keeping and one-to-one discussions – all of which are fed back to the staff.

We also have a monitoring and evaluation programme of the more able pupils which ties into the six-weekly staff meeting to discuss their needs and their progress. At the meeting, there are often presentations where staff share ideas with colleagues about their current provision for this group.

At present, the identified pupils are working in groups on the extra-curricular “Now and Then Centenary Project 1914-2014”; an initiative which not only celebrates the School’s centenary but also gives the more able an opportunity to work together independently of the teaching staff on the specific area of the curriculum that most interests them. The Project will culminate in November with a presentation to parents, staff, governors and other invited guests.

Prep
Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils are initially screened by Prep Department. Pupils requiring further investigation of a specific difficulty are referred to the Learning Support Department by the Head of Prep, usually after consultation with the parents and discussion with the class teacher.