EDUCATION CORNER PODCAST
EDUCATION CORNER PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH HEADMASTER
Mr. Tom Dawson FROM SUNNINGDALE SCHOOL, BERKSHIRE Mr. Tom Dawson speaks to us about the ethos, main entry points and highlights of Sunningdale School, and discusses the benefits of single-sex education. To start with, could you tell us a little bit more about the ethos at Sunningdale and what makes it so unique?
Absolutely. So, we are a small school with 110 boys. We are family-owned and run, and there are very few of those schools left, actually. The school is owned by my family and has been since the sixties, and I think one of the things that makes Sunningdale so special is its family atmosphere. It’s actually about much more than the fact that it is owned by a family; it’s about the culture that we create within the school - one of care, trust, support, mutual understanding and a real culture of looking after each other. There’s a really strong togetherness within the school, and I think that’s what sets us apart. What are your main entry points to Sunningdale?
The main entry point is Year 4, so when the boys are eight, turning nine, although we do have some 38 | EDUCATION CHOICES MAGAZINE | AU T U M N 2 02 3
boys that join us in Year 3. We are very much a boarding school, we’re 90% boarding, and that’s a really important part of the school’s culture. I think Year 4 is probably a better point to start boarding than Year 3, so that’s a better entry point for us. We always have boys joining us later on in the school, a few boys join in Years 5, 6 and a very small number in Year 7. We don’t really offer places in Year 8 because by then there’s a limit to how much difference we can make in just a year, particularly when it comes to senior school choices. But Year 4 is certainly the main entry point. Single-sex schools have been a hot topic of debate for quite some time now. What, in your view, are the benefits of being an allboys’ school?
You’re right, Chloe, it is a hot topic of debate, I think it always has been and always will be. Particularly at the moment, with a number of quite well-known single-sex schools taking the co-ed route, that is a question I get asked a lot, and so it is something I think about a lot, because I think
