Social Life

Sherborne offers boys a life beyond the classroom and in so doing helps them to discover things about themselves and about the world.

The opportunities available are many and varied, and part of a tutor's work with individual boys will be to ensure that each one is able to explore new avenues and build up a range of interests and experiences.

The annual Activities Fair is the place to discover what is going on - from debating to climbing; from horse-riding to creative writing; from surfing to theatre lighting; from clay-pigeon shooting to librarianship. The list is seemingly endless, because if a boy wishes to take part in an activity not yet offered he will be given as much help as possible to see it come alive.

The well-established joint music and drama opportunities with Sherborne Girls, which are now open also to pupils from Leweston, The Gryphon School and Yeovil College, enable boys and girls to perform together and to build sound friendships based on their mutual interests.

There is also a Saturday evening social programme that is open to girls from Sherborne Girls, Leweston and St Mary's Shaftesbury. Typical entertainments are discos, trips to the cinema or ten-pin bowling. Upper sixth formers have their own Junior Common Room (The Stick) where boys and girls can meet. There is a bar that serves a limited amount of alcohol - together with food - and always music to dance to, probably from one of the home-grown DJs.

Boarding houses also provide a rich social life, bringing those in the house together across the age range. There are informal suppers and formal dinner parties hosted by Housemasters; there are informal competitions for snooker or pool, table football or table tennis; there are outings to local places of interest.

Further afield, overseas trips are also an important part of the whole experience, stretching boys' personal development in terms of their cultural awareness as well as their talents. Recent examples of destinations visited are: Grenada by the Swing Band, South Africa by the 1st XV and Colts rugby squads, Rwanda by the Link Charities group, Washington by the Government and Politics group, France, Belgium, Germany and Spain by a wide range of linguists, Venice by Geographers. The world awaits Shirburnians eager to broaden their horizons and to understand where school life and the world beyond it come together.

Peter Watts BSc
Deputy Head (Pastoral)