St Helen and St Katharine was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) under Framework 23 in March 2025. The School was found to be fully compliant with all Independent School Standards and was particularly pleased that inspectors identified its co-curricular provision as a ‘Significant Strength’ of the school.
The school’s expertise in the education of girls and young women allows it to design its co-curricular programme, Beyond, specifically to their interests and with their development in mind. With over 100 clubs and societies each week – before school, during lunchtime and after school – from tennis, trampolining and taekwondo to Pi Club, Socratic Society and Tycoon Enterprise, Beyond offers opportunities to explore new activities, build confidence and make friends across year groups.
Headmistress Rebecca Dougall said: “We are very pleased indeed with these outcomes and are particularly proud that the inspection determined that our co-curricular provision is a ‘Significant Strength’. We are also delighted that our curriculum is described as “suitably academic and demanding, reflecting the needs and abilities of pupils”, and that the inspectors found that “many activities [are designed] to support pupils’ emotional and mental well-being as a balance to the focus of the academic curriculum”.
The school’s co-curricular programme provides a range of leadership opportunities empowering students to take initiative and shape their own experiences. They are encouraged to start and lead their own clubs, and new ideas emerge every term. Some of the school’s most popular clubs and societies – such as FabSoc, Pottery Club, British Sign Language Club, RPE Quiz Club and Sixth Form Tea & Talk – are all run by students.
Every May, students across the school take part in SHSK Beyond Week, which offers a range of fun and enriching experiences designed to encourage them to challenge themselves beyond the usual curriculum. Each year group follows a tailored programme which may include a bushcraft residential, a field trip to Lulworth, science-based visits to a theme park, well-being activities in nature, risk-themed workshops, self-defence training, a one-day film school and much more.
The Beyond co-curricular programme also offers a range of trips and expeditions with opportunities to explore diverse societies, environments and cultures – whether an A level Politics trip to the USA, a football tour to Sweden, a Geography trip to Iceland or – closer to home – an English literary retreat in Bath or an Art residential in Cornwall.
