Phone: 01483 542022 E-mail:aagl@cranleigh.org
Email is by far the best way to contact me and usually guarantees the quickest response.
I was appointed Housemaster of Loveday in September 2010 and was delighted to take charge of the House to which I have been attached throughout my time at Cranleigh. Initially this was as a tutor and for the last four years as Warden of High Upfold, Loveday’s Sixth Form wing. Prior to becoming Housemaster, I had been Head of Geography at Cranleigh for five years and had previously taught Geography for ten years at Malvern College in Worcestershire, where I was also a Deputy Housemaster.
Loveday has a distinctive structure with our own central quad providing a focus for the House community in which we try to create a sense of home and family. Respect and support for each other is at the heart of this community and we aim to create an environment where the boys can be happy and fulfilled; something that is not created by the Housemaster alone but by the Loveday family as a whole: boys, house staff, tutors and parents. A large boarding house of 100 boys has strengths in many areas, but I believe strongly in all the boys being treated as individuals, making the best of their talents and being encouraged to ‘dip their toes’ into the myriad of opportunities Cranleigh has to offer.
Loveday boys, rightly, are hugely proud of their House. Like all teenagers, they sometimes get things wrong and it is vital they take responsibility for their actions and learn from their mistakes; however, I am always amazed by the mutual support they show and their unfailing good humour – laughter is always just around the corner and makes my job very special.
Beyond the classroom I am busy on the sports field coaching the 1st XV rugby side and the 2nd XI cricket side. Whilst living in the Midlands (and when my knees were still in one piece...) I enjoyed several seasons with Worcester Rugby Club and although aching joints mean I no longer play rugby I regularly turn out for various wandering cricket sides.
I enjoy wonderful support from my wife Claire, who teaches English as a Foreign Language, and from our baby, George, who, having arrived in June 2010, is very much a Loveday child.
Housemaster- Mr Andy Logan
Mr Andy Loganbecame Housemaster in September 2010, having previously been Warden of High Upfold (Loveday’s Sixth Form wing). He arrived at Cranleigh in 2005 as Head of Geography, a subject he continues to teach as well as coaching 1st XV rugby, 1st VII rugby sevens and 2nd XI cricket. He lives with his wife, Claire, and their baby son George.
Deputy Housemaster- Mr Steve Batchelor
Mr Steve Batchelor and his family joined Loveday in 2007. He is Director of Admissions, coaches hockey and tennis, and runs the SJB Hockey and Tennis Academy. Steve was part of Great Britain’s hockey gold medal team in the 1988 Olympics.
Warden - Mr Alex Forsdike
Mr Alex Forsdike is the Warden of High Upfold and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the year group in residence (usually the LVIth for the Michaelmas and Lent Terms, followed by the UVIth for the Summer Term). Alex lives on the private side of High Upfold and teaches History and Politics. He is master in charge of fives and Young Enterprise, as well as coaching the U15A cricket and the U14 B rugby teams.
TUTORS
Mr David Hailey joined our Tutor team in 2008. He is Head of Swimming and Water Polo and a recent graduate of Loughborough University. He also runs the David Hailey Swimming School at Cranleigh and is responsible for lessons, galas and outside activities which use the pool facilities we have here.
Mr Rupert Kefford teaches Chemistry as well as being Head of Hockey. Previously the Warden of High Upfold, Rupert has been attached to the House for seven years now and has undertaken a number of key pastoral roles throughout the School in his time here. He is married to Tina and they live in Horsham. A fanatical Bath rugby supporter and long-suffering Spurs supporter, he particularly enjoys the ‘interaction’ he receives when on duty when some of the boys pull his leg about the results from the weekend.
Mr Bob Wilson is Bandmaster and a very popular Tutor in the House owing to the fact that the boys love his curries. He has been attached to the House for ten years now and is at the forefront of the House’s strong tradition of musical accomplishment. His Big Band concerts are first-rate and the energy and dynamism he brings to his tutees and the House is infectious.
Mr Richard Allon-Smith has been a Tutor in the House and High Upfold for ten years now. He teaches History, has a passion for Russian history and is the Careers Master. He married to Bev and has two children.
Mr Rob Clarke has been at Cranleigh for many years and holds the position of Head of Spanish as well as Senior Tutor. His Senior Tutor role involves him being the driving force behind university applications for every UVIth Former and his knowledge of the courses and institutions is encyclopaedic. He is a fantastic asset to have in the House and also manages to find time to coach rugby and football. He is married to Jimena and has two daughters.
Mr Mike Brookes teaches Design as well as coaching rugby, hockey and cricket. Cranleigh is his first teaching role having spent the previous 15 years as creative director of design companies and playing rugby for Nottingham, Doncaster and Birmingham Solihull. He is married to Kat and has three sons. He has played against Jonah Lomu a couple of times and reckons Jonah still talks about it, although there is no evidence to support this.
Mr Ben Page attended Warwick University, studying French and German. Ben enjoys a wide range of sports, most notably football, but frequently plays Squash, Golf and skis whenever the opportunity arises! In addition, he is also a self-taught guitarist. Ben is currently teaching French as well as tutoring a LVth group.
Mme Laurence Ardley arrived at Cranleigh in 2010. She is French, comes from Perpignan and teaches French at all levels. Laurence has been working for many years in British, International and French schools and coaches Badminton and Tennis. She is an examiner for Edexcel French A-Level and is looking forward to organising many exchanges with the students. She is married to David (Design Director and Head of Rhodes Faculty) and has two daughters attending the Prep and Senior schools. Laurence enjoys shoe and clothes shopping (much to her husband’s frustration), supporting USAP rugby and a glass of chilled Rose wine when back home in the sun in southern France.
MATRONS
Mrs Megan Gale joined Loveday eight years ago and before that she was a nurse in the Medical Centre.
Mrs Liz Ruocco on the other hand is a fairly ‘recent’ addition to the team, having been in post since January 2006.
Both Megan and Liz are integral parts of the Loveday pastoral team and their room, affectionately referred to as the ‘brew room’, is a constant source of activity. The extended family atmosphere radiates from here and it a really good place to go if you want company, someone to listen to you, just to talk or to raid the biscuit barrel. There is never a dull moment to be had in this part of the House and it acts as a very useful barometer for how well the House is functioning, and that is down to the time, warmth and personality the Matrons put into their crucial role.
Loveday House can accommodate 100 boys, and our aim is to make the boarders and day boys feel as one. With this in mind, I organise the House with what I term a ‘currant in the cake mix’ with day boys ‘sprinkled’ throughout the corridors. The single biggest difference in Loveday as opposed to all the other Houses is that if you board, after your first year (the IVth Form, during which you are in a room of three or, in one room only,four) you move into a single study for the remaining four years. Day pupils up until the VIth Form will be in rooms of two. In the VIth Form, whether you are a day boy or a boarder, you will have single study accommodation and there is no difference between the standard of rooms allocated to day pupils and boarders.
Loveday has a second site some 50 yards from the Main House known as High Upfold. After the UVth year, boarders and day alike move for two terms into the single study accommodation offered. The centre-piece here is the common room, which is an 18th-century barn. There is a resident Warden on-site as well and he has responsibility for the day-to-day supervision of the boys here. In the Summer Term the LVIth move back from High Upfold to the main House to assume leadership roles within the House whilst the UVIth move out for their final term to concentrate on exams in the relative peace and quiet of High Upfold. It is a system that has worked incredibly well and reinforces the friendship already established within the year group and turns them into a very tight-knit, cohesive group.
Common room spaces are for all, and in Loveday the only separation that occurs (by year group) is in the kitchen areas - or moabs, as the boys still call them - so that the boys can gain access to the toasters and microwave at break times. There is a TV room equipped with SKY+ HD and the VIth Form do have a separate Common Room with a TV should they choose to use it. Laundry, as with all the boys’ Houses, is done centrally and Matron overseas this operation.
Visitors & Prospectus 
Loveday House can accommodate 100 boys, and our aim is to make the boarders and day boys feel as one. With this in mind, I organise the House with what I term a ‘currant in the cake mix’ with day boys ‘sprinkled’ throughout the corridors. The single biggest difference in Loveday as opposed to all the other Houses is that if you board, after your first year (the IVth Form, during which you are in a room of three or, in one room only,four) you move into a single study for the remaining four years. Day pupils up until the VIth Form will be in rooms of two. In the VIth Form, whether you are a day boy or a boarder, you will have single study accommodation and there is no difference between the standard of rooms allocated to day pupils and boarders.