Danes Hill welcomed a very special guest recently as Sue Wood, one of the first Matrons of the school, returned for a visit after 65 years.
The school has certainly changed somewhat from 1952-3, when Sue worked and lived on site. Back then the school was much smaller and only had 50 boys. However, much is still very familiar to Sue and certainly brought back many happy memories of her first job after leaving school. Wearing a crisp, white uniform, Sue had 30 boarders under her care in the dormitories, which, incidentally, serve as the Staff Room and Staff Workroom today. Much like today, the boys wore blazers and were very successful at sport.
After a long days work, Sue would retire to her bedroom which is now Mrs Chatraths Office. She recalled going to the theatre on her one night off each week, as well as the leafy walk from Oxshott Station to the school grounds.
After leaving Danes Hill, Sue went on to work as a Matron in other prep schools but her familys link to the school remains to this day as, by a happy coincidence, her niece, Mrs Whitwam, currently teaches English at the school. Needless to say, Sue was thrilled to see how well the school is doing and just how much the school has developed in the past half a century.
