Headmaster

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From the Headmaster

2020 will long be remembered as the year of COVID-19: a time when our normal way of life received an unprecedented jolt and the fragility of the modern world was thrown into sharp relief. It was certainly not an easy year but nor was it one without silver linings. As so often, adversity was the spur to great acts of kindness, generosity and selflessness. It was also the mother of invention as, faced with the necessity of innovation and adaptation, we explored and created new ways of doing things. Nowhere was this more the case than at Sherborne.

Hard as it is to remember, there was a time in 2020 when the pandemic was yet to happen. Until the end of the Lent Term, as the dark COVID19 clouds grew more menacing, School continued very much as normal. The academic machine was purring away nicely, and we were confidently predicting the School’s best ever A level results. The co-curricular programme was, meanwhile, proceeding at full pelt with a slew of impressive achievements across sport, music, drama, the CCF, outdoor education and a wide range of other pursuits. One of the many highlights of the term came on that Saturday in March when an outstanding 1st XV came within a whisker of winning their National Cup semi-final on The Upper. None of us then knew that this was to be one of the final sporting encounters of the year as, by the end of the month, all schools in the UK were ordered to close, other than for vulnerable pupils and the children of keyworkers. It was a melancholy sight indeed to see boys heading home with no knowledge of when they would be back. This sadness was, of course, greatest for the Upper Sixth Form for whom that day proved to be their last at School.

With the School closed until further notice, the Easter holiday saw colleagues working hard to design and implement the means of remotely delivering our academic, co-curricular and pastoral programmes. Thanks to their efforts, within a few weeks we succeeded in temporarily reinventing the School which went from a full boarding environment with almost all of the pupils here almost all of the time to a remote working operation with none of the boys here at all. It is great testament to all involved that this not only worked but worked very well. Lessons were delivered through Microsoft Teams, meetings held via Zoom and, aside from the academic programme, a whole programme of co-curricular activities was devised to keep boys active, healthy and engaged. Meanwhile, Housemasters, Tutors and other colleagues did sterling work maintaining regular contact with boys and parents in order to ensure that our pastoral care continued to support boys’ wellbeing at a

most challenging time. And it was with a certain satisfaction that August saw the publication of the School’s best ever public examination results. I was particularly pleased for the Upper Sixth who, denied the chance to celebrate the end of their School careers, were at least awarded the outstanding A level results that we had for so long predicted.

Whilst born of necessity, many of the Lent Term’s innovations will be incorporated into our long-term pedagogy and communications. That said, everyone was delighted to see the boys return at the start of the Michaelmas Term. Since then, things have been somewhat different due to the requirements of social distancing, the restrictions on certain activities such as contact sports, and the omnipresent hand gel. But despite the constraints within which we are operating, things have been remarkably normal. Thanks to the great ingenuity of colleagues, we have been able to continue with many of those things that make Sherborne what it is. Services may not for the moment be permitted in the Chapel or the Abbey but they are being pre-recorded (as they were throughout the lockdown, along with our virtual Commem celebrations) for the boys and staff to watch at their leisure. Music has made similarly excellent use of technology, ensuring that lessons, rehearsals and concerts have all continued. And whilst we cannot admit audiences to the Powell Theatre, the Drama Department hit upon the excellent idea of producing this term’s School and House plays for broadcast on our own station, Radio Sherborne. None of this might be quite what we would choose in ideal circumstances but it has shown the great depth of commitment, among both boys and staff, to making the term as close to normal as it can be in anticipation of that longed-for day when true normality returns.

Over recent months, staff, boys and parents have all endured more than their fair share of challenge, anxiety, frustration and uncertainty. But they have come through it in fine shape. The provision we offer to the boys may have been adapted to meet the temporarily changed circumstances but it is still recognisably the outstanding, all-round Sherborne education of which we are justifiably proud. Numbers in the School have not only held up well but, despite the early impact of COVID-19, are in excess of those we have been predicting for the past four years. Above all, throughout the past months both boys and colleagues have been magnificent, exhibiting a calm resolution to make the best of a challenging set of circumstances. They have demonstrated the most inspiring adaptability, flexibility and resilience. Above all, they have shown kindness, consideration, compassion and generosity of spirit to those around them, amply justifying the high regard in which we hold them.

Looking ahead, there will be further challenges. But Sherborne is not just an agile vessel. It is also a sturdy one, capable of navigating a steady course through whatever vicissitudes the pandemic and its aftermath throw at us. Thanks go to our staff, our parents and our Governors, including our recent OS Chairmen of Governors, Roger Fidgen (a 64), who stepped down in July after an outstanding tenure, and his successor, David Leakey (b 70), who has made a superb job of things so far. Above all, we have the boys to thank. It is they who make Sherborne such a great School. I could not be more proud of them.