Leweston Admissions

A message to the families of Leweston School

We are deeply saddened to learn of the closure of Leweston School, and our thoughts are with every pupil, parent and member of staff. Leweston has long been part of our local community, and we have close connections to it through family, friendships and colleagues, so this news is felt keenly by many. We know the suddenness of the announcement will have added to the uncertainty you are facing, and that your priority now will be finding the right next step for your children and helping them feel settled again as quickly as possible. We are here to help you with this and will do all we can to provide support and reassurance.

If you feel that one of our schools (Sherborne Prep, Hanford Prep, Sherborne Boys or Sherborne Girls), might be right for your child, we would be glad to help, and we will do everything we can to make the move a smooth one. The Admissions team at each school should be your first point of contact and they are ready to provide a warm welcome. If you have more than one child, please contact the admissions team for the oldest and they will be able to liaise with the other school in the first instance. They will be pleased to guide you through every step of the process and to answer any questions along the way.

• Sherborne Prep: admissions@sherborneprep.group / 01935 810911
• Hanford Prep: admissions@hanfordprep.group  / 01258 920847
• Sherborne Boys: admissions@sherborne.org / 01935 810403
• Sherborne Girls: admissions@sherbornegirls.group / 01935 818224

Rev Katie Windle, the Chaplain, and wider chaplaincy team are also on hand to offer pastoral and spiritual support to families and pupils of all faiths and none at this difficult time. Please do get in touch for information about our services, spiritual provision and Roman Catholic or Church or England confirmation classes via chaplain@sherborneschools.group.
 

Admissions process 

The first step is simply to register your child; we have waived the usual registration fee to assist with this, and to keep things as quick and straightforward as possible, we will not ask your child to sit entrance assessments. To help us understand your child and make sure they would thrive with us, we would be grateful however if you could share their most recent school reports and assessment results, including their CAT4 scores if you are able to access them. We would also welcome anything you can tell us about their pastoral, learning or wellbeing needs.

(Please bypass payment when completing the registration form. For registrations into Year 11 and 13, please register for the year below (Year 10/12) and we will adjust the record. Apologies, this is a limitation of the platform).

• Register for Sherborne Boys
• Register for Sherborne Girls
• Register for Hanford Prep

We will want to talk with you about the subjects and courses your child is currently studying, so that their learning carries on with as little disruption as possible. We understand that this is a particularly anxious time for families with children in public examination years and so additional information on examination boards they currently follow would be greatly appreciated. Our academic leads will work closely with you to match exam boards, specifications and coursework wherever possible, and would be very happy to talk things through:

• Sherborne Boys: Tim Filtness, Deputy Head (Academic), tim.filtness@sherborne.org
• Sherborne Girls: Kate Scorer, Director of Studies, kate.scorer@sherbornegirls.group
• Learning support: Kat McGreal, Group SENDCo, kat.mcgreal@sherborneschools.group

Questions & Answers

On Wednesday 28 October we hosted a webinar attended by our four Heads - Annie Gent, Head of Sherborne Prep; Sophie Blewitt, Head of Hanford Prep; Ruth Sullivan, Head of Sherborne Girls; and Simon Heard, Headmaster of Sherborne Boys. A copy of the Questions & Answers raised on the webinar can be downloaded here.

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Fees and transport

Temporary reduced fees for families joining us from Leweston will be offered. Means-tested bursaries may also be available for those who require financial support, please contact bursaries@sherborneschools.group to talk through your circumstances in confidence. We offer boarding, day boarding and day places, and Admissions will be happy to explain the options. For fee and billing enquiries, please contact billing@sherborneschools.group. 
 

Our fees will be:

• Leweston pupils joining one of our schools (Sherborne Prep, Hanford Prep, Sherborne Boys or Sherborne Girls) will pay only 12.5% of our published fees for this term. 
• For the Spring/Lent and Summer/Trinity terms, where there is a material difference in fees, we will charge halfway between the comparable Leweston fee and our normal fee. 
• In addition to no registration fee, there will also be no deposit for those transferring from Leweston this term.
• Full details can be found here. (Please refer to school websites for standard fees).
   

From September 2027 our normal fees will apply, but we will look very carefully and sympathetically at individual circumstances, with means-tested financial support available where appropriate, alongside our scholarships programme.

Transport

Our bus service currently runs to Sherborne from Bruton, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Blandford Forum, Yeovil, Dorchester and Beaminster. We are happy to consider new routes where there is sufficient demand, so please let Admissions know if another route would help your family. Please click here for more information about current bus routes and timetables. 

Financial sustainability

Since early 2022 the Sherborne Schools began a plan to future proof its schools, noting that the financial and political headwinds looked increasingly uncertain.  The recent merger of the schools, creation of the Sherborne Group and consolidation of its site, have been a carefully thought-out proactive approach to secure our robust financial footing and one where we can look forward to many hundreds more years educating, guiding, nurturing, and developing thousands of young people.

Welcome

Should you decide to join us, we will do our best to welcome your child as soon as possible after the half term break. There would be no need to worry about uniform straight away; children would be very welcome to wear their current uniform until this can be arranged. 

We do not expect to be the right choice for every family but knowing what a difficult situation this is for the children, parents and staff involved, we want to help in whatever way we reasonably can. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if there is anything at all we can do to help, whether or not you are considering a place with us.

Yours sincerely,

Annie Gent, Head, Sherborne Prep
Sophie Blewitt, Head, Hanford Prep
Ruth Sullivan, Head, Sherborne Girls
Simon Heard, Headmaster, Sherborne Boys