Promotional content in association with Malvern St James Girls’ School, an all-girls’ school for day pupils and boarders aged 4-18 in Malvern, Worcestershire.
Malvern St James Girls’ School is the leading all-girls’ school for day pupils and boarders aged 4-18 in Malvern, Worcestershire. Set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the school has a reputation for academic excellence, as well as outstanding achievement in areas such as Sport and Expressive Arts, and a happy home-from-home environment.
In March this year, the ISI gave Malvern St James the top award of ‘excellent’ for its pupils’ academic achievement and personal development. Girls were given glowing praise for their collaborative approach, problem-solving skills, work ethic, fluent communication skills and their obvious enjoyment of an academic challenge. It was also noted how well they are supported academically and pastorally, and the sense of fun which runs through their school life.
MSJ’s Headmistress, Mrs Olivera Raraty, comments, “If I had to sum the school up in just a few adjectives, it would be: energetic, quirky, purposeful, warm, generous and ambitious. There is a creative spirit in the school, which runs through all strands of teaching and learning, and enrichment activities, making it a vibrant place to be.”
At MSJ we offer a superb array of clubs and societies – there are 60 in total – which girls are encouraged to join and run. The offer includes public speaking with the English Speaking Union or debating at Model United Nations, competing in STEM national challenges and Olympiads, creating and running a business in Young Enterprise, playing sport at all levels, getting creative in Drama, or fundraising and project managing as part of the Charities Committee. These are just a taster of some of the opportunities our girls have to lead, innovate and extend their interests.
In Sixth Form we offer a university preparation programme, including for Oxbridge, Medical Sciences and the world-acclaimed Russell Group universities, which the vast majority of our girls go on to. MSJ also does preparation for SATS tests for American universities.
The school benefits from its friendly, inclusive culture – we are a happy and welcoming community. Our wellbeing programme ensures that girls strike a good work/ life balance. Boarders have a superb weekend schedule with lots of different types of activities to choose from, and Day Girls are encouraged to take part.
The need for students to have a combination of intelligences to make them successful in their future lives, informs our agenda at MSJ. As Mrs Raraty explains: “As well as academic aptitude, the most successful individuals will have at their fingertips a wider set of soft skills. We give our girls the courage to try and to be brave enough to take calculated risks. It is all part of the growth mindset, the premise of which is that we learn through our experiences, through failure we build resilience, we try again, we succeed.”
Classes at MSJ are small and lively. Girls are encouraged to express their opinions, to craft their arguments, and to speak confidently in front of a supportive audience of peers, teachers and visiting academics and professionals. Learning is not just linear: girls are expected to apply their knowledge to real-life situations, whether this is building robots in the STEM laboratories, completing the prestigious Extended Project Qualification, working with acclaimed artists and inspirational artists-in-residence, participating in the many school drama productions and showcases, and sports including riding, lacrosse, athletics, tennis, hockey and swimming.
Life at MSJ is fun; it’s not all about work. Girls here make friends for life and they get lots of opportunities to do things together. Please don’t just take our word for it: come and visit. We would be delighted to show you around in person so that you can really see what makes MSJ tick and what makes it the very special place it is.
