Age range. 0–13.
Number of boys and girls. 186: 94 Boys, 92 Girls.
Fees per term (2024-2025). Reception–Year 8: £2,029–£5,740, including lunch. Nursery Fees available on application.
St Francis is a co-educational day school for children aged 0 to 13. Established in 1941, the School is situated alongside the Kennet and Avon Canal in the beautiful Vale of Pewsey, five miles south of Marlborough. Pupils travel from a wide area of Wiltshire; daily minibus services operate from Marlborough and Devizes and surrounding villages. Wraparound care is available for all pupils, from 7.45 am until 6.00 pm.
Providing every child with the opportunity to fulfil their full potential is a feature of the School, and staff are positive and encouraging in their teaching. If a child needs additional support with their learning, this is provided by the highly regarded Learning Support Department. The modern Burden Block and George Cannon centre provides a Design Technology room, Art room, Science Lab, Drama loft and specialist subject teaching rooms, as well as form rooms.
The curriculum is diverse, which enables the older pupils to have, for example, STEAM, Art, Drama and Music in their timetable, alongside their lessons of English, Maths and Science. French is also a key part of the curriculum and is taught from the age of three. Pupils can take individual music lessons with specialist peripatetic music teachers, who offer a wide range of instruments. Many pupils enter local music, public-speaking and choral competitions.
The pupils are offered plenty of opportunity to develop and excel in their sport. All the major sports are taught both outdoors on the playing fields and also inside the Hemery Sports Hall, which is also used for drama performances. Swimming lessons are held weekly for pupils in Reception–Year 2 and there is a Swimming Squad for Year 3 and above. Regular matches take place against other schools and a policy of ‘sport for all’ allows all pupils to be involved.
Little Saints Nursery caters for children from 0 to 4 years of age for 51 weeks a year (both term time and full-time contracts are available). Little Saints Nursery makes use of all the facilities including the school’s gardens, playground and woods.
The beautiful 17-acre school grounds include a Forest School and a wooden adventure playground, the St Francis Fortress, which was built in 2019, providing an exciting area for pupils to let off steam after their lessons.
Results are excellent. The pupils are mainly entered for the local senior schools, St Mary’s Calne, Godolphin, Dauntsey’s, Marlborough College, Stonar and Warminster, but scholarships and common entrance are also taken for boarding schools further afield. Awards are regularly achieved to all of the aforementioned.
Please telephone 01672 563228 or email admissions@stfpewsey.co.uk if you would like more information or to arrange a tour of the school with the Headmaster. Virtual Tours of the school and nursery are available on our website. Open Mornings are usually held during the Autumn and Spring terms. Charitable status. St Francis is a Registered Charity, number 298522. It exists solely to provide education for boys and girls.