St Mary's Calne
St Mary’s Calne is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11-18, a happy, purposeful and flourishing community of around 350 pupils with an 80 per cent to 20 per cent boarding to day ratio.
Location:
Located near the market town of Calne and amid the Wiltshire Downs, an area of stunning natural beauty and historical significance, St Mary’s Calne is also within easy reach of the university towns of Bath, Bristol and Oxford and just over an hour by train from London.
School Motto: ‘Calne girls Can’
Our ideal location means that our girls benefit from a huge range of curriculum-enhancing opportunities as well as extra-curricular ones.
We provide an exceptional, all-round education for girls. What makes St Mary’s Calne a really distinctive school is its special blend of excellence in pastoral care and academic development in a nurturing environment. The girls are articulate and confident as well as warm and caring, taking an active part in local community service. The St Mary’s staff are highly professional: their dedication underpins the warmth and vibrancy of this boarding community where the individual girl matters most.
In the 2017 ISI report, the school attained the highest ranking and the inspectors commented on how well-balanced and confident the girls at St Mary’s Calne are, “Pupils are well-rounded, articulate and self-confident young people who leave the school able to face the future with confidence.” (ISI Report, 2017)
Results at St Mary’s Calne
Academically, St Mary’s Calne girls achieve outstanding results and the overwhelming majority of girls gain places at their first-choice university. In The Sunday Times Parent Power 2018 Schools Guide, (published November 2017), St Mary’s Calne was the top performing independent school in the South West and 35th nationally (based on 2017 GCSE and A Level results). The school is also just one of ten in the UK (and the first independent school) to have been awarded the prestigious Platinum Science Mark Award. This award is a quality standard designed to recognise and celebrate inspiring practice in secondary school Science departments across the UK and it is testament to the excellent Science teaching and innovation at the school.
Girls go on to study a diverse range of subjects at their chosen universities. In 2017, almost 90 per cent of the girls secured their first choice of university and went on to study at a range of leading Russell Group universities including: Oxford, Cambridge, Cardiff, Birmingham, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, LSE, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton and Warwick.
The girls are now studying a diverse range of subjects at their chosen universities, including: Anthropology & Archaeology, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Business Management, Computer Science, Drama, Economics, English, Fine Art, Finance, French, Geography, History, History of Art, International Relations, Law, Mathematics, Medicine, Modern Languages & Cultures, Natural Sciences, PPE, Philosophy & Theology, Psychology and Social Anthropology.
Founded in 1873, the school has been providing an outstanding education for girls for 140 years, and our alumnae have prominent positions in every profession from law, politics and medicine to the arts, drama and sport. There is a strong tradition of the core academic subjects and strength in science and mathematics, as well as modern languages, arts and humanities. Our Sixth Form is flourishing and highly successful, with over 110 girls.
Sports, music and art at St Mary’s Calne
We offer an enormous range of opportunities for every girl in sport, music, art, drama and more. In sport we have skiing, horse riding and fencing as well as hockey, netball, lacrosse and tennis. Large numbers of girls play lacrosse at County level, with many going on to play for the South West, England and Wales Academy Squads and National Teams.
Girls regularly compete at the British Schoolgirls’ Ski Races in Flaine and the Public Schools’ Fencing Competition at Crystal Palace and our equestrians have represented GB at an international level.
Many of the girls are also keen athletes and in 2017 Year 7 pupil, Harriet, became the U12 Champion at the British Modern Biathlon Championships.
Our girls take part in Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and school trips to extraordinary locations, from Iceland to China. Music is central to school life, from Chapel services to Gala Concerts. There are over 13 different groups and ensembles, including: Opera Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Choir, Junior Choir, Junior Consort and String Sinfonia. The girls sing in our renowned choirs and play in our orchestra – and take their music to faraway places from Italy to America. Their creativity and flair are in evidence in our superb drama productions and artwork. The girls also excel in the Young Enterprise programme and in 2017 the Young Enterprise team won the Regional Final and went on to the National final in London.
St Mary’s girls become independent thinkers and responsible citizens, empowered for the future and ready to take their place in the world as generations of our inspiring alumnae have done. The school has great traditions and is proud to be a vital part of the local community.
If you would like to arrange a visit to the school, do contact us on admissions@stmaryscalne.org, tel +44 (0)1249 857200 or visit www.stmaryscalne.org for further information.
