We are delighted with our new trophy cabinets located in the main reception and boardroom. Kindly donated by the Apthorp family (long-term school supporter and donor), the trophy cabinets allow us to now have all the historic and current trophies in one place.
We have recently said farewell to the following staff members:
Pauline Daffon - House Mistress and Admin/Support Martin Sims - Bursar Steve Lloyd - PE & Games
We wish them all well and hope to see them return to Edge Grove for Alumni events in the future.
Pauline Daffon
Martin Sims
Stephen Lloyd
I have loved Edge Grove since I was a child and my brother Peter Talbot attended the school. When he left to go to Charterhouse, I became an Assistant Matron and looked after children such as the Waterfields, Streathers, Apthorps, Paul Haworth and many many more (all boys of course!). In those days we did all the mending (turning collars and cuffs, darning socks and elbows of the pullovers. We had a small washing machine but dried all the washing on the line or in the kitchen and on the pipes in the changing rooms!) We had 90 full time boarders, no weekly or flexi boarding. Weekends were fabulous! All of us got involved and we all had great fun. Outside as much as possible, we did Roller skating (so often you would hear 'Lady in the Yard', and everyone would glide to a halt while the Lady, a visitor, teacher or one of us crossed the yard!!) building camps for battle, boating on the lake, Model Club where the boys built model airplanes. If they put too much fuel in the tiny engine, the cry would go up 'Miss Talbot. Miss Talbot' and I would have to get in my car and go hurtling down the local lanes trying to keep the plane in view to see where it landed! Since then I don't think there has ever been a time when no one from our family, Peter or myself, Peter's children Timothy and Jeremy, my daughter Emma (Kruis) or her son Noah (Kruis Boukerboub) has been a part of Edge Grove. My brother as well as being a pupil at Edge Grove was also a Visiting student during University breaks, then Junior Teacher, Teacher of RE and Maths plus Sports, Head of PE, Head of Maths, Director for the Diamond Jubilee Appeal, and then Bursar. Whereas I have been Assistant Matron (a Big sister to all the boys), a Kitchen Assistant and Cleaner (when I came back from South Africa, divorced, with a baby of 1 and a toddler of 3), Secretary to the Head of St Christopher’s (now known as Edge Grove Pre Prep and Pre School) Assistant to the Director of the Diamond Jubilee Appeal (which built the Sport Hall, Jubilee block and Music Block) and Bursar's Assistant for 18 years. During this time, one of the Gaps started to call me Aunty P which spread throughout the Gaps and soon to a lot of the Staff. When some of the staff had babies, it changed for some to Granny P! After working in the Bursary my job changed to being in charge of stationery, ordering, booking coaches and organising minibuses and their routes (a Less stressful job!?) During that time I did the Charities and liaised with the Chef when we Catered in house, and ordered the food and did the menus with the Chef until we employed Brookwood and then Holroyd Howe. When Peter left Edge Grove, my parents gave the school a Bell and Howell Cine Camera, Projector, and screen. When they downsized from our very large house (which had been part of Bentley Priory, Battle of Britain RAF Headquarters in Bushey Heath), my Father gave Edge Grove all the beautiful shrubs and rose bushes from our fabulous garden, plus the 2 Cannon Balls and their description post, which are now outside the Waterfield Block. Working at Edge Grove over the years has been a joy for me and I have loved nearly every minute. The Bursars, I was Assistant to, were the best and we were like one great big family with the Staff, until the school became so large we kind of burst at the seams and the family feeling disappeared and instead we became a team. A Great Team. Children have always been an enormously important part of my life and bring me so much happiness, just being with them, listening to them and watching them. I will miss them. To those Very Special People who have known me for years (you know who you are) a HUGE thank you for the kindness, friendship, tears, laughter and hugs we have shared. I am so grateful for your patience, support and helpfulness you have given me and have loved working with you. Thank you too to all the staff who know me even just a little bit! I love Edge Grove and have always loved Edge Grove and will miss it dreadfully. It has been my Haven and my Root. Thank you for everything.
While looking in our physical archive at school recently, we stumbled upon this letter which outlines the plans for the very beginnings of the what is now the Edge Grove Society. Much of what was outlined in the letter still remains today - events, newsletters and a network of Old Boys/Girls.
