5 March 2021 - Issue 7
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction
2021 has been a year of stops and starts, but I am very much looking forward to meeting many of the girls and my colleagues back in School next week. We are all excited to see the girls rediscovering their school and grounds, hearing them in the corridors and classrooms, watching them meet the farm animals again, and seeing them playing sports. At the same time, we must remember that some of the girls and a few members of staff will not be able to return, and it will be more important than ever for us to think of our community as a whole. We must continue to look out for each other, and, most of all, be careful and stay safe. On Monday 8 March, we will all be marking International Women’s Day with our amazing remote conference. The eighteen speakers are all impressive and successful women, and I am sure that their insights and experiences will be inspiring. We are fortunate to have many opportunities at School to hear from such impressive role-models, and I am delighted to invite our girls, parents, staff, and Old Roedeanians to attend our virtual Headmaster’s Lecture on 17 March. Our guest speaker is Sarah Jenkins, the Managing Director of Saatchi & Saatchi London, and I am sure that it will be an excellent event.
Photo by Alice (Yr 7)
Headmaster’s Lecture: In Conversation with Sarah Jenkins We are delighted to invite you to attend our inaugural Headmaster’s Lecture on Wednesday 17 March 2021, at which the speaker will be Sarah Jenkins. Sarah is Managing Director of Saatchi & Saatchi London, shaping the strategic direction of the agency. She is a passionate advocate for greater diversity in the advertising industry; she has been instrumental in work of the Advertising Diversity Task Force, which encourages collaboration between forward-thinking and progressive agencies to make the communication industry more diverse. Tickets for this virtual event are free, but you are welcome to make a charitable donation to support the School’s work in the local community and beyond. Please book your place here www.roedeantheatre.co.uk, and you will be sent a link to access the event in due course. INTERNATIONAL WOME N’S DAY 2021
www.roedeantheatre.co.uk
It was fantastic to be able to show off our School to the 112 families who came to our virtual Open Day last weekend. Although they were not able to come in person, we were able to take them on our new virtual tour, which allowed them to explore the site and see all that Roedean has to offer. The feedback has been very positive indeed, and I am delighted that the day went so well. I would like to thank the Dr Barrand, Mrs Banham and the entire Admissions Team for making Open Day such a success, but also to everyone who contributed to the day. This week has seen the girls engaging in lots of activities for World Book Day, taking part in our virtual ‘Race Around the World’, and taking part in the School’s Strava Challenge. I am very proud of how the girls have responded to these challenging times. Next week’s testing schedule is all planned and we are ready to get everyone back into School safely. I am very grateful to Mr Chamberlain, Mr Wailes, the testing team, and the many people who have been involved in getting the School ready and in making sure that this all runs smoothly. I wish you all a lovely weekend, I am looking forward to attending our International Women’s Day event on Monday, and good luck for next week!
Alexia’s Impeckable assignment
World Book Day
ROEDEAN’SIWD21 FESTIVAL CELEBRATING INSPIRING WOMEN
Open Day Performances
5 March 2021 - Issue 7
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
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.
Race Around the World - 10,486 Kilometres! Wow! We have made it to Angola, so there’s not far to go till we get to South Africa! Well done to everyone who has logged their distances via wufoo – we’ve already been to 8 countries where Roedean girls live, 19 countries in total! Here is the breakdown of the four different groups taking part, along with the top performer in each: Students
Asmitha and Daisy (Yr7), Abisha (Yr9), Niamh (Yr10) for their contributions to this week’s Chapel [DWO/HSH]
3992.72
Top Performer = Izzy (Yr8) Staff
784.6
Top Performer = Felicity Russell (No. 1, 1968-75)
402.6
Please follow the relevant link to log your distances – as this is like a New Year’s Resolution, you can include distances back to 1 January! Race Around the World 2.0 STUDENT Race Around the World 2.0 STAFF Race Around the World 2.0 PARENT Race Around the World 2.0 OR
923.6 3310.99
Top Performer = Mr Carter (Head of Geography) Parents
955
UK
2397.53
Top Performer = Mr Fulkes
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
ORs
557
2021
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ROEDEAN’S FESTIVAL CELEBRATING INSPIRING WOMEN
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Nigeria Ghana
#IWD21 #ChoosetoChallenge
Well done, and thank you for getting involved! RB
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To make it easier to log your distances regularly, you can pin the wufoo link to your browser by clicking on ‘Bookmark this tab’ or similar, depending on your browser.
Ang
It will be wonderful on Monday to hear from our amazingly inspirational speakers - hopefully you will all be inspired! Ahead of the day, it is important to acknowledge how grateful we are to all the speakers, who are giving up their time to share their experiences with the girls!
If the country where you currently live does not appear on the route because you also have a UK address on the school database, please do let us know before we reach that country by emailing Miss Boles on jbo@roedean.co.uk.
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5 March 2021 - Issue 7
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Virtual Open Day Last Saturday, Roedean hosted its first virtual Open Day with our new 360 Virtual Tour. It was fantastic to be able to welcome 112 families to the event, including about twenty international families and eight for the Sixth Form. Our visitors were taken on a tour, after which they attended the main presentation, where they heard from the Headmaster, the two Head Girls, Eden and Victoria, and Lydia (Yr8), as well as enjoying two wonderful pieces prepared for the event - you can hear them by clicking on the pictures opposite. We have had very positive feedback from the families who came, and they particularly enjoyed the 3 Q&A sessions we hosted, in which they were able to send questions through the ‘chat’ function, and they were answered live. Congratulations and thank you to Mrs Banham and the entire Admissions Department, who worked incredibly hard to set up the event, to Miss Boles, who has been working tirelessly on the brilliant 360 Tour for months, to Mr Ebden, Mrs Strachan, and Miss Wakeling who spoke on the tour, to Mr Burlinson, who oversaw the technical side of things on the day brilliantly, and to Miss Markey, who worked hard with the girls to produce the two outstanding performances. RB
Alexia’s Impeckable assignment Well done to Alexia (Yr7) for her incredible Biology assignment. The piece had two parts: firstly, the class researched the different types of wings present on specific animal species; and secondly, they were challenged to design and create wings suitable for humans. I was really impressed with the life-size wings that Alexia created, and her in-depth consideration of the most appropriate materials to use. Her wings have a span of 6.7 metres, with 108 individual feathers on the wings. No two feathers are identical, although opposite pairs are mirror twins, and the wings weigh 5 kilogrammes.
added strength, and made sure the structure was symmetrical. To make the feathers, we used loads and loads of cardboard. We cut out primary feathers and secondary feathers, and made the first five for the wing tip go up like eagle feathers. With the wing structure hanging from the ceiling, we started to add the feathers on.
Alexia said: ‘It was important that we made the structure light and strong, just like a bird’s wing. We considered a number of materials, like wooden poles or metal pipes, which were both too heavy. Carbon fibre poles would have been ideal, but were too expensive. We settled on plastic conduit. We used a saw to cut each pipe to the right length, hot-glued them together at the joints for
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We used masking tape to hold each feather in place, to make sure each individual feather was the right distance from the wing, and we used interconnected strips to recreate the internal structure of a bird’s wing. McLaren Automotive sent me some of the ultra-lightweight fabrics that they use in racing cars. We used some dark blue Page 3
Alcantara for the greater covert on the back of the wing, an incredibly light and strong material called ultra fabric for the underwing coverts on the front of the wing (light blue), and some black and yellow Alcantara for the lesser covert over the top of the wings.’ What an amazing project! NGA
5 March 2021 - Issue 7
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Sixth Form Pathway Lectures On Monday 1 March, the second Sixth Form Pathways lectures for 2021 took place.
Jonjo Hobbs Managing Director
The Pathways lectures offer students in the Sixth Form the opportunity to learn from ORs, parents, and industry experts, about their experiences in the workplace, their career journey, and their cutting-edge research or developments, and they are themed according to four ‘Pathways’: STEM; Business, Economics, and Enterprise; Society; and Creative and Performing Arts.
SIXTH FORM
PATHWAY LECTURES
This year was a little different, as each lecture is taking place via Teams. However, this has meant that we are able to hear from speakers living all over the world, and many Year 11 students were also able to click on the Teams link and enter the talk to watch it live. If any parents or ORs would be interested in delivering a talk next academic year, please be in touch with Dr Hannan (gh@ roedean.co.uk).
Elaine Yip Apprentice Civil Engineer
Kiana Kamalian Apprentice Engineer I attended the STEM lecture by Kiana Kamalian and Elaine Yip. They are both apprentice engineers and members of the Women’s Engineering Society, which encourages as many girls as possible to pursue a career in engineering. Kiana is an apprentice engineer at Carlsberg UK, a passion that she discovered working as a Brewdog bartender while studying HNC, Level 4, in engineering at Milton Keynes College. Elaine is an apprentice civil engineer, working at Mott Macdonald and studying at Liverpool John Moore University she discovered her passion for structures and how they were made, by beginning to pay more attention to the buildings and constructions that surrounded her.
I attended the Business pathway elective by Jonjo Hobbs, who acts as a Managing Director at Capita Procurement Solutions. This event was particularly insightful for me, as someone who is considering a career in consultancy and exploring different pathways to do so. Listening to him live gave me the opportunity to ask questions I would not normally know the answer to, for example how to gain technological and data-management skills in this increasingly digital world. He talked about what he looked for during recruitment, and it was reassuring to learn about the various career paths one could take to lead to a role in consultancy. Tuhina (Yr12) – Business pathway
Jane Chan Freelance dancer and choreographer Jane Chan is a freelance dancer and choreographer, who attended Roedean from 2006 to 2008. Her lecture addressed the importance of how we face and overcome failure in our lives. This resonated with me, as a student who will soon face the highs and lows of university and job interviews. She discussed how, in the creative arts, facing failure is an integral part of a dancer’s career, but that failure shouldn’t be considered negative; rather, it is how we use our failures that enables us to improve and become the best versions of ourselves. Rarely does anyone start something – be that a hobby or a career – and face immediate success. Our failures are what teach us how to improve, in order to reach our fullest potential and succeed at the things we love and find joy in. Jane also stressed the importance of self-care, particularly under the current circumstances, and how we each need to strive to talk about our feelings and do the things which make us happiest – to mess around or have a boogie! Most of all, she emphasised how we must love and accept ourselves, and that ‘everyone else is taken, you might as well be yourself’. The lecture highlighted how often we, as women, struggle to find the positive qualities in ourselves – the things that make us stand out as the strong, capable, and unique women we are. Jane’s words were incredibly inspirational and encouraged us to appreciate the qualities we see within ourselves as readily as we appreciate the abundance of virtues we see in our friends and family. Once we gain the confidence to truly value ourselves within, that confidence translates into how we present ourselves outwardly, and so, not only does it nurture our mental health, but it is also an asset in achieving success. Stella (Yr12) – Creative and Performing Arts
The talk was inspiring, and I found it particularly interesting to hear about the very different career paths that they took to get where they are now. They also discussed the many different areas of engineering that exist, such as chemical, environmental, and structural, and the many different routes that you can take to get there. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture, as it really opened my eyes to the wide variety of careers it is possible to pursue within the engineering industry, and the many different careers that stem from these. It was especially useful to discover that there is no one way of becoming an engineer; it differs from person to person, and the area you decide on can be anywhere from very specialised to more general.
Over the Moon with Alice’s Photos Alice (Yr7) took this fantastic photo of the moon through the lens of her telescope last week. The full moon was incredibly bright and the photos show some of its features, such as the Tycho crater, extremely clearly. Brilliant!
Olivia (Yr12) – STEM lecture Page 4
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
World Book Day at Roedean World Book Day may have felt a lot different this year – but don't worry, we are planning an extravaganza next term when we are back in school in person! That's not to say that we didn't have a wonderful time virtually, with lots of amazing fancy dress costumes – prizes to be announced soon! – and book quizzes and activities happening during tutor and lesson times. Huge thanks to Ms Peters, Ms Shevah, and Ms Emelamadu for their inspiring author discussions with
me – we hope everyone enjoyed listening to Roedean's resident writers about what it's REALLY like to be an author! And, of course, thank you to our incredible Reading Reps, especially Abby in Year 13, and Alice and Daisy in Year 7, who designed the quizzes. Keep sending in your book reviews and recommendations, and keep your eyes peeled for more exciting book events coming your way soon! HSH
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5 March 2021 - Issue 7
5 March 2021 - Issue 7
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
UK Intermediate Mathematics Challenge – 21 Golds! Problem-solving skills have never been more critical to success than in the modern world. Last month, almost 160 Year 9, 10, and 11 students put their logic skills to the test, by participating in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge. The results are now in and we have much to celebrate: 21 students were awarded a Gold Certificate, 23 achieved Silver, and 32 achieved Bronze! The highest scoring student was Hebe in Year 10, with a fantastic score which qualifies her for the Hamilton Olympiad later this month. 19 more students have also qualified for further rounds in the competition, and we look forward to the next challenge.
Voice Workshop with Liz Flint There was a wonderful voice workshop held on teams on Tuesday with the West End resident voice coach on Matilda the Musical, Liz Flint. She introduced a group of Year 8 pupils to a range of detailed vocal exercises, to extend their breath control, articulation, and vocal projection. It was a real insight into the type of exercises a professional actor would experience. She also answered questions about the production rehearsal process, and revealed that it is her responsibility to maintain the vocal health of the company. This means that, although the cast have a short warm-up before the show, Matilda has a solo 30-minute warm-up to ensure stamina and vocal agility. The process starts in the rehearsal room before the young actor even steps a foot onstage. The pupils really appreciated the chance to experience the exact same warm-ups that are used by the cast. Here are a few feedback comments from Naisha:
Congratulations to all who took part. JLH
HHH Haikus and Minimalist Poems Miss Orrells’ Year 7 & 8 HHH classes have written some beautiful poetry this week. They were tasked with writing haikus and minimalist poems in response to nature, and here is some of their work:
How did you feel about vocal warmups before the workshop – are they important? I never really did any before, but now I see how important they are and how useful they are. Did Liz help you to explore your vocal skills – if so, how did she do this, and what exercises did you enjoy? Liz helped me explore new techniques to improve my vocal skills. She taught us lots of different exercises, my favourites were the tongue twisters and the exercise where we had to put our finger on our tongue and pretend we were cutting carrots. What did you like about hearing about Matilda the Musical and the rehearsal process? I loved the experience, learning from the voice coach of Matilda, and hearing about the rehearsal prosses of a West End show. I found the whole workshop amazing. I loved learning new techniques, hearing stories from Matilda the musical, and much more. Jamie said: ‘The chance to do this workshop was a wonderful experience, so thank you so much. I felt the vocal warm ups done with Liz were extremely helpful, because now that i know them, i can practice them. It is important because if you don't warm up your voice it can be damaged. Liz was so amazing and helpful walking us through the workshop. For example my favourite was the one where you lie on the floor as it felt relaxing as well and it was super helpful! I loved hearing and finding out about how Liz works with the children for the theatre production Matilda, and how she coaches them so they dont hurt their voices. It was an amazing experience and I would love to do it again!’
The cool calm wind Rustled against the dewey grass And the sky was dim as an empty hallway Bella (Yr7)
own grass, The freshly m g in the win d, W illo w shiver in lt blue Clear sky co ba Agatha (Yr8)
The sky is so blue, The sun’s shining through at you, Just take a deep breath Hermione (Yr8)
son The sky crimr and ambe lled The earth fi v with lo e more Peace once Hettie (Yr8)
Wind rushing past me The immense sunshine glistened I stood in silence Tildy (Yr8)
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ft, Crackling and so and Shades of green brow n colours, la Nature’s um brel Iris (Yr7)
As the sun rises, And the flowers blossom again, The sky will be blue Chloe (Yr8)
fields Sunset, rolling lley hides A beautiful va t hills In the perfec Freya (Yr8)
Urban city air
Fresh green trees line the road
The clouds ar e pretty
Daisy (Yr8)
on Endless horiz blue Sea is full of n e and gre bove Seagulls fly a Willow (Yr8)
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
5 March 2021 - Issue 7
SPORT
Strava Challenge - Week 7 results A huge well done to all of those that took part in last week's challenge! Both Harriet and Gabby (Yr7) performed brilliantly, taking on Level 2 completing a 6KM run, and Alice (Yr10) completed Level 1 with a 4KM Run. Our staff have also been keeping active, which is great to see! Both Mr Borsoi and Mrs Miller undertook some great runs, with scenic routes too! A special mention goes to Mrs Orrells, who completed Level 3 and did 8KM on a lovely sunny day in a fantastic time! SCH
Marathon walk Huge congratulations go to both Katie and Alex (Yr9), who embarked on a marathon walk at the weekend in the glorious sunshine! They walked a total of 45.5km in a time of 8:24:47, so further than a marathon! They said, 'It was a fantastic feeling, but the longest walk ever!'. What a fantastic achievement!
Star of the Week The Star of the Week this week was Galina (Yr9). She goes above and beyond in her PE lessons, doing extra work to make sure she is ready for the next lesson.
Special Mention Congratulations to Harriet (Yr7), who has been working hard during lockdown and has been consistently working on her cycling, logging up to 80km in her lunch breaks, and cycling consistently after school in the local area. Well done! Page 7
5 March 2021 - Issue 7
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
FEEDBACK FROM THE ROEDEAN COMMUNITY We are very grateful for the wonderful feedback the School has received – please do continue to let us know what is going well, as well as what you think we might improve:
I just wanted to say that we are so impressed and hugely grateful for everything the staff are doing this term. My daughter is happy, upbeat, and motivated, and a lot of that is thanks to the School, the fun and engaging lessons, and the cocurricular timetable.
I just wanted to send a quick thanks. To be honest, to everyone at Roedean. The positivity that my daughter receives through each interaction is very much appreciated. She remains happy and engaged.
Year 7 Parent
y I am say how very happ to e it wr to ed ress. She I just want m y daughter’s prog with R oedean and lutely loves ever y way and abso e School in ed m so os bl s ha th ateful for all that ntastic school. I am so gr fa a ch e her with su has do ne to provid e is only in Year 9 and has ow sh start to life. I kn d with her t I am so impresse bu t, lef s ar ye ny ma development. me some tic and she has co as nt fa e ar es ad ovided Her gr ed. The nurture pr in jo t rs fi e sh e ed. way si nc could have expect I an th e or m is at R oedean focus on e right balance of th y tl ac ex is e er rson. By Th as on the whole pe ll we as ic em ad ac a duri ng the r ability in Dram he in ce en id nf co her gaining she could channel at th ed is al re a Year 7, A nn She has seen academic studies. r he to in ce en id co nf the results! th the R oedean coupled wi of n io it ad tr e th e of I love ems to be a cultur se e er Th k. oo tl ou . m oder n itless poss ibilities courage and of lim Year 9 Parent
Thank you and all of the Roedean staff for providing such fantastic online learning and support for my daughter.. She can’t wait to be back with you all in House 2 and in the classroom.
Thanks to all the teachers who are wor king so hard under difficult circumstance s and we really apprec iated their time at Parent s’ Evening on Thursday it was nice to see their fa ces! Year 9 Parent
Year 10 Parent
I just wanted to drop you a line to say what fabu lous job you did this morning with the virtual opena day. all thought it was a fanta stic morning and, despite We being there in pers on, we felt it work ed exce ptio not nally well - better in some ways! We love d the virtual tour and there were a coup le of plac es that we hadn’t previously had a chan ce to see on othe r visits. My daughter can’t wait star t exploring when the link comes out… actually,tothat is probably true for us all. The Q&A work ed particula rly well. As alwa ys, the were impressive and it was fanta stic to see how girls current rest rictions have n’t impa cted the abilitythe to deliver great perform ances. We’ve neve r come away from any of your ts disa ppointed (rea l or virtual). My daughter even is now incre dibly excited to get back to your cam in the sum mer and starting to sett le into her new pus Roe dean life. Parents whose daughter will be joinin
g Roedean in September 2021
Thank you for everything that you have done to keep the girls learning, during such challenging times. It’s truly remarkable that such a vast programme of academic work, sport, and cocurricular has been available. You are all so patient and so positive, and encouraging. I have no doubt this has been a difficult time for you, as well as the girls, and yet you remain upbeat and always so professional. We cannot explain how lucky we feel that our daughter is able to avail of everything that has been on offer, and despite lockdown, has continued her education uninterrupted.
Year 7 Parent
We welcome contributions from all parts of the Roedean community. If you have something you would like featured in the Headmaster’s Weekly Review, please email: marketing@roedean.co.uk Page 8
Year 10 Parents
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