Under Her Care: J O
L E T T Y, M AT R O N
Jo Letty was bowled over when she first
set eyes on Winchester College six years ago,
and has been enamoured ever since. ‘As often
as I can I’m on the top of St Catherine’s Hill
or in the Water Meadows.’
22 The Wykeham Journal 2018
H
istory is her passion, and she revels in how
it can be felt running through the veins
of the place. ‘I love it. I run my hands along
walls and imagine the hundreds of years of boys who
have done the same before me.’
She arrived from Warwickshire, where she
had raised her family and been a volunteer at the
local village primary, helping with teaching and
administration. At Winchester, she started as a relief
matron at Cook’s and Beloe’s before doing a term
in the latter in the combined role of Housekeeper/
Matron. She left for two years to look after the
Year 8s at Sandroyd, a prep school south of Salisbury,
before returning to Winchester in 2015 to take
up a permanent role at Chawker’s working under
the Housemaster, Dr James Hodgins.
Her working day is divided between her two
roles. She sees the boys at breakfast and does her
morning surgery. After the boys go up to books,
she switches to her Housekeeper role, running
a team of 11, including kitchen and domestic staff
and a handyman. She carries out the interviews,
staff appraisals and weekly meetings and is their
first-line HR manager. There are various termly
house functions which she also arranges.
At lunchtime, she reverts to Matron again. She
eats all her meals with the boys, and sees it as both
an opportunity to bond with them as well as a crucial
part of her job. ‘It’s my way of assessing them; if they
are not eating properly, looking worried or if there
are signs of bullying or someone being neglected.’
She says that, fortunately, there is very little of this
but it is important to check constantly.
As part of her role within the College, she also
assists the Registrar, Andrew Shedden, meeting
prospective parents, and sits on an informal Q&A
panel with the Headmaster and various dons,