St Mary's School Calne

The Curriculum and Academic Subjects

All teaching at St Mary’s shares a common goal: to enable girls to engage with their subjects and with the cross-curricular skills that will allow them to be successful later in life - flexibility, curiosity, self-criticism and thinking skills.

Critical Thinking is taught throughout the school and in the Sixth Form and builds on the skills developed in all subjects, where girls are encouraged to challenge assumptions, argue their case and weigh evidence before making judgements. IT skills are seen as an essential component of the ‘toolkit’ with which pupils leave us and are taught both in a timetabled lesson in each year group and in the context of specific subjects.

Girls are taught research, coursework and study skills and are prepared for the rigour of public examinations. They develop independence of thought, and enquiring minds and sound powers of judgment. They consistently achieve superb results in public examinations and go on to higher education, with a good number each year often successfully applying to Oxbridge.

Junior Curriculum (Years 7-9)

In Years 7-9 (LIV Form - UIV Form), the girls experience a balanced and stretching curriculum that broadly follows the guidelines of the National Curriculum. They are taught mainly in their Form groups, with setting across the year in Mathematics and French.  The girls have one lesson of Chinese per week.

In Years 8 and 9 (MIV Form - UIV Form), Spanish is taught alongside French and Chinese, and a further language - German or Classical Greek - is introduced in Year 9. Girls may instead opt to follow our Curriculum Enrichment Course.

All girls follow courses in Critical Thinking and Personal Development, and Careers Education is introduced in Year 9. They all study the following core subjects:

Art, IT, Music, Drama, Latin, Physical Education / Games, English, Maths, Religious Studies, Geography, Modern Languages, Science and History.

GCSE Curriculum (Years 10-11)

Most girls at St Mary’s study 10 GCSEs - the 7 core subjects plus 3 or 4 options.

All girls study the following GCSEs:

English Language, English Literature, Maths, French or Spanish,
Science (Double or Triple Award) and Religious Studies (short course).

They may also choose from the following options:

Geography, History, French, German, Spanish, Classical Greek, Latin, Art, Drama, Music, Religious Studies (full course).

A wealth of languages is catered for on demand, including Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. All girls also study Social and Political Studies in Year 10, which involves a carousel of Personal Development; Careers Education; Study Skills and Current Affairs. Physical Education continues to be an important part of the timetable, as does a course in Critical Thinking.

Accelerated Learning
We pride ourselves on responding to the individual needs of the girls. Able linguists may take public examinations in Languages at an early stage, while GCSE Maths is offered at accelerated pace to our more able students. Able musicians may take their AS Level Music examination as early as Year 10, while girls choosing Drama as a GCSE option now embark immediately on the AS Level course to be taken over 2 years. This leaves the possibility for further studies: we are developing an exciting new Foundation Course in conjunction with RADA for their final year at school.

Sixth Form Curriculum

In the LVI Form (Year 12) most girls will choose four subjects to study to AS Level with a view to continuing three to A Level in the UVI Form.

Girls may choose from the following A Levels:

Art, Biology, Chemistry, Classical Civilisation, Classical Greek, Economics, English, French, Geography, German, Government / Politics, History, History of Art, Information Technology, Latin, Maths, Further Maths, Music, Physical Education, Physics, Religious Studies, Spanish, Sports Science and Theatre Studies.

Other languages are available on demand, including Italian and Portuguese.

In addition, girls follow supplementary courses in Physical Education, Personal Development and Careers Education. Girls who are not studying IT to A Level follow a general Information Technology course which leads to the European Computer Driving Licence qualification. All girls follow a course in Critical Thinking and may opt to sit the AS Level examination.

Girls are given intensive personal guidance in choosing their A Level options and in preparing for university entrance. Oxbridge lessons are offered in the Autumn Term of UVI Form. All girls are expected to be involved in the school’s Lecture Programme as part of their enrichment activities. Many also choose to pursue the Duke of Edinburgh Award in the Sixth Form.