St. Katherines School

0/10

Located in a beautiful rural setting, St Katherines School is a good state school that used to be an excellent option for all the children who didn’t get into the better state schools in Bristol. I went here between years 7 and 11, before going back to a school in the city for 6^th form, and my experience on the whole was a positive one.
It may seem a bit far out for inner city Bristol children to travel to, but hop on the school bus in the morning (albeit a bit bleary eyed) and you’re there in 40 minutes (that’s how long it took me, but mine was one of the furthest stops). They take children from a very large catchment area, but mostly they come from the village in which it’s situated (Pill), Shirehampton (just over the river back into Bristol), Sea Mills, and further into the centre form areas like Westbury Park and Bishopston. This allows for a wide variety of children to attend, so there’s a diverse mix of cultures and backgrounds.
It looks like it’s changed a lot since I went there — they wear blazers now, for a start. But things have only seemingly got better, and it wasn’t a bad school when I attended. They’re a flagship school for the Food for Life project, which endeavours to make school dinners healthier and more sustainable. They received an outstanding ofsted report in 2008 which has earned them status as a ‘High Performing Specialist School’ and a ‘Lead School for Gifted and Talented’, which are both clearly good things for the school’s reputation and a testament to its success as an excellent establishment for education. I would highly recommend for any parents choosing options for their children to seriously consider St Katherines as an option.