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Sherborne Schools Group
Sherborne
Startups
Entrepreneurship in action across Sherborne Schools Group.
500 years of education, adapting to what comes next. This is where pupils, staff and a community of founders build beyond the classroom — and where we show our progress, term by term.
Heritage + Innovation/Pupils + Founders
Why now
Why entrepreneurship, why now
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The world our pupils are growing into rewards the people who can spot an opportunity, make something real, and lead others to it. Those aren't fixed traits — they're skills, and they can be taught.
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Heritage and innovation aren't opposites. Sherborne has spent centuries building courage, curiosity and character. Entrepreneurship is how we aim it forward — Prep to Sixth Form, girls and boys, day and boarding.
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No buzzwords, no pretend businesses. Real briefs, real ventures, real setbacks and second attempts. A mindset running through the Group, not a module bolted on.
How it fits
How it fits Sherborne
Sherborne has spent centuries building curiosity and character.
Entrepreneurship is one of the pillars of the Sherborne Schools Group strategy — a thread through the whole Group, developed in partnership across our schools, staff, parents, alumni and with leadership work on responsible AI.
100 years ago Alan Turing cycled to Sherborne to start the education that would lead to his triple world-changing legacy: The Turing Machine (an early version of the computer), The Enigma Machine (that helped end WWII), and The Turing Test (an early vision for AI).
How will Turing's story inspire a new generation of Sherborne changemakers?
Welcome
Welcome from our Director of Entrepreneurship
Programmes
What we're running…
Kicking off September 2026 — clubs, comps, hackathons.
Entrepreneurship Club
Fortnightly club across the schools where pupils develop their startup ideas, get mentored and supported — building, testing, breaking things, and learning fast.
Sherborne Shark Tank
Our regular pitch competition run every term. Pupils develop a real idea, make the case, and face the questions — for Boys, Girls and Prep.
AI Hackathons
Use AI responsibly to research a real problem, design a solution, and build a working product — a web app, landing page, or prototype — then pitch it live to judges. No coding experience needed.
Startup Field Trips & Events
September 2026: London trips for Canva AI, Offscript Conf, Tech Product Launch. October 2026: Turing STEM Conference at Sherborne. November 2026: SSG Community Startup Event, London.
Ventures
Ideas becoming real
New ventures being incubated at Sherborne
Venture one
Turing Tutor
The first venture built at Sherborne — the first of many we hope. Turing Tutor is an AI-powered learning platform: a personal tutor for every pupil, developed in-house. It works alongside teachers — spotting where a pupil is stuck, adapting to how each child learns, and giving staff a clearer picture of progress. Named for the Old Shirburnian who imagined thinking machines a century before they arrived. Proof that Sherborne doesn't only teach enterprise. It builds it.
Community
Founders in our community
Entrepreneurship at Sherborne isn't only what happens in the classroom. It's the parents building businesses in Dorset and beyond, and the network our pupils are growing up inside — how ideas here find their way into the real world.
In our parent community
Reading Roots — Claire Smith
Reading Roots turns teaching your child to read from a daily battle into something families look forward to. Built by a teacher of fifteen years and mum of three, its award-winning Phonics App has passed 350,000 downloads and reached a community over a million strong — now the UK's number-one early reading creator. Edtech built by a parent, solving a problem every parent knows.
Aller Dorset — Cat Earp
When Cat and Ant Earp swapped London for the family farm, they built something the Dorset countryside didn't know it needed — four hand-designed shepherd's huts that turned a field into one of the county's most-loved escapes. From an idea in 2021 to a devoted following and a spin-off design studio, it's a masterclass in brand, taste and backing yourself.
Plainwood — Stuart Ludlow
A Dorset maker's business, built by a parent in our community.
Michela's Recipe Club — Michela Chiappa
Family cooking, made simple — a food business built around a growing community.
Palindrome — Ed Beckett
An agent-native AI platform built for wealth managers and private banks to automate their work.
The Influence Room — Tanya Hamilton-Smith
The Influence Room enables brands and influencers to 'meet in the middle'; meaning connections and relationships are authentic from the start.
From the wider Sherborne network
Blue Earth Summit
What began as a single event in Bristol is now one of the UK's biggest gatherings for climate and impact — thousands of founders, investors and changemakers in one room with a single question: how do we build businesses that are good for people and planet? Co-founded by the Hayler brothers, Blue Earth is proof that purpose and scale aren't opposites.
On the horizon
Where this is going
Our ambition, stated plainly and built in the open.
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Entrepreneurial careers
Helping pupils see enterprise not just as a subject, but as a genuine path — with the mentors, networks and experience to walk it.
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The Turing Innovation Centre
A dedicated hub for AI, entrepreneurship and cross-school collaboration. The physical home of Sherborne's next century.
There's a way in.
Founder, investor, mentor, parent or partner — if you'd like to be part of what we're building, we'd love to hear from you.
Heritage + Innovation