sutton views - Sutton Valence School

Edition 56 December 2013
SUTTON VIEWS
The Voice of Sutton Valence School
The Movember 6
The Sixth Form gentlemen
are normally well-dressed,
well-groomed young men.
But, for four weeks this
term, six of our Upper
Sixth were less than their
normal..freshly-shaven
selves.
We Will Rock You
The representatives from each House, Dominic Murray
(Clothworkers’), Alex Richardson (St Margaret’s), Robert
Sehmi (Westminster), Seb Newman (Lambe’s), Jordan
Parker (Founder’s) and Matt Parsons (Holdgate)
persuaded the Headmaster that, in the aid of the charity,
they should be allowed to not shave. They each pledged
to raise £100 or more, with the end results being judged
by Lotte Lijesen, Head of School. Lotte would declare the
winners; the one with the best growth and the one who
had raised the most money.
Throughout November, the Six were trying to raise
money from a variety of sources. Jordan Parker said, “We
all used similar ways to get as much as we could. I went
round School during tutor time and visited each
Founder’s tutor group. I was surprised and delighted that
my House was very charitable and gave donations freely.
Orchard Run
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Page 9
Martinique Exchange
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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 December 2013
For information about Sutton Valence School or to request a prospectus, please contact:
• the Admissions Office at Sutton Valence on 01622 845206 or email [email protected]
• Sutton Valence Preparatory School on 01622 842117 or email [email protected]
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Continued from front page
Unfortunately, during the rugby match
against King’s Canterbury, Alex Richardson
sustained a nasty chest injury, which
necessitated a stay in hospital. However,
Michael Adebiyi, his St Margaret’s
housemate and friend, offered to continue
fundraising in Alex’s absence. Such was his
enthusiasm to support his friend, he raised
£230 in one week, making Alex the top
fundraiser!
Tutors got involved by giving very generous
donations, which helped significantly to raise
my total. It was not just Sixth Formers that
donated money to me, even First and
Second Forms gave donations when they
could, which was such a big help. I managed
to raise £153.53, with almost all of the money
I raised coming from the pupils and staff at
SV.”
Overall, the Movember 6 raised almost
£1,200 for the charity, with Dominic Murray
winning the prize for the best growth: a top
of the range electric razor!
Headmaster Bruce Grindlay said, “Sutton
Valence raises a considerable amount of
money for charity each year and we feel it is
an important part of our students’ education
that they learn community responsibility.
Whilst we would not normally allow facial
hair in School, we thought we could make an
exception in this case. It caused a great deal
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of fun for the month – and raised a commendable amount of money for
the cause!”
Olympic Hopeful is Back at School
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of
kayaking Olympic Gold winner, Tim
Brabants, last year’s Upper Sixth Former,
Peter Bannister, has returned to School to
take more A levels and help out as a Gap
student in the Sports Department.
“Despite getting two As and an A* in
Maths, Further Maths and Physics last year”,
said Peter, “I have decided that I want to
study Medicine, so need Chemistry and
Biology. I am very lucky that Nottingham
University, where Tim studied, has indicated
that they are interested in me studying there
and of course it is very convenient for the
National Water Sports Centre, where I train.
School has been very helpful in allowing me
to return to study my additional A levels and
give me time off to train.”
To assist Peter’s push to compete in the
1000 metre kayak for the 2016 Olympics, he
has a new competition boat. His old one has
been relegated to training duties, but with
the help of local sponsors and his first year of
funding from the National Lottery, the 2014
season will see Peter in a fabulous new
kayak, designed by Sarah Easter, Art teacher.
“Peter was keen for the design to use
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colours that represented Great Britain”, said
Sarah. “I came up with about eight designs,
and this is the one he liked best (and me too
as it happens). I was thinking about the
movement of the paddle, how it pulls up and
through the water and I used that idea to
inspire the design, which is asymmetrical.
Peter was my tutee before I became a
Housemistress, so it was a delight and a
pleasure to be able to do this for him.”
After finishing fourteenth in the Under 23
European Championships, Peter is getting
back to training after an injury, but is well on
track for the new season starting in April.
“I am enormously grateful to everyone
who has helped me to get this far,” he said,
“and am looking forward to putting the new
boat through her paces.”
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Year Six pupil is UK’s Young Journalist of
the Year
Annabelle Majin, in her last year at the
Prep School, has beaten entries from across
the country to become Britain’s Young
Journalist of the Year 2013.
Her award winning article entitled ‘Is
Poetry Dead?’ combined interviews with a
Kent theatre director and her own analysis
and was awarded first prize by a panel of
judges.
“I was really excited when I heard that I
had won the competition,” said Annabelle.
“I love poetry and this was a subject that
genuinely interested me. I wanted to find out
whether poetry is dying out or whether it’s
coming back into fashion. In my article I
wrote about performance poets, who are
helping to bring back poetry and spread it to
a wider audience.”
Annabelle’s prize was £1000 worth of
stationery from Stabilo, who jointly ran the
competition with First News, the childrens’
newspaper.
Her assignment as Young Journalist of the
Year was to write two articles for First News,
which were published in the Autumn. You
may access them through the following links:
http://www.firstnews.co.uk/news/doenough-children-learn-music-i9987
http://www.firstnews.co.uk/news/revea
ling-the-rip-offs-i10055
Annabelle interviewing Richard Mallett, Education and Community Producer, London Philharmonic
Orchestra, for her first article
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Prep School’s new Reception and Early
Years play area
Since the beginning of term, visitors to the
Prep School and parents wanting a quiet place
to have a chat with a teacher have been using
the new Reception area. Converted from the
old ‘Little Suttons’ room, the area is now home
to a collection of comfortable, tweed-clad sofas
and chairs, with toning blue lamps and
cushions. Security of Underhill House has also
December 2013
been enhanced with the addition of a beautiful
glass screen and door, which prevents access
beyond the School Office and Reception area.
Outside, Kindergarten has benefited from a
new secure play area, with safety surfaces,
slides and a colourful road painted upon the
ground to aid the children’s creative play.
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We Will Rock You
“The time is the future, in a place that was
once called Earth. Globalisation is complete.
Everywhere, the kids watch the same movies,
wear the same fashions and think the same
thoughts. It’s a safe, happy, Ga Ga world. Unless
you’re a rebel. Unless you want to Rock.”
the audience was rocking in the aisles. I am
enormously proud of all who took part and very
grateful to Miss Fordham, and her team, for
what she has achieved.”
For three nights, audiences in the Baughan
Theatre were transported to iPlanet, with the
walls resounding to the music of Queen.
Said Claire Fordham, Head of Drama, “This is
by far the most ambitious musical that I have
ever been involved in working on. The
commitment and enthusiasm from all the
students and staff have been huge; I feel very
lucky to be surrounded by such talented
people.”
Playing to full houses every night, the cast
brought huge energy and presence to their
performances, with impressive commitment
from the lead players.
“I have never seen such a professional,
polished performance from a school
production”, said Bruce Grindlay, Headmaster.
“The singing was outstanding and perfectly
captured the feeling of Queen in their heyday;
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December 2013
7
Prep School
Hockey
Early in November, our U10A girls travelled to
Tunbridge Wells for the annual Holmewood
House Hockey Tournament, playing against
Ardingly, Dulwich Prep and Holmewood
House. For the second year running, the Prep
School won it! Many congratulations to the girls
who played; what a terrific performance that
was. The U9 boys also had a super win there
the following day.
Later in November, the U10s were delighted
to be invited to play in the East Grinstead
Tournament. Historically, the competition
attracts teams from much larger prep schools,
renowned for their sporting prowess. It was
going to be an exciting challenge.
The first match was against Hurst Prep, on a
fabulous water-based pitch. As often is the case
in the first match, the team was still recovering
from the long journey and getting used to the
new surface. However, they managed to
achieve a 1-1 draw, with some lovely wide balls
from Charlotte Farrell. Next over to the 3G
pitches, where they discovered that the ball
does not travel so easily. Despite this, the team
managed a convincing 4 - 0 win against Burgess
Hill. The next match against Reigate St Mary’s
was a stormer, finishing once again with a 4-0
win, taking the girls into the Cup Competition.
The first Cup match was against Ardingly.
Despite having the ball for the majority of the
time, Sutton Valence could not get it in the net.
The defence, Rosie Williamson and Katie
Godlington, were solid, thus the match ended
in a goalless draw. Vinehall were great
opponents, who were twice in the lead! The
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team managed, however, to score a late goal,
resulting in a 3-2 win; thanks to the
perseverance of forwards, Chloe Alexander,
Jessica De Lucy and Holly Clarke. Lingfield
Notre Dame, (a huge school) was the next
opponent. Again, the girls stepped up to the
mark; Charlotte Holmes had some outstanding
clearances and so the game ended with a 1-0
win.
The team and coaches waited anxiously to
find out if their scores were good enough and,
sure enough, their fabulous efforts were
rewarded with a place in the final. Meeting
Hurst Prep again, they had a tense and exciting
match, coming through winners, by 2 goals to
their 1. All the girls, including the super subs,
(Anna
Smith
and
Charlotte
Lang),
demonstrated great skills, determination and
team work. What a fabulous way to end the
season!
The schools involved in the competition were:
Sutton Valence Prep, Bedes Prep, Claremont
Prep, Handcross Park, Copthorne, Skippers Hill
Manor, St Andrew’s, Dulwich College Prep,
Farlington, Burgess Hill, Hurst Prep, Reigate St
Mary’s, Ardingly Prep, Vinehall and Lingfield
Notre Dame Prep.
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Orchard Run
The now, very large Orchard Run CrossCountry competition was a great success, back
in the middle of November. Once again SVPS
took control of the racing, with the highlight
being first, second and third finishes for the U10
Boys. The Prep School won the overall
competition again, to make it three years in a
row.
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SVPS Swim Squad
Early morning swim squad is going from
strength to strength. Sixteen of the School’s
top swimmers, from Years 3-6, are taking
advantage of the superb pool at the Senior
School by training hard at 7.30am in the
morning!
Squad member Charlie Hadley said, “Swim
squad is really challenging, but also good fun!
It’s great for improving my strength and
swimming stamina!”
The pupils are enjoying pushing
themselves and are already seeing their
swimming skills develop.
iPads in Prep School lessons
At the beginning of term, Years 4 and 5 were
introduced to the School’s new iPads in PSHE
and Humanities. The pupils are just getting to
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grips with using them in the classroom
and have enjoyed the new challenges.
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Remembrance Day
CCF on parade to the War Memorial
Prep School two minutes silence
December 2013
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HRH, The Duke of Edinburgh, honours
Sutton Valence
The School has a large and active Duke of
Edinburgh's Award Scheme, with over 180
pupils engaged over Bronze, Silver and Gold
levels in any one year. In early December the
most recent crop of Gold-achieving students
from the School received their award.
challenging
and
rewarding
personal
development
programme,
demanding
considerable, sustained commitment and
determination. It takes in all aspects of cocurricular life at Sutton Valence and is
recognised by universities and employers alike.
Richard Nicol, James Aburn, Freddie Hewett,
Ed Smith, Tom Brunger, Kieran Broom,
Matthew Latham, Megan Gerrard, Joe Fowler,
Tom Bateman and Hannah Bateman,
accompanied by Mr Millbery (D of E Scheme
Co-ordinator) and Mrs Swaine (Governor),
visited St James’s Palace to receive their
awards, which were given by HRH, the Duke of
Edinburgh.
Said Mr Millbery, “It was a great pleasure to
be there. I took over this group when they
started their Bronze level six years ago and it
was with great pride that I saw them rewarded
for having achieved the goals they set
themselves then.”
The
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Scheme
provides
an
enjoyable,
Such were the number of Gold awards given
to Sutton Valence, that it was the first time that
all students from one school were
photographed together.
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Foundation Concert
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the
birth of the great English composer Benjamin
Britten, the United Westminster Schools
Foundation held a concert in Christ Church,
Spitalfields. Friday 22nd November was not
only St Cecelia’s Day (the patron saint of
Musicians), but was also Britten’s birthday.
The Foundation asked the School to perform
two movements from Britten’s Simple
Symphony, as well as providing a small choir for
the finale.
The concert ended with the combined choir
of approximately 200 pupils performing
Ceremony of Carols, accompanied by a harpist.
At the reception afterwards, Mr Horley and Mr
Holmes, Head of Strings were approached by
several members of the public (including the
headmistress of Queen Anne’s, Caversham)
waxing lyrical about the performances.
As a footnote, Mr Holmes has referred to the
performance as the highlight of his teaching
career.
As the Strings were the only instrumental
group performing, Mr Horley, Director of Music,
knew they had to perform well. Once the first
chord was struck, all doubts were dispelled as a
glorious sound filled the huge space. The pupils
performed magnificently and everybody just
listened intently to 15 pupils producing such an
amazing quality of sound.
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Head of School, Lotte Lijesen
When you reach the Upper Sixth, you maybe
surprised to learn just how many Head of
School speeches you will have listened to. I
calculate that most of us in the Upper Sixth
have listened to 18 speeches. Now the most
obvious things to talk about, and the topics that
I’ve been warned by many of you to avoid, are
the opportunities presented to us at SV. And,
although they are all valid topics, I won’t drone
on about them, because I’m sure that we all
appreciate how truly lucky we are to be at this
School.
What I would like to talk about came to me
whilst I was on holiday travelling through
Tanzania. I was lucky enough to talk to a man of
the Maasai people, an indigenous tribe of East
Africa. What intrigued me most was what he
told me about the Enkipaata ceremony. This is
the ceremony where the Maasai boys face
many challenges during their rite of passage in
becoming Maasai warriors. To prove their
manhood, the boys are put to the test and sent
into the bush, with just a spear, to show that
they can fend for themselves and their cattle,
and survive the harshness of the African
wilderness.
This got me thinking about the things we have
faced and will face, in our own community. I
wanted to highlight to you the courage and the
determination to rise to the challenge that
these boys have, to prove that they are worthy
of their recognition as young warriors: mature
men rather than young boys.
Now obviously exams, course work and
controlled assessments are not the same and
cannot be compared with killing a cow and
drinking its warm blood mixed with its milk, as
a rite of passage, which is also part of the
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coming of age ceremony. But our own
challenges and, more importantly, how we deal
with them, will also shape our future and our
personality in the years to come. Let me give
you an example: for the girls, the hockey season
is coming up and will no doubt require some
heavy fitness training, which is a challenge that
most of us will have to face and conquer. But
let’s stay strong girls and let’s look on the bright
side: we may lose those kilos that we gained
over the summer!
Being at Sutton Valence has taught me how
to face up to the challenges life throws at us and
to learn from the mistakes that you make.
School is a great place to make mistakes,
because it offers us so much scope to try new
things and making mistakes is all part of the rich
learning process. Better still - the next day you
can try again!
It’s not like the workplace, where there’s the
pressure of earning a living; or even the
Enkipaata ceremony, where danger is literally
around every corner. School is where you can
make friends and learn about yourself and what
you want out of life. Sometimes, it’s where you
mess up and do some really stupid things that
you may later regret
.
Steve Jobs said “Sometimes when you
innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit
them quickly, and get on with improving your
other innovations.” School is where you
innovate, it’s also where you try new things and
attempt to soak up as many life lessons as
possible while you can.
As I get older, the daunting reality that very
soon I will have to make important decisions
affecting the rest of my life and that things are
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becoming my own responsibility is beginning to
dawn on me. I reassure myself with the calm
words of my mum: "it doesn't get any easier, so
you may as well just get on with it." So this year,
my advice would be, make sure you stop and
appreciate being young, have fun and enjoy
yourself, as well as obviously working hard.
For me, delivering this speech today is part of
my ceremony marking my rite of passage
comparable with the ceremony of the intrepid
Maasai Warriors.
It’s involved a lot of
preparation, nervous anticipation, mixed with
mistakes and courage and more than its fair
share of fear!
This brings me onto another thing that SV has
taught me: determination. Achieving your goals
is even more satisfying when you know you've
worked hard for them. No matter how others
may judge you.
So, if I have achieved nothing more than this
today, I hope I have encouraged you not to be
fearful of making mistakes, but to rise to the
challenges ahead as I hope you consider I have
managed today.
For me, a good role model is my friend Emily
Royer, who used to be a pupil here. Emily now
plays golf off scratch and is placed in the top five
in England for her age group. She has helped me
realise that being determined to go out and do
what you want, to take the risks and rise to the
challenge, and then finally succeeding, is not
just something that only comes true in movies.
We can be just as determined, courageous,
resilient and accomplished as the Massai
warriors of East Africa. We must grasp the
many opportunities and life experiences that
are offered to us here at SV and remain focused
and committed to the dual processes of
personal development and growth.
Although, having said that, Walt Disney puts
this into words brilliantly: “All our dreams can
come true - if we have the courage to pursue
them”.
So claim your rite of passage this year – after
all, the only person holding you back is you!
If things seem hard, then they will be even
more satisfying when you have finally achieved
them. We hear proof of this every Friday in this
very Chapel, when we hear Mr Grindlay’s long
list of all the achievements of individuals and
teams accumulated in just one week, which is
very impressive and clearly never ceases to
impress those who come to the School. Our
achievements, individually or as a whole
community, give us the chance to feel proud,
and pride in yourself and your school is very
important.
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Martinique Exchange
During half-term a group of Fourth and Fifth
Form pupils completed the exchange to
Martinique; the Martinique children having
been here in April.
Living with families enabled the pupils to get
a real experience of the lifestyle and culture of
the island. The pupils combined sight-seeing,
along with a number of more physical activities,
such as a day kayaking in the mangroves,
climbing the volcano of Mount Pelée and
seeing the remains of the village Saint Pierre,
which the volcano destroyed when it erupted
in 1902. They also embraced a once-in-alifetime opportunity to sail a Yole, a traditional
boat that requires the crew to balance on long
poles in an effort to keep the boat upright.
The visit made news headlines in Martinique,
with an article in the newspaper and Daniel
Payne (Fifth Form) giving a radio interview.
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They were very honoured to be invited to part
of the centenary celebration of Aimé Césaire
the poet and attended a local dance show,
where the pupils made the staff very proud by
enthusiastically joining the dancers on the stage.
The memories of Martinique will stay with the
pupils for a long time.
Compiled and edited by Helen Knott, Development Manager
Sutton Views