Nugent
I feel immensely privileged to have been part of the Nugent journey over the last 11 years. We have strong bonds within the House – many siblings, cousins and Old Stoics children join us on a yearly basis, and it is a delight to watch them grow and develop into confident, successful young ladies.
Our family tree has been an integral part of our united front for the last four years with each group comprising 5 family members led by a member of our Upper Sixth. They compete as a team in House Cross Country, have raised money for charities that we have supported and we always ensure that the winning family goes to the cinema following APGs.
We are a successful House – academically, musically and on the sporting field; we regularly have girls in Junior and Senior Congreve and put on House Drama performances each year. However, the House team, House Prefects and I all work extremely hard to make Nugent as welcoming and supportive a House as possible. The girls take pride and responsibility for the atmosphere and appearance of Nugent and they are all as competitive as I am when it comes to House events!
I can only suggest that you come and visit us and see for yourself?
Jayne joined Stowe in September 2005 as the School went fully co ed. Emma, her eldest child, joined the Lyttelton in the Fourth Form as one of 12 girls and her two other children, Ben and Megan, went to Winchester House Prep School.
They had all been at Millfield School since 1997 and sporting genes ran through the entire family with Jayne playing International lacrosse for 10 years, Graham representing Surrey in cricket and Ben is now playing cricket for England and has been on the recent India and Bangladesh tours. Emma is working locally for a finance company and Megan is in her second year at Manchester studying Philosophy and Religion.
Jayne started as Head of Girls’ Games but very quickly became Housemistress of Nugent when a vacancy became apparent. Her love for her extended family (i.e. Nugent girls) is obvious and she enjoys staying in touch with the old girls and hearing their news.
Housemistress Jayne Duckett
Matron Marian Gallick
Assistant Housemistress Francesca Holloway
Under Housemistress Imogen Adkins
Nugent opened in 1985 and was the second girls’ House to be set up at Stowe, but the first to house boarders. The House had a variety of uses before then having been, amongst other things, a House for new Third Form boys waiting to move to their boarding house.
The refurbishment took longer than expected and in September 1985 the girls arrived to find that the House wasn’t ready. For half a term they had rooms on the top floor of Temple House with the stairway ferociously guarded by a member of staff on duty! At Half term the girls moved into their new accommodation and the House officially opened in November. At that stage Nugent was the home to 26 girls – 14 new Lower Sixth Formers and 12 Middle Sixth Formers who had offered to move from the existing girls’ House, Stanhope. At that time Stanhope (which later became Lyttelton) contained only day girls and the girls boarded with local staff.
At first many of the girls slept in a large dormitory and had a room to study in downstairs, but studying in their bedrooms soon became the norm. The number of girls increased until eventually they created the Annexe; a separate building housing 8 girls which was opened in September 1996.
In September 2012, with Stowe having gone fully co-ed in 2005, it was decided that Nugent should convert from a Sixth Form only House to one housing girls from 13-18. That first group of 9 Third Formers lived in the Annexe for a year before the full refurbishment of Nugent had been completed. This cohort is now in their final year at Stowe. The House is complete with 57 boarders and 12 day girls.
"Having boarded before coming to Stowe, I fully understood the importance of finding the boarding house with the ‘right fit’, something many perspective students and parents struggle with. However, Nugent’s upbeat and welcoming atmosphere made this an easy choice for me.
Stowe seems awfully big at first; Nugent has an abundance of friendly faces that will always help you along the way. Mrs Duckett/Jones, Matron and the house team work assiduously to ensure that all house operations run smoothly.
Being in Nugent has been an indispensible part of my development and growth at Stowe. A house where close friendships can be made across all ages, backgrounds and cultures, where the girls have a vast support network that offers a safe and relaxing break from the mayhem of boarding school life and where we all work hard and encourage each other to achieve the utmost success across a spectrum of activities offered here at Stowe and in our later lives.
The things I have learnt and gained from being in Nugent are immeasurable, I can’t thank the house team and girls enough for making Nugent such an encouraging and supportive community to be apart of."
From a Day Perspective
"We have been day girls in Nugent for four years now and we are still welcomed every morning with smiles without fail. Just like the boarders we have our own desk and space for personal belongings, the only difference between us and the boarders is that we sleep at home.
In Nugent we have such a great relationship with Mrs Duckett and we all feel that we are just as much involved with the House as the boarders, forming a tight nit bond between all the years which makes it very easy arriving every morning."
Alice & Mali