School of St Helen and St Katharine

The School of St Helen & St Katharine is an English independent girls' school, located in Abingdon.

History

The School of St Helen & St Katharine was originally two separate girls' schools, St Helen's School and St Katharine's School, founded in the early years of the twentieth century. The schools merged in 1938 to create the present school of St Helen & St Katharine.

The present school

The School of St Helen & St Katharine's buildings are numerous and have separate areas for more specialist subjects—7 science laboratories, a new block for modern languages and English, including a specialist Language Learning Centre, a performing arts centre containing a circular theatre, many music rooms, including music technology with a recording studio, an exhibition gallery and two modern sports halls. One is used for indoor sports such as netball and the other openned in 2005 with a specialist fitness suite, indoor area for gymnastics, trampolining, badminton, and large changing and teaching facilities. There is also a large outdoor swimming pool with two boards, lacrosse and rounders pitches, tennis and netball courts, long jump and triple jump sand pit, and grass running tracks.

Academics

The school boasts an excellent academic record, being placed in the Premier League by the " [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Daily Telegraph] " for both its 2005 GCSE and A-level results. St Helen's was ranked sixth nationally and was the top school in the Home Counties at A Level in the "Daily Telegraph" league table of 2005.

A Level100% Pass Rate at A Level.Nearly 90% at Grade A or B with over 71% at Grade A.44 candidates obtained 3, 4 or 5 A Grades (nearly 50% of candidates).12 candidates obtained 4 or 5 A Grades.There were 6 Distinctions and 16 Merits obtained at AEA.One candidate obtained 2 Scholarship grades on Mathematics STEP papers.

AS Level99.7% Pass Rate at AS Level.<87% at Grade A or B with 67.7% at Grade A.51 candidates obtained 3, 4 or 5 A Grades (nearly 60% of the candidates).29 obtained 4 or 5 A Grades (over 33% of the candidates).4 candidates obtained 5 A Grades.

GCSE101 candidates (1044.5 entries).99.95% A*-C.100% 5 A*-C including English, Maths, Science and MFL.53.5% of the results obtained were A*.85.1% of the results obtained were A* or A.22 girls obtained 9 or more A* grades.11 girls obtained 10 or more A* grades.9 girls obtained A* grades in all their subjects.

A large number of varying subjects are taught, Ancient History/Classical Civilization, Art and Design, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Computing/IT, Coordinated Science, Design & Technology (CDT), Drama/Theater Studies, Economics, English Language, English Literature, French, Further Mathematics, General Studies, Geography, German, Government/Politics, Greek, History, History of Art, Home Economics, Italian, Latin, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, Physics, Psychology, Religious Studies, Spanish

Some of the lessons in upper school are taught jointly with Abingdon School.

ports

The school sport teams were 2006 county champions in lacrosse, netball, basketball and tennis and individuals have gone on to represent their country in sailing, squash, rounders, lacrosse and more. The school fulfills the national curriculum requirements and offers a huge range of other sports including yoga, tai chi, street dance, fitness, judo and International Gameswhat|date=June 2008. The sports department also offer physical education for GCSE, AS and A Level.

The arts

The school has a strong creative arts sector, with girls being selected to join prestigious societies such as the Junior Music Conservatories, national music ensembles and the National Youth Theatre. There are many very high standard instrumentalists, some achieving diplomas and places at The Royal Academy of Music and the school provides orchestras, bands and many groups for them to join.

Extracurricular

The school has a large range of extracurricular activities available to the girls. These include dance classes, chess club, several choirs, debating and public speaking societies, drama clubs, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, many different musical orchestras and bands, pottery and Young Enterprise.

Notable Alumnae

*Samantha Cameron
*Hatti Dean

See also

* [http://www.shsk.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=welcome.index The School of St Helen and St Katharine Website]
* [http://www.isc.co.uk/index.php/40/1083 Independent Schools Council Website]
* [http://www.gsa.uk.com/ Girls' Schools Association]
* [http://www.shsk.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.content&cmid=195 The school's ISI Inspection Report]