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St Marys School (Gerrards Cross)

What says..

School promotes resilience in the pursuit of excellence but it’s the value placed on relationships and the individual approach which really sums up St. Mary’s. ‘Sport has improved dramatically over the past few years. There’s a bigger department, better facilities and frequent success on the playing fields. The head has...'  Girls here are spirited and embrace challenge but also have a good sense of fun. One year 6 told us that her favourite time of the week was Fri-yay which is music and dancing around the classroom.  ‘We get to be silly and get our bodies moving to music.’  And it doesn’t stop in prep…

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What the school says...

Academic approach

At St Mary’s we create lovers of learning who are ambitious, determined in their pursuit of success, recognising equally their own strengths and talents and playing to these. We provide a rich and broad curriculum from nursery through to year 13 which enables students to try expressive arts, humanities, languages and a wide range of sports alongside STEM.

Students embrace warmly the opportunity to learn, be curious, ask questions to take their learning further and show their sense of adventure to share opinions and contribute to a vibrant learning environment. Our classes are purposefully small, creating opportunities for students to engage fully with their learning and to build strong relationships with their teachers. Students enjoy being challenged to fulfil their academic potential under the gentle tutelage of their teachers who know them, what they can achieve and how they can thrive. Our staff are dedicated members of our community who are passionate about bringing the best out in students through a varied and interesting curriculum offering.

Knowing each student means that challenge in work is adapted for each individual and we provide opportunities for them to excel with the support and guidance of our academic teams. Where possible, we take learning outside the classroom, embracing the benefit of our proximity to central London to attend lectures and workshops or visits to venues known for this learned value. Bringing learning to life through theatre visits, workshops on Romeo and Juliet, lectures by leading neuroscientists on how the brain works as part of biology and psychology, show that for St Mary’s private school students, learning has no boundaries.

Creating a culture of academic success comes through a focus on showing students how to learn and focusing on the development of the character values that we hold central to our community. We support and challenge our pupils to be ambitious, to be adventurous through the pursuit of something new, to be resilient through their learning journey, learning what success looks like through failure and how success is within everyone’s grasp. Our students embrace the challenge to be ambitious in the pursuit of their own excellence.

Pastoral care and wellbeing

Pastoral care is at the heart of everything we do because we know that girls achieve their best when happy. Character education is a deliberate and purposeful part of our pastoral support. Our goal is to nurture in our students the social and emotional qualities that promote the character virtues in TAKE CARE so that they can create positive relationships and navigate social situations in a constructive manner. Through our pastoral programmes, we help our students to develop the attitudes, behaviours and strategies that underpin success both in educational and professional settings. They become resilient, confident and ambitious and have a strong set of core values and an assured sense of their own identity and roles and responsibilities in the world. They are ready to embrace challenges that they will encounter in life after St Mary’s.
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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

Equestrian centre or equestrian team - school has own equestrian centre or an equestrian team.

What The Good Schools Guide says

Head

Since 2018, Patricia Adams MA PGCE. BA in French and Spanish at St Catherine’s, Oxford, MA in applied linguistics at University of Essex and returned to Oxford for PGCE in modern languages. Previously academic deputy head at Blackheath High. Unusually, first teaching position was head of Spanish at Oxford High and there realised her ambition to be a headmistress. Then from head of department to head of modern languages at Headington School and director of studies at Norwich High. Still teaches some Spanish. Hobbies include walking, reading and creating textile art. Loves renaissance art although favourite gallery is not Uffizi in Florence but the National Gallery. She tells us, ‘I love the paintings and it’s closer to home.’ A pragmatist, by all accounts!

The head’s study is pure delight. Octangular in...

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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.

Who came from where

Who goes where

Special Education Needs

St Mary's aims to support girls with special educational needs to achieve their potential, and to boost their confidence and self esteem. A learning support teacher offers guidance to girls who have sought help themselves, or have been recommended for such help by parents, teachers or educational psychologists. This teacher acts as a channel communication between these parties, as well as providing specific help. It may take the form of class support, individual or group sessions, covering: spelling, a wide range of study skills- including organisation skills, time management, question analysis and planning an answer, effective reading and note taking advice, revision and examination techniques, and counselling.

Condition Provision for in school
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Might cover/be referred to as;
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Aspergers, Autism, High functioning autism, Neurodivergent, Neurodiversity, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), PDA , Social skills, Sensory processing disorder
Y
HI - Hearing Impairment
Might cover/be referred to as;
Hearing Impairment, HI - Hearing Impairment
Y
MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
Learning needs, MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment
Might cover/be referred to as;
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment, Sensory processing
OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
Might cover/be referred to as;
Downs Syndrome, Epilepsy, Genetic , OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability, Tics, Tourettes
Y
PD - Physical Disability
Might cover/be referred to as;
PD - Physical Disability
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
Complex needs, Global delay, Global developmental delay, PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
Might cover/be referred to as;
Anxiety , Complex needs, Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), Mental Health, SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health, Trauma
Y
SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication
Might cover/be referred to as;
DLD - Developmental Language Disorder, Selective mutism, SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication
Y
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
Complex needs, SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty, Cerebral Palsy (CP)
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty
Might cover/be referred to as;
ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Auditory Processing, DCD, Developmental Co-ordination Difficulties (DCD), Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Handwriting, Other specific learning difficulty, SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
Y
VI - Visual Impairment
Might cover/be referred to as;
Special facilities for Visually Impaired, VI - Visual Impairment

Who came from where


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