Congratulations to Our New Heads of House
Congratulations to Alfie P and Toni T, who have been appointed our new Heads of House for the Michaelmas Term. Both Spoke during the Head’s Assembly, delivering speeches to pupils and staff as they begin their new roles.
We wish Alfie and Toni every success as Heads of House and look forward to seeing them take on their new responsibilities. You can read their speeches below.
Toni’s Speech
Good afternoon school,
I hope you have all had a restful summer, and you are ready for the year ahead. I would like to start by congratulating my fellow head of school, Alfie. Having been at Sutton Valence with him for the last eight years, I can’t think of anyone more suited to the role. I must also congratulate Monty and Sydney, for their success last term and for setting the bar so high. Finally, I would also like to thank the senior management team for giving me this wonderful opportunity and I look forward to giving back to the school which has given me so much.
Since starting here in year five I have heard many heads of school speeches, and never did it once occur to me that in a few years’ time it would be my turn. As many have said before me the hardest job is first – the speech. Over the summer I spent a lot of time reflecting on my experiences here, what they had taught me, and how can I pass those lessons onto the rest of the school.
My main question was: “How can I reflect on the last six years here at SV and what I learnt from it.”
However, this was a much harder question to answer than I had originally thought.
Of course, I thought the answer would just magically appear. I imagined that classic lightbulb moment: the light would switch on above my head, ideas would flow and the speech would write itself. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Instead, I was staring at a blank word document wondering where I was supposed to start.
I remember being so frustrated because I felt the pressure to write the “perfect speech.” Unique, inspiring, and somehow perfectly put together. Like many other school tasks, the idea that blasting out this speech in a couple of hours and calling it a day didn’t happen.
However, this led to a realisation about myself, I expected a completed, perfect product in a relatively short period of time without really creating the conditions for progress.
Anyone who knows me would agree that I have a tendency to stress myself out.
Most commonly in the form of impossible goals that I set myself. From racking up the super-curricular to achieving my Academic goals, my impatience often led me to be disheartened at my seeming “shortcomings.” In reality I was telling myself I can revise an entire subject in two weeks and somehow, I was surprised when I couldn’t.
Personally, I think I’ve always struggled with the concept of patience and allowing myself to make progress before making assumptions about my ability.
One of my clearest examples would be my music practice. Having been a musician from such a young age I have been fortunate enough to have some parts of music come easily to me, and so when I struggled, I would often become frustrated. I realised that in learning a new piece, even after listening over a hundred times, the second my bow hits the string, I would be lucky enough to play just three bars.
Honestly, being able to play beautifully after listening to a piece once would be ideal, but unfortunately, I haven’t mastered that skill yet. Nonetheless, to my surprise, just a week later I could comfortably play to the end.
The potential was always there; I simply needed the patience to let the progress happen.
This is the case for all of us. We often underestimate what we are capable of because we expect ourselves to achieve it too quickly.
Perhaps we need the patience to allow ourselves to become the people we are capable of becoming. It’s principles like these that not only help us in our school careers but through life as well.
There will be times when our efforts don’t match the outcomes. Time spent training, studying, or learning can sometimes feel as though it has all been for nothing. When this happens, it’s easy to question wether we are able to do it in the first place. But one outcome doesn’t define our capability, instead it shows us where more work has to be done.
Progress isn’t something that we can measure immediately, it’s accumulated over time. We have to have the patience to allow ourselves to grow from our mistakes instead of expecting perfection all the time.
However, we need to recognise that being patient doesn’t mean just waiting for that progress to somehow happen. That alone isn’t enough. We also need to be resilient – To be willing to get things wrong, ask for help and keep trying when the result isn’t what we hoped for.
Whether it be a bad exam, missing that one try, or crying over one of Mr Valdiny’s preps…… It can sometimes be so easy to catastrophise things and focus on what went wrong, but perhaps these moments are not setbacks at all. Perhaps they are simply part of the process.
The Important thing is what we do next. We dust ourselves off and ask, “How can I do better next time.” Recognising that we can improve is often the first step towards actually doing so. Maybe we made mistakes, approached something in the wrong way, or just found things that we need to work on. The important thing is that we don’t allow a disappointing result to let us fall back into the same habits but use it to make changes for the next time.
It’s easy to think that the lessons we learn happen inside the classroom, but I think many of the most important ones happen everywhere else: in rehearsals that didn’t go to plan, conversations with teachers after lessons and opportunities that we almost convince ourselves not to take.
Sutton Valence has given me the space to make those mistakes, ask for help and most importantly, try again. Whether it was asking Miss Mitchell-Nanson for a revision timetable, reciting lines at break, or simply having conversations with my friends between lessons. I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by people who understand what I need to push myself and encourage me to keep moving towards my goals.
Looking back, I realise that one of the greatest things this school has given me was simply the confidence to take any opportunity, even when I thought I wasn’t ready, and the space where I can get things wrong without believing that one mistake defines what I’m capable of.
And I think this is something we can all take with us.
Everyone is moving at their own pace, working towards their own dreams and aspirations. It’s easy to look at the people around us and feel as though we should be further ahead, but we don’t know how long it took them to get where they are.
In writing this speech I expected to have everything figured out in a couple of hours. Instead, I had to step back, reflect, and give myself time to work out what I actually wanted to say.
And I think that is what we often forget about progress. It is rarely one defining moment where everything falls into place. Instead, it is built through the small experiences along the way. The mistakes we learn from, the conversations that change our perspectives and the opportunities we find the confidence to take.
We shouldn’t expect ourselves to become the person we’re capable of being overnight. Progress can be frustratingly slow and sometimes difficult to spot. But if we give ourselves the time to learn, keep going when things don’t go to plan, and allow those experiences to build on each other, we can eventually see just how far we have come.
As tradition, I would like to end with a quote by Vincent Van Gogh
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”
Thank you for listening.
Alfie’s Speech
Good afternoon, School,
I hope you have all had an enjoyable summer and are looking forward to the exciting year we have ahead of us, regardless of the exams you might be facing.
Firstly, I would like to kindly thank Mr Sansom, Mr Thomas and the Senior Management team for giving me both the opportunity and the responsibility of being Head of School. It is an absolute privilege which I am most grateful for and I am excited to give my all back to the school community.
I would also like to congratulate Toni on this appointment as well, I know she will be exceptional in this role and is very deserving of it.
Like many students who have taken on this role before me, I spent a large part of the long summer break wondering what I should talk about today. I found myself consistently looking back on my 13 years at Sutton Valence and thinking about the experiences that stick out the most in that long span of time.
Not necessarily the times where everything went well, but the ones that shaped me, taught me, the occasions when things got difficult, when confidence was low, or just simply backing out was the easiest option.
Reflecting on these instances led me to a theme that has remained constant from reception all the way to Upper 6th, determination. An unwavering commitment to a goal or purpose with the mindset of pushing yourself to new levels. The thing that separates those who simply dream and those who do.
Not necessarily just the determination to achieve success but continuing when that same success seems a considerable distance away.
I think we all often admire people when they achieve something impressive. We see someone on a stage singing, a great try on a sports field, or someone receiving an award and we immediately assume they always knew what they were doing.
The reality, the behind the scenes, is usually quite different.
Anyone who knows me well, will know that performing in plays on the stage was never particularly always easy to get into for me.
In fact, for a long time standing on the stage felt like one of the most intimidating and nerve-wracking things I could possibly do in my time at SVS.
There were always plenty of reasons not to do it or back out at the first step. What if I embarrassed myself? What if everyone noticed how nervous I was?
Looking back, one of the biggest concerns was not actually the performance itself. During the rehearsals for Annie there were multiple times when I would leave early, occasionally find excuses to not attend at all. On the surface, it is very easy to say this was because I would rather have been doing football, but looking further, it was mainly due to worrying. I became fixated on my concerns rather than focusing on the opportunity that was right Infront of me.
But through a mixture of encouragement, support and what I can only describe as an endless supply of witty words and jokes from Mr Fewson and others, it helped me realise something deeply important about these kinds of situations. Confidence does not just simply occur one day when you wake up. It comes from doing things that make you uncomfortable and discovering you are capable of more than you could have ever thought.
Looking back now, I am incredibly glad that I stuck with it, because not only did it give me some great memories, but it also taught me so many things I would have never usually learnt in other situations.
Sometimes the biggest obstacles we face are not solely from another person or just a difficult situation, but the ones that lie in our own mindset.
We too often tell ourselves we are not good enough.
We convince ourselves to give up quickly, simply not to try.
We decide that we will most likely fail before we have even started.
Yet some of the greatest achievements, whether in school or in life, begin with somebody continuing despite those doubts.
I have seen the same lesson through rugby.
Over the years, regardless of the team, there have been matches where things have gone brilliantly and others where; to put it politely, the score has not always been our best friend.
But throughout all of those experiences, the coaches at SVS consistently taught something far more important than winning.
They taught us that determination is not solely measured when things are going well. It is instead measured when they are not.
Anybody can keep their head up when they are twenty points ahead. The real test comes when you are tired, frustrated, maybe even losing and are still willing to put in another tackle, support and round up your teammates and keep pushing forward.
The lessons from rugby extend far beyond simply sport. It teaches that life rarely goes exactly according to plan, the move you’ve trained for weeks won’t always work.
This is the same with all aspects of life.
Exams do not always produce the grades we hoped for. Trials do not always result in selections. Applications do not always succeed and friendships can sometimes be difficult.
One thing I have learnt during my time at Sutton Valence, regardless of what stage or year I was in, is the importance of the people around in those moments.
None of us are able to develop determination entirely on our own.
Teachers constantly encourage us to aim higher than we could ever think possible. Friends support us when things become difficult. Coaches push us to keep going when we would rather stop and give up.
I know that throughout my own journey, the teachers at SVS have consistently challenged me to work harder, stay focused and develop better habits whilst working. They have encouraged me to take my studies and revision seriously whilst still enjoying school life and making the most of the opportunities around me.
At the time, being told to revise more sounds like the least exciting advice in the world.
But looking back, it is often exactly what we needed to hear.
And perhaps that is one of the greatest strengths of this school. The people here, all of them, genuinely want you to succeed, to push beyond the limits that you may have set in your own mind. So now, looking back at my time within Sutton Valence, one of the biggest changes has not been directly to my academic ability but the belief in what I am capable of achieving.
Come this new academic year, there will be challenges for every one of us, it does not matter what these may be, instead I encourage you to not let those setbacks and blockages define you, do not be discouraged by failure. Do not allow difficulties to convince you to stop trying.
Do not underestimate what can happen if you simply keep going.
Those we most admire rarely have never once struggled. They are usually the people who struggled and refused to give up. So, as I begin my final stage of my near 14 years combined at both the prep and senior Sutton Valence schools, this is the lesson I shall take with me the most. Determination is not about never falling down, but instead about always getting back up.
And as tradition demands, I shall finish with a quote.
“To be successful at anything, the truth is you don’t have to be special, you just have to be consistent, determined and willing to work for it”
Tom Brady.
Thank you for listening.
