13+ ASSESSMENT DAY
SHERBORNE GIRLS
Welcome to Sherborne Girls Assessment Day Thank you for attending our Assessment Day for entry into Sherborne Girls Lower Fifth (Year 9) in September 2021. The assessments will take the form of papers in English and Maths, an online assessment and an interview. While we will be assessing your daughter today, we have also built some activities into the programme and hope that she will find the day both challenging and enjoyable. We are very much a full-time boarding school. Over 90% of our girls board and there is always a comprehensive programme of events and activities at the weekend, so although it’s a Sunday, you will still find the school busy and purposeful. Sherborne Girls is academically selective, but in our selection process we also take into account all your daughter’s strengths and talents. We carefully consider each candidate, looking at assessment results, interview feedback, Heads’ references and any other available information. You will be notified of the assessment outcome along with the Head of your daughter’s current school by Friday 20 March 2020. Where places are offered, we will ask for the acceptance form and deposit to reach us by Monday 20 April. For those girls wishing to enter for scholarships, these take place in January 2021 during Year 8. Further details of the scholarship process will be sent to you nearer the time. We appreciate what an important decision choosing a school is, so if you have any queries following Assessment Day or would like to visit the school again, please do not hesitate to contact the Admissions Department.
Debbie Cook Director of Admissions Telephone: 01935 818224/287 • Email: admissions@sherborne.com 1
Next Steps:
Class of 2021 Following acceptance of a place at Sherborne Girls, there are a number of other key events before the Class of 2021 join us. Boarding Taster Weekend In September of Year 8 we invite all the girls who have accepted a place at Sherborne Girls to a Boarding Taster Weekend. Girls arrive late on the Saturday afternoon allowing them to take part in any sporting commitments first and they leave us on the Sunday afternoon. As the name implies, this event is aimed at giving girls a taste of boarding life at the school and is designed to be a fun and sociable experience. We are very proud of our boarding programme and ethos. We do not empty out at weekends and there is a full programme of activities including a very popular programme of Saturday night socials, many of which we operate jointly with Sherborne School. We also pride ourselves on our housebased dining. In-house dining is now quite rare as most schools have moved to central dining due to the cost savings involved. At Sherborne Girls each of the boarding houses has its own kitchen, kitchen staff and dining room. This makes each house more of a home from home and allows more effective pastoral supervision, contact and care. During the Boarding Taster Weekend there will be a variety of activities for the girls to take part in. The event is also an opportunity for the girls and their parents to meet the rest of their cohort joining Sherborne Girls in our Lower Fifth (Year 9) in September 2021. While we have some girls moving up from our junior boarding house (maximum of 25), Lower Fifth remains our main entry point into the school. There are 90 pupils in Year 9 and each of the subsequent years. The Boarding Taster Weekend finishes with a family lunch which we invite all parents to attend along with their daughters.
Scholarships These take place in the January of Year 8. Please see the separate scholarship section for further details. 2
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House Allocation Parents will be notified of House allocations during Year 8. The Director of Admissions will write to all parents who have accepted places to confirm their daughter’s House. Sherborne Girls has moved away from operating a system of House preference guarantee. This is for a variety of reasons. It is impossible to guarantee everyone’s first choice and if we have a large cohort of girls coming from one school, we want to spread them out over the mixed age boarding houses, ensuring new friendships are made and that no cliques form. We also take the pressure off parents of having to make a difficult decision when there is no right or wrong choice. We are well placed to make House allocation decisions as we have an overview of all girls coming into the school. In making House allocations, we take into account a number of factors including the school which girls are joining us from, their interests and strengths and information obtained from the interviews and their Head’s reference. Whichever House a girl is placed in, they always end up thinking their house is the very best and that is just as it should be. They are fiercely loyal to their House and mix easily across year groups, something we encourage with our family lunches where the girls sit on mixed age
tables. The Houses are the cornerstone of our pastoral care system and will have a special place in the hearts of our girls long after they leave us. Lifelong friendships will be made.
New Girls’ Tea In the Trinity (summer) Term, parents and their daughters will be invited to a New Girls’ Tea. The event is House based and gives families the opportunity to meet their daughter’s House Parents and the House team. They will also hear about the induction process and boarding life and meet the other girls in the House together with those joining them from our junior boarding house, Aldhelmsted West. The girls will take part in an activity, there will be a brief presentation to parents from senior members of staff and parents and girls will enjoy that most British of pastimes, afternoon tea, in their new Houses. The girls may not have visited their House before and this gives them a chance to familiarise themselves with the House before they start, which should be reassuring and also add to their excitement about joining us in September.
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Campus
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Scholarships Overview
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Sherborne Girls offers a number of scholarships and exhibitions (awards) for girls entering the school at 13+. Scholarships may be combined with bursarial support and applications for bursaries must be submitted at the same time as scholarship applications.
The assessments take place in January 2021 and parents and the Heads of the girls’ current schools will be notified of the result in February. Scholarships and exhibitions are available to candidates in the following areas:
Girls wishing to be considered for an award must be registered for Sherborne Girls and must have already been offered a place following assessment. Awards are made on merit with a maximum award of £3000 for any individual pupil. All awards are tenable throughout a girl’s time at Sherborne Girls and it is a condition of an award that a girl maintains a high standard of work and is fully committed to their award area.
• Drama
• Academic • Art and Design • Music • Sport The Scholarship application form is available from the Admissions Department and can also be downloaded from our website. The deadline for the submission of forms is 30 November 2020.
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Bursaries Bursarial support may be available in cases of demonstrable need. Bursaries may be awarded on the receipt of a means-test form and are subject to regular review. Most bursaries will be awarded in conjunction with scholarships and exhibitions. Means-test forms will need to be submitted to the Bursar no later than 30 November for 13+ entry.
Further details of our scholarships and bursaries can be found on the Admissions section of our website.
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. The Good Schools Guide 2020
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Timeline for Lower Fifth Form (Year 9) Entry Class of 2021 Friday 20 March 2020
Assessment Day results sent out to parents
Monday 20 April 2020
Deadline for acceptances
Saturday 19 to Sunday 20 September 2020
Boarding Taster Weekend
30 November 2020
Deadline for scholarship applications
January 2021
Scholarship week
February 2021
Scholarship results
May 2021
New girls’ information sent to families
June 2021
New Girls’ Tea
At Sherborne Girls, we believe that education forms our habits. It shapes our values and our beliefs, preparing us for the future and steering us through life. That is why we are committed to providing an outstanding education to every girl in our community. From the moment she joins us, your daughter is welcomed into a friendly, compassionate and caring fullboarding environment where her individual strengths, talents and interests are identified, nurtured and given wings to take flight. Dr Ruth Sullivan - Headmistress
For further information please contact: Debbie Cook, Director of Admissions Sherborne Girls Bradford Road Sherborne Dorset DT9 3QN T: 01935 818224/287 E: admissions@sherborne.com www.sherborne.org