Independent Catholic Boarding & Day School - Rye St Antony School Oxford UK

To make your first visit, please contact Liz Cheeseman or Fern Saxton in the School Office, and Liz or Fern will put arrangements into place for you (Telephone 01865 762802).

Visits can be made at any point during they year. The best time to visit is during an ordinary school day so that you can see lessons in progress. All visits include a meeting with Miss Jones, the Headmistress.

Girls are admitted to the main school from the age of 4 onwards; there are some places for boys aged between 4 and 8. Many pupils join at the start of a school year in September, but others join during the year at the start of the Hilary Term or Trinity Term, and some pupils join, if circumstances require it, in the course of a term. Applicants are considered on their individual merits: academic potential, potential in art, music, drama and sport, and personal qualities are all taken into account. Priority is given to Roman Catholics and siblings.

All applicants and their parents are invited first to visit the school in order to make a tour of it with a member of staff or a Senior School pupil. Following the tour, the applicant and parents meet with the Headmistress to discuss entrance procedures and plans for the future.

Applicants to Nursery School (children aged 3 - 5) are invited to visit and meet the children and staff. Places are then offered and registrations invited. There is no automatic transfer from the Nursery School to the Junior School: separate application must be made for places in the Junior School.

Applicants aged between 4 and 11 are invited for an assessment day visit, spending the day with their contemporaries, and throughout the day completing informal numeracy and literacy assessments. The day’s visit, the interview with the Headmistress and the report which the Headteacher of the applicant's current school is invited to submit help the staff to get to know the applicant's character, work and interests. Applicants for boarding places are invited to combine their day's visit with an overnight stay. There is an Induction Afternoon each June for pupils already in the Junior School and those new pupils who will join them in September.

Applicants for 11+ entry take the Common Entrance Examination, and candidates should be registered with the Independent Schools Examinations Board at the start of the school year prior to entry. Mrs Liz Cheeseman will help with registration arrangements. There are papers in English, Mathematics and Science, and the examination is taken in January either at the candidate's current school or at Rye St Antony. The examination is independent of the National Curriculum but in line with it, and it is designed to be accessible to pupils from both independent and maintained schools. It is set by examiners appointed by the Independent Schools Examinations Board but marked by staff at the school which the candidate hopes to enter and according to the school's own standard. Should a candidate be unsuccessful in the application to the first-choice school, the examination papers can be passed on to other schools.

Further details of the Common Entrance Examination can be obtained from the School Office. Copies of syllabuses and past papers can be purchased from CE Publications Limited, Independent Schools Examinations Board, Jordan House, Christchurch Road, New Milton, Hampshire, BH25 6QJ (telephone 01425 10016/621111, fax 01425 620044).

In the year prior to entry, usually during the Michaelmas Term, applicants are invited to spend the day with their contemporaries in Year 6 getting to know pupils and staff during an ordinary day's lessons and activities. Before departure, the visiting pupil and her parent(s) meet with the Headmistress to review the day. Applicants for boarding places are invited to combine their day's visit with an overnight stay.

Girls transferring from the Junior School to the Senior School take no extra examination: they are accepted into the Senior School on the strength of their work during their time in the Junior School. Specialist subject teaching in Years 5 and 6 means that girls already know, and are known to, a number of Senior School staff. Junior School profiles and samples of work are passed to Senior School staff to ensure continuity and progression. There is a Senior School Induction Day each June for Year 6 pupils and those new girls who will join them in Year 7 in September.

Applicants for 12+, 13+ and 14+ entry are invited to take Rye St Antony’s own entrance examination papers. Most applicants will take the papers at Rye St Antony, combining the examination with a day with their contemporaries, getting to know pupils and staff during an ordinary day's lessons and activities. Arrangements can be made, however, for a girl to take the entrance papers at her present school in cases where such arrangements are needed. The 12+, 13+ and 14+ examinations consist of two papers: a one-hour English paper and a one-hour Mathematics paper. The English paper tests the ability to read a passage and answer questions on it, and candidates also write a short composition. The Mathematics paper tests numeracy skills through a range of short questions. The examination work, the earlier interview with the Headmistress and the report from the Headteacher of the applicant's current school help the staff to assess the applicant and place her in appropriate teaching groups. Applicants for boarding places are invited to combine their day's visit with an overnight stay.

Applicants for Sixth Form are not asked to sit a written examination but should achieve grade C or above in a minimum of 5 GCSE (or equivalent) subjects, with grade B or above in those subjects which they wish to continue studying at AS/A Level. The day visit for applicants for Sixth Form is optional.

Formal offers of places, both firm offers and waiting list offers, are made by letter during the fortnight following the main assessment. Parents of any applicant who is not offered a place are notified by letter during this period. Parents are asked to confirm in writing their acceptance of a place, enclosing the registration form and the registration fee of £150.