52 Tatler Schools Guide 2020 tatler.comto A grades. Meanwhile, the girls’
school is enjoying a resurgence
under new Head Jessica Miles who
tells her ‘driven, unique and
ambitious’ students to ‘walk with
purpose’. An intrepid group did
exactly that when they trekked in
the foothills of the Himalayas last
year, and many of the girls will be
dancing their way through this year
thanks to the brilliant new
Performing Arts Centre. Watch this
space: this is clearly an exciting time
for the Monmouth Schools.ST MARY’S CALNE
Curzon Street, Calne,
Wiltshire SN11 0DF
Website stmaryscalne.org Head
Dr Felicia Kirk, PhD, since 2013;
previously Head of Sixth Form at
Ipswich High School for Girls
Pupils 365 girls: 76 day, 289
boarding Faith C of E Ages 11–18
Term Fees Day: £9,915; boarding:
£13,295 Oxbridge 13%
Registration Three to five years
before entry; £250 fee Admission
CE or school’s own exam
Alumnae Actress Belinda Stewart-
Wilson, broadcaster Roya Nikkhah,
author Eva Rice
PREP Head Luke Bromwich
Pupils 181 day: 73 boys, 108 girls
Ages 3–11 Term Fees £4,545
With only 365 girls, St Mary’s
Calne offers a bespoke education
with an emphasis on the individual,
and the school has such a close-knit
community that fourth form day
girls have their own futons in theMONMOUTH SCHOOL
FOR BOYS
Almshouse Street, Monmouth
NP25 3XP
Website habsmonmouth.org
Head Dr Andrew Daniel, PhD,
since 2015; previously Deputy Head
of Wellington School, Somerset
Pupils 520 boys: 364 day, 156
boarding Faith C of E Ages 11–18
Term Fees Day: £5,272; boarding:
£9,994 Oxbridge Occasional
Registration By December of year
before entry; £60 fee Admission
CE or school’s own exam, interview
and previous school report
Alumni Rolls-Royce CEO Warren
East, rugby player Eddie Butler,
former UK Government Chief
Scientific Adviser Sir John Beddington
PREP Head Neil Shaw Pupils
128 day and boarding boys
Ages 7–11 Term Fees Day:
£3,697; boarding: £6,760
‘Rounded, Grounded, Unbounded’
may be Monmouth School for
Boys’ strapline, but Head Mr
Daniel prefers to focus on the
‘grounded’. A priority for this
former grammar school is forging
ties with local schools and the local
community. Joint initiatives such as
Monmouth’s Got Talent and the
Literary Festival mean, as Daniel
says, there is no uncomfortable
‘Town and Gown’ divide. One
seasoned researcher was thoroughly
impressed by the charming head
boy who, when she remarked on
him saying hello to everyone he
passed, replied, ‘No one feels part of
a machine here, everyone is an
individual and appreciated.’ Rugby
is notoriously strong here, and
rowing has enjoyed some notable
recent success. Classes are single-sex
until sixth form: Monmouth Boys
and Girls School went co-ed in the
sixth form last year, and teaching is
split between both schools, which
are just 10 minutes apart. There are
no plans to roll out co-ed teaching
across the schools as they believe
them to be ‘smart apart; better
together’. The boys’ 2018 results
certainly reflect this: 71 per cent of
all GCSE and IGCSE grades were
A*– A (or 9–7 on the new scale) and
22 boys achieved three or more A*ST MARY’S
SHAFTESBURY
Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 9LP
Website stmshaftesbury.uk Head
Maria Young, MA, since 2018;
previously Deputy Head Pastoral at
Worth School Pupils 215 girls: 103
day, 112 boarders Faith RC
Ages 9–18 Term Fees Day: £7,200;
boarding: £10,900 Oxbridge 14%
Registration Ideally two years
before entry; £150 fee Admission
Pre-Test, CE or school’s own exam
and interview Alumnae Director
Martha Fiennes, politician Baroness
Neville-Rolfe, actress Anna Chancellor
It may have had some changes at
the top, but St Mary’s Shaftesbury
is firmly on the up, largely due to
the leadership of new Head Maria
Young, who began the job in 2018
having been drawn to the integrity
of the school – and because she
was so impressed by the senior
prefect team who gave her a real
grilling during her interviews. Set
on the Wiltshire/Dorset border, the
55 acres of grounds are nothing
short of sensational. The majority
of parents who visit St Mary’s go on
to send their daughter there. One
parent was so struck by what she
saw, and by the charming pupil
who guided her round the school –
‘absolutely the kind of young wom-
an I would hope my daughter be-
comes’ – that she signed up that
very day. The small size enables
teachers to keep tabs on the girls
and ensures that nothing ever goes
unnoticed, academic or pastoral,
and the school is known to develop
vital character traits such as internal
resilience, kindness and thoughtful-
ness: traits that will support and
underpin an individual through the
ups and downs of life. Maria Young
has shaken things up: there is a new,
much-improved tutor system; the
infamous floor-length kilt has been
replaced; and she is taking a keen
interest in music provision, even
conducting the chapel choir herself.
The school has very high expecta-
tions of its girls, resulting in quietly
confident and independent young
women who are comfortable in
their own skin, and extremely
proud of their school. ]dorms for whenever they want to
sleep over (which they are encour-
aged to do two or three nights
a week). A selection of roaming,
amiable dogs add to the school’s
homely feel, and Head Dr Felicia
Kirk has a golden retriever named
Lily after the school’s logo (they
briefly dabbled in rabbits but, after
an abundance of offspring, the girls’
enthusiasm quickly diminished).
Grades are excellent, with 29 per
cent of girls achieving straight A*
and As in their A-levels last year,
and the majority head onto Russell
Group universities of their choice.
Despite these strong academic re-
sults and well-known sporting
prowess, this is not an ‘alpha
school’, but instead aims to
be a place where students can
develop their full potential and
sense of self. Kirk studied Latin,
and likes to quote esse quam videri:
‘It’s better to be, than to seem.’
Proving that there really is some-
thing for everyone at St Mary’s, last
year’s music and drama opportuni-
ties included a chamber choir
concert in the chapel of Merton
College, Oxford (joined by 50
alumnae) and an avant-garde, pre-
psychedelic Sixties take on A Mid-
summer Night’s Dream. The court
scene of the latter was influenced by
kitchen-sink realism and Beatnik
jazz, and the forest was represented
by a scruffy rural hinterland out of
which stood the central feature of
the set: a classic English pylon
looming over the countryside.SHERBORNE
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