St Margaret's School (London) A GSG School

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All-through school (for example 3-18 years). - An all-through school covers junior and senior education. It may start at 3 or 4, or later, and continue through to 16 or 18. Some all-through schools set exams at 11 or 13 that pupils must pass to move on.

What The Good Schools Guide says

Principal

Since 2008, Mark Webster BSc PGCE (Cantab). From a diplomatic family, Mr Webster boarded at Highgate School before studying psychology at UCL ‘with no practical ambition in mind’. Worked successfully in medical publishing, until a ‘water-cooler moment’ inspired him to become a teacher. ‘I met someone who said their job in teaching was fantastic. I’d never known anyone who felt that way about work before.’ After training at Homerton College, Cambridge, he spent 15 years at the Royal School, an all-girls boarding school in Hampstead (now closed), becoming deputy head, then acting head. He enjoys running a small school: ‘Every job is about people and in a small school people are not just data points, you really get to know them.’ A father figure, he keeps a close watch on everything from his multi-windowed office just next to the front door, operating a wide-open-door policy.

Parents and girls give him the biggest thumbs-up. ‘He’s one of the most enchanting people,’ said one mother. ‘He has a big smiley face; no one is scared of him.’ ‘He’s thoughtful and kind,’ said another. ‘He puts the pupils first and always has time for you. He empowers the girls, letting them be themselves.’ He continues to teach – GCSE psychology – and bikes in from his north London home at 6am daily to ensure the school operates ‘like a well-oiled machine’. Married to a teacher, he has two teenage sons and, in his spare time, is a keen football player and Liverpool season-ticket holder.

Entrance

A tiny school with only 10 girls in reception and a maximum of 16 per year thereafter, so the number of those applying will always exceed the number of places available, particularly in years 5 and 6, when parents queue up to sidestep 11+. Early-years applicants are given a ‘benign assessment’, with the school looking ‘for those who would respond well to the environment’. Until recently, St Margaret’s set their own exams for the six or so places available in year 7 but, in 2022, joined the London 11+ Consortium, a move partly designed to raise its low-key profile. Now all applicants sit the Consortium common exam and are interviewed at the school. ‘With years of experience, we feel we know “a St Margaret’s girl”,’ says the head. ‘The main qualities we’re looking for are: being nice to each other, working hard, and being well behaved. The academic side is, of course, relevant, but far more significant is whether they fit in in terms of their personality.’

Exit

One or two depart at 11 – mainly for selective secondaries in the independent and state sectors, such as South Hampstead and Henrietta Barnett – but, as the head firmly states, no specific preparation is provided. Most parents are more than content to remain. ‘We’re not even looking at other schools,’ said one. ‘My daughter gets along with everyone, knows everyone by name. I love the philosophy that if we invest in your daughter, she’s coming with us on this journey.’ All move on post-GCSE, when careful support is given to help families draw up an appropriate long list and prepare for interview. ‘We encourage them to look at sixth form as personal development,’ says the head. ‘One of the things we’re most proud of is that they all have the confidence to try for high-achieving schools.’ At this juncture, popular destinations include: Highgate, UCS, South Hampstead, Queen’s College, as well as state sixth forms, such as St Marylebone, Henrietta Barnett, Woodhouse College and Camden School for Girls.

Latest results

In 2023, 73 per cent 9-7 at GCSE. In 2019 (the last pre-pandemic results), 58 per cent 9-7 at GCSE.

Teaching and learning

Apart from the early years, the national curriculum is followed throughout, but teachers are given autonomy to go above and beyond. ‘Because the class size is small, they can work faster and have time to move laterally,’ says the head, and an ‘enhanced’ curriculum allows for the inclusion of subjects like Latin. (‘We work on the basis of breadth, and no one ever regrets having studied Latin.’) Technology used skilfully and thoughtfully, with all girls provided with a Chromebook from year 3. Staff are experienced (‘We don’t employ any newly qualified teachers’) and generally long serving. ‘On average, teachers stay at least eight years, which means they get to know girls very well,’ says the head.

At GCSE, all girls sit a compulsory core (English language, English literature, double science, mathematics), laying a broad foundation for the future. ‘We feel 14 is too young for girls to narrow their options, and these subjects give them the space to consider a lot of things,’ says the head. He defends the decision, too, to offer double science, rather than all three sciences. ‘We track our leavers to sixth form and university, and find there’s a clear majority of girls taking science at high-calibre sixth forms and Russell Group universities.’ A modern language (French or Spanish) is, in theory, also a requirement, but the school does not take a hard line. ‘That’s a further advantage of a small school, you can make loads of exceptions.’ Beyond the fundamentals, the range is streamlined but solid: geography, history, music, drama, art and design, further maths and Latin (taught online). Computer science - because ‘it offers a unique place in the curriculum’ - and psychology, added by popular demand, are also part of the mix, and the school is willing to cater for individual requests, Italian being one recent example. Results overall are strong for a relatively non-selective school. ‘If a girl has the aptitude, she will get the grades here. About one fifth get straight 9s.’ An outcome achieved with minimal setting (only in maths from year 7), and maximum teacher attention. ‘The school knows every girl personally and knows their personality, so they can work with them individually and understand what they need,’ said one mother.

Learning support and SEN

The school uses advanced data collection to ensure teachers are well informed about progress and problems, and learning difficulties are overseen by an experienced SENCo, who develops appropriate individual programmes, with external help called on if required. ‘We have plenty of girls with dyslexia, some with hypermobility and mild autism, a few with dyscalculia.’ Not all difficulties, however, can be met. ‘We’re very honest and open with parents. We don’t have the depth of support if someone is struggling to access the curriculum.’ This includes those on the foothills of English. ‘In reception it’s not a problem, and we have occasionally taken someone up till year 9, but only if their history suggests they can cope. We would not take someone if we felt they could become disengaged.’

The arts and extracurricular

On our visit, we were greeted by the full squeak of early-stage musicians, but everyone leaves the junior school able to read music, use a keyboard and play the ukulele. More formal music instruction begins in year 3, with individual instrumental lessons facilitated by up-to-date practice rooms and plenty of opportunities to perform. Pupils regularly display their skills at teatime concerts, where debutantes play alongside conservatoire aspirants, and year 9’s St Margaret’s Got Talent is equally inclusive with about half the school singing or playing an instrument. ‘It’s key that everyone can have a go,’ says the head. ‘No one feels daft, and everyone cheers for all.’ Art well taught by a specialist from year 3 in a light, top-floor art room, ensuring a strong outcome at GCSE, when ‘just about everyone gets an 8 or 9’.



Art, music and sport are all central to the school’s mission to build confidence. ‘What we hope to do is shine a light on different skills. Everything has equal value in different contexts, and we want girls to see that a brilliant artist has equal status to someone who is good at maths.’ This holistic vision is further underlined in the extracurricular programme, a fundamental strand of Mr Webster’s educational philosophy. ‘When I left school, I knew nothing about anything and I want our girls’ skill set to be as varied and rich as possible, improving their personal development and cultural awareness.’ His accessible route to this end was to create a colourful little booklet entitled 125 Things to Do, a tick-list of activities ranging from making and flipping a pancake to writing a letter to a newspaper. Celebrated art historian Sir Ernst Gombrich was Mr Webster’s own inspiration. ‘In The Story of Art, Gombrich says, “I cannot tell you why something is great art, but I can tell you why other people think it is important.” I want everyone to be able to talk about artists and understand why they’re highly regarded.’

Girls are assiduous at taking up what’s on offer. ‘There are so many opportunities,’ said one parent. ‘My daughter’s been to every museum in London and sung in a choir with 1,500 kids at the O2 centre.’ Another praised how the approach had helped her year 4 daughter blossom. ‘In a recent jazz dance performance, she was right in the middle of the stage. It was a big surprise for me. The change in her from reception is extraordinary, she’s a completely different person.’

Sport

Apart from a well-equipped, Astroturfed playground, St Margaret’s has negligible outside space, but imaginative use is made of a multitude of north London sports venues, and three PE teachers (with the help of two minibuses) introduce girls to a wide range of activities, from swimming, football and netball to hockey, tennis, rounders, orienteering, squash, trampolining and aerobics. All do gymnastics at a school round the corner; older pupils travel to Welsh Harp to row and sail.

Ethos and heritage

Founded in 1884, St Margaret’s moved to its present site - a large, red-brick villa in Hampstead - in 1954, and the head has taken this house-like backdrop as a leitmotif. ‘When I first took over,’ he recalls, ‘the school still had a very traditional housekeeper, who would not even let me open the curtains for myself. Then the penny dropped. It’s a school that’s a house.’ That thought has continued to form the base of his recruitment and admissions strategy. ‘I ask myself, “What sort of people do you want to share a house with?”’ Unsurprisingly, the house system is very much a pillar of pastoral care, with an entire wall hand-painted with the school’s ‘family tree’. Pupils are allocated a ‘branch’ at the outset, with older girls taking responsibility for younger ones (an analogy that, perhaps, works better for the youngest, since one senior girl, when questioned, had momentarily forgotten the name of her house). The library, too, has been dissolved as a formal space and replaced with bookshelves scattered in nooks and crannies, where girls can take down a book and read as at home. ‘It changes the way the school feels.’ It’s an approach that also informs the extracurricular. ‘The difference between a house and an institution is that in a large institution, you have to opt in and fight to do something; here, everyone has to have a go at everything.’ The prep school and senior school have different uniforms, but occupy the same space, and two senior ‘agony aunts’ are available at all times for confidential chats. ‘It has the atmosphere of a big family,’ said one parent. ‘You’re never dismissed; it has a really nurturing, homely feel.’

The updating of facilities is equally domestic, with spick-and-span interiors and regular thoughtful additions, such as the new building in the playground able to accommodate whole-school assemblies, drama and science. A small roof terrace has also recently been transformed into a ‘wellbeing space’, providing somewhere for girls ‘to just sit and take themselves away from everything’.

Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline

This is a school of very well-behaved girls. ‘The last detention was more than a decade ago,’ says the head. But, as he freely admits, it is no ‘nirvana’. ‘There are, of course, interpersonal issues, but when things do happen, we can throw a lot of resources at it.’ Parents agree. ‘My daughter has passed through a few friendship groups, with petty jealousies. These were immediately dealt with. They have strong form teachers who can manage situations effectively.’ The head believes there are perhaps fewer relationship issues here than elsewhere because girls ‘grow up together’, and living and working in close proximity requires them to work out how to get along. ‘Girls themselves stop the bullying.’

All parents stressed the benefits of the school’s scale (‘My daughter was painfully shy and we didn’t think she’d thrive in a big school. At St Margaret’s, she immediately felt relaxed, so we felt relaxed’) and the positive atmosphere (‘If my daughter’s off sick, she can’t wait to get back to school’). Older entrants are often grateful escapees from less cosseting environments. ‘At their previous school, they may not have been in “cool” group, or may have felt a sense of anonymity, which is soul destroying and confidence sapping,’ says the head. ‘Here, everyone has a voice.’

For those with deeper-seated issues, there’s a school counsellor, with girls referred by teachers or parents. On our visit, for example, a new pupil in secondary school who’d arrived that morning in a weepy state was comforted in the office, before being returned to class composed. ‘I love the fact that they’re just so interested in the children they have in their care,’ said one mother. No phones in school contributes to the sense of calm. One of the few quibbles we heard was about the limited interaction with boys, but parents are content that this is being addressed.

Pupils and parents

About 60 per cent of families - from a multitude of ethnicities and backgrounds - live within walking distance, though some travel from as far afield as Muswell Hill and Islington. Atypical of the area, perhaps, they are a trusting bunch, who have chosen the school for a reason, and feel sufficiently confident to let them get on with it. ‘There’s no sword of Damocles hanging over their daughters, so parents don’t tend to micromanage,’ says the head. ‘They’re content to let their daughter demonstrate what she is capable of.’ Girls are happy, confident and articulate, and well qualified to move on to the next stage in their education. ‘We decided on the school after hearing a year 7 girl talk at an open evening. When the audience questions dried up, she wasn’t thrown, she just continued to describe what she liked about the school. There are very few adolescent girls who would be able to do that; we were so impressed.’

Money matters

Fees are relatively competitive compared to local independents, and money is managed tightly, with a ‘tidy surplus’ reinvested to pay for school improvements. Bursaries of up to 100 per cent are available.

The last word

Cosy, nurturing, rounded and grounded education delivered in a happy family atmosphere.

Special Education Needs

The school is able to support girls with moderate learning issues such as dyslexia, mild dyscalculia and dyspraxia. The school is small and we do not have the same depth of support that a larger school might be able to offer, but there are Junior and Senior SENCos, each with a responsibility to co-ordinate the process of supporting girls with diagnoses or evident weaknesses in particular areas. The majority of girls' needs are addressed by their teachers, as the small classes afford them time to offer more help to each girl in the room. However, where a girl requires extra support, individual or group support lessons complement the classroom help.

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