With history and traditions stretching back to the Sixteenth Century, Sutton Valence is an independent school providing an excellent all-round education.
With history and traditions stretching back to the Sixteenth Century, Sutton Valence is an independent school providing an excellent all-round education. Today, pupils educated with us have access to outstanding facilities, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. We create a vibrant and safe environment where all have the chance to grow into confident and responsible members of the community. One of our greatest strengths is the relationships we foster between staff, pupils and parents. We set the highest expectations and standards in all that we do, rewarding effort as well as achievement.
Sutton Valence School has a broad ability intake; however, our academic strength lies in enabling our pupils to achieve beyond their benchmarked potential, whatever their ability. On average, our pupils will gain results at GCSE that out-perform their predicted grade on entry to the School by 0.7 of a grade. The combination of outstanding teaching and consistent effort by our pupils brings enviable results. This year our top set students (many of whom did not pass the 11+) achieved 81% A* and A grades at GCSE and 95% A* to B grades at A Level, higher than most of the selective schools in Kent. In addition, the value we add at A Level for all our pupils puts us in the top 21% of schools, for those subjects that we offer.
We believe that education does not finish at the classroom door, a philosophy of education that allows pupils to fulfil their potential both in and out of the classroom, learning through diverse and various activities that engage and encourage them to develop new skills.
Bruce Grindlay, Headmaster, is a great believer in a bespoke education – one that tailors its teaching and available opportunities to engage and enthuse all students, helping them to achieve more than they could have believed, and pushing them to realise their potential.
Through the years, generations of families have sent their children to Sutton Valence Preparatory School, recognising that although we have grown in size, embraced new technologies and teaching methods, we have not lost sight of where we began as a small prep school which espoused traditional values, good manners and a strong foundation in reading, writing and arithmetic.
Taking children from ages 3 – 11, we lay down strong academic groundwork, with specialist teaching and small class sizes, which enable us to achieve the best possible outcome for every pupil. Twelve individual scholarships were awarded this year to the group of 30 pupils who progressed through to the Senior School, with Year 6 pupils celebrating their best ever results in the Kent 11+ test. 46% of the year group passed (the Kent average is 25%).
Our first-rate facilities have grown to provide a wide range of opportunities for our pupils to develop their strengths both inside the classroom and beyond, supported by our professional staff, who encourage them to develop as confident and active children.
Most importantly, there is a warm, vibrant sense of community in the school, with happy, busy and articulate children who are ready to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world.
Our doors are always open to welcome visitors for tours and meetings with the Headmaster or the Head of the Prep School. For more information and to make arrangements, please contact: Mrs Sandra Barnett (Prep School) on 01622 842117, barnetts@svs.org.uk, or Mrs Kathy Webster (Senior School) on 01622 845206, websterk@svs.org.uk.
