Housemistress - Mrs Ruth Frett

Mrs Ruth Frett -  Has been housemistress of South since 2010, having previously been Chaplain and Head of RS at Cranleigh Prep for 2 years. Her husband Dan works in the City and they have four children:  Josh (20) at Nottingham University,  Luke (19) at UEA, with Noah (14) and Abby (13) both currently at the Senior School. Frodo Baggins, their Airedale Terrier who feels that South is really his house! Ruth has maintained her links with the Prep School by continuing her role as Chaplain, whilst she also teaches in the RS and Drama department in the Senior School. When her duties of the House allow, she also helps coach hockey and netball. In her previous life she was a professional singer and during the holidays if the occasion arises, she has been known to give a concert for a charitable cause! Ruth is a Londoner, but has embraced the fresh country air of Cranleigh and enjoys the challenge of navigating her way through the Surrey countryside.

Deputy Housemistress - Miss Sarah Greenwood

Miss Sarah Greenwood has been at Cranleigh for 13 years, having previously taught at Taunton School, Somerset. She has been Deputy for 12 years and lives very close by on the campus overlooking the cricket nets. This is very appropriate since one of her great interests is girls’ cricket, which is growing in strength at the School. She is involved in a good deal of other sports coaching for the girls and teaches maths and is Head of Academic PE. In her spare time she enjoys playing golf.

Resident Tutor - Miss Laura Sturdee - joined Cranleigh in September 2011 from The Perse School in Cambridge, and has also taught in the state sector in Essex. She studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, and is teaching Chemistry and Classical Civilisation at Cranleigh. She is involved in a wide variety of activities at the school, including being Chaplain’s Assistant, coaching badminton and training students for the Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh Awards. She has started a Friday night social for South House this year called ‘TGI Fridays’, with theme nights including a wine and cheese evening for the Sixth Form, quiz nights and pedicure evenings. Laura enjoys spending her time singing, spinning, doing tapestry work, painting and travelling.

TUTORS

Mrs Emma Ellin joined Cranleigh in 2006 to teach Maths which she loves! She also enjoys spending a large amount of time on the sports field, coaching hockey and swimming. Her other passions include going to the school Christian meeting (the Exchange), playing the piano and composing, and spending time with her husband James who she married this summer.

Dr Clare Jackson joined us in 2007. She has had experience in various other schools, latterly teaching part-time at Aldenham School while helping her husband to run a boys’ boarding House there. She is Head of Biology and her husband Rod is Head of Classics at Cranleigh; they have two small daughters and a considerably larger dog.

Miss Kate Morland came to Cranleigh in September 2009, having graduated from Cambridge with a degree in Classics. She teaches Latin and Classical Civilisation, as well as lacrosse.  She loves all sports, especially tennis, lacrosse and skiing, and has played for the junior England lacrosse team.  Kate also enjoys singing, and playing the piano and oboe.

Miss Carolyn Nicholls came to Cranleigh as a Maths teacher in 1985, after a brief accountancy career in the City.  She has been a tutor in South since its beginning in 1991, prior to that she had acted as Head of Sixth Form girls before the School's move to full co-education. She has held several  key management roles at the school in sport, in particular as Head of Girls' Games for 15 years, and some years as Director of Sport.  Currently she is Head of Hockey Administration and Head of Squash.  She won Blues at Oxford University in tennis, squash and lacrosse, with sport playing a key role in her life.  Nowadays knee problems  have confined her own sporting activity to real tennis and golf, but she retains a keen interest in supporting the pupils at the school in their various sporting pursuits, particularly the girls.  Her daughter, Chloe, is in the LVth in West House.

Mrs Ngaere Sutton has been working at Cranleigh for eight years having trained in New Zealand. She is Deputy Director of Art and teaches print making. We have several examples of such work in the House that are proof of her talent in extracting great pieces from the girls. She is a practising artist who regularly exhibits with the Printmakers’ Council.
 
Mrs Heather Fearn originally joined Cranleigh in 2001 and became a tutor in South. She is Head is of History and Politics and also has three young children. She is married to Tim, who teaches Physics and writes the School timetable.

Mrs Oksana Burt joined Cranleigh School in 2011 after seven years working for the Ukrainian Government and four years teaching economics at Kiev University. As well as tutoring in South, she is the Resource Librarian in the school. In her spare time she enjoys walking, reading, going to the theatre and trying to organise her husband Dave, who is the Assistant Minister at Cranleigh Baptist Church.

Mr Jamie Bartlett came to Cranleigh in 2010 after working as a management consultant for 10 years.  He is currently Head of Economics and Business Studies, as well as being master in charge of racket sports. He and his wife Nicki are expecting their first baby shortly, and are looking forward to seeing how their bouncy cocker-spaniel will cope with the new arrival!

Dr Dan Hogg joined the School in September 2010 to teach Classics. He joins us in South after stints tutoring in East, lecturing at the University of St Andrews and in a postdoctoral research position in Munich, Germany. While a postgraduate at Oxford, he was awarded his hockey Blue as goalkeeper.

Mrs Shannon Thomson came to Cranleigh in 2007 as part of the chaplaincy team and teaches Religious Studies and A-level Physical Education. She enjoys sport and the outdoors very much having grown up in Africa, and has found herself running the Duke of Edinburgh Award at Cranleigh. She is the head of Athletics and is married to Jamie, and they have a very spoilt adopted cat! 

Miss Ruth Miller came to Cranleigh in 2010 having previously worked as a professional flute player and recording artist. She is the Head of Woodwind and Brass, and plays the flute for several orchestras and chamber music ensembles outside school.  At Cranleigh she directs various wind ensembles in both the prep and senior schools and can usually be found running between the two. Ruth also loves skiing and yoga.

MATRONS

Mrs Claire Higgins came to Cranleigh in 2003 with a good deal of experience of the joys and difficulties of teenagers – having four of her own. Amongst many others things, her skill on the computers is much appreciated in the House. She lives very locally with her husband and her two glorious red setters

Mrs Ann Hosea has been at Cranleigh for fifteen years; having originally been Matron to boys, she moved to the girls’ House seven years ago and she has been surprised how much she enjoys being with the girls. She is our source of knowledge on all issues audio and visual. She has two grown-up children and five grandchildren – so far. She enjoys many outside interests, but is frustrated by her lack of progress in learning German!

We have a variety of shapes and sizes of rooms, decorated in the House colour of lilac, the IVth Form area being two largish dorms on the top floor of the House. The LVth occupy rooms of three or four, whilst the UVth live in pairs or threesomes. The day girls are accommodated alongside the boarders and are very much an integral part of the House. The individual rooms for the VIth Form are to be found on each of the three floors of the House. The girls all move rooms each term to ensure that they are well integrated within their year and within the House. They all take great pride in making their space individual with plenty of their own ‘bits and pieces’ around, which gives a really homely feel to the House. We have a large, bright and colourful common room on the middle floor which is really appreciated and well-used by all the girls, and the VIth Form also have their own common room. There are kitchen facilities (‘moabs’) and computers available to the girls over the three floors. We have laundry facilities for the VIth Form, many of whom do their own laundry. Matron’s room at the heart of the House could accurately be described as a ‘bijou’ residence, but it is much loved by the girls, well-frequented and is often a place of much fun and laughter.