StaffLeavers

Ian Gray was with us in the physics department for Julian Bell enjoyed a good rapport with pupils and 3 years. When I first met him I was enormously colleagues alike and he shall be missed. His passion impressed by his energy and enthusiasm for the for literature and writing had a contagious effect on subject. Since then he continued to impress me with the many pupils he managed to inspire duringhistime his teaching abilities and knowledge ofphysics - his here. We glimpsed his own flair in thejoint poetry PhD gave him an extra range of experiences to share and art exhibition he held with Mike Wildridge and in the classroom. it was his introduction of creative writing as part of As an SVS teacher he was excellent. He was patient the A level syllabus which will remain his haltmarkon with the lesser able and was able to extend the Sutton Valence. brighter pupils. He was totally fair, had no discipline His interest in the performing arts committee exproblems and was very well liked by the pupils. Ian tended to producing school plays, including The helped me run the school team in the the "Education Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's in Engineering Scheme". He was a great supporter Dream. He was always keen to involve a broad of this and he supervised the team in 1994/5 at the spectrum of pupils, not only the most gifted but end of which the team was invited to represent Kent anyone who showed enthusiasm warranted his time in a presentation at Imperial College. The team owed and energy. He has moved on to St. Dunstan's an enormous amount to his enthusiasm and guid- College in London. He will be missed not only for ance. his academic expertise but for also for his sense of He started an astronomy group as an activity and fun. took them through to GCSE with very successful PSR results. I shall miss him enormously from the department - he will be a hard act to follow, but Westminster House will miss him just as much. As living-in House Tutor Ian goes on to j oin the physics department of Epsom he was always available to give help and advice College where I am sure he will introduce an engiwhether with personal problems or physics prep. He neering team and astronomy and give the Epsom gave a huge amount of his personal time to the pupils the benefit of his time, care and wisdom. Westminster boys who greatly respected him for it. Tam very grateful for the support which Ian gave me He also helped in the CCF: he rescued an ailing in the Physics department and for all that he did for signals section and go it backup to working strength. the School and wish him well in his future career He also came out to help on Field days and Adven- which I am sure will be bright. turous Training even though he did not want a Geoff Piper commission. Head of Science

Caroline arrived at Sutton Valence in 1987 as a teacher of Mathematics. She was always a fine teacherofhersubject, neverdispairing ofhercharges!

Over the 10 years that she stayed, she became much more than that. Her commitment was remarkable, notably on the pastoral side - tutor to Valence then Housemistress of Cornwallis when it became the junior day girls House. This House'was always frighteningly well organised, with charily collections, events for parents and a tidy brew-room! In her final year as Housemistress of Valence, by then vast, housing all the senior day girls which she organised with her customary ease.

As anofficerinthe CCF she was initially in the RAF section and imnvolved in the Adventure Traning. She then took charge of the First Years, for whom she arranged a first class programme - with one memorable exception of an map reading excercise which she arranged, at short notice, which had it been left would have resulted in the three sections oscillating between two points forthe entire field day...

She will be missed and we wish her well in New York, where Peter's work has taken them, though if we are to listen to the Headmaster she may return.

C .1IC .11 it •ith 1-&/i inr LI,u

iii fhr Ltui t, ,,, Cele hrulion

Ray Sabine joined Sutton Valence in 1981 as Head of Science and tutor to Lambe's. He was always deeply committed to Rugby, as the photograph from the 1983 Suttonian demonstrates. After a stretch as tutor in Cornwallis he then took on the role of Housemaster of the newly formed Sutton and soon after that Deputy Headmaster - whilst still running the 1st XV. A scan ofthe Suttonians ofthis period finds him next to the construction ofthe New Science Block as well as moving into the new girls boarding House and his longterm commimentto the CCF and Adeventure Training. In terms of Rugby, the school's most successful season on record was organised by ISH and RMS who in the 1991 season managed a truly remarkable record: Played 13 Won 11 Drawn 1 Lost 1 Points for: 215 against: 62. More of Ray's rugby below.

As well as being an excellent and dedicated teacher ofhis beloved Chemistry, Ray was a strong character throughout the school. Never one to give in easily in an argument or over a matter of standards or discipline, he was none the less widely liked by the pupils, many of whom would annually elect to have "Savage" as their personal tutor in the Sixth

RMS "Select XV"

daunting task. How do you compare a superb In the end, I have gone for balance, but with an Form. As an instructor to new members of staff he was caring and thoughtful. His other passion was for Pink Floyd, which resulted in no less than four groups of people planning (successfully) to flood final assembly with "Comfortably Numb". Throughout this magazine you will find furtherreferences to Ray's contribution and commitment to the school. What is clear is that he chose to return to his greatest love - that of teaching and is now Head of Chemistry in St Andrews, and from all accounts

Selecting your "best" XV from 9 seasons is a you are not a full back but........ scrummaging prop forward from the mid 80's with 15. Russell Blanchard the type of fast mobile front row player with good 14. Mark Belham ball handling skills demanded by the modern game? 13. Ali Hudd Would the centre partnership of 84 make it into the 12. Charlie Masters 1st XV in'94? Do I pick dedicated and committed 11. Miles Mcleod team players or rather more exuberant individual 10. Will Waters talents? 9. John Smith loving every moment of it! could be accommodated. Sorry Russell - I know emphasis on commitment and the ability to use skills 1. MelvinNwajei within a team situation. Inevitably, a large number of 2. Steve Slattery those selected come from the record breaking 1st 3. Mahmoud Aboul-Hosn XV of 1991, a wonderful side, who above all else, 4. Jonh Haynes worked for and supported each other throughout 5. Jon Childs/ Nick Hodgson every match. 6. Stewart Young (Capt.) A few positional changes have been made to ensure 7. Ian Grainger/ Simon Palmer that as many ofmy "first choice" players as possible 8. Ladipo Johnson

50

Once upon a time he played county rugby as hooker, and he has also played centre in good class club rugby. RMS was a very skilful rugby player. He was a hard man, too. You have to be to survive in those positions. All big forwards love to run hard at, and take on, the centres, The hooker, right at the centre of the scrum, is another easy target. You could almost believe it of RMS that he volunteered to play in those positions just because he relished the challenges they posed. Of course, you learn a lot when, day in and day out, you have to cope with members ofthe oppositiontryingtominceyou up into little bits. RMS brought all this acquired skill and knowledge to Sutton Valence School a long time ago and began to put it to good use straight away. I suppose I have been his partner for many of those years, ifnot in the glory ones when he ran the 1 stXV, but when the U 15 XV or the U 16XV needed to be brought on. I feel qualified enough to give an account of his contribution.

RMS seemed tome to follow the best route to create sporting excellence inhis charges. His majoraim was to ensure a thorough knowledge ofbasic rugby skills and to make certain that all players worked for each other rather than seek personal glory. This may well be the best route, but is certainly the most difficult. It is very easy to concentrate on some tactics at the expense of others. It is simple to keep an easily distracted side on the right path by practising complicated penalty moves. Everybody wants to develop, but few ofus appreciate when the foundations are secure enough to allow that development full rein. Not so RMS.

I envied his ability to let his players play the game in their own way, once the game had begun that is. Very few ofus who have shared a spectator role with Ray will remember times when he has shouted instructions or advice to the teams. I was the one who gave the talk at half-time. I was the cheer leader, the enthusiast. In our coaching team he left all that airy fairy nonsense to me - I was good at it and Ray wanted to get the best out ofhis (coaching) team.. .He has whispered strong opinion of referees and refereeing decisions from time to time. From time to time it was loud enough to let a referee know that some of the spectators knew something about the game and that they appreciated his contribution towards its success.

RMS was offered, over the years, a wide variety of levels ofability, yet he never had a really bad year. Even if the lads lost 50 % of the matches, and that was rare, it was quite clear that their development was enormous and they were going to give an even bettercontribution higherup the school. Consciously or not, he had understood that giving boys selfconfidence, and passing on to them a determination to develop skills was to generate a continuous flow of potentially excellent players for senior teams. RDC in particularwas very grateful forthis I know, as is SKS today. We shall miss you, Ray.

The staffcricket team were playing Underhill, a long time ago when Mike Donald was their star (and he ought to have been - he was/still is a class player, bowling very quickly or scoring lots ofruns). In those days I rather fancied myself as a bit of a cricketer. came in to bat with RM S already at the crease at a time when it was getting quite dark, on a pitch which was not anywhere nearly as good as it is now. The first ball from Donald was being returned back to the bowler before I realised it had been delivered. Failure for Pickard absolutely assured. A short conference took place in the middle ofthe wicket at which it was decided (and I will not tell you whether it was an offer or a request) that RM S would take as many balls from Donald as possible and a protected Pickard would have the opportunity to cover himself in glory. RMS did see off the demon bowler and got a lot of runs himself. DP did also manage to get a goodish score. And now, at last, the point of the story. Not once since that time has RMS ever mentioned the incident tome, or to others as far as I know. He could easily have reminded me of it as a gentle hint to stop bullshitting about myself. He could easily have referred to it, modestly, as a way of gaining credit with later arrivals to the school who did not fully appreciate his cricketing abilities. RMS is far too fine a man for that. I shall miss you, Ray.