Academic Studies | Sherborne School

I have always strongly believed that having the opportunity to educate other people’s children is a rare privilege that brings with it a responsibility to ensure that we try and provide the best all round education that we can to prepare our boys for success in the adult world. In order to achieve this there are several characteristics that we proactively seek to encourage and to develop through our teaching:

• Integrity
• Independence of thought
• Academic inquisitiveness
• A willingness to take intellectual risks
• The ability to communicate effectively with others
• Moral courage to stand up for what you believe in
• Tolerance and understanding of other people and other cultures

This focus on Independent Learning does not necessarily mean that boys are expected to be off working entirely on their own. It means that boys are encouraged to really take responsibility for their own learning and to have the intellectual confidence to think for themselves. In an ever competitive world, the reality is that exam results matter and of course we want our boys to achieve the best results that they can. However, we also need to be wary that a fear of failure does not stifle opportunity to flourish and as a school we are committed to doing all we can to educate the whole boy.

To help us achieve this we are very fortunate to have a Common Room of exceptional quality which I firmly believe is by far the school’s most important resource. A Common Room that displays a depth of pride in and dedication to a school in which all have invested a huge amount, in many cases over many years. Yet while this is a Common Room that respects the traditions and practices that have made Sherborne what it is, it is not one that is stuck in the past and it recognises the need for successful institutions to change with the times. The most successful institutions are always subtly reinventing themselves in a fast moving world. Look at the range of developments at Sherborne in the past few years as evidence of this; the introduction of the IB; the move towards IGCSE; the introduction of the Extended Project in the Sixth Form; the new Sixth Form tutoring system; the embracement of modern technology; the opening of Sherborne Qatar; the building of the new Music School, to name but a few.

We are also extremely fortunate to enjoy wonderful facilities, whether the modern spaces of the Design & Technology, Modern Languages and Science departments, or the marvellous setting of the Abbey and Monastic buildings which so inspire our historians, theologians, artists and musicians.

In addition, we are able to offer an independent education for boys that we ourselves believe passionately in, free from the policies, whims and changes of central government. This independence has given us the freedom, in recent years, to stretch boys at all levels by offering a curriculum we believe in, one that responds to the diverse needs of each individual boy and which is assessed in as rigorous and objective a way as we can achieve within the constraints of the examination system. That is why, in the last few years, we have led the way in the south west in adopting the International Baccalaureate as an option alongside A levels and why we have moved to the more rigorous IGCSEs in Maths, English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History and French.

The International Baccalaureate is now over 40 years old so it is no new fangled and passing fad. It has absolute, not relative, standards and its core approach and assessment has not changed in over 40 years. It is increasingly seen as a new gold standard by higher education institutions. When we moved to IGCSE in many subjects a few years ago my predecessor warned parents that there may be a slight dip in results as the courses are more demanding. However, we have in fact seen our best ever results in all these subjects since the change was made. This adds weight to my firmly held belief that raising the bar need not be at the cost of the results and that, in fact, by challenging boys and teachers, it is more likely to have the opposite effect. We are definitely not, however, in the business of running down all traditional A-Levels and GCSEs. The key point is that where national exams continue to provide a rigorous and educationally sound training we will continue to offer these subjects and that we are fully committed to offering the best education we can to our boys.

We are committed to a curriculum that recognises diversity in both ability and interest. We do not, like many schools, have pre-set blocks for subject choices thus ensuring as wide a range of combinations as possible at GCSE, A level and IB. Nor do we subscribe to a ‘one size fits all curriculum.’ For example, able linguists can choose three modern and two ancient languages in their first three years in the School, extra lessons are provided in English, Maths and Sciences within the curriculum for those who struggle with these subjects and individual academic targets are set for each boy in examination years.

Our excellent learning support department cares for all boys not just those with ‘special needs’, running programmes in revision technique in the 5th form and supporting all boys in their first term with a seminar programme that helps them adapt to the new academic and organisational demands of a senior school.

Of course, we also seek to stretch our boys in other ways. Our FOCUS programme in the 3rd form takes all boys out of the classroom for a few days twice a year to allow them to work collaboratively on big cross-curricular projects that demand time and experimentation. Our programme of Personal Development is embedded in the curriculum and runs from the 3rd form right through to the Upper 6th with a focus on emotional intelligence, ethics, current affairs, personal development and choices and so on. All boys in the 3rd form study IT with the aim of getting the European Computer Driving Licence or a Certificate in Functional Skills but they also develop their touch typing and consider the ethics of the internet, academic honesty, intellectual property and new communication tools. We have established dedicated scholarship periods in the curriculum for academic, music, art and D&T award holders and have tried wherever possible to have setting by subject rather than streaming.

We also have the privilege of being able to work closely with Sherborne Girls, offering a wider range of academic options at sixth form than one would think possible. This includes Italian, History of Art, Russian, Drama, Politics and PE at A level and, of course, the IB, but at the same time we are able to maintain the single sex environment in the early and middle teenage years that we believe works to the academic benefit of our boys and girls. This is a commitment you can confidently expect us to maintain in the foreseeable future.

As for the future, I believe that boys at Sherborne can expect an education in the 3rd form that is one we believe in and at GCSE one that will stretch them to achieve the best for themselves. Gazing ahead to the 6th form is more difficult. As well as ‘A’ levels and IB we are keeping a close eye on the Pre-U exam and the development of Diplomas by the current Government. The latter two qualifications are still at an early stage and it is hard to say where we or they will be in a few years time.

I am very proud to work at Sherborne and genuinely believe that this is a great school. However, we are not resting on our laurels and we are fully committed to being at the cutting edge of educational developments in the coming years.

Simon Henderson MA
Deputy Head (Academic)