Sherborne School for boys

[Toeted1972]

I hear that there has been a lot of bullying at Sherborne in the past. Do you know if this is still the case?

Sherborne parent here (DS x 2 are not big, Alpha types, not urban-sophisticated, not rich, not cool, not surrounded by girls ). My impression is that bullying would be picked up and handled pretty directly by the school. I ask my boys about bullying from time to time and they are both consistent in their responses- they haven’t experienced it, and they do believe their Housemaster would be like the proverbial ton of bricks on anyone who bullied. I do think there’s something of a hierarchy amongst the boys in junior years, and in general the younger boys are unduly impressed by sporting prowess. But Sherborne is also a VERY musical school and its musicians too enjoy status amongst their peers. As they get older the boys become known for what they are good at and this brings acceptance and standing whether for being clever, good at sailing, amazing in the House play, bell-ringing, CCF or general Good Egg etc; they seem to become friendlier and more comradely outside their close friendship group as they go on. I do think the first year is tough, particularly for a boy who is shy or homesick and not good at rugby. And boys will have rivalries and fall-outs as happens everywhere in life; I’m not so naive as to suggest no one is ever bullied, but I don’t believe it’s common and I do believe it is/would be dealt with. We don’t see lots of expulsions as the school wants to work through issues rather than sack boys, but I have been aware of cases where clashes are surfaced and resolved, which in my book is the better course of action.

Thank you so much for your message. Always so helpful to hear from current parents! Choosing a next stage school is always so hard, especially when my son is so happy at his current prep school!
Thank you again 😀

Happy for you to pm me if it would be helpful- it’s such a big decision, and senior schools are SO different from preps…

I experienced sherbourne boys a long time ago at university, they were a very odd bunch, a horde of them that all looked the same (longish hair) and just operated outside of normal life, it was like they thought they ruled the place and didn't really integrate. Maybe it's different now but lots of people found it bizarre. I'm sorry if this sounds mean, I'm just honestly speaking as I found

@ANewDayDawned Interesting, but not sure your recent memories are all that relevant for the O P.

@Toeted1972 I should have added, I’m a current Sherborne parent with a couple of boys there, happy to share my experiences

I had heard about historical bullying (in nearly every school we have looked at) but none of the many Sherborne boys we have spoken to think it is an issue at the moment or in recent memory. In fact they seemed a lot more inclusive when boys were less clever/sporty. We liked it.

I have a DS who has just started at Sherborne this year. There was one incident of name calling which was instantly nipped in the bud. We have not heard of any bullying incidents from any other parents in the older years. The headmaster is very proactive to make sure there are immediate consequences. It was a concern we had before sending our DS there but we're now very impressed with the way the school handles everything.