Sherborne News - Lent 2022

SHERBORNE NEWS Lent 2022 ISSUE 39

A note from our Head of School

One of my most vivid memories from my time in the Third Form was having to collect my choir gown from the gown cupboard in the cloisters before Abbey on Sundays.

This was perhaps less memorable because of the gown and rather because the boy who would give it to me, the current Head Boy at the time. I was shocked most by the kindness he showed me, remembering my name, and always asking how my week had been. It might seem insignificant, but having the Head Boy, let alone a member of the Upper Sixth, willingly speak to you was a memorable moment.

I later realised that he did not do this because he was Head Boy, but because it was in his nature to do so.

Since then, I have tried to emulate that kindness to every person that I meet at Sherborne and beyond. I think that this also explained my excitement when Dr Luckett asked me to be Head Boy. I hope that in the short time I hold the position I will be able to make a positive impact on the lives of everyone at Sherborne. With support from an amazing body of prefects, I look forward to helping the School and its students meet any challenges or opportunities it might face, be that from helping organise part of the School’s response to the crisis in Ukraine to changing the environmental policy or simply making Sherborne a more inclusive environment for everyone.

Finn Grammaticas (U6f)

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Academic Enrichment

Projects Launches in Physics

Debating in English This term, the English Department, in collaboration with the Debating society, have been busy considering the way we construct arguments, and in particular, ones that pack a punch with conviction and clarity. The culmination of this was the Fifth and Sixth Form Inter-House Balloon Debate, on Wednesday 9 March in the Big School Room.

The premise of a Balloon Debate is simple: the audience and participating debaters are asked to suspend their disbelief and imagine they are in a sinking balloon, bound for a new world. The job of our esteemed Upper Sixth Chair panel - to decide which of our House teams, each playing a famous group of people, will stay on the balloon, journeying to ‘found’ our new civilisation. Each team were given several rounds to prove themselves, either in prepared speeches or free debate.

With several rounds of audience voting, and fraught discussion among the judges, a final Debate motion was posed to our three remaining Houses, with a tight battle commencing for the winning vote.

From The Digby’s persistent Penguins of Madagascar to the witty barbs of our handymen from The Green, we truly saw it all. The Upper Sixth boys judged with insight, and Abbeylands emerged victorious, with Finn Grammaticas (U6f), Charlie Collinge (U6f), Jacob Schwandt (U6f) and Harry Trudgeon (L6f) acting as the Simpson family. Special mention must go to Harper’s Will Jonas (U6d) for his rather phenomenal Jeremy Clarkson impression! An eventful evening of debate, and something we hope to see return to the English Department in further terms.

Christmas brought the Physics Department an exciting present with the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

With initial planning starting in 1996, this has been a long time coming. The JWST is now one million miles from the Earth and is preparing to look back in time to see the very earliest galaxies, and hopefully answer some of the big questions in Astrophysics.

Our Upper Sixth have completed the Option topic of their A level course: half have studied Astrophysics and half looked at some of the groundbreaking results of the 20th Century. These included Albert Einstein’s realisation that not only will looking at an event from a distance mean that you are looking back in time, but that relative motion will mean that nobody will even agree on when an event took place, or how long it lasted. On the largest and smallest scales, reality becomes very strange!

All the physicists are enjoying the relaxing of the social distancing rules, which is allowing for more practical work to take place. Physics is an experimental science, and we all want to explore how our universe works.

Bryony Watts, English Teacher

Richard Brown Head of Physics

Award Winning Mathematicians At the start of the term, we were pleased to learn of two significant individual successes in the follow up rounds of the Senior Mathematics Challenge. Pupils’ progress forwards at two levels in this competition via a Kangaroo competition that, unsurprisingly, has its origins in Australia c. 1978 or via the British Mathematical Olympiad Round 1. Leo Li (5a) achieved a Merit Award for his efforts in the Olympiad Round and Aleks Grabski (L6e) also achieved a Merit in the Senior Kangaroo Challenge.

Elsewhere, Freddie Facer (3a) achieved a Level 9 in his IGCSE papers which is a remarkable result given that he is still in the Third Form and we are hopeful that a similar success will follow when he sits the Level 2 Further Maths papers this summer.

And last month, 111 students participated in the Intermediate Mathematics Challenge last month. Between them they won 37 Bronze Awards, 25 Silver and 18 Gold.

Presenting in Chemistry Well done to all the students who took part but with special mention to the Gold Award winners: Ryan Lai (3e) Alexander Whale (3a) Oz Power (3a) Joonsang Hyun (4f) Arthur Wright (4b) Ted Silcox (4f) Hedong Zhang (4g) William Tatham (4d) Leo Li (5a) Macros Yiu (5m) Douglas Groves (5c) Rudi Beard (5e) Haitian Li (5g) Jay Chan (5b) Hussain Ali (5b) Caspar Bridge (5f) Max Sutherland (5m) and the ‘Best in School’: Mike Song (5e) Christopher Lee Head of Mathematics

Although Chemistry Symposiums this year have remained, the standard of presentations has not diminished. The Upper Sixth at Sherborne School has presented on the Chemistry of Global Warming (Alec Williams (U6d), The Chemistry of Trinitrotoluene more commonly known as TNT (Preston Leung (U6m) and the Future of Plastics (Andre Cheung (U6e) and Ranco Liu (U6e). Most recently, and as the A level revision requirements increase, the Lower Sixth Form have stepped forward to present on the Chemistry of Colour (Richard Xu (L6b) and Ben Smith-Bingham (L6d). Richard and Ben have, at the time of writing, yet to present, but it is an interesting area covering flame colours for which they will need to consider the transfer of electrons in atomic/ionic orbitals, colours in Transition Metals, which will necessitate an explanation of d-d orbital splitting and finally the colour of organic compounds.

This will undoubtedly be the most challenging area as it will require a basic understanding of molecular orbital theory and how a conjugated system of double bonds impacts on this. It promises to be an informative evening!

William Buckley Head of Chemistry

Achievements in Biology Why not shout about it?

Extended Project Qualification The 2022 EPQ cohort has got off to a tremendous start with over 60 boys registering a truly extraordinary breadth of topics. Some of my current favourites are: Is the Philosophy of Stoicism relevant to modern life in the UK? Ed Ursell (L6c) What early 20th century American event most influenced the birth of Jazz music? Maxim Lewis (L6a) Endemic vs Epidemic: An investigation into the effect of COVID-19 on malaria research in the principle African malaria regions between 2018-2021 Ben Smith-Bingham (L6d) To what extent can Unreal Engine be used to model psychological interpretations of dreams? A history of the analysis of dreams in 3D. Ogi Soldatovic L6a) And How do the themes of law and justice differ throughout the works of Agatha Christie, and why is this the case?

Barney Crawford (L6b) The 2022 re-vamp of the Enrichment programme whereby all boys undertook a compulsory Enrichment course that give them a taste of the EPQ and then decided whether or not to apply for it at the end

of Michaelmas term worked extremely well and as a result the boys are all very committed and making excellent progress.

Having learned all about Gantt charts and the like, the next few weeks are entirely devoted to delving deeply into their individual research and at any point a number of boys may be found busily mining JStor and scribbling down pages of notes. The library has, as always, been a great source of support and the resources available are becoming more diverse every year, including new books on Cryptocurrency and Biomimicry and Agronomics, all things I’d never heard of before reading the boys EPQ proposals. I anticipate an excellent crop of projects to come to fruition over the summer and autumn and very much hope that postCOVID we can welcome boys, staff and parents to a celebratory presentation evening in September.

We would like to thank all the OS who volunteered their expertise and experience to advise the boys and answer their questions.

Charlotte Allen, Head of History & EPQ Co-ordinator

I do not apologise for eulogising about a boy’s dedication to Biology within this short article. It is simply wonderful when a student who has passed through your department has been inspired and ably assisted to enable them to access their dream.

Despite the trials and tribulations that the recent global pandemic has posed, it was wonderful to hear that Jack Pyman (U6e) was awarded a place to read Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge University this year.

Jack’s dedication to the subject has been apparent since the Third Form and his desire to ensure that he was a notable candidate is highly commendable. Even when I was teaching him from my garage during the first lockdown, his energy and passion for the subject was just as infectious as Coronavirus it seems.

It is important for other aspiring Shirburnians to realise that obtaining such a notable achievement requires a great deal of independent work. Jack took it upon himself to gain additional work experience, no mean feat given the climate at the time. Of course, Sherborne School provided a fabulous framework and secure scaffold which afforded him the possible best opportunity, but Jack’s ability to add the flesh to the bones allowed him to gain a place on a highly competitive course and, at an extremely desirable institution. We wish him the very best of luck, both in his forthcoming Biology A level examinations, and beyond.

Jon-Paul Manning Head of Biology

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Going Places in History The History Department has been busy promoting the Berlin Trip in October, the first major trip since before lockdown and we are really excited to have over 60 boys registered on what promises to be a truly insightful visit to a fascinating city. In other news we were delighted with Finn Grammaticas’s (U6f) offer to read History at Wadham College, Oxford. Finn has really shone in History throughout his time at Sherborne and we all congratulate him on his welldeserved success. Here is what Finn has to say about his Oxbridge journey with the department:

I was quite surprised when Mr Crouch invited me to the first History Oxbridge extension group when I was in the Fifth Form. I had never really thought of myself as a potential candidate, but I thought that I’d have a go anyway and after his brief lecture on the importance of photography in documenting the Vietnam war, I was hooked.

In the Lower Sixth, Mr Reynolds took over and suddenly the extension group became more challenging as I debated with other candidates on topics like “what is the locomotive of history” and the nature of relationships between slaves and masters in the French Caribbean.

Lockdown was more difficult, but with a limited access to books and materials, I did most of my reading from the Kindle app on my computer. I would then discuss my findings on Machiavelli or the development of the modern world with Miss Allen on Teams from the pool on my inflatable unicorn in Kenya.

However, the really serious preparation for my application began at the beginning of Upper Sixth, when myself and Miss Allen worked tirelessly developing a technique for answering HAT (history aptitude

“

test) questions. It wouldn’t be long before I walked out of the Library having written a HAT question on what a folktale about little green bean people could tell us about an individual’s values in 18th century Italy. It felt like a fever dream. I was so focused I remember little of what I actually wrote. My invitation to interview came a month later as I was sitting in the library analysing the essay I had submitted. What followed was the most intense and fulfilling period of learning I had ever experienced. I researched every question I thought they could ask me, from to what extent did women leaders in the Crusaders rule through masculine conventions of power, to how the identity of a historian influences their understanding of History. The History Department and I then spent hours on Teams practising online interview techniques and organising external interviewers so I could gain some practice, for all of which I am extremely grateful.

The December day where I sat in Mr McGuire’s drawing room awaiting the call to join the interview seems far away now, but it is an experience I will never forget.

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Highlights in Computer Science During the Lent Term, the Third Form studied Programming using the Python programming language. At the start of the term the Computer Science Department introduced 40 challenges which coincided with the content taught during lessons. The challenges got progressively harder.

Successful completion of challenges 1 to 10 earned a Bronze Certificate, 11 to 20 earned a Silver Certificate, 21 to 30 earned a Gold Certificate, and 31 to 40 earned a Platinum. The majority of the year group received their Bronze Certificate.

Cameron Groves (3c) was the only student in the Third Form to complete all 40 challenges, receiving his Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Certificate.

Charlie Miller (3d) received his Bronze, Silver, and Gold Certificate. He almost achieved his Platinum, but instead decided to create a fully functional class register using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. He also self-taught these languages.

The following boys received their Bronze, Silver and Gold certification: Forest Purvis (3b), Ryan Lai (3e), Winston So (3f) Gabriel Cheng (3e) and Freddie Facer (3a) received his Bronze and Silver Certificate.

David Wild, Head of Computer Science

News from the Library The Lent Term saw the library enter a multitude of different looks thanks to the many celebratory months we recognised. The staff and students were able to be introduced to some unfamiliar titles showcased, that were mentioned on our board and stock displays.

February brought us LGBTQ+ History Month which gave us all an excuse to add a bit of colour and flags to our book selection as well as to include many information cards on notable people covering various fields of work.

March saw Women’s History Month taking centre stage with International Women’s Day on the 8 March. Both the main display in the Undercroft and the book display in the Lower Library showcased all the wonderful, diverse, and interesting authors that can be found with our library.

World Book Day on 3 March this year saw the library put on a mini multiple-choice quiz with the winner getting their hands on a copy of the Guinness Book of Records. Out of all the entrants Will Bennett (3e) had the most correct answers.

The Semi Final matches for the Inter-House Literary Quiz has now come to a close. Of the eight Houses that started out in this knockout competition, only Lyon House and Harper House remain. They will pit their wits against each other in April in the final to see who will raise the trophy.

James Curtis, Library Assistant

Sixth Form, Higher Education & Careers

The preparation for competitive Oxbridge applications realistically starts before pupils even join the Sixth Form. Those pupils with such high academic ambition will have been attending academic clubs and societies, reading around their subjects and generally going the extra mile to progress academically and intellectually. These extra efforts yield breadth and depth of understanding and a developed articulation of why they wish to pursue a particular degree at the most competitive institutions in the UK. Applicants must then navigate the UCAS process with particular emphasis on extremely persuasive and substantive personal statements, super curricular reading and mentoring,

admissions test preparation and practice and, if they achieve sufficiently competitive results in them, interview preparation and practice. All this whilst studying three or four A Levels and following a busy Co-curricular programme. It is always exciting when these efforts pay off and the boys receive offers. We are therefore delighted to confirm the following offers for 2022 admission: Jack Pyman (U6e) for Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge, Will Jonas (U6d) for Human, Social and Political Science at Cambridge, Will Fahie (U6b) for Physics at Oxford and Finn Grammaticas (U6f) for History at Oxford. Huge congratulations go to these boys for their success.

Their places will be confirmed upon receipt of their A Level results. We also thank Judy

Thurman, Head of Specialist Higher Education, for her considerable energy and dedication, guiding applicants and coordinating the efforts of many staff who closely support the pupils through subject mentoring. This extra-mile work from staff also ensures that even for those disappointed applicants, their efforts are not in vain, as they develop so much through the process. Well done to them all for their courage to reach so high.

Robert Marston Assistant Head (Sixth Form)

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Careers Events

We kicked off the term with our Fifth Form Careers Event, which started with a talk from two Old Shirburnian’s on ‘Getting work experience ready’. They discussed the importance of essential people skills and doing as much work experience as possible during the holidays. The Fifth Form spent part of the next day learning about the standard business functions and the skills required for each. They then did some selfawareness tasks before matching their skills and interests with different job functions.

We recently held our Lower Sixth Careers Convention to kick off National Careers Week 2022 where five Old Shirburnians joined us live to discuss two topics: ‘Can You Turn Your Hobby into a Career?’ and ‘Future Proof Yourself – What Skills do you Need in an Ever-Changing World’. The boys enjoyed chatting with them after the talks.

We welcomed just under fifty Old Shirburnians and parents virtually on a Saturday morning in March. The boys chose to participate in three different industry panel discussions from fourteen industries. As ever, the boys brought some great questions to the table, and our Old Shirburnian network always provides such valuable advice and insights for the boys.

To end National Careers Week, we were lucky to host a past parent – John Mewett, CEO of Screwfix for lunch and a chat with 10 boys from the Fourth and Fifth Form. These termly events are designed to give younger boys the opportunity to chat and meet local professionals.

Zoe Fraser, Careers Manager

Co-curricular News

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Combined Cadet Force It has been a busy term for the CCF. The Pringle Trophy is possibly the most demanding event in the CCF calendar and is a keenly contested competition between schools across the country with Royal Marine cadets. Our team, led by Luca Malikov (U6f) and consisting of cadets from Sherborne Girls as well as Sherborne School, came a superb third place and were the highest placed mixed team.

The teamwork, camaraderie, and grit were a great example of the schools working together.

Termly Field Trips are often the highlight for cadets in the CCF. A couple of weeks ago, our Royal Navy section went to HMS Collingwood, our Vth form cadre course were hosted by the King’s Royal Hussars, our Royal Marine cadets went to 40 Commando, and our Army section went to Windsor to be hosted by the Coldstream Guards. This helped our preparations for the Biennial Inspection. The parade was observed by well over 200 proud parents and guests as the cadets tried their best under the watchful eye of the Fleet Commander of the Royal Navy (and Old Shirburnian), Vice Admiral Andrew Burns (e 88). He was also our Guest of Honour at our Annual Dinner Night for our Sixth Form cadets and gave a fantastic speech about the challenges of leadership. Next term there is lots to look forward to including parachuting, Field Trips to HMS Raleigh and Scraesdon Fort, CCF Summer Camp to Kent and adventure training in Norway.

Rob Le Poidevin CCF Contingent Commander

Duke of Edinburgh Award The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award participants have been working through the different sections with many gaining their award. We have seen the Third Form participants complete their first expedition training day and Silver and Gold levels are preparing for their training and practice expedition during the Easter holidays. We are delighted that Sherborne Girls will be joining us.

Despite the challenges this term, we have been delighted to award seven certificates of achievements, thirteen Bronze Awards, a Silver Award and two Gold Awards. Congratulations to Tom Ewart-Smith (U6d) and Oscar Welchman (U6b) who have completed all three levels during their time at Sherborne School.

Over 280 boys are currently enrolled on the award scheme across the three levels.

James Hull Duke of Edinburgh and Educational Visits Co-ordinator

Ten Tors After a two-year hiatus, Ten Tors returns as a joint activity - run with Sherborne Girls. This year we have entered two Sherborne boys’ teams for the 35-mile challenge, a 35-mile team from Sherborne Girls - and a mixed team 45-mile team in the Lower Sixth. Training has not been without its climatic challenges.

Storm Eunice ensured that the first training day was a soggy affair where students learned a valuable lesson in the necessity of decent waterproofs and gaiters. An overnight camp in March afforded us the opportunity to practise navigation in non-nautical conditions, with a spectacular sunset, snow and bitterly northerly winds.

With the final event due to take place on the May Exeat, the unenviable process of selection is now underway to get the teams down to six. For those who make the final team, and those who do not - I hope they have learnt to appreciate the unforgiving beauty that Dartmoor has to offer.

Chris O’Donnell Teacher of Business & Economics, Ten Tors

Music Highlights...

This has been an action-packed term of Sherborne Music.

Weekly lunchtime recitals, all of which are available on the School’s YouTube channel, with two concerts entitles “Instrumental Solos”, a Strings Recital, a Singers’ Recital, Brass Recital, a concert for Sherborne’s U3A by Ranco Liu (U6e) and Archie Burton (U6a), Woodwind, Pianists and Chamber Music.

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In the ensemble world there have been outstanding performances by the Wind Band, Swing Band both orchestras. These largescale ensembles all featured in concerts within a few hours of each other, starting with the 65strong Wind Band in the BSR on Friday 18 March playing music such as the Superman Suite, My Fair Lady and the ubiquitous Earth, Wind and Fire; then in the evening the Joint Schools’ Junior Orchestras — Sinfonia and Sinfonietta — gave performances of Aaron Copland’s Rodeo, the Toreador Song from Carmen, and Juba Dance.

The Joint Schools’ Symphony Orchestra, despite endless rehearsal interruptions over the last six months, went to Oxford Town Hall on the last weekend of term. Taking in Choral Evensong at Christ Church on the Saturday evening, and a movie afterwards, the orchestra stayed overnight in St Hilda’s College, and then performed Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, Holst’s Mars, the Bringer of War (from The

Planets), and Debussy’s Clair de Lune in its Oceans Eleven orchestration.

Chorally, there have been slightly fewer opportunities for the Choir to sing in the Abbey due to Covid cancellations, but the 106 singers have nonetheless sung extremely well when possible.

The Chamber Choir’s singing in Salisbury Cathedral in January was outstanding in all respects, and then a Festal Evensong for St Joseph’s Day, on Monday of the last week of term, in the School Chapel, was a tour de force of choral singing. The organists went on to give a recital on both of the Chapel’s instruments on the Thursday evening — Angus Williams (L6c) and Freddie Senior (4g) being on finest form.

The Halliday Cup Music Competition on Sunday 13 February was adjudicated by the demanding yet encouraging pianist and singer Clare Toomer, an old girl of Sherborne Girls and currently Head of Academic Music and Keyboard at Marlborough College. Clare was struck by the quality of our singers, pianists and organists, and the winners were Fabian Mercer (U6b), Freddie Thomas (U6m), Byron Yang (5d), Hector Kennerley (5g), Freddie Senior (4g), Jack Pyman (U6e), William Miao (L6f), Sam Berry (U6a), Jack Arnold (4e), Reuben Hobbs (4c), Thomas Wood (4f) and Oscar Boswall (4f), with the overall winner being Angus Williams (L6c).

The Joint Schools’ Unplugged, on Valentine’s Day, provided an opportunity for singer song-writers and cover musicians to entertain a lively audience.

Highlights included performances by Luca Bryant (U6m), Tiff Austen (U6d) and Alex O’Sullivan (4d).

In amongst all of these many concerts, there have also been a huge tranche of Associated Board and Trinity grade exams. Highlights of the results include Grade 8 Distinctions for Ricky Xu (L6a) (clarinet), Byron Yang (5d) (saxophone), Gareth Kwong (5e) (piano), Michael Long (L6m) (piano), Angus Williams (clarinet) and Nico Beeny (L6c); Grade 8 Merits for Charlie Burtt (5c) (trumpet), Gareth Kwong (5e) (‘cello) Finn Grammaticas (U6f) (flute), Kit Hobbs (L6c) (‘cello) and Joseph Page (5b) (treble recorder).

After the end of term, by a few hours, the Swing Band performed in the annual Dinner and Jazz, with its Captain Lucas Gardner (U6c) and vocalist Nico Beeny (L6c). It was good to hear Fly me to the moon and other old chestnuts after all of this time!

James Henderson Director of Music, Sherborne School & Sherborne Abbey

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MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS NExT TERM: Sherborne Abbey Festival 2022: 29 April – 6 May Chamber Music: 1.30pm Friday 29 April (Sherborne Abbey) Swing Band: 5.00pm Friday 29 April (BSR) Chamber Choir and Close Harmony: 10.30am Saturday 30 April (Sherborne Abbey)

COMMEM 2022: An Evening of Summer Jazz: 7.30pm Wednesday 29 June (the Amphitheatre, Music School) The Leavers’ Concert: 7.30pm Thursday 30 June (Tindall Recital Hall) The Gala Concert: 7.30pm Friday 1 July (BSR)

Art Lent is always quieter in the Art Department as students busily work on their coursework portfolios and project final pieces. This is always an exciting part of the Art year, but we do not see the fruition of students’ labours until Trinity Term and the end of term Commem Show.

A sneak peak of some of the excellent work being produced as evidenced by Kit Eccle’s (U6b) landscape tryptic (above).

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Not necessarily a highlight of the term, but a pressing matter nonetheless saw both our printing presses being serviced and the installation of a rather natty little desktop press. Lino printing has been the flavour of the term seeing all Third and Fourth Form boys busily carving and translating their designs into some rather tidy lino prints.

Our new kiln and ceramics area has been incredibly busy this term seeing boys creating a myriad of sculptures and decorative tiles as they begin to explore this new medium in our fantastic new studio. I would like to especially thank Rachel (also featured in this month’s Sherborne Times) our fantastic technician for the huge effort she has put into setting up and running such a great ceramics department.

On a similar note, as a Department we would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Finn Grammaticas (U6f), one of our keen Upper Sixth artists upon both his appointment as Head of School and also his securing a place at Oxford University, well done indeed on both fronts. Equally, congratulations to Jack Wang (U6e) who has received an unconditional offer, off the back of his exemplar portfolio to the hugely prestigious Rhode Island School of Design.

BTEC Creative Media

History of Art

Pupils have been busy in both years, creating content for several projects. The Upper Sixth boys have been working on the School’s digital prospectus, creating the content for every facet of the School, interviewing teachers and support staff so prospective parents and boys get a real flavour of the School and all it can offer pupils of the future.

They have also been completing their short films too, looking at the before and after effects of the COVID 19 pandemic.

It has been a very busy but also in many ways a quiet Lent Term for the History of Art boys; this was the term to finish the rest of the curriculum, namely the War Theme. As such, the boys were looking at a huge variety of artworks, including a Japanese castle, depictions of Napoleon in various guises, and modern works like Guernica and Otto Dix’s War Triptych. But they have plenty to look forward to next Term (apart from their exams) - a trip to Bilbao and Madrid, as well as a more local special guided tour of the world-class altarpiece at Sherborne Almshouse.

In the Lower Sixth, boys and girls have been planning and producing their own short films too. The stories are varied, with a zombie short film, a love story and a wistful drama about friendship.

Each production has been developed, planned, produced and edited by the production teams, with each of the pupils creating their own, original version of their production.

Matt Bone Director of Art

Drama Highlights...

Well, what an exciting term!

First, Digby House were doing “Rabbit” one week early and then they were not and then they were again! But only after the Joint Schools Musical production of “Grease” had been and gone to huge applause in the BSR.

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At the time of its inception, David Foxton’s small but perfectly formed piece, “Rabbit”, set in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust, seemed a little outdated and not so relevant.

Tragically, barely three weeks after the performance, its production in the Powell now seems strangely prescient. The Digby boys were a huge credit to themselves and the House with some lovely performances from both the seniors, with Joss Ryan (L6m), Ben Rivers (U6m) and Alfie Davies (U6m) leading the cast and the junior members of the House, Harry Sykes (3m) and William (3m) also demonstrating huge talent and ability.

Nico Beeny (L6c) performed brilliantly in “Grease” and it was lovely to see Lucas Gardener (U6c) and William Jonas (U6d) performing so perfectly in what will surely be their last show at School. The latter two boys have, between them, been in every single show since they joined the School and I have always loved watching and listening to their perfectly-pitched, self-assured, and wellcrafted performances whether in musicals, straight plays or indeed, radio dramas. They will be sorely missed.

Aside from these shows, work has continued unabated on the curriculum drama and the Lamda work, and I am certain of great results next term, thanks to the unstinting efforts of both teachers and boys. Roll on Trinity.

Ian Reade Head of Drama

‘it is the best play for a decade, at Sherborne’ ‘It was like a production you pay to see’

Victoria Clayton Head of Learning Development, Drama Teacher

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Junior Play Frankenstein The Lower School Production of Nick Dear’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s mythic fable with Freddie Fineman (4e) as the Creature and Siegfred Johnsen (4a) as Victor Frankenstein went down a storm towards the end of term.

The actors complimented each other perfectly and the production was a triumph.

Wellbeing Pupils have enjoyed a number of wellbeing activities this term. In February we

welcomed ‘Hyphen’ to discuss mental health with our Sixth Form. We hosted Hyphen

for dinner and discussion with The Digby Upper Sixth, where pupils were invited to talk about their thoughts and feelings on mental health. Afterwards, Hyphen addressed the whole of the Sixth Form and gave a testimony of his own experiences and some practical tips and advice.

Holocaust Memorial Day was also celebrated by departments creating a range of activities that linked with the theme and pupils were invited to come and write their thoughts and feelings about the day. Freddie Fineman (4e) also submitted a beautiful poem encapsulating his feelings on this subject.

February was also the Month to celebrate LGBTQ+ and the Fourth Form had an assembly delivered by the Equality and Diversity prefect Finn Grammaticas (U6f). We also invited a representative from the organisation the Space Youth Project, who explained the services they offer. In addition, pupils were invited to engage in the month by reading the published Sway, and wearing a pride badge for the School’s cross country if they wished.

For Internet Safety Day, Karl Hopwood provided a recorded lecture for our pupils to learn the importance of online safety.

In early March Beyond Equality visited the School to host pupil led workshops with our Fifth Form and discussed the issues surrounding relationships. In addition, work in the Equality Action Group has been focused on setting up a programme for the older pupils to host their own workshops with the Fourth Form on Online Harassment, which will take place after half term.

An assembly on International Women’s Day was delivered to the Lower School to get them thinking about the movement and how this links with the wider event of Women’s History Month. Fourth Form and Upper Sixth also attended lectures on topics related to relationships, as we hosted

Alison from the Rap Project.

The term drew to a close with an assembly delivered about Neurodiversity, for Neurodiversity Celebration Week (21 - 25 March) to the Lower School, highlighting the amazing contribution diverse minds offer schools, workplaces and society.

An arrow of abhorrence With a blade of bitterness Is deadly in every way.

So is hatred and hostility With added loathing, It’s enough to tear love away.

But the darkness will last As long as the shadows Seek solace in all that is blue.

So these gentle flames flicker To dry up our tears The light will guide us through.

“In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.” - Anne Frank Freddie Fineman (4e) Nikola Bowerman Head of Pupil Wellbeing

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Mental Health The past month has been busy in terms of Mental Health initiatives. February has seen and celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week, where our pupil listener service held a cake sale to raise £196 for Harper House Charity, Rendezvous. This was felt to be a

really worthwhile and relevant charity for the proceeds, as it supports local children

with emotional needs. The boys also worked hard at the cake sale to raise the profile of

their service, by handing out flyers and answering any questions. During this week, all pupils also watched an assembly focused on the development of the adolescent brain and the impact on Mental Health.

The pupil listeners have also started their regular supervision sessions led by our wonderful Mr Wiggall (Counsellor), where we come together as a group to reflect and commit to improving our knowledge, skills and confidence in listening. This is most important to ensure our listeners are supported in their role.

Will Jonas (U6d) (Mental Health and Wellbeing Prefect) and George Ingrams (U6d) (Pupil Listener) delivered an assembly to their peers in the Upper Sixth, where they focused on providing an update and their future plans for the Mental Health Committee.

Congratulations and thanks also go to Nikola Bowerman (Head of Pupil Wellbeing), who has successfully organised a plethora of events to support wellbeing and mental health, including a Fifth Form ‘beyond equality’ drop down day, a Sixth Form lecture given by ‘Hyphen’ a rapper who speaks about his experience of Mental Health, and also the ‘Rap Project’ visited to talk to Fourth Form and Upper Sixth.

Marie Hutchings Pupil Mental Health Lead & Nurse Manager

Clubs & Activities Board Games Club

Junior Water Polo Club

Radio Sherborne

10 boys have attended Board Games Club on Monday afternoons. We have a tremendously enthusiastic weekly Mah Jong quartet, while other boys have enjoyed learning games including Catan, Carcassonne, Battle Sheep, Love Letters and Citadels.

Fifteen boys have taken part in Junior Water Polo Club on Friday afternoons. They have developed skills and swim fitness with the help of our coach and the Sixth Form mentors. Next term, the boys will have the chance to compete for the coveted trophy in the Junior Water Polo House Tournament.

This term Radio Sherborne has seen the launch of a new programme: Cut to the Race.

This show, presented by Seb Stannah (L6m) and Joss Ryan (L6m) is an in-depth discussion of all things Formula One. It has been fascinating so far – imagine how good it will be once the season actually starts.

Claire Greenrod Teacher of English

Claire Greenrod Teacher of English

Crossfire

Gardening Club The boys have been busy in Gardening Club this term and Spring has certainly sprung in Westcott garden. Before half term the boys planted their first crop of potatoes and had more potatoes chitting ready, which they planted in the second half of term.

Emma Drake Art Teacher

Crossfire (The School’s Christian Union) has met most Thursdays at 5.45pm. We have enjoyed meeting together regularly to share a meal and listen to a visiting speaker, or to look at a passage from the Bible. This term we have been looking at a series on ‘Fruits of the Spirit’. We also enjoyed a joint Supper with Sherborne Girls.

Nick Scorer Housemaster of Harper House and Teacher of Chemistry

The Third Form have consolidated their good start last term and added a weekly quiz – Google Feud. Play along to see if you can beat them in guessing what the most popular Google searches have been in a variety of topics.

Not On TikTok have carried on with their unique mix of top tunes and gentle bickering, and the Politics Show and the Sports Round-up have both seen a revolving cast of characters including Tiff Austen (U6d), Will Senior (U6g), Jacob Schwandt (U6f), Charlie Collinge (U6f), Billy Stephens (U6d) and sometimes even Will Jonas (U6d). On the wheels of steel we have had Luca Bryant (U6m) and running the tech side of things Massimo Liotta-McLester (5b) and Toby Kilmartin (4e) have kept things running smoothly.

James Crawford Head of Theology

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Instant Language Club

Cooking Club

DJ Club

The highlight of Instant Language club recently was an inspired talk given by Kerim Smajilagic, who taught us about the Bosnian language but also Bosnian culture, heritage and history. It was reassuring to have so much explained in such an open-minded way, free of prejudice and full of understanding of other cultures and ways of life. This was a wonderful breath of fresh air in troubling political times.

Cooking Club has been a new initiative set up with the support of Chartwells. We have hosted Sixth Form boys in the Dining Room annexe where we started modestly preparing offerings which could be later cooked in the School kitchens and then collected. Blueberry muffins, pizzas, fresh pasta, Yule Log and supporting LGBTQ+ day with Rainbow iced buns.

The DJ Club has primarily focused on the use of mixing tracks together, from songs that contain the same BPM (beats) and from a variety of mixed genres/songs; this is useful when performing and showcases the use of remixing to a live audience. Boys from the Fourth Form have been joined by Sherborne Girls who have been able to join the DJ Club on Thursdays. Other sessions included manipulating effect in modern music and a little bit of scratching on the DJ controller!

Stephen Byrne MFL Teacher

As a result of the boys enthusiasm and extraordinary generosity from Chartwells and Chef James Lowe, Cooking Club has now received substantial sponsorship. The beginning of March saw the arrival of 10 standalone induction stoves plus brand-new pans and utensils needed for boys to attempt more sophisticated recipes from start to finish. We are now based in the OCR kitchens and started off with a bechamel sauce moving to minestrone and savoury pancakes. Next term we will be offering a limited number of places to the Lower School to encourage and challenge our younger chefs.

Libby Duignan Teacher of Learning Support

Michael Lehnert Head of Music Technology

Community Outreach Boys have started to build relationships with their House Charities. Some have started to volunteer already. This initiative has gone a long way to kick starting positive relationships between the School and town post COVID. Many of the Houses have one or more events planned to help raise funds for their House Charities. Abbey House Sleep Out on 19 March was a great success, the House have raised £7,411 so far (exceeding their £5,000 target).

Sherborne School Staff have been leading fund-raising initiatives for the House Charites such as a cake sale, raising money for local charity, Rendezvous and retiring collections have taken place.

The Outreach Committee spent a busy two days collecting supplies from around the School and then spending an afternoon at the sorting station, helping to organise supplies for those displaced by the conflict in Ukraine.

Sherborne Sports Centre launched a 24 hour Swimathon on the 19 March, in aid of Comic Relief, raising £770. 9,423 lengths were swam over the 24 hours which is equivalent to seven times the Channel and the distance from Sherborne to Wembley Stadium (and a little further!)

We will soon have two boys acting as Youth Advisors to the Sherborne Town Council.

Future plans include The Big Sleep Out for the Sixth Form, Whole School Challenge Day and the Turing Bike Ride.

William Mackenzie-Green Charity and Community Outreach Co-ordinator

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Sport Lent Term 2022 will be fondly remembered for the huge strides we made in returning to ‘normality’ in what we were able to do in so many areas of sport and recreation. In early January, whilst still in the grips of the pandemic, the ski racing programme fell by the wayside but most other sports at Sherborne were fully functioning.

As restrictions were lifted, we welcomed back all spectators and were able to offer a more usual level of hospitality. Enjoyment of sport and making memories with friends remain key to the experiences of our boys and as the weeks flew by, we witnessed time and again how important a game of football, hockey, basketball or numerous others are to their health and wellbeing. Whether playing for the Mini Colts D team or charging around a fives court, it has been an absolute pleasure to see the boys ‘back in the game’.

David Guy, Director of Sport

Rugby Although there were a number of productive development rugby fixtures throughout the Lent Term, the clear highlight of the term’s rugby was the 1st xV’s National Schools’ Cup Semi-Final against Trinity School, Croydon, played at Sixways Stadium. Although Sherborne went on to lose the match against a very strong team, credit must be given to the pride and effort each squad member put into the match to make it a great spectacle.

The 1st XV can be immensely proud to reach this stage of a National competition, for the second year running, and contribute to the legacy of Sherborne School rugby that will inspire the younger years to keep raising the bar. The Upper Sixth are an example of what can be achieved during your time at Sherborne School, no matter where you start from.

Football Football starts in the Michaelmas Term with an U18 squad playing in the Wessex Independent Schools League. The competition this year was extremely close and went right to the wire. In the last match of the term, we needed to win against a talented Clayesmore team in order to be crowned Champions. Failure would result in Canford taking this accolade. However, thankfully we managed to win, with a goal in the dying embers of the match, to once again take the silverware. Roll on to the Lent Term and we were delighted to see that more boys than ever signed up for football this year, especially in the Third Form. This meant that we had to implement another team at this level!

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Every team was able to play in competitive fixtures against a host of different opponents. The weather was kind to us this year and no matches were affected. However, the vicious wagging tail of COVID still impacted upon our fixtures, especially at the start of term. That said, in a fixture card with over 130 matches across all age groups, the boys still had plenty of opportunities.

The pitches on Carey’s were also reallocated this year, with the first team pitch being set up on Carey’s. As always, huge thanks to John Atkins and his fantastic team for the amazing work preparing each pitch.

The annual match against the Pilgrims was a wonderful occasion, where once again they were able to encourage some of the current Upper Sixth boys to join them in their challenge to move up divisions of the Arthurian League. We won by the way!

One positive from COVID was the opportunity it afforded some boys to find additional courses to follow. I am delighted that we have been able to help Robert Chitty (5d) with his refereeing course by allowing him to take charge of some Junior matches this term. This is something we would love to build upon in the future.

Since Sherborne Prep School recently merged with Sherborne School, it was wonderful that we were able to help facilitate some football for them too.

A single match between Sherborne Prep and Sherborne Abbey Primary became an afterschool Football Festival with the addition of Sherborne Primary, Thornford Primary, St Mary’s Bishops Caundle, and Trent Primary. It was fantastic fun and the feedback from the Schools was excellent – definitely something to try to repeat next year!

Lastly, we have also had boys representing Yeovil Town U18, Dorset Schools U16 and our U16A team progressed to the quarter final of the Dorset Schools County Cup. As you can see, a jam-packed couple of terms of football!

Hockey In the midst of another extremely busy hockey term, with friendly and competitive fixtures taking play from U14B level to 1st xI National Cup competitions. The Mini Colt A team won the Dorset County title and progressed to the West Regional tournament where they were unlucky to be on the wrong side of four one-goal results alongside a 1-1 draw. Meanwhile, the 1st xI progressed to the Regional Semi Final of the National Cup before losing a very close match 3-2 to Blundells.

COVID continued to have an impact, as two teams were knocked out of competitions as we were unable to fulfil the fixture, but around that we have continued to provide lots of opportunities for boys to play hockey at every level.

Tennis

Sailing

The boys have been determined and hard-working through the wintery start of the year. Whilst we only had one fixture to look forward to this term, we firmly set our sights on preparing well for the Trinity Term. The boys’ tennis has continued to make strides forwards.

Most schools shy away from sailing in the cold and darkness of the Lent Term, but not Sherborne or indeed Sherborne Girls who sail with the boys.

While lacking in a plethora of fixtures the team captained by Harry Wood (U6f) had victories over a very strong Old Shirburnian Team, an “adult” team from the Solent which included an ex-world and national champion and over Clifton College in a two-leg tie.

We have appointed our Tennis Captain, Jacob Schwandt (U6f), after a rigorous application process. Our first match in the LTA National Schools competition was against Ringwood School, a state school with 1600 boys to choose from who had a strong side consisting of players from West Hants and St Leonard’s Tennis Club. Our B team consisting of Josh Campbell (U6g), Guy Rawlings (L6a), Alex WilliamsonJones (5d) and Billy Baker (4c) fought tremendously, with Alex and Billy winning their singles matches. Unfortunately, however, Ringwood managed to sneak the win with a 10-8 win in the final set tie break. Our A team are looking forward to the competition next term. To keep up to date on tennis please follow the Twitter channel @TennisSherborne.

The latter victory was particularly pleasing because it involved the whole sailing cohort across all year groups. Special mention must go to William Esdaile (3c) and George Gillespie (5c) who

sailed well for the junior team to underpin the victory for the School. Andre Cheung (U6e) continued to impress with his aggressive but controlled tactical sailing for the first team in every fixture. The annual ‘Parents versus Pupils’ Sailing Match for both Sherborne School and Sherborne Girls was held at Sutton Bingham in glorious sunshine but very windy conditions on the 19 March.

The conditions proved too much for the less nimble older generation and the pupils won convincingly taking the top seven places out of 17. The rescue boats were kept very well occupied with a total of 28 capsizes throughout the afternoon.

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Squash Squash this term has been much improved, as even though we have lost, our junior players have gained much experience from the Upper Sixth. They will bring a bright future for our squash teams. Even though some of the results did not go in our favour as each of the games, lost and won, were close and exciting. I hope to come back in the future and see how squash has thrived at the School.

Marcus Bray Squash Captain (U6b)

Waterpolo The highlight of the water-polo year so far has been the return of the ever-popular Senior House Tournament. Fiercely contested heats saw Abbey House emerge unbeaten and face The Green in the Final. Abbey House, captained by Johnny Kirkwood (U6b), lifted the trophy for the third time in a row after a decisive 9-2 victory.

The Trinity Term will welcome an additional weekly water polo club for Juniors, culminating in the Junior House Tournament.

Clay Shooting

Clay Shooting continues to be a popular choice as a Thursday afternoon sport and currently there are 15 boys shooting regularly.

The 1st V and 2nd V had an away fixture against Millfield School at Mendip Shooting Grounds. Millfield School have very strong teams this year, and both our teams were beaten, but the fixture hones our competitive spirit and gives us experience of shooting at a large gun club with a wide variety of targets.

In the match, Sherborne’s 1st V scored 200/250 clays with Millfield A scoring 234/250. Percy Tylor (L6g), Harry Trudgeon (L6f) and Freddie May (5a) each scored 41/50 which was commendable on a selection of challenging targets.

Sherborne’s 2nd IV scored 135/200 with Millfield B scoring152/200.

Aidan Wood (L6e) achieved 38/50. Overall, it has been an enjoyable term’s shooting and the build-up to storm Eunice certainly provided some challenging and memorable targets!

1st V: Percy Tylor (L6g), Harry Trudgeon (L6f), Dorian Gottardello Bodnar (L6f), Harry Thomson (L6e), Freddie May (5a) 2nd V: Aidan Wood (L6e), Henry Grey (L6f), Charlie Temmink (5f), Oliver Brown (4b), Ximu Jerry Bo (4f) .

Basketball

Cross Country

The first team has played fixtures against Gryphon, Marlborough, Bishops Wordsworth, Taunton, Wells Cathedral School and Downside with the final fixture upcoming with Gillingham School. This year it has been heartening to see the team composed of boys at the start of their Basketball journey in the Fourth Form, through Fifth right up to the seasoned athletes in the Upper Sixth.

This term the Cross Country team coped well with a rotating roster as boys fell victim to COVID and other injuries. The willingness of every member of the team to step up to get teams together to compete has been impressive. The term started with strong performances from Robbie (L6a) and Tom Foster (4a) at Clayesmore where they both took gold. Robbie would go on to qualify for the English Cross Country Competition in Kent after disciplined performances in the Dorset and southwest rounds.

Boys worked hard in the Michaelmas Term training for fixtures in the Lent Term coming against stiff competition from most schools. Our team beset by injuries have won 3/6 fixtures so far and are looking towards our final two fixtures optimistically as our youthful team gain experience. Special mention should go to Denys Tiasko (U6e) amassing the most points in the season so far, and Brandon Chen (4e) for his contributions to the starting five.

Fives Despite cancellations due to COVID earlier in the season, the Fives team still had a healthy fixture list with seven matches and two national competitions. Fabian Mercer (U6b) and Jack Pyman (U6e) led the senior squad who enjoyed games against both school and adult teams, with victory over the adult side of the Rugby Fives Association being a particular highlight.

A number of Lower Sixth and Fifth Formers have started to play at the top level this term and in the Third and Fourth Form there are plenty of enthusiastic players, many of whom are new to the sport.

Another highlight was the Gold and Silver won by Tom Foster and Joseph Page (5b) as well as a bronze for Benjamin Brady (3d) in the junior race on the unforgiving sand of the beach at Studland. But the real high point of the term was the home fixture, the Sherborne Trophy, in which Robbie Foster saw off challengers from Canford and Clifton to take gold in the senior race and Tom Foster took silver in the inters helping take the inter team to overall victory.

In the House Cross Country event at Sherborne Castle Tom Foster took first place for the intermediates followed by Alfie Reynolds (5c) and Joseph Page. In the Seniors, Robbie Foster saw off Harry Pleydell Bouverie (L6a) and Harry Wood (U6f) to take 1st. Digby took the intermediate team competition and Lyon took the senior team competition as well as the overall top score.

It has been fantastic to get back out to fixtures and onto paths and lesser trampled routes of Dorset for the first time in two years. The medals as well as the enthusiasm of the team bode well for future success.

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Polo

After lengthy disruption due to COVID prevention measures, polo finally got underway with matches this term. On Tuesday 15 March the more experienced polo team took on two teams from Marlborough College and one from Bishops Wordsworth’s in a mini tournament at Druids Lodge Polo Club (our home ground). The more chukkas they played the better they became, showing that more match experience is required. They came 3rd overall and it was great to see a Third Former enjoying playing on the same team as the Sixth Form.

On Thursday 17 March a new team of polo players took on their first match against Marlborough College. They led convincingly from the first chukka and although Marlborough started to make a comeback, Sherborne held onto a healthy lead to win 8-5.

On a sunny Sunday 20 March under clear blue sky, a mixed team played Millfield away at Vaux Park. By the end of the first chukka the score was 2-2, but they took the lead in the second chukka and never looked back, taking the win convincingly 3-6.

Jake Bamford (3b) was awarded MVP (most valuable player) for the match.

The boys have all been very committed to training every Thursday afternoon throughout the winter and after Easter they are looking forward to a faster, more open game out on the grass pitches and lots more match practice.

Players: Thomas Harmsworth (U6e) Mustafa Cheshti (L6g) Jake Bamford (3b) Ted Hunt (5m) Cassius Hammick (5m) Algy Lindsay-Fynn (injured so couldn’t play as planned) (4b)

Old Shirburnian Society

One of the principal objectives of the OSS is to give as much help as possible to our youngest members making the transition from school to university life. It was therefore a pleasure for us, come early February, to recommence our round of university visits so sadly untenable in 2021. In conjunction with Sherborne Girls, we visited Edinburgh, Newcastle (including Durham and Northumbria), Leeds, Cardiff and Oxford.

Our role in these visits is simple. We provide food and drinks and a listening ear where needed – the success of the events is all down to the never flagging enthusiasm of our young OS. Further visits are planned for 2023 in the hope that we can complete a chain of visits incorporating all major university centres on a two-year basis.

Our spring programme of events is in full swing. In conjunction with Sherborne Girls we held a lunch for OS and Sherborne Old Girls (SOG) in Edinburgh, and a highly successful Young Alumni London Pub Night for OS and SOGs for the leavers of 2012-2021. The leavers of 1970, 71 and 72 and the leavers of 1980, 81 and 82 enjoyed their, respectively, 50- and 40-Year Reunions at the Cavalry and Guards Club.

Sherborne Connect, our online platform, continues to thrive and we are currently in the middle of our 2022 Mentoring Programme for young leavers and have over 150 active mentoring relationships underway. We are very grateful to all of you who signed up and are acting as mentors.

John Harden, Old Shirburnian Society Secretary Anne Macfarlane, Alumni Officer

The Sherborne 360° Programme continues to support the School in many ways and the fundraising for the Sports Centre continues apace with gift and pledges for close to £3.5 million toward the £4 million target. We continue to hold several events as well as meeting parents and OS individually.

The Sherborne 360° Sports Dinner will be held on 23 June at the Waldorf Hilton in Aldwych, London with Martin Johnson, England’s World Cup Winning Captain as special guest alongside Mark Pougatch, Sport Presenter. This will include a live auction with incredible lots including a special Coldplay offering. We also have a silent auction underway which can be found at www.givergy.uk/sherborne360/?controller=home and this will remain open until Commemoration.

The academic year effort will culminate in a Sherborne Giving Day on 24 June when many of the boys will be involved in challenges. We are also looking to support a project for the Art School and continue to widen access through bursary support.

Thank you to all those parents and OS who have supported the Sports Campaign so far either as donors, giving lots for the auction or as volunteers.

Do contact Adrian Ballard adrian.ballard@sherborne.org or Tracey Richardson tracey.richardson@sherborne.org to get involved or for further information.

Scan me to support the Sherborne 360 Sports Dinner Auction

Adrian Ballard Head of the Sherborne School Foundation

Archiving the Pandemic

The second anniversary of the UK’s first lockdown provides us with an opportunity to reflect on what we have been through as individuals and as a community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the help of the staff and boys at Sherborne School, our Archivist, Rachel Hassall has, during the last two years collected material and photographs documenting the pandemic.

You may remember that in November 2020 our Director of Art Mr Bone ran a ‘Life in Lockdown’ photographic competition with the aim of creating a visual record of school life during the lockdown, and in March 2021 we sent out a ‘Life after Lockdown’ survey asking the staff and boys how they felt about what they had been through and their hopes for the future. The photographs submitted for the competition and the responses to the survey now form part of Sherborne School’s archives.

Using these resources, Rachel has created on the School Archives website a visual timeline detailing the impact of the pandemic on the lives of people in the UK and at Sherborne School and has also put together a summary of the responses received to the ‘Life after Lockdown’ survey. https://oldshirburnian.org.uk/covid-19-pandemic/ Thank you, Rachel

The Sunday Times has rated our beautiful market town as one of the best places to live in 2022, and we couldn’t agree more. With its “old fashioned beauty”, rolling hills, gastro-pubs, family run businesses, cafe’s, neighbourliness and of course its schools, it’s not surprising that Sherborne is treasured by so many. Sherborne also benefits from brilliant transport connections with a direct train line to London Waterloo, which is used by boys and girls from neighbouring Sherborne Girls at Exeats and holidays.

The full article can be found online: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-sherborne-dorsetbest-place-to-live-uk-f3plrlq0p

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facebook.com/SherborneBoysSchool twitter.com/SherborneSchool #sherborneschool

youtube.com/user/TheSherborneSchool flickr.com/sherborneschool linkedin.com/school/sherborne-school Thank you to all contributors.

Image credits: Josie Sturgess-Mills, Michael Berkeley and others.

Registered Charity No. 1081228

SHERBORNE SCHOOL ABBEY ROAD SHERBORNE DORSET DT9 3LF T: 01935 810403 E: admissions@sherborne.org www.sherborne.org