15th September 2016
Dear Parents,
As the second week of the new term ends, I thought that I would write to you all to mark the start of a
new academic year. I hope that you have managed some time away on a well-deserved holiday and that
the weather was kind to you, wherever you were.
Our first Friday assembly of the academic year saw Max Rossiter, our new Head of School, take to the
podium to give his inaugural speech, which took as its theme the Buddhist philosophy of the middle way
and avoiding extremes. He focused on striving for balance in one’s life and keeping things in perspective.
He explained that, having been through two results days himself, he was very aware of how easy it is to
lose perspective and narrow one’s attention purely on to the grades achieved on a UCAS form.
Describing how sport gave him his drive and focus, Max encouraged all to keep pursuing the enrichment
activities they enjoy, try new things and to recognise that it is often from these parts of School life that we
learn key skills for future success. It was a powerful message and certainly demonstrated what a deep
thinker Max has become: an old head (with some new hair re-emerging having shaved his head for
charity over the summer!) on young shoulders.
As a new academic year begins, I am sure that you would like to join me in wishing last year’s Upper
Sixth Formers the best of luck for their futures as they move on from SV to the next chapter of their lives.
I hope that they go on to fulfil all of their potential and return as Old Suttonians in the near future to tell
us how they are faring. I was very proud of this year’s Upper Sixth cohort and really did feel they had
become educated, charming and confident young adults with so much to offer. I would also like to take
this opportunity to welcome all of the new pupils and their parents into our community and I look forward
to getting to know you better as the year unfolds.
I was definitely the prologue to Max’s wonderful speech, but it did give me chance to share SV’s
excellent public exam results with all the pupils. At A level we maintained last year’s high achievements
but actually improved our A*% to 13 and our A*-A% to 42.5, as compared to the National average of
25.8%. Our most important measure, our value added position (using the Durham CEM data) is still to be
calculated, but I sincerely hope that we have, again, managed to secure a place in the top 10% of all
schools nationally for the improvements we bring to our pupils’ grades. Most students seem to have
made their first-choice university offer and the number taking up Russell Group places is impressive,
including places at Cambridge, Durham, UCL, Exeter, Bristol, Birmingham, Bath, York and the-everpopular Loughborough. My congratulations go to all of the pupils and the staff for working so hard to
achieve this.
A week later, I was further delighted with our GCSE attainment which saw our results holding firm at
nearly 70% of the examinations being awarded A*-B grades. The talent and sheer hard work of this very
large cohort became quite apparent as the results were analysed, with 30% of them achieved five or more
A* and A grades.
During assembly, I also introduced to the pupils two of the themes I would like them to focus on this
year: the quality of their independent work and recognising that hard graft really does bring about success
over time; what has come to be known as having a growth mindset. As you would expect, the quality of
prep (homework) a pupil submits has a direct link to improved grades. However, occasionally it is not
submitted on time or to the standard required. Therefore, we have introduced a Prep Detention which will
be issued if a prep is late or needs to be redone. If a pupil fails to hand in a prep they will be given until
8.30am the following morning to submit it to the teacher. If this second deadline is missed, the pupil will
be given a Prep Detention to be done on either a Tuesday or a Thursday lunchtime from 1pm to 1.30pm,
still allowing time for lunch. If a pupil receives more than three Prep Detentions in a term, they will then
be given a Friday Detention. I hope that this does not sound too Draconian but it is absolutely vital that
pupils learn the importance of completing prep properly and on time. Pupils who rely purely on the
classroom environment for their learning invariably underperform in examinations. Independent learning
internalises what has been covered in class and allows pupils to work problems through for themselves,
thereby preparing them better for their examinations.
Teaching staff spent time during INSET before the start of term focusing on how the concepts of growth
mindset and resilience can be developed throughout the School and pupil body. Both concepts are highly
appropriate for Sutton Valence pupils and echo our educational approach that promotes effort and hard
work in order to achieve success in and out of the classroom. Through the workshops and sessions that
will roll out this year, we hope that pupils will embrace a growth mindset, believing that ability and talent
can increase through effort and hard work. Central to this is the ability to embrace failure and persevere
when challenged, rather than being afraid of setbacks or avoiding taking risks. If pupils engage with the
process of ‘metacognition’, that involves understanding how you learn, reflecting on progress and
learning from mistakes, then we hope that they will also further develop their potential through their own
efforts. When in the classroom or at home completing prep, pupils should think ‘I’ll use a different
approach’ rather than ‘I’ll give up’ or ‘this may take some time’ instead of ‘this is too hard’ or ‘is this
really my best work?’ instead of ‘it’s good enough’. Inspiration can be drawn from all areas of public life
across sport, music, performing arts and commerce where individuals have adopted a growth mindset and
shown that with effort, perseverance and resilience they have achieved far beyond their potential. This is
something that we have long encouraged at Sutton Valence and we hope that by educating the pupils in
how they can think this will enable them to take responsibility for the outcomes that they want to achieve
or hurdles that need to be overcome.
Over the summer a vast amount of work took place on the site and I hope that the pupils are pleased with
these improvements, but there is still an awful lot of ongoing disruption for which I beg your
understanding and patience whilst we complete our exciting new Reception and access project (due for
completion in April 2017). At the behest of the Parents’ Consultation Group, all bag parks around the
Quad have been removed to try and improve the security of personal possessions and please do encourage
your children to use the storage areas provided in every House. We have also added a further 104 sports
lockers to the east wall of the Sports Hall and day pupils from the Third Form up should bring in a lock
and use one of these large lockers for their valuable sports equipment.
As I mentioned at Speech Day last term, we have had to say farewell to some academic staff which means
that we have several talented new staff to welcome and get to know this term. Mr Ben Fewson joins us
from Haberdashers’ Aske’s Crayford Academy as Director of Drama. Mr Fewson studied at the
prestigious Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts and has bravely taken on Hamlet as the senior
production this term. Mr Martin Thompson is our new Head of Art from Greenacre Academy where he
held a similar position. He is joined in the Art department by Mrs Ngaere Sutton who was previously
teaching at Cranleigh School in Surrey. Mr Matthew Jones returns to the UK from Braeburn School,
Nairobi to teach in the Geography department. Also returning to this country are Miss Heather Blackhall
and Mr Brian O’Donovan, both teachers of Modern Foreign Languages. Miss Blackhall has been at the
Raha International School in Abu Dhabi and Mr O’Donovan was Head of Languages at the Institute
Chapultepec in Mexico. The MFL department also welcomes back OS and Oxford graduate, Mr Luke
Ellmers, to undertake his PGCE with us. Mr David Frost takes over from Mrs Kane as Head of Learning
Support. Mr Frost joins us from North School in Ashford where he has worn many hats over the years:
Inclusion Manager, Head of Science, Assistant Head. Finally, we welcome back Mrs Williams into the
English and Drama Departments, but this time as a permanent member of staff.
We have one maternity cover this year as Miss McConnachie has given birth to her son, Samuel, so Mrs
Mathews is
kindly covering for her PE lessons for the next couple of terms. Mr Max Braddick joins us a Graduate
Gap Student and he will oversee the Sports Hall and the boarders’ evening provision therein. Last but not
least, we welcome Miss Evie Taylor for her year’s placement from Aston University where she is reading
Child Psychology. Miss Taylor will be involved with the Psychology department, individual pupil
support and in the provision of our PSHE curriculum.
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to a few events this term. Our annual SVS Golf Day this year
is being held at Chart Hills Golf Club and is on Friday 30th September. Parents are very welcome to play
either by booking a fourball for themselves and their guests or by entering as a single player and being
paired up by us (email: [email protected]). The Music School has its major concert on Tuesday 29th
November which will be held in the Chapel and Groves Hall and will include some excellent items
showcasing our varied and talented ensembles. To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the
senior drama production this term is that most famous of plays, Hamlet. Featuring some hugely talented
senior pupils, this will be a must see and a chance to witness Mr Fewson’s SV directing debut.
Performances run from Wednesday to Friday, 7th – 9th December and begin at 7pm. On Saturday 10th
December the Friends’ Association is holding a Dinner Dance at Leeds Castle. This should be a
wonderful occasion and I would encourage as many of you as possible to get a table of eight together for
this social evening. To help with communication generally and for the Friends’ specifically, please can I
ask you to make sure you fill out and return the Data Protection form you will have received which allows
us to share your contact details with other parents? Finally, following the success of last year’s multiple
carol services, we will be holding two evening School Carol Services on Sunday 11th and Tuesday 13th
December both of which will be ticket-only events.
I wish you all a happy and productive Michaelmas Term and I look forward to seeing you at various
events and fixtures over the next few months.
Yours sincerely,
BCW Grindlay