Sutton Valence School (SVS) is a private school near

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

in southeast England. It has 560 pupils. It is a

co-education Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

al day and boarding school. There are three senior boarding houses: Westminster, St Margaret's and Sutton.

History

The school was founded in 1576 as the Free Grammar School of William Lambe in

Sutton Valence Sutton Valence (in the past also called Sudtone, Town Sutton and Sutton Hastings, see below) is a village about five miles (8 km) SE of Maidstone, Kent, England on the A274 road going south to Headcorn and Tenterden. It is on the Greensand ...

, by William Lambe, Master of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers and a member of the

Chapel Royal A chapel royal is an establishment in the British and Canadian royal households serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the royal family. Historically, the chapel royal was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarc ...

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. It remained under the control of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers until 1910 when it was taken under the control of United Westminster Schools, a charitable trust which also incorporates

Emanuel School Emanuel School is a private, co-educational day school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded in 1594 by Anne Sackville, Lady Dacre and Queen Elizabeth I and today occupies a 12-acre (4.9 ha) site close to Clapham Junction ...

and

Westminster City School Westminster City School is a state-funded secondary Academy (English school), academy for boys, with a mixed sixth form, in City of Westminster, Westminster, London. The school educates over 800 students, with links to more than 100 different c ...

in London and more recently combined with Grey Coat Hospital and

Queen Anne's School Queen Anne's School is a private boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18, situated in the suburb of Caversham just north of the River Thames and Reading town centre and occupying a campus. There are around 450 pupils. Nearly half are ...

as The United Westminster and Grey Coat Foundation. In 1983, the school became co-educational and in 1995 it incorporated Underhill Preparatory School. It is now a co-educational day and boarding school catering for pupils from two to eighteen years of age. It has local and overseas pupils. The school has gone through renovation and expansion, building a new maths block, theatre, indoor swimming pool, second astro pitch and an all-weather track and field facility. The sports hall is dedicated to

Sydney Wooderson Sydney Charles Wooderson MBE (30 August 1914 – 21 December 2006), dubbed "The Mighty Atom", was an English athlete whose peak career was in the 1930s and 1940s. He set the world mile record of 4:06.4 at London’s Motspur Park on 28 August ...

, a former pupil and Olympic athlete who held the world record for the mile.

Boarding houses

On 21 July 1911, the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

Randall Davidson Randall Thomas Davidson, 1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth, (7 April 1848 – 25 May 1930) was an Anglican bishop who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1903 to 1928. He was the longest-serving holder of the office since the English Reformation, Re ...

, opened the new buildings, comprising the Main School and the St Margaret's, or Headmaster's Wing. The Westminster Wing was still under construction. The site had previously been leased to the school by the Filmer family as a playing field before the acquisition of the 'Upper' and subsequently used as the village recreation ground. It has been purchased outright by a Master of the Clothworkers’, W. E. Horne, and presented to the new governing body. Upper School houses derive their names from the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

Schools Association. Leslie Bridges, the first housemaster of Westminster lent his name to the nickname of "Ponts". St Margaret's is named after the Westminster

Parish Church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch.

CCF

The CCF and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme (DofE) are for pupils in Year 9 and above. CCF courses are supplemented by termly field days offering overnight camps, exercises and adventure training. DofE members undertake service in the community and expeditions. Pupils in Year 10 and Year 11 can opt out of this provision and study for a creative subject in

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

. The CCF meets on a Wednesday afternoon. Each afternoon is started by a Contingent parade outside the School's Cornwallis Building. The CCF train on Field Days at military bases. Sutton Valence School CCF is affiliated to the

Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (PWRR), also known as the Tigers, is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Queen ...

Coat of arms

School uses coat of arms of the founder William Lambe and the motto of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers. * Coat of arms blazoned: ''Sable, on a fess Or, between three pierced cinquefoil ermine, two mullets sable.'' * Motto: ''My Trust is in God Alone''

Buildings

Image:Svs centre.jpg, Centre block Image:Svs chapel.jpg, School Chapel inside Image:Svs lambes.jpg, The Lambe's building Image:Svs dt.jpg, Design and Technology Centre Image:Svs cornwallis.jpg, Baron Cornwallis building Image:Svs spots centre.jpg,

Sport Centre Image:Svs swimming pool.jpg, Swimming pool Image:Svs maths.jpg, Maths and ICT block

Notable alumni

* Jon Brewer English documentary director and producer who was formerly a manager of rock music acts and artists *

Terence Cuneo Terence Tenison Cuneo RGI FGRA (1 November 1907 – 3 January 1996) was a prolific English painter noted for his scenes of railways, horses and military actions. He was also the official artist for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 195 ...

CVO,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, RGI, FGRA painter * Sir Charles Groves,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

conductor * Paul Anderson,

, GB Olympic sailor * Gordon Apps, DFC, World War I

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

Ajahn Amaro Ajahn Amaro (born 2 September 1956) is a Theravada, Theravāda Buddhism, Buddhist bhikkhu, monk and teacher, and abbot of the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery at the eastern end of the Chiltern Hills in South East England. The centre, in practice ...

(Jeremy Horner), Abbot, Amaravati buddhist monastery * Cecil W Bacon, illustrator * Ali Bongo, magician * Ashley Jackson, GB Olympic hockey player Member of Bronze medal-winning England men's hockey team, Commonwealth Games 2014 * Ben Brown, BBC journalist * Joseph Friedman, inventor of the flexible drinking straw Joseph Friedman Retrieved 9 August 2013. * John Howard Churchill,

Dean of Carlisle The Dean of Carlisle is based in Carlisle, United Kingdom, and is the head of the Chapter of Carlisle Cathedral in the Church of England's Diocese of Carlisle. There have been 41 previous incumbents. The current dean is Jonathan Brewster; he took ...

(1973–1987) * Mark Benson, England and Kent County cricket captain and ICC Elite umpire * Sir Reginald Champion, Governor of

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

* John Ellis, a flying ace of the Second World War *

Peter Fairley Peter Fairley (2 November 1930 – 5 August 1998) was a British science journalist who was the Science Editor for Independent Television News and '' TV Times'' magazine the late sixties and early seventies. His name became synonymous with ITN ...

, TV science journalist *

Peter Polycarpou Peter Polycarpou (born 31 March 1957) is an English-Cypriot actor, playwright and singer, known for playing the roles of Chris Theodopolopodous in the television comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' from 1990 to 1994 and Louis Charalambos in t ...

, actor and musician * Robbie Joseph, Kent cricket player *

Robert Fisk Robert William Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was an English writer and journalist. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. As an international correspo ...

, journalist *

, Olympic athlete and world record holder * Susannah Townsend, GB hockey player, member of Gold medal-winning GB women's hockey team, Rio Olympic Games 2016 * Reginald Fulljames, aviator, cricketer,

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

recipient * Jack Gannon, cricketer and British Army officer *

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s befor ...

, cricketer *

James Friend James Friend is a British cinematographer, best known for his work on Edward Berger's ''All Quiet on the Western Front (2022 film), All Quiet on the Western Front'', which earned him the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, in addition to the BA ...

, cinematographer

References

External links

BBC Education league table

Inspection Report on Sutton Valence School
{{Authority control Private schools in Kent Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Borough of Maidstone Charles Holden buildings 1576 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 1570s