Monkton Combe School is an independent co-educational boarding and day school with a lively Christian ethos, situated in beautiful countryside just a mile from the World Heritage City of Bath. We provide an education for 720 pupils from all over the UK and abroad.
Our outstanding pastoral care, strong moral framework and culture of service to others make us an ideal choice for parents looking for a school that will nurture and challenge their child spiritually, emotionally and socially as well as developing their academic potential to the full. Indeed, our recent ISI inspection report states 'Pupils are deeply aware spiritually, morally, socially and culturally; this is an outstanding strength of the school and is central to its aims.'
Life at Monkton is currently very buoyant - we have more pupils at the school than ever before in its 140 year history. In September 2008 the school opened a 4.1 million pound Maths and Science building at the Senior School and in September 2009 a state of the art hockey pitch in the most stunning location at the Prep School. We are about to launch a fundraising appeal for a new Music Centre which will open at the Senior School in March 2011. These events marked the beginning of an exciting and transformational development programme across all three schools which will embrace buildings, facilities and grounds, curricular and extra-curricular programmes all of which will enhance Monkton's reputation as one of the leading Christian boarding schools in the country.
We are very proud of our academic record. For the seventh consecutive year, our Year 13 students achieved 100% pass rate at A level and scored 10% more A and B grades than any other leaving year group in the school's history. At GCSE of particular success was our A*-A percentage which at 59% was the highest in the school's history. At our Prep School, 20 pupils gained scholarships to leading independent schools, 13 of which were to our Senior School.
Yes, many of our pupils achieve excellent grades at both GCSE and A level. But we are just as concerned to create a genuine appetite for learning, in helping pupils develop minds that are open and questioning and in equipping them with the independent study skills that will enable them to follow through private passions and enthusiasms long after they have left school.
Our boarding experience at the Prep is extremely flexible, helping parents to achieve the difficult balance between work and family life. Weekend activities include canoeing on the canal, pot-holing in the Mendips, mountain biking in the Brecon Beacons, ice-skating and the annual beach trip to Studland Bay, Dorset. Theatre trips and visits to Oxford and other cities also feature regularly in our wide-ranging programme but there's always time for Sunday roast and the chance to chill out too.
Our aim is that children leave the Prep with the confidence and self-esteem to make a smooth transition to our Senior School, able to accept both themselves and others with all their strengths and weaknesses. As The Goods Schools Guide says 'An engagingly happy, notably humane school, very much its own place, which does it all and does it well. They'll always put character first, here, but they butter the parsnips at exam time, too.'
