Adventure & Leadership

Adventure & Leadership is integral to the development of pupils at Sherborne Girls. Alongside our excellent academic provision, all Sixth Form girls are encouraged to develop attributes that enable them to become effective leaders in later life. We provide a range of opportunities both on and off the campus.

The ethos behind all of our adventures is to promote a healthy respect for, and enjoyment of, the outdoors, alongside equipping girls to be confident in dealing with real and challenging situations. This engenders adaptability, courage and resourcefulness. The foundation of all trips is an invaluable shared experience in which strong bonds are developed. Girls gain a huge amount of independence and quickly learn how to remain positive in adverse circumstances. All of these skills are transferable, and the experiences give them real perspective when it comes to the pressures of School life and beyond. Furthermore, all of these attributes are critical to being a successful leader.

Alongside a clear thirst for adventure, Sixth Form girls are encouraged to take on many leading roles at School. When girls enter L6, they are the eldest in their Houses and are expected to set an example and encouraged to take on the responsibilities of a House Prefect. As they enter their final year, the opportunities to become a full School Prefect and even Head of School are open to all. Leadership attributes are promoted within academic and co-curricular groups, with examples including the opportunity to train as a ‘Supporter and Listener’, to take on specialist roles like Head of Choir, a Sports Captain or a Subject Ambassador, or to represent the school as a ‘Youth Advisor’ on Sherborne Town Council. Not everyone aspires to high-profile leadership roles within the School, but the development of qualities such as intellectual enquiry, self-motivation and effective communication are critical to building the self- confidence and independence required at university or in the workplace. Mulliner (the U6 House), in particular, is an environment in which this becomes more obvious, providing the transition between School and the next step. Whatever their ambitions, Sherborne Girls aims to promote leadership qualities that stay with pupils for life.

Girls in the Sixth Form, with previous experience of the cadets, have the option of joining the Sherborne School CCF where they will be expected to take a leading role in instructing junior cadets as part of the joint CCF cadre. They will deliver a military syllabus alongside their contemporaries at Sherborne School with the support of committed staff, many of whom have previous military experience. They can look forward to instructing in activities such as navigation, field craft, drill, weapons training, first aid, military history and seamanship.

Other CCF highlights include field trips that provide memorable experiences including sleeping under ponchos, cooking rations, putting fieldcraft skills into practice, and sailing aboard Royal Navy vessels. The girls can also look forward to an annual black-

tie dinner and opportunities to lead the junior cadets in high profile events in the community such as the Sherborne Remembrance Parade or biennial review.

We have our own fantastic climbing wall, coupled with a bouldering facility. As one of the many physical activities on offer, the girls can take up climbing as a competitive sport or as part of a wider and more social climbing club. Sailing is a regular weekly activity: we have four dinghies on nearby Sutton Bingham reservoir suitable for beginners. For more advanced sailors, we team up with Sherborne School to race against other schools in the South West. Our 50m pool is ideal for teaching the basics of paddling and we have eight canoes in which girls can learn the basic skills. This is often a stepping-stone for pupils who go on to take up the challenge of kayaking in open water. For those who prefer dry land, cycling is an increasingly popular activity and girls can develop their stamina in our spin zone before progressing to the outdoors on one of our touring bikes. Girls in the CCF also have the opportunity to take part in adventure training abroard in countries such as Norway.

All girls have the opportunity to enrol in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award when they start in L6. There will be interviews as part of this process and spaces on certain expeditions are limited.

Many will have experience of previous levels of the award, but this is not a requirement. The award at Gold level has five sections: volunteering, physical, skills, residential and the expeditions. Some of these sections recognise activities in which many are already involved, while others encourage them to take up something new. The award requires weekly commitment to many of the above sections for a period of up to 18 months, and all girls are required to undertake a training programme during which they prepare for and complete their expeditions.

Expedition options are varied and exciting, with walking, cycling and canoeing on offer. Girls travel to various parts of the UK and further afield in conjunction with the award. Recent final expeditions include conquering The Great Glen in Canadian canoes, a superb mountaineering expedition to Snowdonia, and cycling in Northern France. We do not limit all of our trips to DofE girls, and offer some of the more exciting trips as a one-off experience, enabling as many girls as possible to gain the benefits of these adventures.

Sherborne Girls is committed to offering a rich and stimulating education to all of our pupils. At the centre of this is the Friday Lecture Programme: a schedule that has the ambition of presenting our pupils with extraordinary people who will challenge, inspire and motivate.

A good speaker is worth so much more than the hour they spend with the girls. The value they bring transcends the lecture theatre and demands that those in the audience look beyond themselves to fresh possibilities and other worlds. Recent speakers have fulfilled this ambition admirably. Simon Weston CBE, Lt Col Lucy Giles RLC, Bonita Norris, Rt Hon Maria Miller MP, Peter Tait and Princess Badiya El Hassan have all given our pupils the clear message: “You too can achieve whatever you set your mind to.”

We frequently invite speakers, very often eminent women, who have professional lives in areas of interest to the girls, as well as areas in which they have less experience.

The Library is a fantastic environment in which to study at Sixth Form level. The space is split into two key areas: a large, traditional Library that offers the opportunity for focused, quiet study as well as a second space in which pupils can relax with the daily newspapers, magazines and subject-specific journals, and work on group projects. The Library holds an excellent collection of academic material in every subject – essential texts as well as secondary and tertiary sources. We have subscriptions to online resources such as The Economist online and JSTOR. The Librarian and Assistant Librarian can offer personalised help with finding high-quality, reliable information for A Level work, as well as study skills and referencing advice. The book collection also includes a great selection of fresh and prize- winning fiction. Staff are always available to recommend top reads. We also stock DVDs, both to support pupils’ academic work and just for entertainment and fun. Wi-Fi, PCs, colour printing and photocopying are all available throughout the day and evening and the Library catalogue can be accessed remotely from any computer in school, and from home 24/7 during holiday time.