WHAT? WHERE?

Aerial shot of buildings and pitches at Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire

A co-ed day and boarding school for 11-18 year olds, Mount St Mary’s College is a bucolic beauty set in 70 acres of the north-eastern tip of Derbyshire. It’s rural views for miles around, but just five minutes from J30 of the M1 and 20 minutes from Sheffield, making for speedy drop-offs and within easy reach of major airports like East Midlands, Manchester, and Leeds.

One of only 11 Jesuit schools in the country (coming under the Catholic umbrella), it welcomes pupils of all faiths and none – only about 20 per cent of current pupils and staff are Catholic. Affectionately known as The Mount, the school has a long and rich history, starting out 180 years ago with 16 boys being taught by one priest (although its origins stretch back to 1620 when Catholics were outlawed and Jesuits were teaching in secret). It’s still small by today’s standards, with 348 students, and boys slightly outnumber girls, with a 60/40 split across the senior school and Sixth Form. Class sizes range from 9 to 15 in the senior school and can be as tiny as just one student in Sixth Form, depending on the subject. Year groups are capped at 60.

Barlborough Hall School is the co-ed prep day school and nursery to The Mount, a 10 minute drive away on the other side of the M1.

FACILITIES

/SPORT

Group of girls at Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire with arms round each other in huddle during netball match

No surprise with 70 acres of fields, seven rugby pitches, two football pitches, an Olympic-standard athletics track and a fencing salle, this is a school that takes sport seriously. And it’s got the silverware to prove it – impressively the First XV Rugby team took home the U18 Rugby Vase from Twickenham last year. Always a strength, rugby is going through a golden era with the strongest side for 30 years playing top-tier rugby.

The 12 sports coaches (including three just for strength and conditioning!) include a Team GB triathlete and a former pro-cricketer. Plenty of students compete at county level, some at national level and there’s even an international fencer currently a pupil.

Aerial shot of the athletics track at Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire

Although there’s a long rugby tradition, hockey, athletics, cricket, swimming and netball are also played competitively and football is the latest to get elite treatment, with big guns Paris Saint Germain signed up to offer its England Academy to boys and girls of all abilities from September. It’ll set you back £6,000 a year on top of fees but that gets your budding Messi five hours a week of UEFA pro-level coaching and two hours a week of strength and conditioning.

Never going to have an elite athlete on your hands? Participation is as valued as excellence at The Mount and everyone gets to play for a school team and feel the buzz of representing their school during years 7 and 8. As they move up the school, everyone, no matter their ability, is encouraged to push their performance and compete in cross-school fixtures.

Along with the new football academy, there are other exciting sporting developments in the pipeline, with a £25,000 refurb of the strength and conditioning gym for the senior sports scholars about to start and a new Director of Sport joining in September.

One thing to note is that though there’s a swimming pool (dug out by the students themselves when it was originally built!), swimming lessons aren’t actually part of the curriculum – it’s mainly an extra-curricular offering.

/CREATIVE ARTS

Girl in red dress sings at Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire

With a strong choral tradition, music and creative arts are interwoven into school life here, with regular concerts and performances in assemblies. There are four choirs (one of which sang in the Vatican in 2016 – respect!), a barbershop group, a harmony group and 14 music ensembles that include flute, guitar and jazz bands.

A quarter of students learn a musical instrument which is below average, but the choral provision is the jewel in the crown, benefitting from a huge rehearsal space and six practice rooms (all with a mirror to teach proper breath and posture when singing). A Mount alumnus even made it to Trinity College Cambridge on a prestigious choral scholarship this year.

Two pupils sit on stage in a play at Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire

After a £13,000 investment in lighting and sound desk, the theatre is now as all-singing and all-dancing as the students and the school is making the most of it, with 46 students taking part in this year’s musical. LAMDA exams are popular (there’s usually a waiting list) and the latest cohort of 26 students aced them, with distinctions across the board.

/SCHOOL

Boy in white coat soing science at Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire

There’s no danger of running out of space at The Mount – the buildings are vast and could easily accommodate far more than their current numbers. A newly re-fitted computer room is a boon for students after a £16,000 upgrade. As is the revamped theatre which is also used for weekly assemblies.

They may not be slick and contemporary (even the ‘new’ school dates back to 1904), but there are some showstopping rooms: the gorgeous Harry Potter-esque Jesuit library where student councillors hold their meetings; the cavernous Memorial Chapel where boarders’ mass and Friday assemblies with music recitals are held; and the Long Gallery (aptly-named – it’s a good 100m!) lined with glass display cases of trophies and memorabilia from through the ages. There’s even a framed letter from the Pope from 1908. You can feel the weight of history as you walk along it.

The science labs deserve special mention for being some of the most lovely I’ve visited. On the second floor with vast windows and jaw-dropping rural views, they are really calm and welcoming.

SIXTH FORM

Two Sixth Form girl pupils at Mount St Mary's College chat at a table together

Known as Higher Line in Mount-speak, the Sixth Form has its own common room and an airy, spacious study room (complete with two cool mezzanine private study areas). The breadth of courses on offer is impressive with everything from Latin to Digital iMedia. Unusually – and enticingly if you’ve got your eye on a left-field subject – the school will run a course as a loss leader, even if there’s only one student (that’s music this year). With so much choice, class sizes stay small, ranging from one to 18.

Most of the 90 Higher Line students study three subjects at A-level, but you can do four. Lots of students also do an EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) and there are also CTEC (they’re the same as BTEC but run by the Cambridge exam board) in Digital Media, Sport and Business Studies. The Business CTEC is run alongside A-level Business and students can opt to stick with the A-level or move onto CTEC if they find it too much. For a non-selective school, these seem like smart choices to offer. Beyond the classroom, kids are also encouraged to get a feel for life beyond the school through a career lecture series and taking part in Insight into University courses. Destinations include Oxbridge, Russell Group universities right through to vocational courses at newer universities.

Uniform is dropped in Higher Line, but students wear smart business dress and are expected to be role models. The school is strict on standards (one poor Sixth Former wearing a hoodie over his blazer was roundly reprimanded by the Head as he tried to skulk past us on my tour). Privileges are linked to academic progress for this age group. If they are on track, they can earn privileges like the freedom being allowed off-site and into the village.

ACADEMICS

Boy does science experiment at Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire

Raising the academic game is what it’s all about at The Mount right now. The current Head was brought in specifically to raise academic standards so there’s been a laser focus on boosting aspirations among staff, parents and pupils and a rigorous new framework to make it happen.

Non-selective, Mount St Mary’s still asks pupils to sit an assessment before entry, but only to identify scholarship candidates (academic, music and sport) and to clock academic needs. The aim is to help every child reach their potential. There’s a lot of new scaffolding in place to that end, including a forensic level of data monitoring and a 6-week individual learning intervention for every child found to be below where they should be.

Boy pupil writing at desk at Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire

It’s not just the kids who’ve been helped to raise their game. Staff have had rigorous training and development, lessons have been monitored and swift interventions made to raise standards where needed. It’s clear the staff have had to work hard and early signs are that it’s paying off, with their GCSE and A-level pass rates going up last year (at a time when many independent schools found theirs drop because of grade inflation in the pandemic). GCSE results were well above the national average with 68 per cent of pupils achieving grades 9-5 (versus 60 per cent nationally) and 27 per cent scooping the top 9-7 grades (just a smidge above the average of 26 per cent). A-levels compared a bit less favourably, with 75 per cent of students awarded a grade C or above (a bit below the national average of 82 per cent) and 20 per cent achieved an A* or A, compared to 36 per cent nationally. The school also had national recognition, making the heady heights of the Sunday Times top 400 Independent Schools for its academic results in Summer 2022.

Children follow a broad curriculum, with traditional subjects such as Latin and Ancient Civilisations marrying up with modern subjects like Business and Digital iMedia. A linguist himself, the Head encourages languages and the school offers French, Spanish and Latin (and, bien sûr, pupils can study all three at GCSE if they have a flair for it).

Aerial shot of Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire

Protective of weekend family time? You’re in luck. There’s no Saturday school, although that’s when sports matches happen and there is extra academic help for those who need it, with interventions for years 10 to 13 happening then.

PASTORAL CARE

Two altar servers walk during Mass at Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire

Taken seriously and recently invested in. A bespoke pastoral curriculum kicked off this year with themes running through PHSE, tutor groups and assemblies across the year. Once a month pupils fill in a mental health questionnaire (set by Govox Kings College London psychology department) and staff analyse trends for each year group, allowing them to react and follow up straight away in tutor groups. Staff describe this as a game-changer. The teachers also complete the mental health tracking, so that the Head can keep on top of wellbeing and workload worries.

For pupils, their first port of call is their form tutor or, if they feel embarrassed or less confident, they can fill in an online concern form monitored daily by the Head. Pupils outline their concern and choose a trusted member of staff to discuss it with (always a smart move to be able to pick your favourite teacher).

The school has two mental health first aiders, but no counsellors. Instead, there’s a Wellbeing Hub – an interactive online portal packed with resources, podcasts and places to access help. For boarders, there are physical ‘worry boxes’ checked daily by staff where they can post a note about anything that may be worrying them if they don’t want to directly approach a member of staff.

BOARDING

One girl sits on bed and one sits on a chair in a boarding room at Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire

The Mount is a truly international school with boarders from every corner of the globe. About a third of the 60 or so full time boarders are British with the rest of the current cohort hailing from France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Nigeria, Mexico, Honk Kong, Singapore, Czech Republic, South Africa and Fiji. There are three boarding houses – two for boys and one for girls – set slap bang in the middle of the college campus, run by a house parent, a day house parent and a boarding assistant. Bedrooms are largely functional, but most have gorgeous rural views. Younger students typically share between two to three children, while older pupils have their own rooms for quiet work and privacy. Common rooms are a little more cosy, with the feel of a family lounge with cushions, comfy sofas and flowers on the coffee table.

Small touches, like the happy photos of boarders on the common room walls and the ‘worry box’ checked daily by staff, make it feel like the kind of place students are genuinely cared about and well looked after. There’s plenty of fun stuff on offer at the weekends and after enrichment activities and homework after school, it’s an evening meal and free time. Flexi boarding is an option, but not widely used and most boarders are weekly or full.

THE HEAD

Headteacher Dan Wright sits smiling in the Jesuit Library at Mount St Mary's College, Spinkhill

Dan Wright took up the reins from September 2021. Charismatic and very likeable, he prides himself on the personal touch, insisting on taking all prospective students and parents around the school himself. To date he has given a whopping 215 parental tours. Bearing in mind they take 90 minutes each, that’s pretty impressive. He has two sons at the school and one in the prep school and says he is a Dad before he’s a Head, so understands what a big decision choosing the right school can be. His wife teaches English a couple of days a week and even the family’s golden doodle gets in on the act, with privileged Sixth Formers getting to walk her round the grounds.

With a background in state, mainly Catholic, schools, Dan was brought in specifically to boost academic standards and wasted no time. He is frank about the changes he’s made and it’s clear (no pun intended) that he wants to be as transparent as possible. How? He publishes his annual school improvement plan to all staff, students and parents in September each year – the one he is performance managed against.

QUIRKS

Pupil from Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire flies plane in Cadets

Got a wannabe Maverick? They’ll love it here. The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) at The Mount has both an Army and RAF section and is more than 100 years old. There’s a compulsory hour a week from Year 9-11 that covers first aid, leadership skills, flying and gliding. Sixth Formers may be relieved to know they can opt in or out, but it’s pretty popular, with all sorts of adventure courses and qualifications opening up after 16 (there’s also the CCF-only perk of eight days skiing for a bargain £400).

Students are proud of the school’s rich history and embrace traditions that stretch back a century. Before a rugby match, it’s a long-standing pre-match ritual that the boys run down the Long Gallery loudly banging the doors of all the lockers. They then kneel before the Our Lady of the Mount statue (made of marble from the German college at the Vatican) with their arms around one another and say the Hail Mary. It seems to work! So much so that the First XI girls’ hockey team now do the same before heading out onto the Astro pitches.

Mount pupils write AMDG at the top of every piece of work and it’s dotted around the school walls (often etched in gold). It stands for Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (For the Greater Glory of God) and acts as a reminder of what’s important. But don’t rule out Mount St Mary’s if you’re not Catholic (the vast majority of pupils aren’t). Regardless of faith, parents are attracted to the school’s values and its goal of producing ‘men and women for others’.

WRAP AROUND CARE

The school day begins at 8.30am but if you need an earlier drop-off there is a breakfast service on offer from 8am. Once lessons are over, Years 7 – 9 do an hour of enrichment – Lego, robotics, board games – while Year 10 and above have academic interventions. Then from 4.30pm until 5.30pm there’s homework club and SENDCO support. Although buses leave at 5.30pm, kids are free to leave from 4.30pm if they wish.

SEND

Twenty per cent of pupils at The Mount have SEND and two per cent are on education, health and care (EHC) plans. Pupils are supported in class, or through a bespoke one-to-one programme if that’s what suits them better, as well as for an hour after enrichment activities at the end of the day.

ISI REPORT

Last done in November 2019 (before the current Head took over) and was rated excellent for personal development and good academically. Read it here.

MOBILE PHONE POLICY

There’s no blanket ban on mobiles (with the Head believing in a little give and take). If pupils are outside and it’s break or lunch, they can use phones. Once they are inside, if phones are seen, they are confiscated.

TRANSPORT

A fleet of 10 private minibuses collect and drop off pupils throughout term time from Chesterfield, Doncaster, Mansfield, Matlock, Sheffield and Worksop.

FEES

Day fees are pretty good value for the area, although boarding fees are at the steeper end. In Years 7 and 8 day fees cost £4,750 a term and rising to £5,250 for years 9 to 13. For weekly boarders in Years 7 and 8, it’s £7,180 a term and £8,880 for full boarders. In Years 9 to 13, weekly boarding costs £9220 and £11,520 for full boarding.

WORD ON THE GROUND

Three girls smile at Sports day Mount St Mary's School Derbyshire

The Mount had a rep for being brilliant at sport, but a bit middle-of-the-road academically. After swooping in and shaking up staffing and systems to track kids’ attainment, the Head received plenty of worried emails from parents spooked by the 100mph rate of change but, nearly two years on, and with results starting to rise, the emails have stopped. Parents seem happy and say they can see the changes are working.

THE MUDDY VERDICT

Good for: For those looking for an all-rounder inclusive school that puts pastoral care and thinking of others at the top of the agenda. Sporty kids will find everything they need to help them reach elite heights.

Not for: Those laser-focused on grades to the exclusion of everything else. Oh, and the compulsory Cadet training might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Dare to disagree? Be my guest! The next open days are Sept and Oct or book in for a tour by emailing reception@msmcollege.com

Mount St Mary’s College, College Road, Spinkhill, S21 3YL.

Mount St Mary’s College, Derbyshire

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