St Catherine's, Bramley | Inside Intelligence | Winter 2024

WINTER 2024

UPDATE FOR FUTURE PARENTS

Welcome to our Autumn edition of Inside Intelligence. Last term saw our GCSE and A Level students sit exams and formal assessments: the first year of such exams based on a full curriculum since 2019, with grade boundaries returning to 2019 levels, or higher in some subjects. Despite the pressures that exams inevitably bring, we have been continually impressed by the resilience and determination demonstrated by our girls, not only in the classroom and exam room, but in their commitment to activities beyond. Whether that has been on the lacrosse pitches helping St Catherine’s achieve the National ‘Triple’, or within Anniversary Halls performing in Drama and Musical productions, or taking part in concerts.

They have taken every opportunity afforded to them and whilst doing so have achieved outstanding results and University Destinations of which they can be justly proud. Please refer to our results overleaf.

We warmly invite you to come and visit us if you have not already done so. Please contact us at admissions@stcatherines.info to book onto one of our Open Mornings, or to arrange an individual tour.

Whilst the School produces exceptional academic results these are achieved through encouragement from the staff and the focus on an allround educational experience, including extra-curricular activities and fostering a sense of community, all of which surpasses the desire for just achieving academic results.

Mrs Thompson, lives in Woking, Current Parent with 3 daughters at St Cat’s

MAKING SPORTING HISTORY

In March 2023 St Catherine’s made history at the National Schools Lacrosse Championships by winning the U19A, U19B and U19C competitions. What was the secret of this success?

Throughout the season girls talk about ‘Nationals’ as the pinnacle, but the training, competition and camaraderie during their journey are the magic ingredients. They learn leadership, teamwork, respect and self-awareness. The girls develop an understanding that it is not about the label of the team you play in, but about playing and the social cohesion that team sports bring.

Our Netball Teams also concluded an excellent season when in March we had every age group from U12-U18 represented in the Surrey Netball Finals.

SENIOR SCHOOL

As Tatler Schools Guide 2024 commented, “Sport is very inclusive: the school field A-H netball teams in Years 7 to 9.”

www.stcatherines.info

Tuesday 6th February 2024 Wednesday 20th March 2024 Interactive Open Event: Friday 21st June 2024

Please visit our website for more information on key admission dates stcatherines.info/ admissions/open-events

To book a place for any of the dates, please complete our online booking form or contact the Senior Registrar, Clare Woodgates: 01483 899609 admissions@stcatherines.info

A LEVEL AND GCSE RESULTS It should be remembered that for our A Level students in 2023 their journey to the exam room has demonstrated considerable resilience. In Year 10 they lost their final term of their first year of GCSE study in School to online schooling. In Year 11 they endured the Second National Lockdown, affecting their Mock exams, and their GCSEs were Teacher Assessed Grades.

RUSSELL GROUP EXCLUDING OXBRIDGE

8

64 %

OXBRIDGE

6% NON RUSSELL GROUP

A Level A* 16%

A*- A 60%

A*- B 87%

A*- C 95%

A*- D 99%

GCSE 9 46%

OVERSEAS %

9 to 8 72%

9 to 7 88%

9 to 6 96%

9 to 5 99%

9 to 4 100%

At A Level, 60% of grades were A*- A. With 28 subjects at A Level, we design a bespoke timetable for every girl, to enable her to specialise in the subjects that inspire and interest her. 96% of our girls have realised their hopes and aspirations of reaching their first or second choice universities. Please refer to www.stcatherines. info/welcome/destination-of-leavers for a complete breakdown.

At GCSE 88% of grades awarded were 9-7, which exceeds those achieved in 2019.

22 % The destinations illustrate how aspirational our girls are, and the breadth of interest they have. Alongside the Oxbridge successes, many have secured places at universities such as Exeter and Durham to read subjects including Engineering, Modern Languages, Natural Sciences, Economics, Mathematics, and Anthropology.

Other locations include Bath, Bristol, Nottingham, St Andrews, The Royal Academy of Music and University College, London, studying for a variety of subjects including Medicine, Dentistry, Classics, Architecture, Criminology, Zoology, Evolutionary Biology and Pharmacology. A number of our girls have also secured places at overseas universities including George Washington University, USA, for International Development with Economics, the University of British Columbia, Canada, for Management and the University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, for Economics and Management.

TRANSPORT TO SCHOOL All home to school coach transport for St Catherine’s is managed by our provider, Zeelo. 30% of our students travel with Zeelo to and from School. Our flexible service, offering early and later evening buses at 4.15pm and 5.30pm allows girls to participate fully in extra-curricular activities, booking journeys in advance to suit their schedules.

School Minibus

LONDON

STARTING SENIOR SCHOOL

WEYBRIDGE

WEYBRIDGE

(MORNING ONLY)

Rydes Hill

rv se or t

Mayford

West Clandon

Ash

Albury

Su n

Jacobs Well

nd

Yvonne Arnaud Theatre

North Camp

ay a

Farnborough North

Fr id

Onslow Village Station

da ye ve n

in

BLACKWATER

West Byfleet

Woking

(WEST)

sp

WOKING

gt ra n

WORPLESDEN

ice

on

ly

(LATE AFTERNOON)

Wanborough

I found settling into St Catherine’s very easy. I picked up many new interests and hobbies from being surrounded by a larger, more diverse group of people! I have very much enjoyed my experiences at St Catherine’s.

Amara, Current Pupil

GUILDFORD Shalford

FARNHAM

Chilworth

The Bourne

Farnham Station

Elstead

Gomshall

Godalming College

To see full details please scan this Zeelo QR Code.

DORKING DEEPDENE

Godalming Milford Witley Haslemere

HORSHAM Public Bus Service (Arriva) from Horsham via Cranleigh and local villages

GRAYSHOT T TRAIN ZEELO BUS PUBLIC BUS

To see full details please scan this Zeelo QR Code.

Changing schools is a time for fresh starts and new friendships, but we recognise it can seem both exciting and daunting at the same time. We give all the girls a helping hand to settle in: mixing classes with new girls and those from our own Prep School, providing a ‘shadow’ scheme with a girl in the year above, and helping every girl to ‘belong’ by assigning her to in one of our six Houses. A ‘Fun Day’ at St Catherine’s before School begins helps bond the year group and form early friendships. With Tutors keeping a watchful eye on the ‘newbies’, you can feel confident that girls find their feet remarkably quickly.

www.stcatherines.info

BECOME PART OF A SCHOOL THAT IS ALWAYS OPEN

A VIBRANT AND DIVERSE COMMUNITY THAT IS OPEN 24/7 As a boarding school, we are always open. The lights are never off, a fact which has an impact on both boarders and day girls alike. As boarders, girls can make the most of the vast array of opportunities on their doorstep. As a day girl, should your daughter find herself particularly busy in the run up to a School play, or orchestral performance, or indeed if you are travelling for work or enjoyment, or even for urgent family reasons such as supporting elderly relatives, your daughter could make the most of the School’s ‘occasional’ boarding option. On a day-to-day basis, even if you find yourselves running late at the end of a busy day there will always be

someone to look after your daughter until you arrive.

WHERE YOU MEET YOUR FRIENDS FOR LIFE

EXTRA-CURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES

School is where you make your friends for life, and here at St Catherine’s those friends encompass 26 nationalities within our whole community. The cultural melange that international boarding provides encourages our students, both day and boarding, to immerse themselves in global perspectives. On entering St Catherine’s, every girl joins one of the 6 School Houses which enables all girls, whether boarding or day, to integrate fully within the full School community.

As a boarding school we are able to offer a far broader range of extra-curricular opportunities, not found in a typical day school.

St Catherine’s is able to offer over 100 clubs covering sports, the performing arts, musical ensembles, choirs, charity boards, science and technology together with a range of academic clubs from Philosophers’ Club to Creative Writing. Many of these run until 5.30pm and during the weekends, musical and sporting fixtures are the norm. There truly is something for everyone at St Catherine’s.

Our boarding community consists of 170 girls across four agedelineated Houses, who are cared for by specialist Housemistresses who are fully experienced in the care of ‘their’ age group. All of the 30 resident staff are qualified teachers whose expertise benefits boarders with prep or tutoring in the evening.

Should your daughter begin her journey at St Catherine’s as a day girl there is always the option to move to the boarding community at Year 8, Year 9, or in The 6.

ON-SITE FACILITIES The School owns all of its 23 acre site, and all facilities are within a short distance of each other. Whether performing in our stateof-the-art auditorium which can seat up to 350 people or being creative in our amazing Art & MakerSpace. The latter includes Art, Photography, Design Engineering, Ceramics, Textiles, History of Art and Culinary Arts and Sixth Formers can study in the dedicated Sixth

www.stcatherines.info

Form Art Room. The facilities on offer here at St Catherine’s are inspiring. For those who would like to enjoy more physical activities there is plenty to do outdoors: including 7 hard surface courts, 4 lacrosse pitches, 3 grass tennis courts. Indoors we have a heated indoor swimming pool, sports hall, fitness suite, squash court and dance studio.

WINTER 2024

ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME There is always a balance between work and play at St Catherine’s with plenty of opportunities in School to allow for the nurturing of existing talents, the development of new ones and to encourage girls to explore their interests and passions.

MUSIC TO BRING THE SCHOOL TOGETHER The Middle School Summer Concert brought immense enjoyment to both the St Catherine’s community and invited schools and their musicians from Busbridge Junior, Greenfield Prep, Notre Dame Prep, Rydes Hill Prep, Wonersh and Shamley Green and Worplesdon Primaries. Over 115 girls performed in the Orchestra, and the audience heard classics such as the March of the Toreadors by Bizet, the contemporary film favourite, How to Train Your Dragon by John Powell and a Greatest Showman medley. The musicians inspired us with their obvious commitment to their instruments and love of performing as orchestras, bands and choirs. It was wonderful to have both Prep and Senior girls performing together.

SPORT AND PHYSICAL WELLBEING 51 girls from U3 (Year 7) to L6 (Year 12) took to the water at Club La Santa in Lanzarote on the Swim Tour 2023. Our specialist swim coaches led the trip. They coached the girls each morning and afternoon in swimming fitness and stroke technique to improve their times and kept them active throughout the day with a variety of additional classes: dance, zumba, paddleboarding or out on bikes. Mr Mezzetti, Tennis Coach, also joined and coached the girls on the courts. The girls enjoyed friendly games and a few fiercely competitive ones!

ISSUES BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

As part of the ongoing Lecture Programme for Years 7 and 8, in which our girls listen to speakers on a wide variety of topics from faith to various career paths, the girls this term learned all about the Hindu practices of worship (puja), devotion (bhakti), fasting (vrata), meditation (dhyāna), sacrifice (yajña) and charity (dāna). Bringing alive the concepts learned in their Religious Studies classes, current parent Saieja generously shared her faith, her Hindu Festivals experiences, and the power of positive energy (chakra). As we have come to expect from our naturally curious girls, they asked many probing questions, keen to learn more about Ganesha and Shiva and the idea of light as wisdom. They were encouraged to consider the Hindu teachings, respecting all beings as equal and the importance of humility.

LEARNING FROM THE ST CAT ’S COMMUNITY

Our careers education programme is designed to encourage girls to make their own decisions about future paths which ultimately lead to the achievement of their personal goals. From U3 (Year 7) onwards we offer age-appropriate opportunities to hear about different spheres of industry through careers seminars, lectures and events. For our girls in L5 to U6 (Years 10 to 13) we organise our biennial Careers Forum which gives the girls the opportunity to network with alumnae and parents from a wide variety of career sectors. This year the focus was on the many different career paths open to young

people having taken specific degrees. We were delighted to welcome over 25 speakers, from organisations as diverse as Just Eat, UBS, Bank of England, Chelsea Football Club, Bloomberg, the NHS and Sweaty Betty. The event was a huge success and opened the girls’ eyes to an array of careers opportunities and horizons which they may not have considered before, demonstrating the power of the School’s Association Community to support girls aspirations and ambitions both at School and beyond.

St Catherine’s School BRAMLEY

St Catherine’s School Station Road, Bramley, Guildford, GU5 0DF +(0) 1483 899609 admissions@stcatherines.info www.stcatherines.info

www.stcatherines.info