5th May 2017 - Issue 2
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction We started the week with a fantastic showcase of Roedean’s atmosphere and talent at our May Day Open Day. The school and grounds looked their best and the grounds and maintenance team are to be congratulated. The girls were excellent ambassadors for the school, the staff were wonderfully enthusiastic, and we had more visitors than ever coming to see our unique mix of an academic and truly holistic education. Whether the girls were tour guides, helping in departments, speaking, or performing, they were excellent – our visitors were hugely impressed with everything they saw, but, most of all, they commented on how confident and passionate the girls are. The public examinations season is well underway now, with more speaking exams for
our linguists and Art exams too. I am delighted to see how well the girls are coping with this. I know that they have worked hard and prepared well, so we wish them all the very best. It is great to see the girls enjoying all our summer term sports, with rounders, cricket, athletics, and more going on at Roedean and beyond. Our musicians are working particularly hard at the moment, and we are all looking forward to seeing the biggest event in Roedean’s musical calendar, the Brighton Festival Fringe concert, on Saturday. Our choir will be performing three fantastic pieces, and the orchestra will accompany five wonderful soloists. Very best of luck to all our performers, the Music Department and to Tiffany, Freya, Briana, Gabriella, and Fran. I have no doubt that the concert will be a triumph!
Bronze DofE Another successful DofE trip went out last weekend, confirming that everyone at Bronze level is ready to enter the next round, which is their qualifying expedition in June! Although there was less mud, more sunshine and warmer temperatures compared to the training expedition back in March, some groups still found themselves very lost. Despite this, the teams worked well together to find their way again and observe the beautiful countryside
around them – wild deer were even spotted. The stunning views up on the hills around Ditchling were momentarily ignored when several DofE groups from another school (all boys!) traipsed past them! Thank you very much to the Outspark staff, Dan and Joel, Mrs Dunlop, Miss Hawks, and Miss Schleiden, for making the experience another memorable one.
Next week is Positive Mental Health Week, and we have a wide range of activities on offer for the girls. Those doing public exams will certainly benefit from this, but everyone has exams this term, so this week will be valuable for all. Throughout the week, the focus will be on taking advantage of our wonderful grounds. There will be sports, yoga, a picnic, baking, exploring the site, along with healthy eating and nutrition. On top of this, Nahida challenged both staff and students to see if they could do without their phones during the day for the whole week; although some looked terrified at this prospect, I would encourage everyone to rise to the challenge! Good luck to all our musicians on Saturday, and to everyone for next week!
Roedean Gardening Club is happy to be a home for your neglected garden tools. We need spades, forks, trowels... Give those dusty sheds a spring clean!