We see our role not simply to steer pupils successfully to eighteen, or even to the point at which they join the world of work, but rather to support them in achieving the qualifications, skills, values and attitudes that will sustain them through what we hope will be long, happy and productive lives.” 

Sarah Kerr-Dineen

Head of Oundle School

Oundle crest

Biography

Educated at Steyning Grammar School, West Sussex, Sarah Kerr-Dineen went on to gain an MA in English at Trinity College, Cambridge and to pursue graduate study at Christ Church, Oxford.

Head's Q&A

What is special about Oundle?
What sort of pupil thrives at Oundle?
Describe the average Oundlelian...
What is Oundle's modern full boarding ethos?
What does being a Head mean to you?
What makes you proud to be Head at Oundle?
What advice would you give to a new Head?

Oundle has always been known for educational innovation and love of learning. Oundelians are intellectually curious, energetic, resourceful: they are able young people who love school and value friendship. The fact that we are a school community within a town community is more important than I would have thought possible. Pupils are part of the warp and weft of a beautiful and thriving market town; they are not growing up in an isolated bubble. They walk from lesson to House to Chapel to playing fields as part of something bigger than themselves and there is great respect between school and town. There is no strutting here, which is distinctive. It is a very special place to grow up; we are connected to the whole of the UK and as a result, we are genuinely a national boarding school.

There really is no one type of pupil who thrives here. But there is a common characteristic and that is that a child who loves Oundle is a child who loves school. Here you can do anything that you want, to whatever level you want. You don’t have to be brilliant at everything, but if you are an able child who loves school, you will love Oundle.

I would be sad if there was to be a single answer to that question. I think Oundelians share certain characteristics: they are good-hearted, open-minded and serious about making the most of themselves and their opportunities. Beyond that, however, I am struck by the sheer range within the pupil body and I hope that will always be the case. I think it’s the sign of a good school when pupils can surprise you – and each other – in positive ways. There is, however, something continuous about an Oundelian now and the Oundelians you meet in their forties, fifties and sixties. What I see in them is a sense of decency and an enjoyment of other people’s company; a sense of loving opportunities and challenges but not of being entitled or feeling that they are owed anything. In my experience, Oundelians work hard on feelings. They enjoy friendships, they enjoy relationships and they take delight in being able to do things which a week ago they couldn’t do. That’s what I see in the pupils I meet every day.  

Our identity as a school is defined by our full boarding ethos and the opportunities that this offers our pupils. In term time, we are either all here or we are all not here. We do not have a system whereby some people stay at weekends and some go home. This gives continuity to our boarding community and it gives friendship to pupils across the week. It also means that in term time, we are able genuinely to envisage the seven days a week as the canvas on which we paint our pupils’ education. Certainly if you talk to the children here at Oundle, they love being in school and they love being at home; they like to know where they are. 

It represents the greatest opportunity I could wish for: working with others to guide young people into adulthood and enable them to contribute purposefully to the world in which they live. Being a Head also represents a significant responsibility: I never forget that in the end we as a school are responsible for the welfare and happiness of other people’s children. It is a wonderful job.

I genuinely think that Oundle minds about nurturing and producing the next generation. It looks way beyond what teachers are doing day by day and thinks about what it wants to create for the future and its pupils. We do not have the 18-year-old as our end point. What we are looking at is a person at the end of a long life, for whom these years at school have been the inspiration and the foundation for a happy and fulfilling life.

I hesitate to give words of wisdom, but these are some of the things I have learned from others over the years. Assume people are doing the best they can until they prove otherwise. Try to see yourself through others’ eyes and remember how you might have seen things at the various stages of your earlier career. Smile whenever possible. Manage your own energies: you are likely to have to deal with trickier situations towards the end of term and keeping perspective will be important. Value your family and friends.

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

Head's Q&A

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

SARAH KERR-DINEEN avatar picture

SARAH KERR-DINEEN

Head of Oundle School

What is special about Oundle?

Oundle has always been known for educational innovation and love of learning. Oundelians are intellectually curious, energetic, resourceful: they are able young people who love school and value friendship. The fact that we are a school community within a town community is more important than I would have thought possible. Pupils are part of the warp and weft of a beautiful and thriving market town; they are not growing up in an isolated bubble. They walk from lesson to House to Chapel to playing fields as part of something bigger than themselves and there is great respect between school and town. There is no strutting here, which is distinctive. It is a very special place to grow up; we are connected to the whole of the UK and as a result, we are genuinely a national boarding school.

What sort of pupil thrives at Oundle?

There really is no one type of pupil who thrives here. But there is a common characteristic and that is that a child who loves Oundle is a child who loves school. Here you can do anything that you want, to whatever level you want. You don’t have to be brilliant at everything, but if you are an able child who loves school, you will love Oundle.

Describe the average Oundlelian...

I would be sad if there was to be a single answer to that question. I think Oundelians share certain characteristics: they are good-hearted, open-minded and serious about making the most of themselves and their opportunities. Beyond that, however, I am struck by the sheer range within the pupil body and I hope that will always be the case. I think it’s the sign of a good school when pupils can surprise you – and each other – in positive ways. There is, however, something continuous about an Oundelian now and the Oundelians you meet in their forties, fifties and sixties. What I see in them is a sense of decency and an enjoyment of other people’s company; a sense of loving opportunities and challenges but not of being entitled or feeling that they are owed anything. In my experience, Oundelians work hard on feelings. They enjoy friendships, they enjoy relationships and they take delight in being able to do things which a week ago they couldn’t do. That’s what I see in the pupils I meet every day.  

What is Oundle's modern full boarding ethos?

Our identity as a school is defined by our full boarding ethos and the opportunities that this offers our pupils. In term time, we are either all here or we are all not here. We do not have a system whereby some people stay at weekends and some go home. This gives continuity to our boarding community and it gives friendship to pupils across the week. It also means that in term time, we are able genuinely to envisage the seven days a week as the canvas on which we paint our pupils’ education. Certainly if you talk to the children here at Oundle, they love being in school and they love being at home; they like to know where they are. 

What does being a Head mean to you?

It represents the greatest opportunity I could wish for: working with others to guide young people into adulthood and enable them to contribute purposefully to the world in which they live. Being a Head also represents a significant responsibility: I never forget that in the end we as a school are responsible for the welfare and happiness of other people’s children. It is a wonderful job.

What makes you proud to be Head at Oundle?

I genuinely think that Oundle minds about nurturing and producing the next generation. It looks way beyond what teachers are doing day by day and thinks about what it wants to create for the future and its pupils. We do not have the 18-year-old as our end point. What we are looking at is a person at the end of a long life, for whom these years at school have been the inspiration and the foundation for a happy and fulfilling life.

What advice would you give to a new Head?

I hesitate to give words of wisdom, but these are some of the things I have learned from others over the years. Assume people are doing the best they can until they prove otherwise. Try to see yourself through others’ eyes and remember how you might have seen things at the various stages of your earlier career. Smile whenever possible. Manage your own energies: you are likely to have to deal with trickier situations towards the end of term and keeping perspective will be important. Value your family and friends.

“Teenagers for me is where it’s at. They are works in progress in the most dynamic, exciting, sometimes bewildering, usually joyful way. They are life-enhancing company.”

Sarah Kerr-Dineen Quote mark

“Scholarship as a concept is central to education. If we didn’t want our pupils to know more and understand more, then why would we teach?”

Sarah Kerr-Dineen Quote mark

“If you listen to our senior pupils, what they will say again and again is that boarding has taught them tolerance. It has taught them how to live with people who are different from them. That is invaluable in the world beyond school.”

Sarah Kerr-Dineen Quote mark

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