From the Principal

The publication of this year’s Qatar Shirburnian coincides with an easing of the Covid-19 restrictions and a return to more normal schooling.

The previous three academic years have all been affected by the Global Pandemic and this article gives me an opportunity to thank members of the Sherborne Community for their continued support of our schools. Firstly, I would like to thank the teachers for their dedication and commitment to the pupils’ learning, and especially for their hard work, determination, and enthusiasm to continue moving education forward over the last two very challenging and troubling years. Secondly to the parents for their continued support of the school and finally the pupils for your resilience and aspiration for an outstanding education, which resulted in our best ever i/GCSE and A Level results to date.

It is worth noting that the current Year 13 pupils were in Year 9 when we last had a normal school year and so many of our pupils and staff will be seeing key aspects of the school, such as Enrichment and productions, for the first time. We look forward to a new school year rich in the variety of events which are so important to us for developing a rounded young person.

In June we were able to hold a near normal Commemoration, or Commem as it is affectionately known, which is an opportunity to celebrate our pupils’ successes. During the celebrations I was delighted to present The Principal’s Award, given each year to pupils at any of the Sherborne Family of Schools for something exceptional, inspirational, or motivational.

This year’s recipients, Khadija and Maryam Ghaly, are strong academically, supportive pastorally and exceptional sports stars. They are amazing role models to many pupils, of all ages, both inside and outside of the school. In short, they are outstanding Shirburnians. They are both prominent leaders in Cook House and have already completed their Level 1 Sports Leaders Awards. They are always at the front of the queue to volunteer to help, especially for anything that is sports-related, including being officials at Sports Day and leading football sessions for the Prep School pupils during their recent Transition Day. They attended the Ramadan Girls Festival and helped coach the Sherborne Football teams. They also supported the Interhouse Boys’ World Cup Festival in Lusail by refereeing many of the games. Both girls have also been selected as Youth Advocates for the Generation Amazing programme and represented Sherborne at a 3-day festival at Qatar Foundation last December where they made such a positive impression that they were invited to participate in a follow up documentary on gender equality in sport. Congratulations to them both.

I commend the pages which follow to you and hope that you will enjoy reading about everything which has continued to happen despite the challenges of the pandemic. I challenge every pupil to excel in all areas of school life, and perhaps next year you will be the recipient of The Principal’s Award.

Nick Prowse Principal