Top Catholic school for Blair's girl
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Your support makes all the difference.KATHRYN BLAIR, the Prime Minister's daughter, is to attend a high- scoring Roman Catholic comprehensive where pupils hone their circus skills during lunch hours.
Downing Street warned the media yesterday to respect the privacy of the Prime Minister's children when it announced that Kathryn, 10, would start at Sacred Heart High School in Hammersmith, west London, in the autumn. She currently attends a state primary school near the Blairs' former home in Islington.
Kathryn will travel six miles across London with her brothers Euan and Nicholas, who attend another Roman Catholic school, the London Oratory.
Last year, 69 per cent of pupils at the Sacred Heart were awarded five or more top grades at GCSE. The year before, when it was one of the country's most improved state schools, the figure was 76 per cent. The London Oratory did better. Eighty-eight per cent of its pupils achieved five or more top grades.
Sacred Heart hit the headlines because community circus workers were teaching the girls stilt-walking, uni-cycling and juggling as part of a Duke of Edinburgh award programme.
The Blairs considered two other west London schools. The first, Lady Margaret in Parsons Green, Fulham - a Church of England school - does better in the league tables than the Sacred Heart, but was open to the objection that although the Prime Minister is an Anglican, his children are being brought up as Catholics.
They also visited Sion Manning, a Catholic school in Ladbroke Grove. Although only half its pupils achieved five top grades last year, the proportion has doubled since 1994.
A Downing Street spokesman said that the Prime Minister and Mrs Blair were grateful that there had been little intrusion into Kathryn's schooling to date. He pointed out that the Press Complaints Commission had strict guidelines restricting any reporter or photographer from disrupting the lives of school pupils.
Sacred Heart is six miles from Westminster, but only a short distance from the London Oratory. Founded in 1893, it is small for a secondary school, with 750 pupils.
Unlike the London Oratory, which was one of the leaders of the move to opt out of local authority control, the Sacred Heart is still run by Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Council.
Pupils who apply have to take the borough's standard maths, English and reasoning tests, which ensure there is an even spread of abilities.
Dr Christine Carpenter, a former nun who has run the school for the past eight years, said: "The school has always sought to promote the education of women and academic excellence for girls of all abilities. It was described by Ofsted as a very good school, which is well led, effective and consistently seeking to improve."
The Blairs' choice of the Oratory for their sons sparked anger within traditional Labour circles, fiercely opposed to schools opting out out of local authority control.
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