St Mary's School is an independent day and boarding school in Calne, Wiltshire, for girls aged 11 to 18. The school is a registered charity. St Mary's Calne is the top performing independent school in the South West, ranked by 2017 examination results published in The Sunday Times Schools Guide 2018, 'Parent Power' and ranks in the top 3 best girls' boarding schools in the Education Advisers' Best UK Schools list.
History
St Mary's was founded in 1873 by Canon John Duncan, Vicar of Calne, who worked for over thirty years to establish it as an 'outstanding' girls' school.
Performance
In the 2017 ISI report, the school received a double 'excellent' – the highest possible grade – and the pupils consistently achieve outstanding examination results. In figures published in January 2017 by the Department for Education regarding 2016 A Level results, St Mary's Calne got the top score for its 'value added' – that is, how much progress students who studied A Levels made between the end of Key Stage 4 and the end of their A Level studies, compared to similar students across England. St Mary's Calne scored 'well above the national average', to be in the top 4% of schools in England with this value added score. In A Level league tables published by The Telegraph in January 2017, based on DfE figures for 2016 A Level results, St Mary's Calne was the top performing school in the region.
Houses and Companies
The school is divided into five Companies, all named after bishops with local connections: Edmund Rich, Grosseteste, Moberly, Osmund, and Poore. Each girl remains in the same Company throughout her time at the school. The Companies are similar to houses in other independent schools, except that they have nothing to do with the house a girl sleeps in. The Companies compete in sport, drama, music, and other activities such as quizzes, public speaking, and maths challenges. There are seven boarding houses, for each year group from LIV to UVI. The houses are School House, St. Prisca's, St. Cecilia's, Gibbins, Joyce Walters, Florence Dyas, and Helen Wright. The newest house is Florence Dyas, the LVI house, which was opened in September 2014.
Facilities
Around 80% of the girls board, and day girls can sleep over. Between the ages of eleven and fourteen, girls sleep in dormitories in three junior houses, each of which has a Housemistress and a Deputy Housemistress, and a Day Housemistress. After the age of fourteen, girls have their own single study room in one of four senior houses. In the sixth form, rooms are en-suite. The school recently completed a £10.5 million boarding refurbishment programme and a new, multi-million pound sports complex was opened in 2018. The school has a dining room, chapel, and theatre. St Mary's Calne's Science Department is one of just 10 schools in the UK to be awarded the Platinum Science Mark
Extracurricular activities
The range of extra-curricular activities offered by the school is broad, with music, sport, drama, and art activities offered alongside horse-riding, the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, and other volunteering opportunities.
