Edition 46 June 2010
SUTTON VIEWS The Voice of Sutton Valence School
‘Onwards and Upwards’ at the Preparatory School My first impressions of SVPS were of a strong and vibrant community, one that I am proud to be leading. I am taking over as Head in September, and I am very pleased to be joined by Claire Corkran as my new Deputy Head. I intend to be both visible and accessible to all members of the community, in order to get to know as many of you as possible during the transition period. I feel it is now very important for the whole community to focus on its many strengths, but also to look to ways to build on this firm foundation. From my own observations, and to address parental concerns highlighted by the recent survey, there will be some changes. The new Heads of Pre Prep and Games will be establishing their roles, both within the school and also as important contact points for the parental body, which I hope will help in improving communication and the accessibility of staff.
Eco-School update
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Tiny Toddle Page 8
Fives Alive!
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We will be looking hard at the achievement of pupils as they progress through the school towards their 11+ entries. This will include all subjects, but there will be a particular focus on Maths and English. I recognise that the foundations of academic success are laid much 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 June 2010
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 further down the school than purely during Years 5 and 6. Standards of teaching will be rigorously appraised, looking at the provision for all ability groups. ‘There are some excellent and inspiring teachers at SVPS’ according to the survey, but we need to ensure we get the best out of all staff by sharing good practice with each other. So a number of important steps have already been made in increasing the support and monitoring teaching within the school. A major timetable review, based upon the recommendation of the ISI inspection, is underway. This is looking at layout of the school day, creating longer teaching periods and also opportunities to use the excellent resources of the senior school.
teaching staff and the pupils, and it is hugely beneficial for me to hold a full and balanced view, ‘warts and all’. I would like to thank Jane Evans for her fantastic work this year, as she has led the way on addressing many concerns already. Bruce Grindlay has offered tremendous support during the transition, and the governors have been very involved and supportive creating a separate prep school committee, which opens an important channel of communication. As the new academic year approaches, I and my family are looking forward with excitement to a long and happy time here at SVPS.
I hope that those who came found the recent Year 5 information evening helpful as your children move towards senior school entry. We all recognise that not all children will achieve 11+ entry to some schools; we will do our best and advise you openly and honestly, allowing you to make an informed choice at such a key time. This self evaluation has given us all a valuable glimpse into the strengths and the areas to develop, but coming from outside with fresh eyes I am struck by what a successful school this is. The children are very happy, and there is some super teaching taking place. It is a healthy thing for us to review where we are, and we must now use this to move forward. As we sit down to plan development in more detail all stakeholder views will be taken into account, including those of the
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Mr R Johnson, Head of the Preparatory School (September 2010)
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Croissants and culture Year 6 students at the Preparatory School had a chance to practise their French – as well as their cooking skills – during a threeday visit to the Continent. The 49 children and six staff travelled by coach and train to the French fishing village of Stella Plage, near Le Touquet, where they purchased postcards, stamps and a range of French fare, using their knowledge of the French language.
French co-ordinator Mrs Finch, who organised the visit, said: “For many of the children, this was their first time away from home and their first time in France, but they were quite confident using everyday language by the end of the three days.”
They were quite confident as they shopped in the cobbled streets of Boulogne and at Berck-sur-Mer, where they visited a local hypermarket. In Boulogne, they visited a traditional French boulangerie, where they tried their hands at making croissants – and promptly ate the end results! As part of their studies into World War 2, they also visited the Musee 39-45 at Ambleteuse.
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Music Appreciation Society The Society was born out of an awareness that having London on our doorstep gave the Music Department an opportunity to expose pupils to a selection of music. In the past trips have been a little ad hoc but the Music Appreciation Society has brought focus and organisation to a programme of varied and interesting musical experiences. It is run mainly for the GCSE and A Level music groups, but includes lower years in it as well when appropriate. The following are pupil’s reports about the three trips so far: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by Nathan Earle (4th Form) Early May the Music Appreciation Society had a trip to the Royal Albert Hall to watch a performance of the music from Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers. This was a great experience for me and everyone else who went I am sure. We turned up at the venue which in itself is amazing. The architecture and design of the Royal Albert Hall blew me away. As this was the first time I had ever been to the Royal Albert and had only ever seen it on the television before but now I am truly glad that I have been. I could already tell it was going to be a special night before I even entered the building. When we finally took our seats I was amazed by the sheer size of the orchestra that would be playing. When I looked up there was a huge screen behind the orchestra which I wasn’t expecting at all which would play the movie while the orchestra played along in time to each scene of the movie. I was bemused at how the conductor could bring the orchestra in to the right places of the movie. It must
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take real skill as a conductor as well as discipline from the instrumentalists. The sounds that the orchestra sent shivers down my spine, never had I been so surprised at how skilled some of the players were, but I guess that’s why they are playing in a professional orchestra. The soloists of the night were truly wonderful. They filled the whole stadium with a warm effortless sound and emphatic precision of the notes they hit. I really felt privileged to go to such a prestigious venue and see a concert performed with such precision. I am sure everyone who went to the concert would agree with me. Filmharmonica by Annabelle Pullar (4th Form) On Friday 14th May, five pupils and I were lucky enough to go up to London assisted by Mr Horley and Mrs Herold to watch ‘Filmharmonic’. This was my third visit to the Royal Albert Hall but the excitement never weakens. We were seated and eager to watch and enjoy the music by 7.30pm. Each member of the orchestra stepped out onto the stage receiving large applause. During the course of the night we enjoyed timeless classics and popular themes including music from Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Mission: Impossible, Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars. Although it was a long tiring night, it was definitely worth the trip and more than inspirational to any musician. I am thoroughly looking forward to the ongoing trips to the Albert Hall.
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Carmen by Lauren Pattle (4th Form) On the 21st May, a group of students and teachers went to see Carmen at the O2 arena. Carmen is a young ‘gypsy’ woman, working at a cigarette factory in Seville, Spain. The opera shows her falling in love with an officer called Jose, Jose is imprisoned for a crime Carmen committed and on his release he decides that in order to stay with Carmen he must become a gypsy as well. Carmen meets the handsome Escamillo, he falls in love with her immediately, but Carmen is taken. Jose goes home with Michaela, an orphan girl his mother adopted, on hearing the news that his mother is dying. Carmen and Escamillo pledge their love to one another at Escamillo’s bullfight, Jose arrives and stabs Carmen to death for her betrayal.
The stage at the O2 was a large S shape and set up like a theatre production would be, the three acts all had interesting set changes. The dancing was beautiful as were all of the costumes but the singing was incredible. Carmen and Michaela had particularly beautiful voices. For such a large venue I thought that the orchestra might not be that loud but the sound they made was amazing. The highlight for me was watching the festival before the bullfight, there was fire breathing, stilts, back flips, dancing and a lot of crazy costumes all rolled into one. The whole evening was great and I would love to go again. Mr Horley Director of Music
Story time In March Reception classes were transformed into one gigantic fairy story. Several Snow Whites and Little Red Riding Hoods came fact to face with knights, princes, pirates, fairies and wolves as their imaginations ran riot. The children took part in fairytale workshops, including cooking ‘poisonous’ toffee apples. In the afternoon they enjoyed a fairytale ball and banquet.
Miss Fribbens June 2010
a handsome prince
a little princess 5
Prep School Poetry Competition The pupils in the prep school had a treat at the end of half term when they were visited by the poet Roger Stevens. He had come to judge the annual poetry competition and was very impressed with the high standards of poetry recital.
Eco-School update: bio-fuel and vegetables
Each year group was previously given a theme for their poems so the audience was treated to a variety of subjects from magic to mystery, food and animals. The children had been encouraged to find poems which were amusing and entertaining. Some of the poems were quite touching and others made the audience laugh out loud. Roger Stevens was very entertaining, reciting some of his own poetry for the audience to enjoy and treating us to insights into where he gets his inspiration from. The winners for each year group were announced and will receive their prizes on Speech Day. In the afternoon, Year 6 had the privilege of attending poetry workshops with Mr Stevens where he worked closely with the groups to produce poems of their own. They really enjoyed this as it gave them ideas of how poems can be created from very little.
Father Paul Kish, Chaplain was so enthused by the pupil’s eco-initiative to save heating, lighting, paper and other reusable waste, that he now recycles up to 50 litres of spent cooking oil a week and uses the resulting bio-diesel to fuel his family car. Fr Paul decided to embrace the ecoinitiative at the start of the year, along with Nick Gorman, Head of Art, who now also drives an enviro-friendly eco-fuelled car.
Once again a thoroughly enjoyable day. Claire Thomas Head of English
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Fr Paul said: “Although, on the face of it, the fuel appears to be free, it is not a costcutting initiative, as it takes both time and money to process the cooking oil and the
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financial break-even is still some years down the road. However, it is an important part of the school’s eco-initiative – and it does mean I can have fun playing in my shed.” In order to recycle the cooking oil, Fr Paul purchased a bio-fuel converter, which cleans and purifies the waste oil, in a process which takes between 48 and 72 hours. Neither he nor Mr Gorman has noticed any difference in motor performance – although the local garage proprietor did enquire why the exhaust smelled of fish and chips!
to grow their own vegetables at the village allotments. Mr Gorman said: “At first, colleagues took the mickey. Then they tasted the results and thought we weren’t so stupid after all.” With that and the pupils currently growing potatoes, broad beans, sweet corn, carrots, peas, pumpkins and sunflowers in a plot of land to the side of the science labs, who knows, the School could soon be eating ‘home grown’ vegetables at lunchtime!
Fr Paul said: “The resulting fuel is much cleaner than manufactured diesel and, of course, it means we are helping to preserve fossil fuels and protecting our planet.” As well as recycling paper, turning off lights and ensuring doors and windows are kept closed in winter to preserve heat, Fr Paul and a number of his colleagues have also begun
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Tiny toddle as tots fundraise for charity Kindergarten children took part in their annual tiny toddle to raise funds for the children’s charity Barnardos. Cheered on by parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and staff, the three and four year olds walked twice around the school playing fields – about a mile - dressed as marauding pirates and other assorted children’s characters. They collected pirate treasure – masquerading as stickers - along the way, which they stuck in special treasure albums and all the children who took part were presented with
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a medal by Head teacher Jane Evans, at the end, to mark their achievement. The toddle has become a regular event on the Prep School calendar and raises between £200 and £300 each year for Barnardos. Kindergarten teacher Mrs Lovelace, who organised the day, with the help of Polly her trusty pirate’s parrot, said: “The children enjoy participating in a group event such as this and it helps teach them about charitable giving from a very early age.”
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‘Sat Nav’ invention helps pupils to Duke of Edinburgh success A unique ‘sat nav’ system is helping pupils reach new heights of achievement in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. This year, 180 pupils are testing themselves to the limit with outdoor expeditions and new physical and sporting challenges, as well as learning new skills. More than 100 of them are on track to complete the scheme by the end of the year, earning 16 Gold awards, 25 Silvers and 60 Bronzes, an outstanding record for the school. All participants have to take part in outdoor expeditions, with those aiming for their Gold award spending four nights and five days trekking and camping in the Lake District. But thanks to the technically creative talent of former pupil Balazs Janko and the school’s IT department, even when they get lost, staff always know where the group are! Each expedition group is issued with a miniature GPS tracker which attaches to a rucksack. Every 20 minutes the system sends a message to the mobile phone and laptop of the supervising teacher, pinpointing the map grid reference of the expedition party. Mr Glen Millbery, Director of IT and Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme manager said: “We have a responsibility to know exactly where our pupils are at any one moment, and it’s easy to get lost in the vastness of the Lake District. For years, teachers supervising expeditions had to follow pupils in their cars, popping up every hour or so to check where
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they were. The GPS system we use means we no longer have to do that, unless they are at serious risk of going off track and getting lost. For the pupils, this means much greater freedom and independence, and a genuine sense of ‘remoteness’. For us, it means we have the extra security of knowing precisely where they are.” Mr Millbery believes the system could have wider applications, not least for other schools running the Awards scheme. He added: “It makes a valuable contribution to the whole ethos of the scheme, which is to encourage pupils’ perseverance and commitment, even when they have to spend cold, wet nights under canvas and then motivate themselves to get up in the morning and finish the expedition. It tests them as individuals, and gives them lifelong memories – even if that does mean remembering the day they were flooded out of their tent or completed the trek despite the blisters.”
Glen Millbery, Head of Duke of Edinburgh scheme and pupils who used the tracking device on their expedition at Easter
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Head of School Friendship is one of the things that unites all of us here (at Sutton Valence) today and therefore with everyone in the world. Friendship is defined as ‘a type of companionship that a human shows towards another human being, involving sympathy, trust, honesty and a mutual understanding’. And I feel that a person couldn’t truly function adequately without it. A friend is there too support you and be by your side, but be a good enough friend to tell you when you are wrong. As I will be going off to university in a few months, I have been thinking about whom I will remain in contact with and if in ten years I will still be in touch with any of the people with whom I have shared the past 5 years. Yes, there will be a number who will leave school after their A levels and our paths are most likely to never cross again. But, I know there are a few who despite distance, time and commitments I will remain in contact with and maintain a life-long relationship.
New Appointments Our first priority as a school is to give our pupils the best possible academic education. In support of this the Headmaster has created four new teaching roles for September 2010.
Sutton Valence is a chapter in my life and the majority of people will remain in it, and I expect the same applies to many of you. But, the friendships you have now will be the template for future friendships and you will never forget any of them. I leave you with a quote, ‘A friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself’. Thank you for listening. Emma Johnson Head of School, Summer 2010 Miss P McCarmick - Head of Pre-Prep
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Mr A Penfold - Head of Teaching and Learning Over the past two years staff have placed greater emphasis on teaching and learning, with the aim of making our pupils well motivated, independent learners. Mr Penfold, as Head of Teaching and Learning, will give even more prominence to this approach so that our pupils enjoy their learning and gain satisfaction from doing well; above all ensuring that lessons are accessible whilst at the same time being challenging and stimulating.
Miss A Derricott - Head of Academic Scholars Miss Derricott, will be providing leadership for our Academic Scholars. She will be working to build a sense of community and pride in their academic achievement which can be celebrated and promoted within the whole School community. At the same time creating and sustaining positive attitudes towards them and all other high achieving pupils, whilst ensuring good provision for them.
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New Appointments Mr D Heath - Head of Critical Thinking Critical Thinking has been the fastest growing A-level subject over the past few years. A good grade in the subject marks out a clear-thinking, analytical pupil who is likely to do well in higher education. Mr Heath has been appointed Head of Department of this skill-based subject. It is taught as an extra AS/A2 subject alongside a pupil’s core subjects.
Out of this world!
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Congratulations to Gracie Rigby who won a countywide poster competition on the theme of ‘What will the world be like in 2100?’. Gracie’s poster beat almost 150 entries and was judged the winner by Dr Alexander Martynov, who has been head of the ballistics division of the Russian space programme for 24 years and is currently part of the international team working on the Mars project. The competition was organised by Sevenoaks School as part of the National Science and Engineering Week. The prize, a Mindstorms Lego set worth more than £200, was presented to Gracie by Graeme Lawrie from Sevenoaks School.
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Winners of King’s Canterbury Under 10 St. Edmond’s shield for Rounders
Fives Alive! There were high fives all round when two of our students won five trophies for competing in the traditional sport of rugby fives.
sport for a matter of months when they competed in the recent National Schools Girls Rugby Fives competition held at Malvern College.
Rugby Fives, which is similar to squash except the players wear padded gloves to hit the ball instead of using a racquet, was played here for generations but had suffered in recent years. However, following its revival at the school last year, students are showing a remarkable skill for the sport - in a very short space of time.
Indeed, it was 14-year old Daisy’s first match. Nonetheless, she made the semifinals of the main draw in the singles and narrowly lost in the plate final to a girl she had convincingly beaten in the quarter-finals of the main draw.
Emily Royer and Daisy Hollingsworth (both 3rd Form) have only been playing the
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Both Emily and Daisy were entered in the U14 draw, which was universally acknowledged as the largest and most competitive section in the contest and which
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saw the highest standard of play all day. Competing against Malvern College, Marlborough, Oundle, Christ’s Hospital and Eastbourne College, Emily won the U14 singles title, beating a girl from Malvern, 113, 11-0. Master in charge of Fives, Mr NunesCarvalho said: “This was a superb effort on the part of both girls. Emily has only been playing fives a short while and was up against an opponent who plays regularly in the Malvern 1st team. Daisy, meanwhile, has only been playing for three months and this was her first match outside of school.” Emily played faultlessly in the final and impressed everyone who was watching including the President and Secretary of the
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RFA. The girls also won the U14 doubles title, blowing away every entry on the way to the final and in the final itself. Emily and Daisy were presented with their trophies in whole-school assembly by the Headmaster. Mr Grindlay said: “There was a great deal of excitement when Fives was revived at the school last year and this was a great result from the Nationals, when the girls were up against some very stiff competition.” The School is now looking to host its own Rugby Fives competition against Malvern College and planning a possible tour to Rugby, Oundle, Radley and Malvern for next year.
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Life on the home front! Shorts, tank tops and berets replaced school uniform for a day in March when the Prep School spent a day living like children during WWII. The day featured visits from Utility Jude and the WRVS and time spent making boxes for their gas masks and ID cards, writing telegrams and packing their cases ready for evacuation. Year 6 pupils ate suitably rationed wartime food, met an ARP Warden and took part in a pump drill (using a hose to knock down cans).
enactment group ‘Forward to Victory’, explained the role of women in the war. Head of Humanities, Mrs Randle, who organised the day and came dressed as a US Army nurse, said, “The children loved getting into character and seeing how children lived during the Second World War. It’s a day they will never forget and something which will have enriched their learning experience.”
The school field was set up as a military outpost with examples of wartime vehicles, weapons and uniforms, all organised by Mr Bendkowski, whose daughter Charlotte is in Year 6. Utility Jude, played by a member of the re-
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Grandparents’ Days During two days in early May we welcomed over 200 proud grandparents to the Prep and the Senior School. They were met by their grandchildren and given a tour of the School followed by afternoon tea on the Prep School day and by lunch at the Senior School. It was lovely to see two generations of our School family enjoying each other’s company
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and from the letters and comments we have received since, the grandparents had a wonderful day. As a valued part of our community we hope that grandparents will feel welcome at any School event in which their grandchildren are participating. Helen Knott Development Manager
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