Meet the new Head of Boarding
Rhidian McGuire is a long-serving Housemaster, so has the experience and insight to lead Sherborne's boarding operation.
With Ben Sunderland's elevation t te role of Deputy Head (Operations) at Sherborne, a vacancy was created for a new Head of Boarding.
Rhidian McGuire, who has been at Sherborne for 12 years and served the last six as Housemaster of Abbeylands, was the successful appointee.
Rhidian says of his new role: "I found the chance to shape boarding across the whole school hard to resist. I' m excited to bring my experience as a Housemaster to bear more widely at Sherborne."
A VISION FOR FULL-BOARDING
Sherborne has always been committed to the idea of 24-7, full-fat boarding. "We believe it creates such a unique opportunity for pupils to be fully immersed in school life during term time," Rhidian explains.
"Not only does it give us more hours to play with. It also enables us to create an intentional community in which we can form the whole person."
This speaks of Sherborne's interest in "character education": the task of shaping a pupil's dispositions and habits so they grow into the best version of themselves.
"Character is about being a sound judge in every facet of life," Rhidian explains. "By developing the character of our boys, we're helping them become people who are, for example, generous, considerate, thoughtful, compassionate, and conscientious. And by habituating those virtues through full engagement in school life, they become instinctive. In other words, they become hardwired into their personality."
At the heart of character formation is an understanding that it happens through participation in practices. Rather like learning to drive a car or play a musical instrument, virtues are formed through repeated performance, rather than by learning abstract principles and applying them to actions.
"We become good by being good," Rhidian explains. "So, in the context of Sherborne's boarding life, our pupils develop good character by displaying it in the plethora of activities that make up an average week: Sport, Music, Academic Study, Socials, CoCurricular pursuits - and lots more, besides."
SIGNPOSTING GROWTH
Rhidian understands that much of what he describes has long been a feature of Sherborne's ethos. He sees his role as helping bring it to the foreground, so boys are more reflective about their formation during their time at School."If we're more intentional about the process, boys can engage with it fully and chart their own growth and development," he says."Character is something we can all work on, and that happens most effectively in community with others." On the subject of community, Rhidian is keen to celebrate the togetherness that boarding at Sherborne creates. "We want every boy to have the
same experience, regardless of the House they live in," he says. "In that respect, being a Shirburnian is as important to the boys as the particular House they belong to.
"That said, we understand boys feel pride in their House, and we want to celebrate that as a feature of school life. Activities like Inter-House Sport and charity events enable them to lean into their House identity, even while participating fully in the wider Sherborne culture."
For Rhidian, that culture is about participation and a sense of shared endeavour. "We celebrate every individual's success, understanding that everyone has their own strengths and that these contribute to the whole," he says. "Another great feature of full-boarding is that boys really get to know each other, so they value their differences as well as what they hold in common.
The result is a culture of generosity and mutuality - it's a powerful thing to be a part of, especially during this formational period in a
boy's life."
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Helping boys take responsibility for each other's wellbeing is a further important feature of the Sherborne approach to boarding. As Housemaster of Abbeylands, Rhidian has always encouraged older boys to mix with their younger peers, serving as role models and mentors as they navigate the vicissitudes of teenage life.
"One of the challenges I've set myself and the boarding team is to modernise the experience for boys," Rhidian says. "For example, we want to find creative ways of building on the interactions between boys of all ages. Peer-to-peer learning and support is so powerful when it comes to forming character. It gives younger boys exemplars to follow and helps older boys think about what they're modelling."
Modernisation may not prove a revolutionary activity. "There are some areas that we want to tweak, including homework," Rhidian explains. "But we have strong foundations to build from. Sherborne's been offering full boarding for generations. There's a huge amount of good practice to follow."
With a new Senior Housemaster in Will Mackenzie-Green (Housemaster of The Green) and several former Housemasters in Sherborne's Senior Leadership Team, Rhidian believes it's a great time to take on the Head of Boarding role.
"Sherborne is in an exciting period of change and growth," he says. "The arrival of a new Headmaster always shifts the dynamic in a school. I'm excited by the prospect of being a part of that shift, ensuring we maintain the excellent practice that is our legacy and pursue new ways of forming boys for their future".
To me, the Head of Boarding role is a chance to make a wider impact, drawing on all I've learned as a Housemaster and teacher at Sherborne. I feel privileged to be taking it on.
Where Next?
