Long-Serving Staff Make Felsted a Family

Since it was founded over 460 years ago, Felsted and its pupils have really benefited from extremely committed and very loyal staff. 

In 2025 Felsted’s Head Gardener, Nick Day, will be celebrating his 50th work anniversary of continuous service. Nick joined the school in 1975, and tending the 90 acre campus is the only job he has had ever since. When he is finally persuaded to put down his secateurs and raise a glass to celebrate his fiftieth year at the school, there will be plenty of cheer!  
 

But he’s not the only member of staff to devote almost their entire working life to Felsted with continuous service. In fact, this year the school will be marking one 25-year anniversary (Ian Plumb - Carpenter), no fewer than three 30-year anniversaries (Alexandra Simpson - Science Teacher, Felicity Wright - Music Teacher and Janine Plackett  - Music Teacher) and one of 40 years (Kim Harvey - Matron). 

Felsted staff are an integral part of our school community and they bring the warmth, comfort and care that helps us to provide an award-winning boarding experience for so many young people from around the globe.

I am delighted that so many of our team have reached a significant milestone of continuous service this year. Their dedication to Felsted, along with the hard work of every member of staff, is truly appreciated and has been a vital part in Felsted’s ongoing success.

Chris Townsend - Head.

At this moment, more than a third of the school’s dedicated staff team have given at least 10 years’ continuous service, and the top 20 longest-serving staff members have racked up more than 618 years between them, including: 

Kevin Cresswell (Grounds), Dominic Pannell (Catering), Lorraine Wilks (Catering), Christopher Wood (Music), Amanda Bassett (Domestic Services), Caroline Miller (Teaching Assistant), Charles Ellis (Music Teacher), Nicholas Lockhart (Grounds), Steven Baker (Catering), Carolyn Phillips (HM and Teacher), Julia Groves (Teaching Assistant), Lorraine Wells (Domestic Services), and Mark Coombs (Catering).

Times (and education ministers) may change, and pupils may grow up and head off to university or take gap years overseas, but a long-standing and incredibly loyal staff base means that Felsted will be forever Felsted.
 

I have been a matron of Stocks’s House almost from the day it became a girls’ house. It is hard to explain just how, when and why a boarding house becomes “home” but it does. The camaraderie of pupils spreads to the staff and the feeling of “ my house” is hard to define. The most surprising aspect is the ability to accept and adapt to new challenges, for example the advent of the mobile phone and the speed of communication. Supporting teenagers through the dramas of these times means no day is ever the same. Do I enjoy working in a boarding house? Of course I do!  

Kim Harvey - Matron, Stocks’s House