1st December 2017 - Issue 11
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction
Today is the first day of December, and the festive mood has gradually been spreading around Roedean this week, with tinsel, decorations, and cards appearing in classrooms and corridors. This will move to another level today as the whole school prepares for tomorrow’s Christmas Fair which will be a wonderful community event, and I am really looking forward to it. I want to thank, in advance, the Parents’ Guild and all those parents whose vision and hard work has gone into making the fair a wonderful annual event. Last week ended with one of the most memorable and high-quality music concerts of recent years. The space-themed Gala Concert last Friday really was spectacular. I lost count of the number of parents, staff, and girls who left the Chapel with a smile on their faces and words like
‘breath-taking’, ‘incredible’ and ‘inspiring’. Our dedicated, talented and wonderful musicians, led by Miss Fewkes, Mr Rous, and Ms Bartlette, performed a very broad, imaginative and moving range of pieces from Holst to Bowie. The audience, who had also been greeted by Darth Vader and one of his Stormtroopers, were swept along by the performances of the school’s orchestra, choirs and ensembles. Congratulations to everyone involved for your truly outstanding performances. Well done! I am delighted to hear each week about the individual successes and achievements of Roedean girls, and this week they include swimming and acting - well done to Rose and to Layla May. Good luck to the first of our Oxbridge applicants who have been invited for interviews from next Monday - I hope that you all have a good experience. I am also pleased that the
Donating hair to the Little Princess Trust On Thursday evening, five brave girls had their hair cut to donate it to the Little Princess Trust, a charity which makes wigs for children who have lost their hair for a variety of reasons, including those suffering from cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. Donated hair must be at least 7 inches long, which is quite a sacrifice. Well done Maria P, our Charity Prefect, for masterminding this and leading the charge by having her hair cut first, and she was joined by Yian Z and Penny P (Yr13), Hannah LW (Yr12) and Leila L (Yr11). What a brilliant thing to do!
Year 10 Parents’ Evenings went well this week. With the girls one term into their 2-year GCSE courses, this is an important time for them and their parents to touch base with the staff to find out how much progress they are making. Good luck to our Events and Charity Prefects, Jade, Esmee, and Maria, who are hosting a Snow Ball this evening for the Sixth Form and their guests in the Sixth Form Centre at Keswick House. I am sure that it will be fantastic, and a perfect way to lead into the final week of term. I wish you all good luck for the last week of term. It will be very busy, starting off with the House Panto on Monday and quickly followed by Year 11 Parents’ Evening, Junior House Hockey, the Carol Services, Christmas Lunches, and Final Chapel on Friday. Good luck and have a very good week!
Roedean actor in The Crown Congratulations to Layla May B-R (Yr7) who is playing Princess Anne in Series 2 of The Crown, which will premiere globally on Netflix on 8 December. This is a brilliant achievement – Layla May certainly enjoys the ‘life on stage’ and is embracing the dramatic opportunities she has at school as well. It has been a pleasure supporting Layla May throughout this term – her energy and personality are a bright as her smile! JC
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
1st December 2017 - Issue 11
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.
Year 7 girls bring Christmas Cheer to the Chapel Eva P (Y10) for masterminding and sourcing some incredible products for the Christmas Fair [FW]
Year 7 girls decorated the Chapel Christmas Tree this week – it was a lovely ‘festive’ moment for them. The girls really enjoyed themselves, and Amelia M thanked Mrs Hawley for her support and wished her a very Happy Christmas on behalf of Year 7.
Jodie H (Yr13) for going above and beyond in her role as Senior Academic Prefect and for being a real support in HBO’s Chapel last week [HBO & AZ]
House 1
Leila L (Yr11) for her amazing determination always to speak in English in order to develop her linguistic skills [HSM]
Melanie C (Yr13) for looking after the Farm this week [HSM]
Eliza C-H (Yr10) for wonderful generosity of spirit and kindness to others [EEA]
This week’s shopping trip was to County Mall in Crawley, and the twenty-three girls had a lovely afternoon. The Christmas decorations were amazing in the Mall and the girls had a fun afternoon buying Secret Santas and presents to take home for their families. The last shopping trip of the year on Saturday will be to Brighton! In preparation for the Christmas Fair on Saturday, the House 1 girls have been busy making their own House 1 Marmalade! We will be selling this at the fair for £1.00 a jar – do hurry and buy it, because it tastes delicious and it’ll definitely go very fast!
Festive fun in House 4! As we approach the Christmas holidays, the House 4 boarders have absolutely loved the Christmas craft activities and decorating our wonderful house! The girls have handmade their own Christmas wreaths, as well as lots of festive decorations, including hanging tree ornaments! Earlier this week the girls also decorated our Christmas tree whilst singing and dancing to Christmas songs! Merry Christmas from House 4! Page 2
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
A Space Spectacular – Roedean’s Gala Concert Visitors to Roedean’s chapel on Friday evening were greeted by Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper. They were then shown into an almost unrecognisable chapel, which had been strung with lights and had a beautifully atmospheric projection of the moon and stars on the vaulted ceiling. This initial contrast, between playfully intimidating characters, and beautiful fantastical scenery set the tone for what was a superb evening of entertainment. From the very first notes of Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, the bar was set high. The orchestra took us on a journey to Mars and into the universe of George Lucas with a sublime rendering of John Williams’ three most iconic compositions from the Start Wars franchise. If the orchestral introduction was bold, confident, and accomplished, then the change in tone to the first choral portion of the programme was subtle, understated, and haunting. It was a joy to hear the senior singers performing as an ensemble, their voices working together so that all were stars that shone together.
The Concert Band earned their name with powerful and enthusiastic arrangements of favourites from television and rock music. Mr Rous’ high-energy conducting served to lead musicians and audience alike towards the concert’s crescendo. The choir’s triumphant version of Bowie’s Starman led us towards the superb finale: a welcome reprise of Life on Mars from last February’s concert. The audience gave a deserved standing ovation, and I left with a smile on my face and a sense of tremendous pride in our performers. Thank you and congratulations to Ms Fewkes, Mr Rous, Ms Bartlette, every single performer, and all of the Roedean Music Department. HBO
We then moved into strings, with an energetic and appropriately jolly rendition of Jupiter from the Junior Strings, ably led by Abby L, before a beautiful and moving duo of intergenerational Star Trek pieces, followed by the delightful ‘City of Stars’, all from the String Orchestra, led by Freya S.
House 2 Super Supper Last Monday, House 2 had their Super Supper. All House 2 boarders came together to enjoy a fantastic meal of pizza, sushi, garlic bread, wedges, pigs in blankets, salad and, for dessert, fruit kebabs and marshmallows to dip in chocolate fondue! Although the menu was not very Christmassy, the décor certainly was and a few girls added a little cheer to the festive mood with their amazing Christmas jumpers. We also had the honour of having Father Christmas pay us a short but exciting visit to deliver Secret Santas. This was followed by a disco party in the GDR, where some of our girls (and staff) showed their best moves. What a great way to start getting ready for the holiday season. Page 3
1st December 2017 - Issue 11
1st December 2017 - Issue 11
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Clélia’s Piano Masterclass
Sixth Form House suppers
On Monday, Roedean had the pleasure of welcoming internationally renowned pianist, Clélia Iruzun, to listen and guide our pianists in a day-long masterclass. The girls thoroughly enjoyed Ms Iruzun’s knowledgeable comments and demonstration. The students played a fantastic range of piano repertoire, from Scarlatti and Purcell to Chopin and Rachmaninov. It was wonderful to hear them perform in the afternoon recital and see the difference in their confidence and projection. Ms Iruzun delighted us at the end with two flamboyant pieces written by Brazilian composers. She also commented on the polite and intelligent manner of all the girls involved. Congratulations to everyone who took part. SOB
The Sixth Form houses had their house suppers this week - they had lots of fun, dancing, eating, and singing. Everyone’s overflowing with Christmas cheer!
Roedean at The Guild of Entrepreneurs in London Maggie H, Yasmin M (from Year 13 Business) and Ms Stidston travelled to London on Wednesday to represent the school at the Guild of Entrepreneurs Showcase. All the Guild’s various projects and the young entrepreneurs that it supports were invited to attend, to share their stories, and find out about how the support of the Guild is making a difference. ‘On Wednesday evening, Maggie and I represented Roedean School at the Outreach and Guild Showcase 2017. We heard about all their amazing work and the many projects they have planned for 2018. We heard from several companies on how they have helped in different ways, from offering work placements to question & answer sessions. We were glad to learn how the Guild had been very successful with its projects. In times of need, there is a great networking base, which was evident when the Grenfell Tower fires occurred. We heard a very moving story
about a tutoring college that was able to provide its services to the many children affected by the tragedy. Through this journey, they gained confidence, self-esteem, and they were able to put their shattered lives back together. This was also a great opportunity for us to network with several entrepreneurs and meet many old Roedeanians which was another highlight of the day!’ Yasmin M, Maggie H, and Ms Stidston
Congratulations to Rose O (Yr7), who won the Cup for 11-year olds at the Swim Club Championships. Her best strokes are breaststroke and butterfly, but winning 11 golds and 5 silvers shows her strength in depth. Amazingly, she won medals in the 50m, 100m, 200m in all four strokes, Butterfly, Breast, Back, and Free, and also in the 400m Free and the 100m, 200m, and 400m Individual Medley. What an amazing achievement!
Volleyball Our senior volleyball team had their first match against Burgess Hill on Thursday. They were excited to put their skills that they had learnt into action. The first set, our girls were a little nervous on court and were afraid to go for every shot, but
11 Golds and 5 Silvers for Rose
JJ WHAT’S COMING UP IN THE
after a half time team talk, they then upped their communication and managed to score a total of 8 points. Burgess hill were strong as they were able to effectively set their shots up and spike the ball down. The third set, Roedean were off to a good lead and were communicating well and serving strong, so this put us in the lead. Burgess Hill were defending the ball well and managed to turn it around resulting in a win for them with 25-13. The player of the match was Anne H and a huge well done to the girls you should be extremely proud!
WEEK AHEAD?
Mon 4 Dec
House Panto Competition
Tue 5 Dec
Year 11 Parents’ Evening Kids’ Lit Quiz National Final Years 12 & 13 GovPol trip to ‘Oslo’ Theatre Performance
Wed 6 Dec
Junior House Hockey
Thur 7 Dec
Carol Services
Fri 8 Dec
Final Chapel and Handshaking
Years 11 & 12 Classics trip to British Museum Christmas Dinner END OF TERM Years 12 & 13 New York trip
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