St Margaret's Preparatory School

General information

St Margaret's is a co-educational day preparatory school for boys and girls aged 3-11 which was established in 1873. We are a charitable educational trust dedicated to providing the highest quality education to all in our care. The school is administered by a board of governors and trustees and the Headmistress is a member of The Independent Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS).

We moved to our current premises in 1941 and have gradually grown to what we are today – a happy and vibrant school of around 220 pupils. The school has been extended over the years to provide light and airy, purpose-built facilities including a Kindergarten, fourteen well-equipped classrooms, a languages room, music rooms, ICT suite, library, school hall and ‘Maggots’ after-school club.

We are fortunate to share a 25 acre site with St Mary's, Calne and consequently the children benefit from a wide range of facilities not always available to preparatory school pupils. These include a 25m indoor swimming pool, an all-weather surface astroturf offering facilites for hockey, tennis, football and lacrosse, sports pitches, Chapel, dining hall, theatre and medical centre.

St Margaret's has an ethos that is based on ‘traditional values combined with an innovative approach’, providing a happy and purposeful environment for all children in a friendly, caring community. Within this context, we hope that our boys and girls will learn the value of hard work and how to accept discipline and responsibility. We expect good manners and consideration for the needs of others but at the same time we want the children to be inspired, not be afraid to take risks and above all, have fun and enjoy learning!