Dr Felicia Kirk
St Mary's provides exceptional all-round education for girls (aged 11-18) in a warm, nurturing environment. The pastoral care is outstanding and the school has a well-deserved reputation for academic excellence.
"Pupils are well-rounded, articulate and self-confident young people who leave the school able to face the future with confidence." (ISI Report, 2017)
The overwhelming majority of girls gain places at their first-choice university. St Mary's is the top achieving independent school in the South West (Sunday Times Schools Guide 2018) and 35th nationally, based on 2017 results and is the only independent school in the UK to have the Platinum Science Mark award. Girls go on to study a range of subjects at top universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, other Russell Group universities and in the USA.
Opportunities in sport, music, art and drama abound and the facilities are superb, including a Sixth Form Centre with 120+ girls. 80% of girls play musical instruments and take part in a wide variety of ensembles. The girls perform at many events, both in the locally community and further afield . Drama productions in the purpose-built theatre are of the highest standard and have transferred to the London stage. The Drama Department has a unique relationship with RADA, offering a course in advanced communication skills and girls also perform annually at the Edinburgh Fringe. The girls do exceptionally well in the Young Enterprise Programme, progressing to the National Final in 2017. Many pupils are talented artists and 2018 saw one girl win the Digital Prize in Saatchi's National LOVE ART Competition and two girls had their works longlisted by The Arts Society to become Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) Scholars. The girls excel at sport, and the school is represented at county level in several major sports, nationally in athletics and lacrosse, and internationally in horse riding, with all girls taking advantage of the superb sports facilities, including a new £2.55 million Sports Complex which opened in May, 2018. The girls also enjoy many other sports, including tennis, hockey, fencing and ski racing. Trips abound have recently included a Classics Trip to Rome, a French Trip to Samoens and a Music Tour to Poland.
