OUR MAN IN WESTMINSTER

As a town and surrounding villages of Sherborne, we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Gryphon School this month. This is the school I have great pride in being able to say I attended, and which has educated and enabled talented young people to go on and to excel. Whether that’s in sports, business, technology or elsewhere. A school that enables so many young people to achieve their potential is something we should all be proud of having in our town.

Back in 1990, the local education authority (the then-named Dorset County Council) made the decision to restructure state education in Sherborne. There were difficult political debates about removing grammar schools from the town – which themselves had achieved a great deal and were much loved, especially by the generations that preceded mine. But the cost of three schools in Sherborne – Digby’s Grammar, Fosters Grammar and St Aldhelm’s Comprehensive – was becoming too much and changes needed to be made. Cllr Pam Seaton, who was in charge of Education at County Hall at the time, approved the decision to merge the three (I was talking to her about this only a year or so ago when I campaigned to replace the temporary classrooms at The Gryphon School). At the end of 1992, The Gryphon School was formed as an entity over three campuses whilst the building started of the new school

This anniversary of 30 years is an important milestone. I was a student from 1993 to 1999, when I studied for my GCSEs and GNVQ. The education and experience I gained from The Gryphon School were fundamental. I achieved 10 GCSEs at A-C, despite not being particularly gifted academically. Unlike many of my peers, I was not fortunate enough to go to university; at that time, tuition fees had just been introduced by the Labour government and would continue to increase by the time I was old enough to enrol. Instead, I opted to enter the workplace immediately after completing my education at The Gryphon School, with my first job sweeping platforms and selling train tickets at the railway station before becoming a train guard. Twenty years later, I was elected as the Member of Parliament for West Dorset in 2019.

When I worked for South West Trains, I was able to facilitate the choir coming to Waterloo each year to raise money for the Sherborne Foodbank at Christmas. I’ve also returned to the school to mentor those looking to progress career-wise and have always appreciated the relationship with the school after having left.

The last time I visited The Gryphon School was in December, when the Department for Education confirmed improvements as part of its School chrisloder.co.uk

Rebuilding Programme. After months of campaigning in Parliament last year, the school is scheduled to receive a substantial refurbishment, with the ‘temporary’ classrooms set to be replaced in the near future. I for one welcomed this news, as these were classrooms that were meant to be ‘temporary’ when I was educated in them over 25 years ago!

I look back fondly on my time at The Gryphon School, which brought together young people from Sherborne and the surrounding villages. I distinctly recall a culture of acceptance, an environment where we could all learn together, and ultimately keep an eye out for and support those who perhaps weren’t as fortunate. I didn’t always enjoy school though in those days – who did?! But it is a matter of great pride to me when I bump into a former teacher of the school in Cheap Street and we catch up on life and how things have changed.

But I do think that how the school has evolved and improved in more recent times is a great testament to Headteacher, Nicki Edwards. The school is much more openly diverse and embracing of differences and different learning styles. The teaching staff continue to achieve great things and great results for children whatever their background, and the alumni of The Gryphon go on to achieve more and more. Regardless of our politics, the fact that our own Member of Parliament was educated at the Gryphon School, I think, says a lot about the school and its education and is a matter of great pride for me and I hope for all of us.