OLD SUTTONIAN FEATURES
B
ack in 1985, the newly co-educational Sutton Valence School attracted girls by the score, which also stimulated a demand for boarding. Initially, a few girls were housed in Valence House in the village, but then Sutton began life in 1986; a new girls’ boarding house, separate from the day girls’ house, Valence. It began life in the modified former Founder’s day house, in what used to be the School sanatorium, extended in 1990 at the time of its renovation. How permission was ever granted for the extension is unclear. That the building obscures the view of the Weald from the main School is not contested. That its style is not in the character of the main building is also undisputed. I can only think that the planners thought the only people to be inconvenienced by such a building would be the members of the School community and that it mattered little what the new building looked like. For some years, the girls (both day and boarding) were a small minority of the School community and this led, perhaps, to a sense of ‘them and us’. If so, this certainly helped to mould a strong sense of spirit and loyalty in Sutton. From the outset, the overall welfare of girls came under the stewardship of Stella Haywood (Staff 1983-1994), the Headmaster’s wife, a most formidable defender of all things feminine. She encouraged the girls to become competitive with each other, but was not nearly as fierce about this as she was in other areas of School life. Once Sutton was established and until 1997, all the housemasters were men, ably assisted by wonderful matrons and female members of the common room. The first of these was Dr Ray Sabine (Staff 1980-1996), who rather resented his girls being referred to as ‘The Sabine Women’, after the Roman mythical story of their kidnap. He was succeeded by the School chaplain of the day, a very imposing Rev’d Dr John Watson (Staff 1987-2000) and then by Houseparents Bill (Staff 1973-2004) and Barbara Piper (Staff 1973-2004), whose tenure lasted rather longer than the previous gentlemen. Colin (Staff 1971-1998) and Pauline Shaw took over from the Pipers and were followed by Tim (Staff 1998-2001) and Fay Wilbur. (Staff 19992001) It wasn’t until Julie Stanford (Staff 2001-2015) took up the reins that a housemistress was established, which continued with Angela Mathews (Staff 2011-2017) and today’s incumbent, Sophie de Castro (Staff 2012-). As the only boarding house for girls and greatly outnumbered by the boys, Sutton’s staff have all worked hard to establish a house spirit that embraces the diversity of culture and traditions that have prevailed. Less so today, but historically many of the girls came from Europe and the Far East and had never been away from home before, let alone on a different continent. In a relatively short time, Sutton girls have received much acclaim. Many had great influence on the School: competing for and winning positions of responsibility within CCF and beyond into the military; achieving academically; displaying prowess on the sports fields and, along with their male counterparts, becoming prefects and heads of School. As is still the case today, the girls punched above their weight in numbers. The fact that there are fewer girls within the community, offers them the opportunity to become widely involved in the life of the School, if they should so wish, thus honing their skills for future life.
The Sanatorium prior to its conversion to Sutton House
Page 9 - The OLD Suttonian 2018