Tomalin (left) with founder Abhishek Gupta (right): whole person education promise

Dominic Tomalin is the founding headmaster of Shrewsbury International School India (SISI), assuming shape and form on a sprawling 150-acre campus in Bhopal, the admin capital of Madhya Pradesh (pop.80 million).

SISI is the outcome of an ambitious collaboration agreement between two education heavyweights — the Bhopal-based Jagran Social Welfare Society (estb.1997) which has promoted four DPS schools, four preschools and MP’s top-ranked private Jagran Lakecity University, and Shrewsbury School (estb.1552), one of Britain’s oldest and most venerated public (i.e, private, exclusive) schools. Shrewsbury alumni include naturalist Charles Darwin, poet Sir Philip Sidney, and author-broadcaster Sir Michael Palin. When it admits its first batch of 80 class VI-XI students next June, SISI will become the third vintage British school after Harrow School (estb.1572) and Wellington College (1859) to become operational on Indian terra firma.

Newspeg. In August, SISI invited admissions for the academic year 2025-26. Like its British parent, SISI is a co-ed boarding school for children aged 11-18 years (class VI-XII). It will follow the English National Curriculum, which will prepare pupils for Cambridge International’s class X and XII IGCSE examinations.

History. A natural sciences graduate of Durham University and the highly regarded Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and Royal School of Military Engineering, Tomalin served in the Corps of Royal Engineers (1991-97) and rose to the rank of Captain.
This was followed by a successful career as a senior business executive in logistics, telecommunications, and defence companies in the UK. In 2005, he switched streams and signed up as housemaster at Mount Kelly School, Cambridge and later as head of economics and business studies at Culford School, Suffolk. In 2016, he was appointed vice principal of CATS Cambridge School, Cambridge where after three years of service, he rose to the position of principal.

According to Tomalin, the state-of-the-art 150-acre SISI campus will “blend India’s cultural heritage with the global standards that define Shrewsbury, UK”. The school’s scenic campus set in suburban Bhopal overlooking a lake, will house a 160,000 sq.ft academic block, a 40,000 sq.ft performing arts school, a language learning centre offering instruction in six languages and offer specialist laboratories for design and technology, science, and astronomy. Apart from traditional field games and athletics, sports education options will include indoor rowing, scuba diving, and fencing.

Direct talk. “Our experience of tried and tested boarding school education and pastoral care will enable us to integrate academics, co-curricular and sports activities to provide excellent holistic education to our children. SISI’s distinctive feature will be our whole-person educational model, Floreat, that ensures deep learning, critical thinking, experiential learning, sports, communication, creativity, spirituality, and self-mastery. SISI has proudly adopted the Shrewsbury motto, intus si recte ne labora, which translates to “If all is right within, trouble not”. This philosophy will be the foundation for our identity as an Indian school offering the best British curriculum,” says Tomalin.

Future plans. With SISI’s capital-intensive campus almost ready, the management has begun inviting parents to experience its modern, purpose-built campus, first-hand. “We are committed to developing SISI into a premier residential school of Asia. Our promise is to provide an optimal learning environment that will make students future-ready while keeping them grounded in their cultural values,” says Tomalin.
Wind in your sails!

Aditi Maheshwari (Bhopal)