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Mount Kelly A GSG School

What says..

‘They are really nice kids, very decent, grounded and generous-spirited,’ says the head. ‘I say to them: “You are going into a tough world but if you work hard and dig in and use one hand on the ladder to help other people up you will be fine.” They give me hope for the future. They are very well-mannered and polite but there’s a steeliness too. When there’s a job to be done, whether it’s thrashing across Dartmoor in the driving rain or swimming in a gala, they can do both...’

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What the school says...

Mount Kelly, set on the edge of Dartmoor National Park between Exeter and Plymouth, combines academic excellence with an outstanding range of learning opportunities outside the classroom and exceptional pastoral care. The School, for girls and boys aged between 4 and 18, offers both day and a full range of boarding provision and currently has 575 pupils.
Children at Mount Kelly are nurtured, guided and inspired to develop their own skills and interests. Each pupil joins one of the Schools Houses, serving as a boarders home from home and a day pupils working base. Boarders comprise approximately 50% of the Colleges pupils and are fully integrated with the day pupil body. Pupils enjoy small class sizes offering exceptional levels of individual focus. Each pupil is cared for by a Housemaster or Housemistress and assigned a dedicated tutor who oversees their academic, pastoral and co-curricular progress. This comprehensive tutoring system produces happy pupils who are confident, well-rounded and ambitious.
Mount Kelly offers a high standard of academic schooling including a proven track record of 100% A-level pass rates, 70% awarded at A* B and 85% gaining places at their top choices of universities. Mount Kelly also has an excellent reputation for 100% Common Entrance success and top Scholarships to a range of leading national schools.
The School is well known for its strong commitment to co-curricular activities and the majority of pupils are involved with at least one of the following: the Combined Cadet Force, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Marathon or the Ten Tors Challenge. The Saturday School Programme, optional for all day pupils, gives the children the opportunity to explore a wide range of interests with activities from kayaking to cookery. In addition the academic staff, in collaboration with well-resourced on-site Adventure Centre, runs the innovative Learning Outside the Classroom Programme utilising activities from coasteering to creative writing on location. Mount Kelly is well known for its world class coaching facility for swimming and an elite training programme which is fully integrated within the School. Mount Kelly has produced competitors at the last five Olympic and Paralympic games. ...Read more

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Other features

All-through school (for example 3-18 years). - An all-through school covers junior and senior education. It may start at 3 or 4, or later, and continue through to 16 or 18. Some all-through schools set exams at 11 or 13 that pupils must pass to move on.

Sports

Shooting

Sailing

What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmaster and Principal of Mount Kelly Foundation

Since 2019, Guy Ayling, previously head of Llandovery College in Carmarthenshire. Before that he spent 15 years at Sedbergh in Cumbria (becoming a housemaster and senior master). ‘I move between National Parks,’ he jokes.

Educated at Bilton Grange and Rugby, he read medieval history at St Andrews, captained the first XV and played for Scottish Universities. Both his parents were teachers and he was keen to follow suit. ‘I remember at prep school I saw my Latin teacher’s mark book beautifully laid out and I wanted to do that too,’ he says. ‘I was really inspired by my teachers at Rugby and I was keen to have the same kind of impact on pupils, to teach history and run around in shorts in the...

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Please note: Independent schools frequently offer IGCSEs or other qualifications alongside or as an alternative to GCSE. The DfE does not record performance data for these exams so independent school GCSE data is frequently misleading; parents should check the results with the schools.

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Special Education Needs

Please enter a general description of your SEN provision here here

Condition Provision for in school
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder Y
Aspergers Y
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders Y
CReSTeD registered for Dyslexia
Dyscalculia Y
Dysgraphia Y
Dyslexia Y
Dyspraxia Y
English as an additional language (EAL) Y
Genetic
Has an entry in the Autism Services Directory
Has SEN unit or class
HI - Hearing Impairment Y
Hospital School
Mental health Y
MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment
Natspec Specialist Colleges
OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
Other SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty Y
PD - Physical Disability Y
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health Y
SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication Y
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
Special facilities for Visually Impaired
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty Y
VI - Visual Impairment

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