St Mary's School Ascot is a Roman Catholic independent day and boarding school for girls in Ascot, Berkshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.2011 ISI Inspectio
Report
/ref> It is a member of the

Girls' Schools Association The Girls' Schools Association (GSA) is a professional association of the heads of independent girls' schools. It is a constituent member of the Independent Schools Council. History The GSA can trace its history back to the Association of Headm ...

. It was named 2015 " Public School of the Year" at the annual ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

'' Schools Awards. It was ranked No. 1 in the U.K. by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' in the 2018 GCSEs.

History

St Mary's School was founded by the

Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609. The cong ...

(IBVM). The school chapel was built in 1885 and funded by Cecilia Marshall, and the First Mass was celebrated there on 2 July 1896. The Chapel is dedicated to Our Lady of Humility and St Cecilia. It was consecrated by Bishop

John Baptist Cahill John Baptist Cahill (1841–1910) was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second Roman Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth from 1900 to 1910. Life Born in London on 2 September 1841, he was a student at St. Edmund's Col ...

in 1906. Since 1984, it has been run by the St Mary's School Ascot Trust. In 1998 the school had its first lay Headmistress, Mrs Mary Breen. Only one liturgical staff member remains, Father Dermot, the school's chaplain. In 2006, the school opened its new sports centre, named the Orchard Centre after the Catholic family from which the school's two previous headmistresses came. The Centre was opened by ballerina

Darcey Bussell Dame Darcey Andrea Bussell, (born Marnie Mercedes Darcey Pemberton Crittle; 27 April 1969) is an English retired ballerina and a former judge on the BBC television dance contest ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Trained at the Arts Educational Sc ...

. A Performing Arts Centre has also been built named the Rose Theatre. It opened in April 2009. In 2018, the school inaugurated its new Upper Sixth (Year 13) Courtyard: new boarding houses area for girls.

Curriculum

St Mary's has enjoyed success in both GCSE and A Levels examinations. It was listed in

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

's top 100 schools for 2012 based on the most recent A Levels results. In 2018 the girls' school achieved 1st place in the U.K. based on their GCSE results with a 97.5% A*-A or 9-1 rate - one of four schools to surpass 97% for the top grades, according to the Independent Schools Council (ISC). In 2018, girls placed 21st in the U.K. in their A Level results according to the Best Schools: UK School League Ranking based on their 75.77% A*-A results. In 2019, girls placed 12th in the Top U.K. Boarding School Ranking based on their 77.1% A*-A results. In 2022, the girls' school achieved 10th place in the U.K independent school GCSE table with 94.7% of girls achieving 9-7 grades.

Pastoral care

As St Mary's is a Catholic school, girls are required to attend chapel and worship services. Throughout the Liturgical year the whole school community gather together to celebrate Feast Days and Holy Days of Obligation. Spiritual retreats are also organised for each year. The boarding areas are stationed around the school and the girls sleep within their year group.

Houses

Most pupils at St Mary's are boarders. The house system is based on the boarding programme and each house has a mix of boarders and day girls. Each girl between Year 7 and Lower 6th (Year 12) belongs to one of the six main houses - Babthorpe, Bedingfeld, Dawson, Poyntz, Rookwood and Wigmore - which are named after Mary Ward's fellow nuns. Only girls in Upper Sixth (Year 13) are members of the Mary Ward house. Each house has a captain, vice-captain and other leadership roles (e.g. prefects, drama captain) who are elected by house pupils. The Heads of House are the first point of contact for girls and parents and most also teach at the school. All Heads of House have an office in the main body of the school and live on site with their families. Every house organises activities and social events on the weekends, which parents are encouraged to attend.

Notable former pupils

* Ana Botín, Spanish banker, executive chairman of the

Santander Group Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group (, , Spanish: ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in all global financial centre ...

* Katherine Garrett-Cox, managing director and CEO of the UK subsidiary for the Gulf International Bank of Bahrain *

Sarah Hogg, Viscountess Hailsham Sarah Hogg, Viscountess Hailsham, Baroness Hogg, Baroness Hailsham of Kettlethorpe (born 14 May 1946) is an English economist, journalist, and politician. She was the first woman to chair a FTSE 100 company. Biography She was born Sarah Elizabe ...

, economist/journalist * Hon. Charlotte Hogg, economist/banker *Dame Philippa Whipple, British high court judge and barrister * Pamela Brown, actress *

Annabel Mullion Annabel Mullion (born 1969) is an actress. She was educated at St Mary's School, Ascot and studied English and Drama at the University of East Anglia. She then completed the 3 year acting course at Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating i ...

, actress *

Zena Marshall Zena Moyra Marshall (1 January 1926 – 10 July 2009) was a British actress of film and television, who was born in Kenya. Early years Marshall was of English, Irish and (on her mother's side) French descent. Though born in Kenya, after her ...

, actress * Dame Marina Warner, writer, novelist *

Lady Antonia Fraser Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (' Pakenham; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and p ...

, writer, novelist, daughter of

Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, 1st Baron Pakenham, Baron Pakenham of Cowley, (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and ...

* Lady Kinvara Balfour, creative director, writer, producer *

Louise Minchin Louise Mary Minchin (born September 1968) is a British television presenter, journalist and former news presenter who currently works freelance within the BBC. Beginning in 2012, Minchin was a regular anchor on the BBC One programme ''Breakfa ...

, BBC journalist and news presenter * Annoushka Ducas MBE, founder of Links of London and Annoushka *

Olga Polizzi Olga Polizzi (born February 1946) is a British hotelier and interior designer. She is a former Westminster City Council councillor, representing Lancaster Gate ward for the Conservative Party. Family She is the mother of the broadcaster and ''T ...

CBE, hotelier and interior designer, daughter of

Charles Forte, Baron Forte Charles Carmine Forte, Baron Forte (26 November 1908 – 28 February 2007) was an Italian-born Scottish hotelier who founded the leisure and hotels conglomerate that ultimately became the Forte Group. Early life Charles Forte was born as Car ...

* Caroline, Princess of Hanover, daughter of

Rainier III, Prince of Monaco Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest-ruling m ...

Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo (Elena María Isabel Dominica de Silos de Borbón y de Grecia; born 20 December 1963) is the first child and eldest daughter of Juan Carlos I (King of Spain from 1975 to 2014) and Queen Sofía of Spain, and third ...

, daughter of

Juan Carlos I of Spain Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

and Sophia of Greece and Denmark *

Infanta Cristina of Spain Infanta Cristina of Spain (Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia de la Santísima Trinidad de Borbón y de Grecia, born 13 June 1965) is the younger daughter of the former King and Queen of Spain Juan Carlos I and Sofía. she is sixth in the l ...

, daughter of

and Sophia of Greece and Denmark * Victoria Federica de Marichalar y Borbón, granddaughter of

and Sophia of Greece and Denmark * Lady Marina Charlotte Windsor, granddaughter of

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick; born 9 October 1935) is a member of the British royal family. Queen Elizabeth II and Edward were first cousins through their fathers, King George VI, and Prince George, Duke ...

* Lady Amelia Windsor, granddaughter of

Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor (born 8 November 2003) is the elder child of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Forfar, both members of the British royal family. She is a granddau ...

, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, daughter of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex * Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones, daughter of

David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon David Albert Charles Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (born 3 November 1961), styled as Viscount Linley until 2017 and known professionally as David Linley, is an English furniture maker, a former chairman of the auction house Christie's UK, ...

and granddaughter of Princess Margaret.

References

External links

School Website

Profile
on the

ISC #REDIRECT ISC {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's School Ascot Catholic boarding schools in England Educational institutions established in 1885 Girls' schools in Berkshire Independent schools in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Roman Catholic independent schools in the Diocese of Portsmouth 1885 establishments in England Boarding schools in Berkshire Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association Sisters of Loreto schools Sunninghill and Ascot