Sherborne Girls, formally known as Sherborne School for Girls, is an independent day and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for girls, located in

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo (South Somerset), River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish include ...

, North

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England. There were 485 pupils attending in 2019–2020, with more than 90 per cent of them living on campus in the seven boarding houses. Recognition for Sherborne Girls has included a double "excellent" rating in its Independent Schools Inspectorate Report and the title of Best Public School of The Year at the Tatler Schools Awards 2017/2018.

Curriculum

The school, founded in 1899 by John and Charlotte Wingfield Digby, requires all girls to take English, maths, a science subject, religion and a foreign language. Most girls take nine or ten

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

s and three or four

A-Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

subjects. Sherborne Girls previously offered the International Baccalaureate programme. Some subjects at AS/A-Level are taught jointly with

Sherborne School Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 located beside Sherborne Abbey in the Dorset town of Sherborne. The school has been in continuous operation on the same site for over 1,300 years. It was founded in 705 AD by Ald ...

for boys, under a cooperation scheme. Both also collaborate in activities and functions such as theatre productions, specialist societies and social activities.

Houses

The house system is based mainly on the boarding houses, as most pupils are boarders. The day pupils (about 10 per cent) are distributed among them. The seven boarding houses on campus are: *Aldhelmsted East *Aldhelmsted West (lower fourth and upper fourth aged 11–13) *Dun Holme *Kenelm *Mulliner (upper sixth) *Reader Harris (formerly Ealhstan and Thurstan) *Wingfield-Digby (formerly Aylmar and Wingfield)

Facilities

The campus includes Oxley Sports Centre, which opened in 2007, with a swimming-pool, a fitness suite, squash courts, badminton courts, a floodlit

AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...

hockey pitch, a climbing-wall, a bouldering-wall, grass pitches and dance studio.

Notable alumnae

Maria Aitken Maria Penelope Katharine Aitken (born 12 September 1945) is a British theatre director, teacher, actress, and writer. As an actress, Aitken has been twice nominated at the Olivier Awards, in 1980 for ''Private Lives'' and in 1985 for ''Wast ...

(born 1945), writer, producer and director *

Leonora Anson, Countess of Lichfield Leonora Mary Anson, Countess of Lichfield, (''née'' Grosvenor; born 1 February 1949) is a lady-in-waiting to Anne, Princess Royal. She is the daughter of Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster, and The Hon. Viola Lyttelton. She is the for ...

(born 1949) *

Camila Batmanghelidjh Camila Batmanghelidjh CBE (; ; 1963 – 1 January 2024) was an Iranian-Belgian author, psychotherapist, and charity executive based in the United Kingdom. She was the founder of the charity Kids Company (closed in 2015) and Place2Be, charities ...

CBE (born 1963), psychotherapist, founder and Director of

Kids Company Keeping Kids Company (in liquidation), formerly Kids Company, was an incorporated and registered charity, founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh in 1996 to provide support to deprived inner city children. From its original "drop-in" centre in sou ...

* Rosa Beddington (1956–2001), biologist *

Nina Coltart Nina Coltart (21 November 1927 – 24 June 1997), a British psychoanalyst, psychotherapist, and essayist. Family She was born in Shortlands, Kent, England. Her father was a medical doctor and her mother, a housewife. In 1940 she and her younger s ...

(1927–1997), psychoanalyst and psychotherapist *

Margaret Dix Margaret Ruth Dix (1902 – 9 December 1991) was a British neuro-otologist. With Charles Skinner Hallpike, she published important research on vertigo and described the Dix–Hallpike test. Biography Dix was born in 1902 and attended Sherborn ...

(1902–1991), neurologist *

Princess Elizabeth of Toro Princess Elizabeth of Tooro (Elizabeth Christobel Edith Bagaaya Akiiki; born 9 February 1936) was the ''Batebe'' (Princess Royal) of the Kingdom of Tooro until 12 September 1995, when she was succeeded by Omubiitokati Ruth Nsemere Komuntale. ...

(born 1936), Ugandan lawyer and politician * Diana Reader Harris (1912–1996), educator and public figure *

Princess Rahma bint Hassan Princess Rahma bint El Hassan (born 13 August 1969) is a Jordanian princess. Her father is Prince Hassan bin Talal. Her mother, Princess Sarvath El Hassan. She is a first cousin of King Abdullah II. Education * Primary school in Amman, Jor ...

(born 1969), Jordanian educator *

Princess Sumaya bint Hassan Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan (born 14 May 1971) is a princess of Jordan and a first cousin of Abdullah II of Jordan, King Abdullah II. Early life Princess Sumaya was born in Amman on 14 May 1971, and is the second daughter to Prince Hassan b ...

(born 1971), Jordanian science activist * Deirdre Hutton DBE (born 1949), public servant * Rajkumari Amrit Kaur (1889–1964), Indian cabinet minister *

Diana Keppel, Countess of Albemarle Dame Diana Cicely Keppel, Countess of Albemarle (née Grove, 6 August 1909 – 6 May 2013) married Walter Egerton George Lucian Keppel, son of Arnold Allen Cecil Keppel, 8th Earl of Albemarle, as his second wife on 24 February 1931 at St Colum ...

DBE (1909–2013), youth and development activist *

Sophie Kinsella Madeleine Sophie Wickham, known by her pen name Sophie Kinsella, is an English author. The first two novels in her best-selling ''Shopaholic'' series, '' The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic'' and '' Shopaholic Abroad'', were adapted into th ...

(Madeleine Sophie Townley), (born 1969), author *

Emma Kirkby Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, (; born 26 February 1949) is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings. Education and early career Kirkby was educated at Hanford School, Sherborne School for Girls in Dorse ...

DBE, (born 1949) early-music soprano *

Mary Lascelles Mary Madge Lascelles (7 February 1900 – 10 December 1995) was a British literary scholar, specialising in Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, and Walter Scott. She was vice-principal of Somerville College, Oxford, from 1947 to 1960, and ...

(1900–1995), literary scholar *

Melanie McFadyean Melanie McFadyean (24 November 1950 – 16 March 2023) was a British journalist and lecturer. She wrote for a wide range of papers, including ''The Guardian'', ''The Observer'', ''The Sunday Times'' and ''The Independent'', particularly about a ...

(1950–2023), journalist and lecturer *

Margaret Macmillan Margaret Olwen MacMillan (born 23 December 1943) is a Canadian historian and professor at the University of Oxford. She is former provost of Trinity College, Toronto, and professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously at Ryers ...

(born 1953),

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

academic *

Santa Montefiore Santa Montefiore (; born 2 February 1970) is a British author. Early life Santa Montefiore was born Santa Palmer-Tomkinson on 2 February 1970 in Winchester. Her parents are Charles Palmer-Tomkinson, formerly High Sheriff of Hampshire, and Pat ...

(born 1970), author *

Daphne Oram Daphne Blake Oram (31 December 1925 – 5 January 2003) was a British composer and electronic musician. She was one of the first British composers to produce electronic sound, and was an early practitioner of ''musique concrète'' in the UK. As ...

(1925–2003), composer and electronic musician *

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson Tara Claire Palmer-Tomkinson (23 December 1971 – 8 February 2017) was an English socialite and television personality. She appeared in several television shows, including the reality programme ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British ...

(1971–2017), television personality *

E. Arnot Robertson Eileen Arbuthnot Robertson (10 January 1903 at Moor Lodge, South Holmwood, Surrey – 21 September 1961 in Hampstead, London) was an English novelist, critic and broadcaster.Nicola Beauman: 'Robertson, Eileen Arbuthnot (pseud. E. Arnot Robertson ...

(1903–1961), novelist, critic and broadcaster *

Kate Rock, Baroness Rock Kate Harriet Alexandra Rock, Baroness Rock, (born 9 October 1968), is a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords. Formerly Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party with special responsibility for business engagement, she ...

(born 1968), politician *

Winifred Spooner Winifred Evelyn Spooner (11 September 1900 – 13 January 1933) was an English aviator of the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of the Harmon Trophy as the world's outstanding female aviator of 1929. She died aged 32 from pneumonia. Early lif ...

(1900–1933), aviator *

Juliet Wheldon Dame Juliet Louise Wheldon DCB, QC (26 March 1950 – 2 September 2013) was a British civil servant, latterly (as of 2009) the legal adviser to Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England. From July 2000 until 2006 she was the first Britis ...

DCB, QC (1950–2013), civil servant

References

External links

School WebsiteProfile
on the

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 private schools in the United Kingdom. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the business interests of its ...

website *

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

Boarding Social Care Inspectio
Reports
*

Independent Schools Inspectorate The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is approved by the Secretary of State for Education – under section 106 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 – to inspect private schools in England. These schools are members of associations, whi ...

Inspectio
ReportsIndependent Report
on ''The Good Schools Guide'' {{Authority control 1899 establishments in England Boarding schools in Dorset Church of England private schools in the Diocese of Salisbury Educational institutions established in 1899 Girls' boarding schools in England Girls' schools in Dorset International Baccalaureate schools in England Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association Private schools in Dorset Sherborne