St Leonards Mayfield School
An Independent Boarding and Day School for Girls aged 11 – 18, 425+ girls, County of East Sussex
About the School
St Leonards-Mayfield School is set in the picturesque village of Mayfield on the border between the counties of East Sussex and Kent. Its large, rural campus includes a 14th century chapel, four boarding houses, an all weather pitch, riding school, indoor swimming pool and tennis courts, purpose-built Science and Music blocks and a dedicated Lower School. St Leonards Mayfield community dates back to 1872, when Cornelia Connelly and the Society of the Holy Child Jesus founded the school, and which reaches as far afield as our SHCJ sister schools in Africa, America and Europe. Mayfield is a vibrant community and traditionally have attracted girls from around the world, as well as locally. Such a cosmopolitan ethos helps the girls to understand and appreciate different cultures and perspectives and to value diversity.
Overseas applications
Candidates from outside of the United Kingdom are very welcome to apply for a place. Mayfield does not accept applications for places lasting less than one academic year. Those for whom English is a second language are advised to apply early in the academic year preceding entry as restrictions are placed on the number of pupils per Year Group from any one non-English language group in order to ensure a balance of languages and cultures throughout the School. Those parents from overseas who wish to apply for a place should register their daughter in the normal fashion. Your daughter will then be asked to undertake exams, typically in English and Maths. In addition to the entrance tests, copies of an applicant's two most recent school reports also requiredThese exams may be sat at Mayfield or in your daughter’s country of residence, but they must take place under examination conditions. Administration may also request that your daughter be interviewed.
Grounds and Facilities
The school is situated at the highest point in the village of Mayfield, once described as, ‘the sweetest village in England’. The school grounds are spread over approximately 45 acres, of which perhaps half comprise fields and the remainder the academic, pastoral and extra-curricular facilities enjoyed by the pupils. Most lessons are taught in classrooms within Main School or Lower School, with the latter a dedicated centre for the youngest pupils. The Science Block, opened in 2002, provides excellent facilities for teaching biology, chemistry and physics to all pupils. Amongst the earliest buildings on site is the 14th-century Chapel, originally constructed to serve as the palace of the Archbishops of Canterbury and described as, ‘one of the most spectacular medieval halls of England’. In addition to being the focus for worship at Mayfield, the Chapel is also the venue for most of the school’s orchestral and choral performances. Attached to the Chapel are the Cloister and Courtyard, both of which originally formed part of the 19th-century convent. Today the Courtyard, which is covered, is used for music recitals and debating competitions. School plays and assemblies take place throughout the year in the Concert Hall, build in 1930. The Music School is a modern, purpose-built four-story structure of teaching and practice rooms. Three spaces are devoted exclusively to art & design within the school. The Art Department comprises two teaching rooms, a life drawing studio, and a Sixth Form studio, in which each A Level candidate is assigned her own work area for the duration of the academic year. The Ceramics Department is situated beneath the Art Department, and contains two teaching studios, glaze and glaze mixing rooms, a visual resource area and ceramics library, a Wet Back spray booth and two large electric kilns; outside is a raku & sawdust firing facility. The Textiles Department occupies a studio near Main School. Sport at Mayfield is well-served by a range of facilities, including an all-weather Astroturf built in 2008; a 60 x 45m sandschool, cross-country course and stables; a 25m indoor swimming pool; and eight netball and tennis courts. A dance studio, fitness room and gym accommodate indoor activities. There are four boarding houses within the grounds. An on-site health centre caters for the needs of boarders and day-girls alike.
Boarding
Boarding at Mayfield, whether full or flexi, is integral to the educational opportunity which the School provides. There are 3 Houses at Mayfield: Leeds House caters for our Lower School pupils (Y7 & Y8); Connelly House is home to Middle School girls (Y9, Y10 & Y11) and St. Dunstan's accommodates the 6th Form students. House life is rooted in the Catholic values of the school: consideration for one another, charity, forgiveness and recognition of the importance of developing a spiritual life. Each house is overseen by the Housemistress who also works as part of the teaching staff, thus providing a vital link between the pastoral and academic sides of school life. The Housemistress is in frequent contact with them throughout the day, at mealtimes, during study and finally in the bed-time routine and she is always available to share the girls’ concerns and offer advice. Housemistresses are supported by their matrons, resident and non- resident tutors. At weekends there is an array of activities which extend from the regular shopping and cinema trips to theatre outings, concerts as well as museum and gallery visits. There are trips to London, local sites and even an occasional Saturday jaunt to France. On Sundays the school comes together as a community to celebrate Mass in the Chapel. Girls who join Mayfield from overseas and those for whom English is a second language are well supported in the School as a whole and particularly in the boarding houses. The School maintains strict quotas on language groups, with the obvious exception of English, in each house to ensure that girls who join Mayfield have the full benefit and experience of living in an English environment.
English as an Aditional Language
The aim of ESOL at Mayfield is to foster an improvement in and enjoyment of English in all four skill areas: reading, writing, listening and speaking. All teaching is done in English and focuses upon communicative language teaching, underpinned by the teaching of formal grammar. The aim is to ensure that those girls for whom English is not their first language are able to access our curriculum, perform to the best of their ability in all the subjects they are studying, and secure the necessary English-language qualification to enter a British or American university. ESOL teaching also supports those girls who, on leaving Mayfield, need an English language qualification recognised by their own country in order to undertake tertiary study. The Department has an excellent record of preparing pupils to pass the following examinations: Cambridge PET (Preliminary English Test); Cambridge FCE (First Certificate in English); IGCSE English as a Second Language; Cambridge CAE (Advanced); Cambridge CPE (Proficiency); and IELTS (The International English Language Testing System) .ESOL is taught within a suite of dedicated classrooms and girls receive between four and five hours of tuition a week within the school timetable. They are encouraged to read books from the ESOL library and to use specially-selected computer programmes to enhance their English beyond the classroom.
Location
By air – London Gatwick is about 40 minutes drive form the School, London Heathrow and Stansted about 90 minutes each. By rail – Travel from Charing Cross Station (London) to Tunbridge Wells Station takes under 1 hour. Taxis, which take up to 30 minutes to travel to Mayfield, are available from both sides of the station in Tunbridge Wells.
Visit the St Leonards-Mayfield School website.
