Life at St Catherine's | St Catherine's Prep School, Bramley

EXPERT IN THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS

Welcome to St Catherine’s, a school where little girls with dreams become young women with vision. As a community, weensure that the team around each child creates a secure, happy environment which encourages self-belief so each girl develops the skills to go on to achieve and succeed. We are able to provide the many exciting opportunities that come from being a through school (4-18 years) with world-class facilities including a purpose built auditorium with orchestra pit, plenty of fields and an indoor swimming pool.

Each aspect of our teaching and learning and every initiative whether academic, extra-curricular or pastoral, is tailored to meet the needs of girls. In the Pre-Prep classroom girls quickly grow in confidence and receive tailored teaching encouraging them to voice their views. As they grow, in the classroom and in the playground there are no gender stereotypes and all girls have opportunities for leadership, be they ‘Buddy Bench friends’ or Eco Prefects. Achievement is lauded in girls’ schools not laughed at and academic achievement in a girls-only environment attests to this.

To find out more see our website www.stcatherines.info/welcome/why-girls-only Naomi Bartholomew, Prep School Headmistress

In an area abundant with good Prep schools, St Catherine’s ticks the boxes for families looking for a traditional school with educational prowess that will challenge and nurture in equal measure. Very warm – in all the right ways.

The Good Schools Guide

You and your daughter can tour the Prep School and see our fabulous facilities including our provision in Science, Music and the Arts – The WonderLab, The Soundscape and The Imaginarium. You’ll also see the spaces we share with the Senior School such as our Auditorium, the Sports Hall, swimming pool and Chapel. You’ll hear from our Headmistress and have the opportunity to meet our specialist staff and the girls in the School community.

To book a place at one of our Open Mornings, please complete the online booking form on our website under ‘Admissions’ or contact us directly.

We also offer 1:1 tours at a time to suit your family.

To book a tour please contact the Prep School Registrar. +44 (0)1483 899665 | prepadmissions@stcatherines.info

For key admissions dates such as taster afternoons and assessment days please visit our website under ‘Admissions’.

DIGITAL LEARNING

Mrs Malins joined St Catherine’s in 2012, as a KS2 Form teacher, English and Maths coordinator and she is now Director of Digital Learning. Mrs Malins strongly believes that we need to prepare our pupils for a world that we, as parents, may not be able to envisage. In providing our girls with a range of opportunities to develop their computational thinking skills and digital literacy we are helping them to engage critically and safely with the online world. At St Catherine’s we aim to provide varied experiences enabling the girls to become confident in applying their digital skills to access, understand and create digital content; collaborate and share with others and become adaptable and flexible in their thinking so that they are able to transfer those skills from one tool or platform to another.

Miss Wittert joined St Catherine’s in 2013 as a Senior Drama teacher and is now Head of Prep School Drama and is a LIII (Year 6) form teacher. Having studied Drama and History of Art at University she then pursued drama courses in both France and Spain before returning to the UK. Drama study enhances students’ ability to empathise as well as communicate with their peers. Working together on group productions such as Matilda, teaches the students to work effectively as a team and builds confidence, imagination, coordination as well as developing their speaking and language skills.

LANGUAGES

Mrs Edwards joined St Catherine’s in 2012 and is now Prep Head of Languages and is also a LIII (Year 6) form teacher. Having studied French and Philosophy at University she then pursued a career in PR and Marketing and lived abroad in Amsterdam before returning to the UK to train as a teacher. Language comes alive for the girls through activities such as entering external language speaking competitions and celebrating European Languages Day, French Day and ‘French Café’ where girls enjoy French cuisine ordering their favourite choices in French of course. The annual five day trip to France for LIII (Year 6) is also a key highlight in the calendar. In addition to French, the girls in LIII (Year 6) are taught Latin and have Taster Weeks in Spanish and German by staff from the Senior School.

At St Catherine’s Prep School the girls are not only taught academics, but also confidence and a strong sense of community. The range of sports, clubs, trips and other activities gives them a huge number of amazing opportunities in a friendly and encouraging environment.

Prep School Parent, Mrs Cardy

Listen to the latest episode of the Prep School Soundscape podcast:

Listen to a podcast about Language opportunities at St Catherine’s

DRAMA

WONDER LAB

The WonderLab was opened by space scientist Dr Maggie AderinPocock, MBE. This amazing area is used daily by the students and their specialist teachers and is evidence of St Catherine’s commitment to science. The WonderLab has been designed to inspire the girls and ignite their imagination. The Prep School achieved the prestigious Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM) Gold Award (Outreach) in recognition of our Science teaching. Head of Science, Mrs Kelly joined St Catherine’s in 2009.

MUSIC SPORT

Mrs Sarah Jones heads the Prep Music Department. Our girls have the opportunity to learn over 25 instruments and take part in a variety of extra-curricular Music Clubs from String Orchestra to Wind Band. In our dedicated Soundscape Music studio, the girls are introduced to rhythm using drums, percussion, chimebars and melodic boom-whackers. Each girl’s musical achievements are celebrated through ensembles, concerts and solo events. These opportunities are designed to encourage the girls.

CHESS

Chess plays an important role in the life of St Catherine’s as the School has been the proud host and sponsor of the National Girls’ Schools Chess Tournament since 2013. We have a thriving chess club from Form I (Year 3) upwards to those who attend a weekly masterclass with Mr Andrew Martin, International Master, and our resident coach. The benefits of playing chess for young people is well documented and we see clear progress in terms of developing strategic and creative thinking, focus and mental agility.

St Catherine’s Prep School has a very busy Sports Department headed by Mrs Lisa McGuigan as Director of Sport. She is passionate about developing a life-long love of sport in the girls. To support the school’s curriculum, activities are also offered at lunchtimes, after school and at the weekends. Clubs are available for all abilities and the girls are given the opportunity to compete both locally and nationally in many sports such as the Independent Schools Gymnastics Association (ISGA) competitions and regional Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) Netball Championships. St Catherine’s has an outstanding track record in both. Girls are also able to use the vast range of facilities available at the Senior School which include an indoor swimming pool with spectator area, extensive games fields and seven outdoor hard surface courts.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES

Through the extra-curricular provision, we encourage our students to become involved in a wide range of activities that broaden their interests and allow them to acquire new skills, and make new friends. With over 30 extra-curricular clubs and activities on offer across Music, Sport, Drama, Creative and Skills subjects, there is something for everyone. The girls are encouraged to step out of their comfort zones and try new activities, whether that be Judo, Debating or Musical Theatre. It is often whilst enjoying such activities that friendships are formed with girls in other forms and year groups. Girls are encouraged to pursue their own interests and are able to suggest activities which may develop into new clubs.

DESTINATION OF LEAVERS

Girls who have recently graduated from the Prep School at LIII (Year 6) have gone on to a variety of Senior schools including Exeter, Guildford High, Lady Eleanor Hollis, Manor House, Moon Hall, Prior’s Field, St Mary’s Ascot, Stover, St Teresa’s and Tormead.

SCHOLARSHIPS, AWARDS AND EXHIBITIONS

Our girls sat for over 18 different schools, 74 offers were made and 22% of girls secured Scholarships or Exhibitions. Girls were offered Academic, Art, Music and Sports Scholarships.

Listen to a podcast about the Science provision at St Catherine’s

St Catherine’s is a place where your daughter will grow a lifelong love of learning. Both in and outside the classroom, she will experience a range of opportunities, and discover her strengths and passions. Our expert team will cultivate those passions and from this foundation she will grow in confidence and leave our Prep School believing in her abilities and ready to embrace new challenges in senior school.

My daughter’s educational journey could not have got off to a more positive start. Her growing knowledge, curiosity about the world and new-found confidence are testament to a team of educators who know exactly what they are doing.

Mr and Mrs Vivian, Current Parents

The role of the Form Teacher is crucial in developing a secure environment in which a strong relationship can be built between the Form Teacher and the individual girls. This relationship enables the Form Teacher to understand the interests and passions of each and every girl which in turn allows us to build the girls’ confidence and support them as they gain independence.

LEARNINGSUPPORT BUDDY

FORM TEACHER CHAPLAIN BUDDY ACADEMIC MENTORING

St Catherine’s has a Christian ethos and the girls attend Chapel once a week with Revd. Dr McNair Scott. The services are fun and interactive for the girls and are also intended to provide a place of calm during a busy week allowing time for personal reflection.

Tutor Groups are made up of girls across all ages within the school (except for the Pre-Prep I girls who remain as a class during tutor group time). This vertical mix is wonderfully enriching for the girls as it allows them to build bonds with others in different year groups. Tutor Groups meet with a member of staff on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues often not covered in the normal school day e.g. holidays, families, friendship etc.

Girls are allocated a House (Pankhurst, Teresa and Curie) from PPI (Reception) upwards and can earn House points for effort, initiatives and acts of kindness. We have a number of House competitions each year which range from netball and singing to sunflower growing! From Form I (Year 3) upwards, Form Captains and Vice-Captains are elected each term by the girls, as are House Captains. All Lower III (Year 6) girls are given Prefect responsibilities including Music and Library roles, and girls are given specific monitor positions, chosen by staff.

TUTOR GROUPS HOUSE SYSTEM SHADOW

All new girls are assigned a Shadow from their prospective form who welcomes new girls and helps them settle into life at St Catherine’s.

All girls are assigned a different ‘partner’ or ‘buddy’ each week. By changing partners the members of the form become better acquainted with one another which encourages wider friendship groups.

All girls are closely monitored by their Form Teachers throughout their time at St Catherine’s. If a teacher feels that a pupil of any ability is having any difficulty in accessing the curriculum or requires more specialist support she will liaise with the Head of Academic Monitoring, Mrs Mudde, to put the necessary support in place to enable the girl to progress.

MEDICAL

If a girl becomes ill or is injured during the school day, she is seen initially by the Office Staff, all of whom are qualified in first aid, and where appropriate are referred to one of the six qualified nurses within the medical team, one of whom is always on duty. The school also has a resident psychologist who is available to offer advice and guidance to parents and staff.

St

prepadmissions@stcatherines.info

Catherine’s Prep School Station Road, Bramley, Guildford, GU5 0DF +44 (0)1483 899665