St Mary's School is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

day and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

Calne Calne () is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity ...

, Wiltshire, England, for girls aged 11 to 18. The school is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

. In 2023, the school's A Level results ranked third in the UK and joint second in the south-west of England.

History

St Mary's was founded in 1873 by

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

John Duncan,

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Calne, who worked for over thirty years to establish it as an 'outstanding' girls' school. Research for her 2006 novel '' Wicked!'' led author

Jilly Cooper Dame Jilly Cooper, (born Jill Sallitt; 21 February 1937) is an English author. She began her career as a journalist and wrote numerous works of non-fiction before writing several romance novels, the first of which appeared in 1975. Cooper is ...

to interview former pupils.

Performance

In the 2017 ISI report, the school received a double 'excellent' – the highest possible grade. In figures published in January 2017 by the Department for Education (DfE) 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.

Houses and Companies

The school is divided into five companies, named after bishops with local connections:

Edmund Rich Edmund of Abingdon (also known as Edmund Rich, St Edmund of Canterbury, Edmund of Pontigny, French: St Edme; c. 11741240) was an Catholic Church in England and Wales, English Catholic prelate who served as List of archbishops of Canterbury, Ar ...

, Grossetete, Moberly,

Osmund Osmund (Latin ''Osmundus'') is a Germanic name composed of the word ''Os'' meaning "god" and ''mund'' meaning "protection." Osmund or Osmond may refer to: Pre-modern era :''Ordered chronologically'' * Osmund of Sussex (), a king of Sussex * Osm ...

, and Poore. Each girl remains in the same company throughout her time at the school. The companies are similar to

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

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 A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

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. During a £10.5 million boarding refurbishment programme, the Lower Sixth Form house won the 2016 West of England LABC Building Excellence awards for Best Educational Building. A new, multi-million pound sports complex was opened in 2018. The school has a dining room, 12,000+ book library, chapel, and theatre.

Headmistresses

* Miss Richardson 1873–1876 * Miss Jones 1876–1883 * Miss Pells 1883–1885 * Miss Leeson 1885–1888 * Miss Florence Dyas 1888–1911 * Miss Rachel Donaldson 1911–1915 * Miss Marcia Matthews 1915–1945 * Miss Joyce Field 1945–1946 * Miss Elizabeth Gibbins 1946–1972 * Mrs Joyce Walters 1972–1985 * Miss Delscey Burns 1985–1996 * Mrs Carolyn Shaw 1996–2003 * Dr Helen Wright 2003–2012 * Dr Felicia Kirk 2012–2023 * Mrs Anne Wakefield 2024–

Notable alumnae

* Laura Bechtolsheimer – gold medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics * Nicola LeFanu – composer, academic, lecturer and director * Arabella Dorman – War Artist and portrait painter * Lucy Hughes-Hallett – author, winner of the 2013 Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction * Lady Emma Herbert – circus trapeze artist and

stuntwoman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

* April FitzLyon – biographer and translator * Etelka Leadlay – conservationist *

Sara Maitland Sara Maitland (born 27 February 1950) is a British writer of religious fantasy. A novelist, she is also known for her short stories. Her work has a magic realist tendency. Life and career Sarah (later "Sara") Louise MaitlandGenealogies of Kent ...

– author * Elizabeth Moir – educationalist * Belinda Stewart-Wilson – actress *

Tara Sutton Tara Sutton is a Canadian journalist and filmmaker whose work in conflict zones has received many awards. She was one of the first international television correspondents to both produce and shoot their own reports and is a pioneer in the field of ...

– war correspondent

Bibliography

* Kay Stedmond (1986). ''St Mary's School Calne 1873–1986''. B. A. Hathaway. .

References

External links

*
Profile
on

MyDaughter MyDaughter was a British website set up by the Girls' Schools Association (GSA) offering advice to parents of daughters on all aspects of raising and educating girls. Advice was provided by headteachers from the member schools of the Girls' Scho ...

* ISI Inspection Reports �
St Margaret's Prep

Senior School

St Mary's School
–

Charity Commission The Charity Commission for England and Wales is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's Government that regulates registered charities in England and Wales and maintains the Central Register of Charities. Its counterparts in Scotland and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's School, Calne Calne Private schools in Wiltshire Girls' schools in Wiltshire Educational institutions established in 1873 Boarding schools in Wiltshire 1873 establishments in England Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association Church of England private schools in the Diocese of Salisbury