THE RINGING PLAINS OF WINDY SHERBORNE

Richard Pyman, Latin Teacher, Head of Scholarship, Sherborne Prep School

Not long ago, I was reading Tennyson with our students - Ulysses The old king was issuing his call to arms: My mariners, Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with me— That ever with a frolic welcome took The thunder and the sunshine… you and I are old.

Not pausing to ponder Ulysses’ reminder that time catches up with Greek heroes as much as everyone else - even Federer and Ronaldo are ‘not now that strength that in old days/ Moved earth and heaven’- we thought instead about the opportunities for the young, and how the children here maximise them. However the world’s conflicts may torment, we strive at Sherborne Prep to offer gladness. We have recently had the privilege of welcoming some friends from Ukraine. One of these exceptional students, Olha Peter, travelled the world before Christmas singing with the Ukrainian Children’s Choir, raising money for her country and taking the Christmas bells to New York. May her and all our prayers for an end to the horrors be answered. We are privileged to have her in our community.

We are also at the point of the year where some of our older students are preparing for scholarships, the first of many sets of exams which will chequer their lives. Their resilience and commitment are a joy: shrugging off an injury from a rugby or hockey match, they stay late at school to attend enrichment sessions; fast in preparation for a music audition, they and their dedicated accompanists start early or finish late to fine-tune their pieces. In the Art department, the celebrated modern painter Fernando Velázquez presides over some truly exceptional submissions to other schools. Flashback to the end of last term and a student here might have been asked about their day. ‘Oh,’ they would have replied, ‘assembly was taken by the only man ever to have walked to the North Pole on his own, actually…then we had a whole day in polar dress thinking about the environment and the history of polar exploration, pulling sledges outside and writing letters home like Captain Scott…’ Wow. Last week our Heads of Maths and Drama, both amazing actors in their own right, spurred on thirty-nine Year 7s to put on Peter Pan in four days! The girls in the school are modest about their status as county hockey champions. You take my point – assuredly, we fill the unforgiving minute…

If, therefore, we have a message for our children, it is to be curious and ambitious; try everything; be brave; have a go; we will strive to support you.

‘There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail. There gloom the dark, broad seas.’ sherborneprep.org

Go for it.