Our location and facilities
The School lies in a secluded wooded valley, halfway between the towns of Blandford and Dorchester. It occupies the site of a former Benedictine Monastery, founded over 1,000 years ago. The two remaining Monastery buildings are used daily by the school – the Abbey for regular services and musical performances and the Abbot’s Hall as our dining hall.
Our expansive natural surroundings mean the school boasts a large farm and stables used for vocational learning, a nine-hole golf course, impressive grass pitches for a variety of sports, and plenty of inspiring outdoor space to run lessons, be active, or to relax.
Other buildings and facilities are on par with much larger schools, due to the wide variety of subjects on offer at the school. They include classrooms, laboratories and workshops to teach a full spectrum of academic and vocational subjects, a large library in a converted ballroom, specialist rooms for teaching Creative Media, Art, Fashion Design and Music courses, and a 370-seat theatre. Indoor sports facilities include a 25-metre swimming pool, golf simulator, gymnasium and sports hall. Staff are able to use these facilities as a benefit of working at the school.
Our management structure and ethos
The school is run by the Head, supported by a Senior Deputy Head and four Deputy Heads responsible for the Academic, Co-Curricular and Pastoral elements of the School with the Deputy Head (Development and Admissions) leading on the promotion of the school to prospective pupils and their families. We have an overall staff of around 120 people, some of whom work flexibly to meet the needs of the school at different times of the year. We are deliberately small, with around 200 pupils.
All staff appointed are expected to contribute to the pastoral and nurturing ethos of the school, supporting a full and busy sports and activities programme. All candidates for any roles are encouraged to celebrate their conventional and unconventional interests on their application. Appointments will be made subject to a full DBS check and the receipt of satisfactory references.