Monkton Combe School

Facilities

Monkton has over 100 acres of land across 2 sites which share stunning locations, grounds and facilities.

Our Senior School lies in the heart of the village of Monkton Combe. Nestling in the Midford Valley it is surrounded by rolling hills and woodland. Our Longmead Cricket ground lies near the famous Dundas aqueduct and has been voted into the top 3 most picturesque cricket grounds in the country by Wisden. The original school buildings are at the heart of the school and provide the beautiful period features and character expected of a school with such rich history. These buildings and facilities have been enhanced by developments of state-of-the-art facilities for our curricular and extra-curricular programmes. The school’s facilities include a state-of-the-art Maths and Science Centre, Music Centre and a recording studio. Art & DT facilities include a large multi-purpose exhibition area and dedicated areas for print-making, ceramics and textiles and sculpture, as well as a fully equipped darkroom and ICT suite for animation and film work.

Our Prep School can be found a mile up the hill and has the most impressive views over rolling countryside. Our lower Prep School (Nursery to Year 4) is housed in a purpose built building where every classroom has direct access to outdoor space, there is a hall where the school can come together for assembly and chapel, a library, kitchen and messy play areas. The children also benefit from all of the facilities at the Upper School, including an indoor swimming pool, a woodland adventure area, all weather Astroturf pitches, sports hall and music room.

The upper Prep School (Year 5 to Year 8) has year group classrooms for our younger children and dedicated subject specific classrooms, labs, studios and a theatre for specific subject areas as our pupils’ progress through the curriculum. Our oldest pupils are given leadership opportunities to develop these skills and build confidence.

Monkton has a strong sporting tradition and provides fantastic sporting facilities and opportunities for its pupils. The major games are rugby, hockey, rowing, cricket and tennis for boys and hockey, netball, rowing and tennis for girls. Other sports include athletics, badminton, basketball, football, fencing, golf, judo, squash, swimming and volleyball. The School also has extensive playing fields, an Astroturf all-weather playing area for Hockey and Tennis, boathouses on the River Avon, 3 Netball courts, 18 Tennis courts, a covered Rifle Range, a rowing tank, 2 Squash courts, a Sports Centre and a 25m indoor Swimming Centre and Fitness Centre.

We have six boarding houses at the Senior School: 3 boys’, 3 girls’ and a junior house at the Prep School. The Boarding ethos at Monkton is a strong part of our offering. This does not mean all pupils are boarders, nor that our provision is focused on those who are; far from it. Our day pupils benefit from the same advantages as our boarders do with sector leading pastoral care from dedicated staff, 1:1 tutoring and a full, diverse and responsive 6 day programme which allows us to cater for all interests and options from rowing to reeling, from fencing to philately

Scholarships

We award scholarships in recognition of the unique contribution that those who combine passion and talent can make to school life. We want our scholars to raise aspirations, model perseverance, and demonstrate the power of embracing failure.

In turn, we offer scholars a pathway on one of our excellence programmes; these are designed to stretch our scholars beyond their current levels of performance with the aim of establishing that higher level as their norm.

There are number of important principles we apply:

• Affordability of fees is a matter for parents and not their children: we no longer offer fee discounts on the basis of scholarship awards. Bursaries are designed for those who need assistance with fees and are not in any way connected to scholarship awards.
• Development of excellence requires resourcing: we will invest the funds which would have been used for fee remission into the excellence programmes.
• Passions ebb and flow: we want to have the flexibility for pupils to join and leave the excellence programmes on a regular and well-structured basis.
• High performance can be affected by uncontrollable factors: we want to remove as much as possible the high stakes nature of scholarship assessments without removing the expectation of admitting high performers to our excellence programmes.

We don’t have a scholarship assessment week: we don’t want to impose our time scale on prospective pupils who might better demonstrate their passion and talent at another time. So, for those who join us from beyond the Monkton family of schools, we will assess the suitability of candidates as part of a taster day or other visit to the school, as well as references from their current school. We would ask you to confirm your interest no later than 6 months before the potential admissions date.

For those joining from Monkton Prep, our well established links between Senior School teachers and the Monkton Prep excellence programmes means that pupils engaged with these programmes will be assessed over the course of Years 7 and 8, and, for those making good progress, invited to join the parallel excellence programme in Year 9.

Some may not be ready yet to join an excellence programme, so we welcome applications throughout a pupil’s journey through the Senior School so that if they reach the required level at a different point in their school career, they can join whenever that happens to be.

There is an annual review which allows all parties to reflect on a pupil’s progress on the excellence programmes; as some join others may leave, reflecting the priorities of each individual at any one point in time. If priorities change again, a pupil may choose to re-apply at a later stage.

Scholarships and the associated excellence programmes are a great example of Monkton thinking differently; they uniquely celebrate passion and talent whilst avoiding the potentially corrosive effects of high stakes assessment, locked-in awards and fee reductions.

Entrance Requirements

Nursery to Year 2

For those entering the Prep at age 2 years through to 7 years, admission is by visit, informal interview and a reference from a current school if appropriate.

Year 3 to Year 8

For those entering Prep at age 7, 8, 9 and 10 admissions is through an assessment. This includes undertaking an online cognitive ability test (CAT4) that provides staff with a greater understanding of how each child learns and processes information, a reference and report form the candidate’s current school. Following a review by academic staff candidates will be invited for 2 consecutive taster days.’

For those entering at age 11 to 13 years admissions is through an assessment. This includes undertaking an online cognitive ability test (CAT4) that provides staff with a greater understanding of how each child learns and processes information, a reference and report form the candidate’s current school. Following a review by academic staff candidates will be invited for 2 consecutive taster days. which will include an interview’

Those students who will be joning in Year 6 will be invited to take part in a fun Assessment Day, held at the Senior School, which will broadly assess pupils in seven areas: Creativity, Collaboration, Confidence, Craftsmanship, Communication, Commitment and Curiosity.

Senior School

Year 9 entry: When an applicant is in Year 6, we would look to obtain CAT scores if available from the candidate’s current school, invite applicants to attend an Assessment Day held in October, or June each year, and obtain a reference from the candidate’s current school.

Year 10 entry: For entry into Year 10, candidates will usually sit online CAT4 tests.  A reference from the candidate’s current school will be sought and an interview.

Year 12 entry: For entry into Year 12, candidates will usually sit online CAT4 tests and attend an interview, where possible. A school reference will be sought.  Any place then offered is subject to pupils obtaining a minimum average of 6 in all of the GCSE subjects taken. Please note that to study certain AS subjects, a minimum grade at GCSE in that subject may be a prerequisite.

Fees

2024/2025

Nursery (age 2–3) min. 2 days: £80 per day. Kindergarten (age 3-4) min 3 days: £80 per day

Pre-Prep.

Reception – Year 2: £4,330 – £4,455 per term.

Prep.

Years 3 – 6. Day: £5,225 – £5,385 per term. Full Boarding: £10,145 – £10,550 per term.

Years 7 – 8. Extended Day: £7,610 per term. Full Boarding: £10,970 per term.

Weekly Boarding: Years 3-6: £9,710 per term.  Years 7-8: £9,960 per term

Senior

Years 9-11. Day: £8,835 per term. Boarding: £14,425 per term. Weekly Boarding: £13,090 per term

Years 12-13. Day: £9,285 per term. Boarding: £14,810 per term. Weekly Boarding: £13,440 per term

 

Flexi-boarding: Years 3 – 8 £80 per night, Years 9-11 £90 per night.

 

Fees are inclusive of all costs that apply to all pupils and include meals, textbooks and transport to school fixtures – there are no hidden costs.

Armed Forces and sibling discounts are available as well as a limited number of small endowment funds. Please contact the school for further details.

 

Downloadable Resources

• ISI Inspection 2019