School News

SCHOOL NEWS 2020

CALCULATED SUCCESS

Four pupils excelled at this year’s challenging UK Maths Olympiad for Girls: Lauren Carty (L6), Daisy Kwong (U6), Amy Ye (L6) and Daisy Du (M5).

Daisy Kwong came in the top 25% nationwide, whilst Daisy Du, the youngest of our entrants, made the top 10% of all students across all age groups.

Lauren Carty also took part in the 2020 Maths Olympiad Summer School after coming in the top 1.5% nationally in the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Intermediate Maths Challenge.

MERRITT CENTRE PROVIDES LOCKDOWN RECORDING SPACE

Popular pianist Duncan Honeybourne raised money for struggling musicians by recording a CD in The Merritt Centre’s Gransden Hall during the first Covid lockdown. His Contemporary Piano Soundbites album is a collection of solo piano miniatures by various musicians, including the Music Department’s very own Simon Clarkson.

The project has already raised more than £2,000 for the Help Musicians UK Coronavirus Hardship Fund.

Duncan, who has toured extensively as a soloist and chamber musician and regularly appears on the BBC, said: “I’m most grateful to Sherborne Girls for playing such a crucial part in bringing this project to fruition.”

MAKING THE FINALS

Sherborne Girls was selected as a Finalist in two categories in the Independent School of the Year Awards 2020: Best Boarding School and Best Marketing Award for Effective Brand Communication.

A joint submission with Sherborne School also resulted in being named as Finalists in the ‘Best Community Work’ category. This recognised the schools’ efforts to rewild areas of their campuses, and their partnership with local state schools, as part of the Operation Future Hope project.

TOP MARKS FOR SHERBORNE GIRLS

Following an intensive visit and in-depth interviews with pupils, staff and parents, the Good Schools Guide published a glowing account of life at Sherborne Girls, concluding that the school is ‘better than ever’.

Speaking about the review, Headmistress Dr Ruth Sullivan said: “We are so pleased this independent assessment managed to capture the real essence of the school, the girls, its teaching, leadership and governance.”

The full entry in the publication states: ‘A gem of a school, led by an inspiring, go-getting head. Sherborne Girls is better than ever, achieving fine academic standards and, through its partnership with Sherborne School, giving girls the best of both worlds – an all-girls’ education with a co-ed lifestyle. A sixth former told us ‘It’s a place of opportunity’ and it really is.’

GREENING UP OUR ACT

The school’s commitment to environmentalism remains as strong as ever, with pupils sitting on an Eco Council to suggest ways of enhancing sustainability. Here are some of our eco-friendly achievements to date:

• Most of our vehicle fleet now consists of electric or low-emission small engine petrol variants, and most of our gardening power tools are electric, to reduce our use of fossil fuels

• Our waste is managed to optimise recycling, and we work closely with waste management contractors to ensure it is used to generate power where possible

• We use energy from sustainable sources and have energy monitoring in all key buildings

• The cross-laminated timber structure of

The Merritt Centre came from sustainable sources, resulting in a significant negative carbon footprint. What’s more, the building is entirely cooled and heated by ground source heat pumps

• Solar panels have been fitted to the Oxley

Sports Centre to generate electricity and warm water – bringing huge energy savings, especially for the swimming pool

• We have virtually stopped our use of singleuse plastics by ensuring girls and staff use reusable bottles whenever possible and banning plastic cups