Beyond our growing years
The vision clouds or clears
Which boyhood glimpsed. That visionary ray
Her beauty still endears
Her memory revives
In many ways the Sherborne School which Cecil Day Lewis attended a century ago must be markedly different to the school which exists today, but the verse which he penned to commemorate the School’s 400th birthday in 1950 (after its much earlier foundation by Edward VI) clearly reflects the depth and warmth of his experience. And it is this depth and warmth which still resonates for Sherborne boys in 2022.
At a school where 90 per cent of the pupils remain full boarders, there is no morning scramble for parking outside the Courts. Shirburnians like their breakfast, so one is more likely to see a steady stream of boys making their way to the dining hall.
Lessons begin at 8.30am but are often preceded by full school or year group assemblies, or a short chapel service. When attending the latter, as they enter and leave via the chapel steps boys observe silence. Here the names of the 220 Shirburnians who died during the First and Second World Wars are carved on the walls, and silence reflects our continuing respect and gratitude from past to present.
Like most schools, lockdown in 2020 required a dramatic and speedy re-evaluation of how pupils study, and particularly with regards to technology. Whilst we are undoubtedly relieved to have returned face-to-face teaching and to a greater pattern of normality, our mode of teaching and learning has shifted permanently.
“Year 9 pupils study a consciously wide curriculum, albeit with opportunities for specialism.”
From September 2021 all new pupils and all staff have worked via Surface laptops and this will cover all pupils by September 2022. All classrooms utilise interactive whiteboards and OneNote has become the standard vehicle for the presentation of teaching material and the storing of pupil work. Such a change would certainly have occurred over time, but Covid made us embrace this change quickly, to the point where a “new normal” has already been established.
Year 9 pupils study a consciously wide curriculum, albeit with opportunities for specialism – double or triple modern languages, Latin and Greek, and a choice of two subjects from the Creative Carousel of music, drama, design technology and art.
Pupil Wellbeing is taught across all year groups. After GCSEs from Year 10, most boys study three or four A-levels in the sixth form, with lockdown proving the catalyst for significant growth of interest in the EPQ (75 per cent of last year’s grades at A* or A). Several BTEC options also offer practical breadth. Photography and Creative Digital Media have been attractive recent additions.
As a town rather than campus school, come break time at 11 o’clock or over the staggered lunchtime, boys are close enough to their boarding houses to head “home”, change books and recharge as required.
“Lockdown proved the catalyst for significant growth of interest in the EPQ.”
“Q Time” at 1.30pm covers a multitude of activity. Our nationally renowned music department is especially busy; rehearsing in groups and performing lunchtime recitals every Friday in the Cheap Street church which are enthusiastically supported by the town’s population. For others it is a time to attend departmental academic support sessions, to begin or complete work, or just to “chill”. Boys are free to wander in the town or go to the supermarket, though their retail habits are not broad, and their patronage usually driven by geographical proximity to their boarding house.
Two afternoons are allocated to games, with Saturday as the additional match day. For some this involves a trip to the Upper where the 1st XV and 1st X1 claim pride of place. We are unequivocally proud of the boys in these rugby and cricket teams who have both reached the quarter finals of national competitions over the past year.
But cross over the road and you reach Carey’s (named after scholar-sportsman Godfrey Carey who attended the school first as a pupil and then as a schoolmaster for thirty years, and who was the inspiration for the infamous Buller in Alec Waugh’s The Loom of Youth). On this vast expanse of pitches hundreds of boys play games. Whilst the level of skill and expertise here might vary, members of the 3rd X1 or 5th XV still play with undiluted passion. This has never been more evident than since our return last September. After prolonged, enforced separations, the ability for the boys to play and participate, even in training sessions, has been treasured.
“The level of skill and expertise might vary, but members of the 3rd X1 or 5th XV still play with undiluted passion.”
Walk through the school on a Wednesday afternoon and you might believe that Sherborne has begun military manoeuvres as the CCF run through their weekly drills. Now successfully operating in tandem with Sherborne Girls’, this option is popular, as is engagement with the Ten Tors Challenge, Pringle Trophy and Duke of Edinburgh Award schemes.
Clubs and Societies really come into their own after five o’clock. The Music School is busy with choir and orchestral practice (the securing of prestigious ATCL qualifications is now an annual occurrence), whilst elsewhere the boys choose activities on a termly basis. Voluntary engagement rather than coercion is important, but boys are encouraged to “get involved”. A sample of Monday’s offerings include Creative Writing, Philosophy Club, Environmental Action Group, Debating and Kickboxing – take your pick.
After supper the boarding houses fall silent from 7.00-8.45pm for evening Hall, so named from times long past when all boys did their prep communally in the main school hall. Staff members are allied to houses and spend an evening on duty each week, meeting tutees personally and assisting the housemaster. In an environment where the boys don’t go “home” every night, this form of personalised contact lies at the heart of the teacher/pupil relationship, as does regular contact with a boy’s parents. This was never more important than during lockdowns when the separation from school was unavoidable. Weekly contact between tutors, boys and parents maintained and fostered collective wellbeing over the darkest days.
By nine o’clock the time has come for many to rest up with friends, but for others the wheels continue to roll. Boys head to the sports hall to use the gym, to the astro pitch for five-a-side football, or the theatre for rehearsals. Every House produces a biennial play, whilst junior and senior productions take place annually. Popular musicals run as joint schools’ productions with Sherborne Girls, but the breadth and variety of drama on offer ensures that those with the inclination have opportunities to shine.
“By nine o’clock the time has come for many to rest up with friends, but for others the wheels continue to roll.”
Experienced headmaster Dominic Luckett has been in post since 2016 (Tatler’s Best Head of a Public School in 2019-20) and blends pragmatism with continuing optimism and ambition during these challenging times. An enlarged sports centre is under construction and scheduled for completion in 2023, whilst plans for the opening of a ninth boarding house are tangible.
Certainly, days at Sherborne are long and busy, but profitably busy. Visitors here frequently comment on a sense of inclusivity, and the captivating quality of our honeyed, sandstone buildings. Those of us who live and work here feel it as well. As Cecil Day Lewis observed, Sherborne lingers long in the memory, and warms the heart.
