Katie moved to Our Lady of Sion School in Year 9 with an Art Scholarship
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Katie won an Art Scholarship to Our Lady of Sion School. She’s pictured here in the school’s airy Art Studio.
I looked at quite a few schools (independent and state) when I was working out where to study after I finished Year 8 at Sompting Abbotts. We visited Durrington High, Steyning Grammar, Davison High, Roedean and Our Lady of Sion.
A couple of my friends had chosen Sion for their senior school and when I went to look around it, I instantly liked it. The staff were friendly and the school felt calm and inviting and that it was a productive working environment.
For entrance acceptance, Sion requires you to take CATs (Cognitive Ability Tests). You can’t revise for them. They're more to assess your ability than your knowledge. They also determine the sets you're put in for your subjects. You have an interview, too, with the Headmaster, Mr Jeffery, who I found very easy to talk to. It wasn’t a stressful cross-examination. I felt that its purpose was more about the school learning about me and me learning about the school.
I chose to try for an Art Scholarship. It took a few months to prepare a portfolio to showcase all my different media. On the day itself, I had a freehand drawing exam and a short interview with Sion’s art teacher. She was lovely and the experience felt relaxed.
Now I’m here my day finishes at 3.40pm (rather than 4.30pm at Sompting Abbotts). But each day there's a big choice of after-school activities.
“Overall, I feel that going to Our Lady of Sion School has really helped with my independence.
Having a larger year group means you can meet more people. There are a lot of school trips and out-of-school activities, too, which makes school life exciting. As the school's in the centre of Worthing, you can go into town with your friends at the day's end, too.”
To get to school, I use the school minibus. It picks me up at 8:05 and gets me in by 8:20. Many other children get dropped, walk or take the train into school. Registration is at 8:30 and lessons start at 9, with assemblies on Mondays and Fridays.
Sion's bigger than Sompting Abbotts. So there's more bustle in the corridors when you’re moving between lessons. There are three forms (Delta, Gamma and Sigma) per year group. Each has around 15 pupils.
Settling in here has been easy. I got to know new people fast. Having the three separate form rooms made it less intimidating. There were smaller amounts of people to initially face!
One difference academically is the way in which Science is taught. Lessons are in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, rather than as a combined subject, with subject-specific teachers.
Also, all sport lessons here are co-ed. So you'll be with boys and girls for football, netball, squash, badminton etc. I’ve joined the Netball Club on a Friday afternoon, too.
Our Lady of Sion School
The ISC says: “Our Lady of Sion is a town centre co-educational school, founded in 1862, taking boys and girls from nursery through to sixth form. It offers a complete wrap-around education in a caring family community, and aims to help young people to reach their highest potential. GCSE and A-Level results are consistently good; the majority of students go on to higher education at their first choice universities.”
Muddy Stillettoes Sussex says: “Founded in 1862 by the Sisters of Sion, it’s part of the worldwide Sion family of schools but no longer observes just the Catholic faith, instead opening to all faiths and none.
Without a doubt, this is one of the most unique and personality-filled schools in the county. The curriculum is flexible and teachers relish the opportunity to be more driven by the children’s interests whilst maintaining academic excellence. The school is bustling but corridors are calm and many of the study spaces have a meditative feel. The more time spent at Sion, the more the school’s unique and outward-looking ethos of Consideration Always comes to life.
Good for: Curious, thoughtful, academic, creative, sensitive and community-minded children who will all thrive here and find their intelligence and outlook stimulated and developed while their wellbeing needs are met. Fees are more attainable than some other Sussex schools.
Not for: Super athletic types might prefer a more competitive sporting school. Facilities are thoughtful, unique and top-level in places, but won’t impress compared to some of the pricier, purpose-built independent schools.”
Sion consists of two blocks, A-Block and C-Block (Chapel Block). Chapel Block is the old school building that was used when Sion was an all-girls' Catholic school. It has been refurbished and had more classrooms built. It’s also where Vision (Sion's Sixth Form) is.
A-Block is Sion’s three-storey newer block, where most of the classrooms now are. The outside is not the prettiest. But the inside is a really warm and bright environment. It showcases student artwork and school trip photos. There's a courtyard between the two blocks and this serves as a social space during breaks. At the front of the school is astroturf and netball courts. There's also a larger courtyard with tables and benches to sit and have lunch. The courtyards are lively sociable places, especially in the warmer months.
“The class sizes are small enough here for you to get the attention and support you need from the teachers.
The year group, too, is large enough to give you lots of different people to become friends with. Most classes have three ability sets and like at Sompting Abbotts, the teachers are really supportive and encouraging.”
I feel like Sompting Abbotts' curriculum gave me a great grounding for starting here. I think the academic rigour (and pressure!) of the Common Entrance exams I did at Sompting Abbotts has helped give me a head start with my GCSEs.
I’m hoping to achieve ten GCSEs. I'll be doing Maths, combined Science and English, which are all mandatory subjects. I've also chosen Art, Triple Science, History and French.
I don't know exactly what career path I’ll take. Lately I’m considering a medical career, maybe dermatology. Whichever it is, I’ll be forever grateful to Sompting Abbotts and its brilliant teachers for shaping me into the person I am today and I’ll always remember my time at Sompting Abbotts as an amazing chapter in my life that will help guide me to a bright future!
“I feel like Sompting Abbotts' curriculum gave me a great grounding for starting here at Sion. I can tell that the academic rigour (and pressure!) of the Common Entrance exams I did at Sompting Abbotts have helped to give me a head start with my GCSEs.”
– Katie, pictured at Sompting Abbotts, far left
Read more leaver interviews here
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