St Anthony’s School for Girls, now in its fifth year, is going from strength to strength. Having opened in 2016, the sister school to the long- established St Anthony’s School for Boys, it is a thriving catholic preparatory school for girls.
Overlooking Golders Hill Park in NW11, children at St Anthony’s School for Girls enjoy the benefits of Learning in Nature, cross country running , lunch time play, Well- Being Walks and forays to the adventure playground, butterfly house, the stumpery, and the opportunity to observe the grazing deer, the docile donkeys, the ever patient owl, the ducks and Canadian geese.
Headteacher, Donal Brennan, having grown up on a farm on the west coast of Ireland, recognises the importance and benefits of a childhood enjoyed outdoors. Wherever possible, he encourages teachers to interweave outdoor learning into their timetables.
The values of the St Anthony’s Way guide the children at the school to become their best selves. The code of conduct guides all the children to trust in the importance of being kind, respectful, curious, inspiring and forgiving. The girls aspire to live by these values and are acknowledged for displaying these values in how they interact and learn. Weekly celebration assemblies are an occasion to reflect on these tenets.
Academically, the school is ambitious, inspiring all the girls to achieve their potential across the curriculum. A wide range of specialist staff offer Mandarin, French, Science, Drama, Music, Sports, Ballet, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Irish Dancing and Swimming.
Small classes led by highly motivated, caring teachers in bright and airy classroom, are a formula for happiness and success with time being the greatest gift given to the girls. Time to be, time to listen, time to engage and time to achieve at their pace. The school does not rush, nor does it hurry the children along. Instead, children are encouraged to devote their full attention to all tasks and challenges, giving their best effort in all that they do.
The senior Year 6 girls have reaped the reward of this approach to learning. These confident and assertive girls have achieved outstanding 11+ results in their examinations, receiving and accepting offers at a range of sought-after schools, including North London Collegiate, South Hampstead High, Francis Holland, Channing, Belmont, Queens College and Highgate School.
In the autumn of 2021, St Anthony’s Schools extended their provision to offer a nursery education to boys and girls aged 2 ½ to 4. Families seeking a nurturing, kind and emotionally enriching learning environment, have been delighted with the experience to date. The nursery children have enjoyed a very creative autumn term, finding treasure in the sandpit at Golders Hill Park, travelling to space in their bespoke spaceship, welcomed teddy bears to school on ‘Hug a Bear Day’ and discovered the fossilized remains of a prehistoric creatures during Dinosaur Week. The nursery children enjoy all aspects of the specialist curriculum, music and song assemblies, Whacky Wednesday Science lessons as well as themed school celebrations.
Proud of what they have achieved, St Anthony’s School for Girls and Nursery look forward to the next five years, feeling inspired by passionate young learners, eager to build upon the secure and solid foundations that have been put in place.
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