Griffin House, 8 Horton Crescent, Rugby, CV22 5DJ
Tel: +44 (0) 1788 556 331 | Email: griffin@rugbyschool.net
ABOUT THE HOUSE
Griffin, the smallest boarding house with the largest garden in School, is home to 43 students. Year groups of eight-10 girls enjoy twin bedded rooms for two years followed by three years of single study-bedrooms, with some girls sharing a room for their lower sixth year. Three common rooms provide space for relaxation with TV, DVD and kitchen facilities. Griffins make full use of the fitness suite and swimming pool with the House being situated next to the Sports Centre. Throughout the Trinity Term, Griffins picnic on the lawn and host garden events for the rest of the School. The Music Department is a short walk away for rehearsals and regular instrumental practice, and girls who enjoy drama and music-making are fully involved in the annual arts festival.
Housemistress
Lisa Greatwood joined Rugby School as the Lay Assistant Chaplain and teacher of Biology and Divinity. She read Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Durham, which she loved, and so she stayed on to complete her PGCE before starting her teaching career at Stowe. She moved to Rugby in 2005 and has been heavily involved in the Pastoral side of the School, having been the Assistant to the Deputy Head Pastoral and now the Head of Wellbeing. This includes running all the student PSHEe sessions as well as the parent seminar programme. In 2012 she took the opportunity to take a sabbatical to study for a Diploma in Bible and Ministry at Moore College in Sydney, which she thoroughly enjoyed (and not just because of the amazing weather!). Lisa has always loved sport, having been a keen lacrosse player at school and university and now helps coach hockey, netball and sailing (the high point being the team becoming RYA National Champions in 2019). However, she now contents herself with a gentle jog in the countryside for exercise.
Being a Biologist, wildlife is a particular passion and she often visits her sister and family in South Africa, who live on a game farm near the Kruger Park. Lisa has travelled to all continents except the Antarctic (it’s on her bucket list). She has also joined School expeditions including Bolivia, Madagascar, Namibia and South Africa plus two trips to Nepal. Her top tip is a really good squishy roll mat!
Deputy Housemaster
Will Uglow, who joined Griffin as DHm in September 2023, has been at Rugby for four years in his role as a Maths teacher. He has been a member of the Rupert Brooke House team and in that time, has tutored students across all the year groups as well as supporting the wider House as acting DHm, so is experienced in the role. He is now Second in Maths, arranges the basketball programme and runs beekeeping on Wednesday afternoons. Before joining Rugby, Will taught at nearby Princethorpe College for six years where the beekeeping club that he established continues. He grew up on a small family farm in North Cornwall, and before going into teaching, spent time working as the organist in a North Cornish town.
Matron
Liz Hargraves has a wealth of experience having been at the heart of all Griffin action since the House opened in 2005. Her apartment is next to the girls’ rooms and she is on call through the night. When the Griffins return from their lessons for morning break, lunch and supper, it is Liz who greets them in. When she goes for her well-deserved once-a-week break to her cottage in a near-by village, Assistant Matron, Sandra Harris, takes over. Sandra supports the girls in any number of ways and she especially enjoys helping them to prepare for special events, such as the annual House drama and music entertainment, Inter-House academic and sport competitions, as well as the regular themed teas.