Edition 48 March 2011
SUTTON VIEWS The Voice of Sutton Valence School
Tuning up for Strings Day Back To Victorian Times
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World Book Day Page 9
Some three dozen children aged seven to 11 from Preparatory Schools in the county converged on the Senior School recently for a day’s expert tuition from Head of Strings, Mr David Holmes.
In Fine Voice
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During the day, they learned to play Purcell’s Rondeau and a special strings arrangement of the theme from the film Pirates of the Caribbean, before putting on a concert for parents in the Baughan Theatre. Continued on page 2
Information A member of the United Westminster Schools’ Foundation Registered Charity No. 309267 Founded in 1576 by William Lambe
Sutton Views March 2011
For information about Sutton Valence School or to request a prospectus, please contact:
• the Admissions Office at Sutton Valence on 01622 845206 or email enquiries@svs.org.uk • Sutton Valence Preparatory School on 01622 842117 or email enquiries@svprep.svs.org.uk
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Continued from front page Children brought along their violins, violas, ‘cellos – and even a few double basses – to take part in the day, which was declared a resounding success. Director of Music, Mr Phil Horley, who assisted with the classes along with strings tutor Mr Bryan Gipps, said, “It’s the first time we have organised something on this scale for external students, but it proved a great hit and is definitely something we will be repeating.” Headmaster, Mr Bruce Grindlay, an accomplished musician and former organ scholar at Cambridge, said, “This type of event gives the children a greater insight into the world of music and teaches them team work, as well as proving they have the potential to produce a great sound after only a few hours’ concentrated effort.”
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Author Ann addresses pupils Children’s author Ann Bryant enthralled Prep School pupils when she spoke to them about her life as a writer and introduced them to some of her popular characters. She led an all-school assembly before conducting a number of workshops for different age groups during the day.
consider their own reading choices and inspires them to try out different authors and genres.”
“The children had a really enjoyable day”, said Deputy Head, Miss Claire Corkran. “We believe that children should be encouraged to be ambitious with their reading and read as widely as possible. Bringing authors into the school, who can make reading fun and bring books alive, encourages children to
Biennial Inspection
On Parade
At the beginning of March the CCF Contingent had their Biennial Inspection at Crowborough. The inspection was carried out by Air Commodore Barbara Cooper CBE, Commandant Air Cadets, who was very complimentary about all that CCF demonstrated and achieved. As Lt Col Anne Wilkinson, Contingent Commander said,
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“The cadets were a credit to themselves, the School and CCF and should be very proud. This was a fitting tribute to a very successful year for CCF at Sutton Valence.” Congratulations must also go to the Navy section who won the ‘Becky Norris March and Shoot Trophy’.
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March and Shoot Cup Presentation
Army Exercise
RAF Exercise 4
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Contingent Adjutant Capt. B Miller, Head Master, Air Commodore Barbara Cooper CBE
Pupils step back in time as ‘Victorians’ have their day! Pupils at the Prep School stepped back more than a century to experience life in Victorian times. Children in Year 2 were asked to come to school in clothes reminiscent of the 1880s – as were some members of staff. PCs, laptops and interactive whiteboards were banned as blackboards and chalk were brought back into play in a morning filled with living history. School Archivist, Mr David Pickard, looking every inch the Victorian country gent, told the children about life at school in the
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Victorian era, in the days when Sutton Valence was an all-boys boarding school. After a morning of typical Victorian lessons, focusing very much on the three Rs, it was off to the dining hall for a typical Victorian school lunch of gruel.
Later in the week, the children in the Prep School Reception Class enjoyed their very own fairy tale day, dressing up as fairy tale characters and ending with a special Fairy Tale Ball.
Head of Pre-Prep, Miss Philippa McCarmick said, “Life in school is so very different today compared with how it was a century ago. Reenactment activities such as this help bring history to life for young children and the pupils had a wonderful morning.�
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School looks to the East With the rise of China as one of the world’s fastest growing economies, the School has introduced a series of activities to introduce our pupils to its culture and language and to highlight the opportunities that may be open to them there. Two Mandarin Chinese teachers, Xian Tang and Quang Long, are working at both the Senior School and the Preparatory School, introducing China and the Mandarin language to pupils from age five to 18. On Mondays, Mr Xian hosts the Mandarin Club at the Prep School, teaching young children about his country, its culture, basic words and Chinese characters. In the evening, he joins some of the Chinese pupils who board at the Senior School, supporting them in their homework
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and providing a link with home. On Tuesdays, Ms Quang teaches Mandarin Chinese lessons to Sixth Form, as well as leading two Mandarin Clubs. Ms Quang and Mr Xian are both on secondment from the Confucius Institute, a non-profit public institution that aims to promote Chinese language and culture and support local Chinese teaching internationally. Headmaster, Mr Bruce Grindlay said, “It is clear that China’s growth presents great opportunities for our pupils in terms of future employment potential, but there is also a lot we can learn from a nation which has admirable rigour in its approach to teaching and learning.”
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My life as …. a Maths teacher, by Mr Coennie Wesselink What made you decide to be a maths teacher? One-upmanship; so many people struggle with Maths and I have a degree in History and Psychology so Maths was the obvious choice. Tell us the best thing about the job? Witnessing the development of so many young people. Meeting successful, happy past pupils when they have become adults. And the worst? Educational experts in protected employment reinventing the wheel and moving the deckchairs on the Titanic by changing the structure of the curriculum. What’s the funniest thing that’s happened in your career? There is often humour in the classroom. As a teacher I demand the right to make weak jokes! The important thing is not to take yourself too seriously; Monty Python’s ‘The Meaning of Life’ serves as a reminder to keep it light. How do you think the role has changed since you started? Not at all! But there is more pressure on children to perform and get grades. Is there anything that makes your maths department particularly special? The most dedicated bunch of professionals I have ever had the privilege to work with! What would be your top tip for anyone who is struggling with maths? Don’t struggle with Maths; follow the ‘Nike’ slogan: “Just do it!” As published in Sussex Life, April 2011
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Don Quixote and Mary Poppins are ‘Top of the Form’ Pupils at the Senior School were surprised and delighted to discover that their teachers had been transformed into some of the most famous characters from literary fiction for World Book Day. Staff arrived for classes dressed as characters from some of the most famous books in history – from Don Quixote to Harry Potter, Chaucer’s Canterbury pilgrims to Disney’s Mary Poppins. The initiative was the idea of Head of English, Mr Chris Davenport and Librarian, Mrs Christine Carter, with teachers and pupils entering into the spirit of the day in style. Almost 30 staff came in costume, including Spanish teacher Mr Fuentes as Don Quixote, Miss Charlotte Yoxall as Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland), Mrs Sally Rose as Red Riding Hood, Mrs Anne Kane as Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective Poirot, Mr Chris Westlake as Malvolio and Mr Bob Carr as Just William! Mrs Carter flew into school as Mary Poppins, while Mr Davenport cut a dash as 007 agent James Bond. The day concluded with Sony Awardwinning comedy writer, author, journalist and former Church of England vicar Simon Parke meeting pupils in the school library to pass on tips about successful writing. There was a ‘Design a Book Jacket’ competition with a chance to win book vouchers, and teachers read excerpts from favourite books at break-time sessions.
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Mr Davenport said, “It was a different, and highly successful, way of celebrating our literary heritage, and introducing pupils to great books they may not have read before.” The Prep School joined in the literary media theme with ‘cub reporter’ workshops ran by Charlotte Rawstorne, a journalist with the Daily Mail. The children were to imagine that they were reporters producing a
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newspaper in 1947 about the Queen’s wedding to Prince Phillip. At the end of the day, they came together to see how the final layout of a newspaper is put together and to write some headlines. The full edition can be viewed in the Prep news section of the School website.
Simon Parke
Mrs Rawstorne explaining how to start writing a story.
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New trees for Prefects’ Lawn For generations, pupils and teachers have viewed the lofty chestnut trees overlooking the Weald as a historic and evocative part of the School’s scenery. Believed to date back to the 1850s, or even earlier, three of the 40ft trees have now had to be felled after contracting the weeping canker disease, which has killed horse chestnuts throughout the country. Unfortunately, the ground will now not support horse chestnuts, so a different variety had to be found to replace them. On Saturday 19th March, three plane trees were dedicated to unique elements of the School’s heritage. Immediately preceding the dedication ceremony, over 150 Old Suttonians, colleagues, members of the Choral Society and his family attended a memorial service in the Chapel in celebration of the life of Colin R G Shaw, who died on New Year’s Day. Colin was a pupil in the early 1950s and then went on to Cambridge after National Service. He returned as Head of English in 1971, became a Housemaster and eventually Deputy Head during a career at Sutton
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Valence that spanned 27 years. On retiring, his diligence and kindness and empathy for former pupils of all ages was put to good use as Honorary Secretary of the Old Suttonians’ Association for 12 years until he stood down in 2010. The second tree was dedicated to Michael R Ricketts, Headmaster from 1967 to 1980, who instigated and oversaw many developments at the School during his tenure. The final one marks the 100th anniversary of the School being acquired by the United Westminster Schools Foundation from the Clothworkers’ Livery Company, who had governed the School since the death of William Lambe.
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Not to be out-done! Hoping to be at least as successful as the girls had been last term, boys’ hockey got off to a fantastic start this term when the 1st XI beat Langley Park, last year’s County Champions, 3 - 0 in the first match of the season. A few weeks later the U15 boys set off for the Peter Firminger Hockey Tournament, for Kent Schools and Youth hockey. Despite losing our first match to Kent College we made it to the quarter finals where we played Langley Park, giving an outstanding performance to win the match 1-0. After a triumph against Simon Langton in the semifinal we met Tonbridge School in the final, which we knew would be a tough match. However, after going 1-0 down we equalised through a short corner, hit by Bill Townsend, and ended the match level. After a nailbiting few minutes we managed to hold our
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nerve through penalty flicks and won the tournament 5-3. Meanwhile, the U16 and U13 teams were having their share of success. The U16s came third in the Kent Schools’ Championship and the U13s were runnersup in the County Championships, which means that they will represent Kent in the Regional finals on 24th March. But, the icing on the cake must be the U18 squad coming home with the Frank Mason Cup, which was last held by Sutton Valence in 1992 and 1993! Nick Hewitt, Captain, gave this (edited) report: “It was an early start at 7.30 in the quad. We knew it was going to be a good day when we nearly left behind James Costin and we had to recruit Sam Russell-Vick from boarders’ breakfast due to lack of numbers!
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Arriving in Canterbury, our first match was MGS. Not underestimating them we started strongly. It took us a while, but we managed to put two goals past them. Full of confidence we faced our second opponents, Tonbridge, knowing it wasn’t going to be an easy match, but the final score was one all. Our third match and fourth matches against St Edmund’s and St Lawrence were a little easier with wins of 3 – 0 and 4 – 0. Having won our group we moved through to the quarters where we faced King’s Canterbury. It was a closely fought match at the beginning but with some good ball speed and accurate passing the final score was left 3 - 0. By the semi-final against Eltham College our legs were a bit tired, but none the less our determination pulled us through leaving the final score 1 - 0. THE FINAL! Facing Kent College with their handful of internationals, we were definitely up for the challenge. With KC dominating the first period they converted. However with some well-worked chances and tenacious tackling from James Costin we earned ourselves a penalty flick. Full time was blown and we moved into sudden death penalty flicks. With KC scoring their early flicks our heads went down, but we managed to equalize. The crucial KC flick taker stepped up, but Clemens (goalkeeper) had seen it coming and swatted it aside, leaving us as competition winners! A special mention must go to Bobby Harris who was voted Player of the Tournament. Finally, a big thank you must go to Mr Mathews and Diccon Stubbings.
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New Director of Rugby The Headmaster is delighted to announce that from September 2011 Mr Phil Smith will be taking up the post of Director of Rugby. At Bristol University he played for Bristol RUFC and was selected for England Students. Following six years as England Youth Development Officer for the Eastern Counties he became Director of Rugby at Cambridge University. As a senior level 3 coach, Mr Smith is currently Director of Rugby at King Edward VI Five Ways School in Birmingham, where he transformed the rugby programme in to a successful and well-organised sport with an 85% win record; including taking 9 county cups and seeing one of his U16s represent England. He is also Head Coach for the U16 North Midlands team. Of his appointment, Mr Smith said, “Sutton Valence has a proud tradition and is a community where students can truly excel in all areas. I feel very privileged to be coming to the School and am very excited about developing my new role, and rugby, to its full potential.”
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In fine voice! The combined voices of more than 150 visiting Primary School children raised the roof at the Prep School following a day’s singing tuition and concert. Proud parents packed into the Bates Hall to hear the results of an afternoon’s coaching from Head of Music, Mrs Wendy Heaton.
Mrs Heaton said, “It’s a great challenge to bring so many children together and teach them something from scratch, but they rose to the occasion wonderfully and did themselves proud. The visiting parents and teachers were quite taken aback at what they managed to achieve in such a short space of time.”
Children from six schools in the Maidstone area joined the Junior Choir to learn some top tips and attempt sight-reading of several three-part songs, before giving a grand concert at close of play. Visiting schools taking part were: Roseacre Junior School, Loose Primary School, Boughton Monchelsea Primary School, Headcorn Primary School and Hollingbourne Primary School. The children were all from Years 3 and 4 and put on a concert which included ‘The Hedgehog’, ‘Java’, ‘Merry-go-Round’ and the appropriate Carpenters’ 70s hit ‘Sing’.
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National stars offer advice We might be just seeing the early signs of Spring, but for our young cricketers it’s never too early to plan for the coming cricket season. There have been a series of coaching sessions in February and March with some of Kent County Cricket Club’s top players, including skipper Rob Key, former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones, batsman Darren Stevens and Old Suttonian Rob Ferley, who played for Kent and Nottinghamshire. Mr Vince Wells, former England, Leicestershire, Kent and Durham all-rounder and Master i/c Cricket said, “We’ve lined up some of the finest players in the county to pass on their expertise and advice to some of our best young cricketers.”
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Earlier in the term we were lucky to welcome Toby Flood, whose name will be familiar to most of us, rugby enthusiast or not. Toby has no need to work on his reputation; he’s a role model to children all over the country: clean cut, hard working, and hugely talented. He also understands that role models have responsibilities, which recently led him here at the invitation of Mike Dunderdale (Westminster ’91), to put some of our pupils through their paces. After meeting the Headmaster and some of the 1st XV it was time to get on with the training and first up was the Sevens squad. According to Mr Bill Buck, Master i/c Rugby, the enthusiasm and application displayed during this session surpassed anything he’d seen before and the bad news for the boys is he’ll be expecting to see it again.
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After answering some questions from the Prep School U10s, Toby explained the “dos and don’ts” of place kicking to a group of boys from various teams. Having listened carefully and made the necessary adjustments to their technique it was time for a competition in aid of Demelza hospice care for children. After a round of goal kicks the players raised £450 which they successfully doubled to £900 when Will Miles hit the crossbar from a long distance. Toby had been impressed, saying, “There’s some real talent here, if they work hard, listen to their coaches and put the effort in, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them at the top level soon.”
Senior Squad Under 16 squad, staff and kickers an unforgettable day, watched by staff and many lunch-time spectators. He gave freely of his time, passed on invaluable coaching tips and gave advice about routes into the professional game.”
Mr Buck described what the event had meant for the school, “Toby’s visit gave the
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