Enhancing your experience

SCOPE - PREPARING you for life beyond school

There’s more to a Sixth Form education than A Levels;  that is why we run SCOPE – the St Catherine’s Ongoing  Programme of Enrichment. For one hour a week you will enjoy lectures and specialist speakers on a range of subjects designed to help you approach the challenges of adult life. These have included: 

• Personal safety 
• Student finance 
• Current affairs 
• Safe driving 
• Healthy relationships, sexual consent, safe sex
• Interview techniques 
• Self-defence 
• Mental health 
• Work experience opportunities 
• Digital skills 
• Alcohol and drug awareness 
• Resilience for life 
• Budgeting 
• Staying well at University 

Sport

The sports facilities at St Catherine’s are second to none. We have a record of success at a national level in sports such as lacrosse, swimming, netball, cross country, and athletics and have fabulous sporting facilities such as a fully equipped fitness suite, our swimming pool and sports hall, trampolines, a squash court and athletics track.

Every Tuesday offers an afternoon of senior sport for the Sixth Form, an opportunity for you to enjoy a break from academics and to maintain your personal fitness. You will have the chance to enjoy netball, lacrosse, 
swimming, tennis, yoga, squash and fitness sessions. You can also pursue your own individual interests such as badminton or trampolining, or try something new, for instance, football. We are proud to field 5 senior lacrosse teams and 4 senior netball teams performing at the highest levels. Playing team sports helps you make friends, learn teamwork, show leadership, shape ambitions and form a competitive edge!   Individual sportswomen may pursue their own choice of specialist sports off-site with permission on Tuesday afternoon.

To find out more about Sports at St Cat's contact sports@stcatherines.info or click here

Music

In the Sixth Form there is a vast range of opportunities to continue singing or playing your instrument, or to try something new. You can use skills already learned and take part in a large number of musical ensembles such as Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Band and Camerata (our senior string ensemble). However, if you prefer to be part of a small group, there are chamber groups and smaller ensembles that you can join.

There are four choirs open to the Sixth Form: Senior Choir (non-auditioned), Chapel Choir (for boarders, non-auditioned), Senior Chamber Choir (auditioned) and Cantores (auditioned), with Cantores being made up of a small number of the best choral singers from L5 to U6. There really is something for everyone at all levels, and you will quickly make a lot of good friends in the Music Department! 

We have around 40 staff in the Music Department and offer indivividual lessons in a wide range of instruments and singing. Some students decide to take up a new instrument in the Sixth Form; many continue with instrumental lessons that they have been taking for years and some even work towards higher level exams such as diplomas. We are happy to teach at all levels, and there is no obligation to take exams if you do 
not want to. There are also lots of performance opportunities, with many informal and sectional concerts for all styles of music, including our much-loved Jazz and Rock Concert each year just before May half term. The Gala Concert on St Catherine’s Day in November sees our choirs and large ensembles showcase their talents. In the Sixth Form, you may also have the opportunity to lead a choir, orchestra or ensemble, and Music Scholars even perform a concerto movement.

Music at St Catherine's

Jennifer Bate Memorial Organ Scholarship

This is an exciting and valuable opportunity for a girl who plays the organ and would like to develop her all-round performance expertise. Jennifer Bate is an internationally acclaimed organist and a world authority on organ music. The JBOS is open to any student who meets our academic standards for Sixth Form entry and who can show she has the potential to maximise her talents through this Scholarship which is awarded in conjunction with Guildford Cathedral. A full bursary place may be available to support the Scholarship.

Love drama?

You'll love our Anniversary Halls with our 350 seat Auditorium, specialist tech box and lighting rigs, Stage Management Studio and black-out Drama Studio and Dressing Room.

You can get involved with our Middle and Senior School Productions, be on-stage or try your hand for the first time at stage-craft.  The highlight for our Sixth Form is the Sixth Form Musical, directed, produced and choreographed by members of the L6.  Recent productions have included Annie and High School Musical!  LAMDA lessons are also on offer.

To find out more about our Drama Department click here.

If you are interested in cooking, you might like to sign up for the Culinary Arts cookery course, a 15-week course which runs on Monday evenings during term-time. This takes place in our new Culinary Arts Studio which was opened in September 2022, which offers facilities that you would expect to see in a professional kitchen; think ‘MasterChef’! 

This course is charged as an extra, and is run by the Head of Food and Nutrition, Mr Philip Friend, finalist on BBC1’s Best Home Cook (2018). The course focuses on high-end cooking and covers a variety of cuisines and skills. You will make many exciting dishes and have a lot of fun in the process!

See the detail on the Culinary Arts Cookery Course 

The DUKE of EDINBURGH's award

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award is a well-respected and recognised achievement and you will enjoy an unforgettable experience. An impressive number of St Catherine’s girls complete this prestigious award during the Sixth Form years which also stands out on your CV and university application, while being very rewarding for its own sake.  At St Catherine's over 320 girls have completed their Gold DofE Award since 2010.

Find out more about The D of E Award

BUSINESS Enterprise - from 'TEACHER TOP TRUMPS to BUBBLE TEA'

Lower Sixth students have the opportunity to set up and run their own company through the St Catherine’s Business Enterprise Programme.  Students elect their own management team and allocate roles and 
responsibilities; design and produce a product of their own; raise start-up finance, and, finally, wind up the business, producing an end of year balance sheet and profit and loss account. Profits are then distributed to a chairyt of the Board's choosing.

The programme is designed to be run over a school year and, in this time, students improve their  understanding of enterprise and business whilst learning to work collaboratively. Typically, students meet once a week and there are regular sessions from teachers and experienced business professionals on the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to excel in the competitive, entrepreneurial world of today.

Curriculum Trips

You will be offered the opportunity to take part in trips both close to home and further afield. Some are curriculum focused, and will enable you to deepen your understanding and bring to life a topic which you may only have been able to study from a book. Other trips will take you out of your comfort zone, where you tap hidden depths in your own personality. Whatever you decide to do, St Catherine’s trips will contribute to your Sixth Form experience. Here is a flavour of what we have offered recently:

• Art & Photography - regular trips to London Galleries
• Biology - Field trips e.g. Juniper Hall, Dorking
• Business & Economics - BMW Mini Factory, City of London Immersive Experience
• Classics - Italy, Greece
• Geography - Field Study trips to Dorset and Iceland
• History of Art - Amsterdam
• Music - Sweden, Austria, Ireland 
• Politics - Houses of Parliament
• Sport - USA
• Theatre Studies - Edinburgh Fringe, London theatres

Expeditions

Sixth Form Expedition recent destinations include Borneo, Vietnam and Cambodia.  In 2025 the Sixth Form are planning a trip to Ecuador (political situation dependent) to complete an environmental conservation project. 

Travel Bursaries

Sixth Form students may also apply for three types of travel/project bursaries, worth in total over £3,500, to assist with financing Gap Year projects and travels.

Discussion & Debate

There are many occasions throughout the Sixth Form to get involved in talking about all sorts of issues. In Debating Club, there are plenty of opportunities for internal and external combative British Parliamentary style debates, whilst maintaining regular ‘friendly’ debates with other schools.  You may also choose to get involved with the Model United Nations Club.

Twice a year you'll enjoy a Sixth Form Lecture, with speakers addressing important issues as a means of curricular enrichment, with plenty of time for challenging questions!  Most recently we've welcomed polar explorer and adventurer Alex Hibbert and alumna Baroness Philippa Stroud, co-founder of The Centre for Social Justice. 

Charity Involvement

Raising money for good causes is a very important aspect of life at St Catherine’s, especially in the Sixth Form, and part of a long tradition.  There are three fundraising groups: the Charities Board, the Community Board and the Philanthropy Board.  The aims of charity involvement are:

• to promote an awareness of the international links we have as a School in Africa and Cambodia and any other links we form in future years.
• To attract funding for specific projects through fundraising activities.
• To be a focused group as a catalyst for 2 or 3 major fund raising events bringing together Upper and Lower Sixth girls to develop their skills and strengths in leadership and organisation.

You have the opportunity to get involved in:

• Sixth Form trips to various overseas destinations to complete projects which are supported by the charities board fundraising.  In 2022 the girls visited Borneo, in 2023 Cambodia and in 2025 they'll visit Ecuador (political situation allowing) to work with a conversation and environmental charity.
• Major fundraising events such as Sixth Form Christmas events, the Father-Daughter Dinner, The St Cat's Got Talent & Fashion Show, Film Fest and Music Fest.

Community Involvement

This group's aim is to make links with the local community.  They meet weekly and offer assistance to various projects within the village and local schools. 

Recent projects have included: creating an interactive mural at a local school, running stalls at the local village fete and supporting primary children with literacy.