Sherborne Girls or St Mary’s Calne?

[Onedd]

DD is interested in visual art.

She likes St Mary’s Calne based on their website
Campus and facilities look amazing
But seems a little bit.. traditional? And very academic...

Sherborne seems to be more advanced in terms of technology.

Any information or suggestions on these two would be greatly appreciated thank you!

Just to add: I guess my priority would be in pastoral care as she will be entering Yr 7

Jumping on as I want to hear about Sherborne girls too! Looks great online. I spotted there's a virtual open day next weekend

Choose the school with the easiest journey. I attended a private day school with a long commute by car with my mother. It was frustrating because I lived so far from my friends.

Are you looking for a day girl or a boarder?

Hi, we live abroad so distance won’t matter and she will be a boarder.

I think academically both schools are great. I just want her to be in a friendly, warm environment. I hope the girls are nice, but I guess that’s hard to tell, since every year is different. Such a difficult decision...

I only have passing familiarity with St. Mary's Calne (friends sent a daughter to board there but she was older than your DD and it was more than 10 years ago now!) and no personal connection to Sherborne at all.

One thing to note is that Sheborne Girls has almost twice the number of boarders as St Mary's Calne - this can be good or bad but think about how the size of the school affects friendships etc. You might want to check how many children will actually be year 7 boarders at each school.

Outside of visual arts, does she have any particular interests like a sport? Check the provision for this at each school. On the other hand, if she hates sports will the school let her avoid sport entirely (this could be a positive or negative to you- you may prefer a school that forces her to participate).

Hopefully someone with closer knowledge of the schools can advise you.

@CakesOfVersailles
Thank you so much! This really helpful.

Sherborne girls has the better rep for art and pastoral care.

Check out how many boarders are in over the weekend as you don’t want it to empty out. Schools lie about this like crazy, so really drill into it.

@partyatthepalace
Oh that’s perfect then, art+pastoral care is exactly what I am looking for. Thank you!

Does anyone know if bullying is still an issue at Sherborne Girls

Not as far as I know and I have two daughters there who adore it.

I do have very good friends whose daughter was bullied relentlessly and mercilessly at Calne. The culprits should have been expelled but got off with a slap on the wrist. Head didn't respond appropriately (at all!).

I also don't see the point of a rural boarding school with hardly any green space outside. We visited it a couple of times, and we were left with the same feeling each time: head seemed pretty remote and v businesslike, v cramped, in the middle of a serious sh*thole town. Not sure why it's so sought after but these things are obviously horses for courses - no offence meant to anyone who loves it there.

A friend of mine works at St Mary’s and I think it is a happy enough environment. I think there have been some struggles with keeping good teachers and some leadership issues and financial woes - but what school doesn’t face those? The children I know who go there are from families who value a good old fashioned school perhaps similar to their own experiences thirty years ago. Not sure if that means that it isn’t moving with the times or not? Certainly not heard horror stories but neither have I heard high praise, and personally I prefer the modernity and facilities of Dauntseys which is near by.

My daughter went to Sherborne girls and absolutely loved it.