St Christopher's School A GSG School

What The Good Schools Guide says

Head

Since 2020, Sandrine Paillasse BA MA MSc PGCE. Ms Paillasse, originally from Nice, arrived in England at 17 to study English, before taking a BA in communication at Guildhall University, a master’s in science, culture and communication at Bath University, and a PGCE at the University of Gloucestershire. After several years teaching languages in international schools in Kuwait and Tanzania, she returned to the UK, working in challenging comprehensives in London, before transferring to the independent sector. She has held senior positions at Queen’s College, South Hampstead High School (where she was acting head) and, most recently, was deputy head, director of pastoral care, at St Paul’s Girls’ School. She is also a qualified and practising psychotherapist.

When approached to head St Christopher’s after a career in secondary education, she was intrigued. ‘All my therapy work is about childhood, and though I’d never worked at a prep, this seemed a good challenge.’ Since her arrival during Covid, she has thoughtfully integrated the best of the old with the best of the new, researching and communicating her strategy through focus groups, forums, coffee mornings and parent days (as well as her informative Friday newsletter). Recently married to Antoine, a human-rights lawyer practising in Paris, she does a regular weekend commute and, in her spare (!) time, enjoys yoga, running, cooking and writing. Parents’ view of her is hugely positive. ‘Ms Paillasse is terrific,’ said one. ‘She’s very present, knows all the girls by name and what they’re doing.’ ‘She just has a way with girls,’ said another. ‘Plus, she’s strong enough to manage the parents.’

Entrance

About 250 apply for up to 40 places in reception. From September 2024 the intake will be a double reception class entry, not split between reception and year 1 as previously. Siblings (usually about six or seven annually) are accepted automatically ‘unless we feel we really can’t support their needs’. For the rest, the school does its best to ease parental qualms about assessment (‘It’s intended to be no different to half a day at nursery’), when experienced staff look for ‘curiosity and engagement - things you can’t train for’.

Exit

Now, as always, excellent preparation for 11+, starting with a how-to guide in year 5, followed by more tailored guidance from the head and deputy as deadlines for choice approach. The school sends a good chunk to London’s top academic schools. Most popular choices in 20923 were Francis Holland, Channing, Godolphin & Latymer and South Hampstead High. Others to JCOSS, Haileybury, Highgate and NLCS.
Pupils often win scholarships, but the school ensures its wider intake is alert to the multitude of day and boarding options available. ‘We want to broaden parents’ horizons,’ says the head, and recent leavers have proceeded to Oundle, Haileybury, Berkhampsted, Brighton College and Queenswood, among others. Some to the state sector, selective and non.

Our view

St Christopher’s has four current or former head teachers on its board of governors and was recently shortlisted for the Times Educational Supplement Prep School of the Year, so, perhaps unsurprisingly, teaching here very much delivers on its promise to provide an ‘inspirational educational experience’. ‘I thought my daughter’s reception teacher was the best we’d ever had,’ said one mother of four children at various schools. ‘Then she moved into year 1.’ Teachers are incentivised to stay – with a staff library, book tokens - and given focused career progression. ‘We want girls to get the best teaching,’ says the head, ‘and we invest in professional development so teachers remain on top of their game.’

The foundation of a St Christopher’s education is providing ‘future-facing skills’ delivered through a cross-curricular approach which unites the traditional girls-school territory of languages and the arts with science and technology. ‘We try to make creative links and ensure subjects are not siloed,’ said one teacher. In a recent project in digital technology, for example, girls programmed robots, produced CAD designs, and choreographed a robot dance battle. Science is taught from reception, with up to two hours of specialist science teaching timetabled weekly from year 3. A dedicated IT suite ensures girls develop sophisticated computer skills.

Problem solving and creativity are also a focus, with chess and philosophy both part of the curriculum, and classrooms transformed into ‘ideas hubs’, where girls can ‘find problems to solve’. A rainbow of Edward De Bono’s ‘thinking hats’, hung in every form, offers a further holistic toolkit. ‘They provide routes to sift through information,’ said one teacher. ‘Sometimes, a feeling can be as true as a fact.’ Specialist subject teaching in modern languages (Spanish), music, digital technology and PE from reception, in everything else from year 3. Latin from year 5, and Greek, French and Italian all offered as clubs. Outdoor learning another key strand, with an open-air classroom and termly Heath Days on nearby Hampstead Heath intended to develop pupils’ ‘agency and responsibility for the environment and community’. Parents very much value these additions. ‘Heath Days are great, they truly embrace where we live.’

Though its higgledy-piggledy site makes it tricky for those with physical disabilities (even with a lift), St Christopher’s can support most learning needs. ‘Learning enrichment’ is ‘big’, but strong underpinnings, too, for those with dyslexia and dyscalculia. (Staff, for example, pre-read comprehension texts to maximise participation in lessons.)

Sport is well catered for, with younger pupils doing games one hour a week, years 5 and 6 a full afternoon. All-weather, floodlit courts on site are used for netball and football; cricket, rounders, cross country and athletics take place on nearby Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill. A-C teams enable all girls to compete against other schools from year 4.

The creative arts are important, and girls explore a wide range of media in a light and spacious art room. Art history is taught as a distinct subject, visiting artists provide inspiration for lessons and the school has formed a partnership with the Wallace Collection. Girls are also encouraged to take part in local and national art competitions. (A recent project was commended by the Tate and shared nationwide.) Music is a further strength. Every pupil sings in one of three choirs, and more than half take individual instrumental lessons, with plenty of opportunity to perform as part of the school orchestra or multitude of ensembles (guitar, ukulele, piano, string group, wind band, recorder). Wide range of clubs, from sport and healthy living (judo, table tennis, forest school) and academic (science, debating) to the more creative (digital animation and photography) and just fun (games). Girls are keen adopters, but parents occasionally have to be dissuaded from viewing these as CV-building exercises. ‘The head is very firm,’ said one parent. ‘She says, “We do clubs to discover new things and meet girls from other classes, not to mention at 11+ interviews.”’

Founded in 1883, St Christopher’s moved to its current location, a substantial Victorian villa, in 1919. The school still benefits from a glorious sweep of staircase, but has now been modernised and updated in every direction, from the head’s stylish mid-century modern study to the duplex library and well-equipped playgrounds, which include a science garden and outdoor stage.

The head’s therapeutic training informs her approach to pastoral care, and mental health is as much a priority as academic stretch. ‘Excellent academic results are a side effect of happy, confident, curious children,’ she says. ‘We want our pupils to be resilient and engage with their own wellbeing.’ Two recently appointed emotional-literacy support assistants – one for the upper, one for the lower school - offer one-to-one sessions, and external experts are called on where appropriate. All pupils take time out daily for mindfulness. ‘They come back from lunch and ground themselves with breathing, colouring, music.’ Parents, too, are educated on themes like friendships and sibling rivalry, while joint activities with nearby boys’ schools (The Hall, Hereward House) and partner state schools ease the path to adolescence. Both girls and parents are schooled in digital hygiene, with phones not permitted for younger pupils and those of year 6 deposited at the door. Pupils are generally kind, respectful and tolerant, and social issues dealt with promptly. ‘Friendship groups are discussed at weekly staff meetings, and monitored by everyone.’

A renewed spotlight on inclusion led to an external consultation, staff training, an audit of the library, and a shift in recruitment. ‘About half the pupils are of ethnic minority or mixed race, but we want to open them up to other forms of diversity, such as neurodiversity.’ Parents and pupils are extremely charitable, raising large sums for Ukrainian refugees and their partnership school in Sierra Leone, amongst other good causes.

Traditionally, St Christopher’s parents came from the banking, legal and hedge-funding professions, but shifts in the local ecosystem have expanded the demographic to new media and other 21st-century occupations, shifting the dial on what a good education entails. ‘They love the fact their children do not spend all day looking at a screen; they’re well versed in the dangers of digital.’ The majority live within walking distance or adjoining NW postcodes. Pupils are articulate, well informed, confident – and high achieving. ‘We chose the school because the girls seemed happy, confident and kind,’ said one mother. ‘We wanted something similar.’

Money matters

Of school income, 2.5 per cent is devoted to bursary and hardship funding, with grateful departing parents often donating their deposits.

The last word

A high-achieving school offering an exciting, forward-looking education, now with firm leadership after a few turbulent few years.

Special Education Needs

Equivalent of 4 days support for children with mild learning or coordination difficulties.

Leavers' destinations

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