Heads Review - 2024 Issue 9

HEAD’S REVIEW

Head’s Introduction

It is just one week since our fantastic International Women’s Day event, and I am pleased how positive the feedback has been. I have no doubt that having so many talented and successful women coming to Roedean, including a number of ORs, is inspiring for our students. I am very grateful to them, and to Dr Barrand for masterminding this exciting event.

The events and the girls’ achievements over the last week have showcased the holistic education Roedean provides perfectly: I am delighted to report that both the U12 and U15 Netball teams are Sussex Cup winners; our musicians have won a number of classes at the Springboard Festival; the Science Department have run daily challenges and activities for British Science Week; the exceptional work of our Year 12 artists looks fantastic in the exhibition; and the full audience were treated to Nirvana and Taylor Swift among others at last night’s brilliant Open Mic Night! Thank you and well done to everyone involved.

Our Year 13 Prefects have come to the end of their tenure, and they led this week’s Chapel services, reflecting on what they are proud to have achieved this year. They have been a brilliant team, led by Amelia and Maria, along with Tammy, Queena, Amelia, and Sigrid – I am grateful for all they have done this year, and also excited that new Prefect team will be announced before the end of term, ready to start next term.

The MNDA 24-hour challenge, which was planned for today and tomorrow, will now take place at the end of the first week after Easter – thank you to all those who have donated to and supported this charitable endeavour. I hope that everyone going on the Berlin and Ski trips have a great time, and that the last week of term goes well.

U12 Sussex Cup Champions

MNDA 24-Hour Challenge

BREAKING NEWS!

If you had already started warming up for the 24-hour challenge to raise funds for Motor Neurone Disease Association, the Year 8 charity, and were disappointed that it had to be postponed, you will not have to wait too long!

The new date is Friday 19-Saturday 20 April, the first weekend back after Easter!

Success at Springboard!

Congratulations to all the Roedean musicians who took part in the Singing and Woodwind classes at the Springboard Festival last Saturday. There were some fantastic results!

Congratulations to the following, who all won their classes:

■ Florence (Yr9) – First Place in the Grade 4-5 woodwind class

■ Meghan (Yr10) – First Place in the Grade 6-8 woodwind class

■ Bernice (Yr11) – First Place in the Senior woodwind recital class

■ Fleur (Yr12) – First Place in the Musical Theatre Singing class

There must be a special mention for Ella (Yr12), who achieved astounding results in all her classes, winning the Donna Roberti Cup for the highest mark in the Senior Singing Classes, the Laura Eaton Challenge Cup for the best performance in the Senior Art Song and Aria classes, and the Vaughan Williams School of Music Cup for the best performance of a piece of sacred music in all the Classical Singing classes – congratulations, Ella!

Well done to everyone who took part. It is a wonderful display of talent, combined with a lot of hard work and preparation from both the students and their music teachers. Good luck to all those who are taking part in other categories this Saturday – enjoy the experience!

Ms Bartlette

Unsung heroes in the spotlight

Each week, many wonderful things happen at Roedean, about which many in the school are perhaps unaware; this section of the weekly review is dedicated to ‘unsung heroes’, in order to draw our attention to these people and remind us that our community is special.

Lennie (Yr10) – for taking on the mantel of chaperoning and guiding the students from the Roedean Academy who joined us for International Women's Day [Dr Barrand]

Unsung Staff hero in the spotlight

Fun at the Maths Feast

Eight Year 10 students took part in the Maths Feast in Worthing this week. This competition, run by the AMSP, requires teams of 4 to pit their mathematical wits against other local schools. Our students enjoyed solving logical and mathematical questions against the clock. We hope to take some Year 9 teams next term for the similar Maths Picnic competition.

Mrs Hopper

British Science Week –University Offers

It has been a fantastic week for the Sciences in the Futures Department, with some notable offers from universities.

Jamie, an OR who left in 2023 with a clean sweep of A* grades at A Level, was successful in being offered a place to study Medicine at UCL. This was fantastic news after her applications were unsuccessful last year, and just goes to show that perseverance can really pay off. She said: 'I am beyond happy about receiving this offer. Although the journey to medical school has been challenging, it has taught me many valuable lessons, the most important being not to give up. This is because I finally got into my top choice during my gap year. I feel proud of my achievements, and so grateful to my teachers who have helped me throughout the entire process. I cannot wait to study Medicine at UCL to become a doctor!' We are also delighted that Florence, another OR from 2023, has also been offered a place this week to study Biomedical Sciences at Leeds University.

Mrs Bond – for organising two fantastic virtual talks with ORs during Academic Lectures to celebrate British Science Week –thank you so much! [Ms Ibanez Barcelo]

Miss Good – for always being willing to go above and beyond to support the Art Department and the GCSE and A Level artists, and for all her hard work getting the Year 12 Art Exhibtion hung and looking so professional! [Mrs Alexander]

Congratulations also go to Hebe, in Year 13, who has been offered our first place of this academic year at Imperial College, to study Physics with Theoretical Physics. This is another phenomenal achievement and we look forward to further offers from Imperial in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Lindsey, who is also in Year 13 has received an offer to study Chemical Engineering at UCL, and Ines has received an offer to study Diagnostic Radiography at Leeds University.

We are so proud of all of our students, whose hard work and determination show that the Future of British Science certainly seems to be bright!

Ms Boobis

British Science Week at Roedean

To celebrate British Science Week, there have been a whole range of activities, designed to pique the scientific interest of students and staff alike. There have been quizzes and TED Talks for tutor time, and the Year 12 STEM Ambassadors have been leading break-time activities in the Fireplace. The week also began with an assembly to mark the beginning of British Science Week, which coincided with International Women's Day, celebrating the achievements and contributions of women to science.

The students in Years 7-9 have been challenged to produce a poster following the theme of 'time', and the best 5 entries will be submitted to a national competition. There has also been an 'inventor hunt' – lots of members of staff have been sporting badges this week, with the name and biography of famous scientists, and the students have been roaming the School trying to match the names to the clues on their sheets.

For those in Year 10 and above, there has been an online treasure hunt, directing the girls to clues hidden around the School about inspirational scientific figures. At the end of the week, ORs who are currently studying Sciences at university or are recent graduates, will give virtual talks and Q&A sessions, to share their experiences of what is involved in undergraduate study.

There is also an 'Art of Physics' mural competition running – students have to submit a design for a mural with any scientific theme, and the best will be created in Science. Finally, the House Science Competition has been launched- the challenge is to make a 3-minute film about anything relevant, and the best will be showcased in the Theatre next term.

Thank you to everyone who has got involved, and I hope that something this week has sparked an interest!

Mrs Bond

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

IWD24 at Roedean

Last Friday saw a wonderful celebration of inspiring women to mark International Women's Day. Given the array of 22 speakers with different backgrounds and experiences, covering many different topics, it really addressed the #InspireInclusion theme for this year.

There were talks on creating an app, engaging in 'disruptive sustainability', engineering, and being a Beefeater, and on singing, feminism, being in the Armed Forces, free-diving, Jane Austen, and diplomacy. Our students were joined by thirty members of the Roedean Academy from four local schools, and they all attended five talks during the day. There was also an opportunity for the girls to stand in the Front Quad in the shape of IWD2024 to mark the occasion.

Thank you to all our inspiring speakers, and thank you to the students for being so attentive and asking excellent questions at the end of each session. This event is always such a positive experience for everyone involved – let's see who next year's speakers will be!

Dr Barrand

‘It was a great pleasure to speak at your IWD festival. The students really impressed with their attention and the very intelligent questions they asked.’

Emma Draper

‘You have an amazing school and the young women who attended my session were very focused. I hope they got something out of it that they can carry with them through their various journeys.’

Jacqueline Tege

‘Dr Renée Landell was so inspirational, and made me believe that I must always follow my dreams!’

Amelia (Yr13)

‘I loved Siggi - as you would expect from her job, she had amazing stage presence. She was great.’

Kyra (Yr10)

‘It was a pleasure to talk to students.’your

Professor Kathryn Sutherland

‘It was great to hear from an Emily Lewis-Garwood – as one of 6 women Beefeaters, hearing about her breaking into a male-dominated role was empowering.’

Sigrid (Yr13)

‘Nomi Bar-Yaacov was a formidably impressive woman who particularly engages the benefits of learning second and third languages.’

Ms Boobis

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

‘I commend you for having such a welcoming team as well as wonderful, interesting students!'

Siggi Mwasote

‘My favourite speaker was Zandile - she impressed because she had been determined to successfully pursue a career in a sport dominated by men.’

Ida (Yr11)

‘Georgia Elliott-Smith provided a unique perspective on sustainability and highlighted our responsibility as citizens of the world to make change.’

Amelia (Yr13)

‘I loved being back at Roedean and so enjoyed the girls’ brilliant questions.’

Emma McFerran

‘It was so nice to listen to an OR with similar interests to me – hearing from Sorcha was empowering and I loved touring her round School afterwards.’

Maria (Yr13)

‘It was so interesting to hear how Emma McFerran designed her own app – and she’s now CEO.’

Sasha (Yr9)

‘Mariam Khan was great – what she said made me reassess what feminism really is.’

Imogen (Yr9)

‘I really enjoyed Georgia Elliott-Smith’s talk about ‘disruptive sustainability’ – it was so interesting, and even more engaging because she just spoke without visual aids.’

Kate (Yr12)

‘I loved how interactive the Brigadier’s talk was – I knew what all the vehicles on the screen were, and I also liked the gifts!’

Solari (Yr12)

‘I am interested in international relations, so I really enjoyed hearing from Nomi Bar-Yaacov.’

Gwen (Yr9)

‘The girls were so inspiring – they are impressive!’so

Sorcha Harris

‘Professor Dame Helen Atkinson was fantastic – I hope to go into that exact field, so her talk was brilliant.’

Molly (Yr9)

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

‘The free-diver was fantastic – even though the talk was virtual, her energy was amazing and her passion really came across.’

Mila (Yr12)

‘It was amazing that Camilla Macpherson spoke so brilliantly after stepping in as a late replacement with less than 24 hours’ notice – that must have taken guts.’

Martha (Yr11)

‘What an impressiveincredibly school and I thought your pupils did you great credit, both with their questions and manners generally.’

Annelise Gray

‘Siggi had a brilliant rapport with the audience right from the start –although I was a bit sceptical about how successful the singing at the end would be, it was really entertaining.’

Elspeth (Yr11)

‘It was a great experience and I was very happy to meet some of the other speakers and the girls. What a wonderful event!’

Hien Le

‘It was such a joy getting your students to sing – I only wish I had enough time to teach them more than a chorus!’

Siggi Mwasote

‘I liked hearing how Annelise Gray incorporates historical accuracy into her books.’

Eva (Yr12)

Silversmithing Workshop

Last week, our Year 10 students had the privilege of spending a day with a professional silversmith, who taught them the principles of casting in precious metal.

The students learned patternmaking, annealing, and soldering techniques, to create their own silver ring designs. It was wonderful to observe our students working with such determination, and learning new skills that enhance their passion for designing and making in the workshop.

Well done to everyone involved!

Mrs Quirk

Light and Space – Year 12 Art Exhibition

Congratulations to the fantastic Year 12 Art, Textiles, and Photography students, who have all produced wonderful work for the Exhibition this week.

It is remarkable how different their work is, using many different media, techniques, and styles, all in response to the stimulus theme of Light and Space.

Well done, and we hope that you all loved seeing your work in a formal exhibition.

Mrs Alexander

Open Mic Night at Roedean

Open Mic Night was a spectacular event, with a fantastic range of pieces and styles. It was particularly impressive to see so many younger students taking to the stage.

The evening opened with a romantic rendition of Fly Me to the Moon, sung by Samantha, accompanied by Carmen on the Piano. The second piece was a beautiful performance of Until I Found You, sung by Kate and Kaitlin. The song was stepped back, and this revealed their lovely harmonies. In stark contrast, Violet in Year 7 then sang Smells Like Ten Spirit by Nirvana. The audience clapped and cheered her on, and they were clearly loving the performance.

Amyra, Livvy, and Annabelle from Year 8 performed Loreen’s Tattoo, which won Eurovision. Amyra and Livvy’s voices matched each other perfectly, and Annabelle’s Guitar playing. Their performance was very mature and polished. Annabelle stayed on stage and was joined by Dita on Plano to accompany Anna singing Taylor Swift’s All Too Well – It was a big song and they did it brilliantly, and the audience even joined in at one point.

Charlie in Year 10 then sang Never Walk Alone by Hillsong. She is a consummate performer, and her voice sounded fantastic – congratulations! The Year 7 Singers took to the stage to sing The Rose and Together. Their voices were lovely, and they sang with confidence and impressive composure.

Natalie, Natalie, and Shermane (Yr9) performed one of the most iconic songs from Frozen, For the First Time in Forever – it was definitely a crowd-pleaser! In a change of style, Imi from Year 9 gave a stunning rendition of Lost Without You by Freya Ridings. The piece was melancholic at times, then powerful and self-assured – it was excellent.

Maisa’s rendition of Driver’s Licence by Olivia Rodriguez was gentle and lyrical – her confident performance belied the fact that she is in Year 7. From Year 7, the next piece was performed by three Year 12s – Kaitlin (Vocals), Onose (Electric Guitar), and Tamanna (Drums) performed Shut Up and Dance. They had the audience up on their feet and singing along – it was great!

Taylor Swift was back – Annabelle in Year 8 accompanied herself on the piano singing Champagne Problems, and her performance was impressive. Mrs Andrews came to the stage next to sing Dream a Little Dream of Me – she was accompanied by Kyra on Bass, Charlie on Drums, and Mr Rous on Piano. This was her first time singing solo on stage, and she did brilliantly.

The next performance was of Adele’s Turning Tables – it is a great song and Lola’s powerful rendition absolutely did it justice. Well done! Erykah Badu’s Penitentiary Philosophy showcased the wonderful talent of Roedean’s House Band! Emma, Sam, and Sienna were on vocals, with Chaya on Electric Guitar, Sigrid on Bass Guitar, Tamanna on Drums, and Mr Rous on Keys – it was fantastic!

And the finale was Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You, performed by Charlie on Vocals, with Emma, Hebe, Sigrid, Tamanna on Keyboard, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and Drums. It was a brilliant way to round off a great evening. But we can’t forget our fantastic compères, Onose and Ella, who guided us through the evening expertly. Congratulations to everyone involved!

Dr Barrand

This Week in Boarding...

In House 1 this week, the girls had a blast at Bingo, battling for the Easter-themed prizes, while tasting a variety of yummy hot cross buns – how festive! Boarders and day girls made the most amazing effort for World Book Day in some hilarious costumes – there were dragons, and cows, and so many more, parading around the boarding house!

House 2 got busy crafting last week, making the most beautiful Mother’s Day cards to send home for Mothering Sunday. Fuelled by cheesy nachos, the girls got painting, sticking, and drawing. On Saturday, the ODR became a hub of activity, with the most amazing chocolate fondue. They loved trying different combinations dipped into the molten milk chocolate. Some were even brave enough to try chocolate covered crisps! ...they're still undecided whether it was weird or tasty... The House was then made ready for Easter with the most adorable handmade decorations. On Monday, the girls got baking, and made cinnamon swirls (quickly eaten warm from the oven) and chocolate Easter nests. Later in the week, the girls came downstairs for yummy snacks, chats, and jewellery-making.

House 3 boarders had a spectacular time celebrating International Women’s Day, with their famous bakeoff competition. The brief was a tricky one, where pupils had to make their role models and inspiration out of cake! The House Captain had all the power and judged all the cakes, and it was decided that Coco and Chanel’s team were the winners. As you can imagine, the girls did a brilliant job at polishing off all the delicious creations after the event! House 3 boarders made a fabulous effort for World Book Day, from Oompa Loompas, to a human thesaurus and dictionary – it had to be seen to be believed! On Sunday, the girls got busy baking the most amazing homemade scones, ready to be enjoyed at house meeting. The question is… jam or cream first?

In House 4 this week, they celebrated Oreo and White Chocolate Cheesecake Day 2024 (an annual occurrence), by making the most delicious cheesecake from scratch for their international evening. The girls loved coming together to bake, but what they loved most was sampling their hard work. As you can imagine, not a crumb was left!

In Lawrence this week, the boarders went noodle mad! The girls loved coming together for a spectacular noodle feast, trying a variety of flavours from Hot Chicken to Kimchi. The perfect snack for a mid-week pick-me-up!

Keswick House boarders took some time away from their studies over the weekend, and enjoyed the brighter evenings with a lovely sunset bike ride. We really are so lucky with the amazing location of our school, and, as spring is blooming, the girls are looking forward to getting out more and enjoying what Brighton has to offer.

Miss Roe

Easter Cake Design Winner!

Congratulations to Soraya (Yr7) on winning the annual Easter Cake design competition! The theme this year was 'supporting mental health'.

Soraya's cake has been chosen to be made by the talented Ruth Sambrook from our catering team. The cake, along with a huge collection of Easter eggs (kindly donated by Year 7 students), will be delivered to the Royal Alex, our local children's hospital, as a special thank you to the staff for their hard work every day. Look out for the winning cake in next week's Head's Review.

Thank you to everyone else who submitted entries – there were some very creative and unique designs.

Mr Wilson

U13F Netball vs Brighton College OR Channel Swimming Team Coming Together!

This match was a highly anticipated game for our students, as it was the last netball fixture of the term for the team. They were very excited, however they were unstuck by a well-organised Brighton team. The first quarter was the downfall for the team, as they ended up down by five goals and were never able to overturn this deficit. The team definitely showed signs of fight, but ended up losing 13-6.

Well done to Tilly, the Player of the Match. Overall, the team has played some great Netball throughout the term, with lost of improvements by all involved.

Mr Foggoa

A group of ORs are taking on a relay Channel swim crossing at the beginning of Summer this year, and preparations are well underway.

Regular Zoom calls have been taking place to update members on each other's training, and the swimmers are currently in the process of having their medical evaluations done, organising their qualifying swim, and acquiring the Channel Swimming Federation membership. It is a long logistical process, but the passion and energy from the group has been brilliant, and Mary Henderson, OR President, has been doing an excellent job of organising the team.

The OR squad will be raising money for the OR Scholarship Fund, which subsidises fees for selected Sixth Form students each year. I will also be swimming, so I am looking forward to getting some cold water training in the sea after Easter with our own student Channel Crossing team.

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates on our intrepid swimmers!

Miss Donovan

U12 Sussex Cup Champions

The U12A Netball team played Brighton College in the final of the Sussex Cup this week.

We arrived at the college pumped and ready to face them. After our recent match at home, we were able to think about what needed to be done to take home the gold. In the first quarter, we made lots of turnovers, but we were unable to score. We left the court 4-2 up.

The second quarter felt a bit slower, and we made a few mistakes, including receiving the

ball off the court and forcing the ball into the D. At half time, we talked about these mistakes and how we could make slight changes to help with our goal lead. We mixed the movement up a bit by bringing GS out of the D in order to create space for GA. This helped us lots, especially when the defence did an amazing job to turn the ball over and then pass it on to the attacker.

Brighton College kept coming back, especially with their shooting accuracy. However, this was not enough to deflect the mighty Roedean

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U12s, and we pushed as hard as we could to make sure we were bringing the gold medal back.

The final score was 19-12 with a Roedean win. What a remarkable end to a brilliant season! Well done to all the girls who played across all the matches, and a big shout out to all those who come to watch all their matches and support with such enthusiasm.

Miss Walsh

U13A Netball vs Worth

Worth the trip? I think so... This week, the U13As played their last junior fixture versus Worth. They were ready and raring to go!

It was apparent from the off that Roedean were the stronger team, going 12-0 up after the first quarter. This allowed the team to play a range of different positions throughout the game. The final whistle went with 36-0 on the scoreboards. Some notable highlights include the following: Yasmin proving Miss Bamford wrong in the shooting D AND getting rebounds, despite being the shortest player there; Sorcha's celebration when she scored her first goal, even after Miss Bamford told them not to; and Andrea's use of her knees to intercept and catch the ball between her legs!

Well done to Andrea and Matilda for their Girl of the Game this week, and a huge well done to the team for another successful season.

Miss Bamford