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HEAD’S
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WEEKLY REVIEW
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7 May 2021 – Issue 3
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Good luck to all those in Year 9 who have their DofE Bronze expedition this weekend, and I wish you all a restful weekend and a good week ahead!
12 May – 5:45pm
Jasmine’s Double Clear Round
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Careers Fair
BHCC U13s Taverners Cup Game Win
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Tomorrow is our second virtual Open Day, and I am delighted that we will be welcoming over 150 families to the event. At a time when we are unable to welcome large numbers onto the school site, our virtual tour, which includes contributions from many members of staff and girls, is an excellent alternative. I would like to thank everyone involved, and the Admissions Department in particular.
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On Wednesday next week, we are hosting a virtual Careers Fair, which is open to all yeargroups. There is an impressive line-up of guests bia including many ORs. representing 25 professions, am The girls will be ableZto ‘walk around’ the virtual fair, speaking to the different representatives, as they would do in person. I am grateful to the Roedeanian Office, and to Dr Hannan and Mrs Sharp for setting up this exciting event. la
I would also like to congratulate all those in Years 13 and 11, who have come to the end of the first week of their assessments. Well done! This has been an uncertain year for all our Year 11 and Year 13 girls, but I am very pleased that they will soon be able to focus on the exciting next stage
of their education. Following these assessments, they will begin bespoke Pre-Degree and Pre-A Level programmes. These will allow them to find out more and experience university and Sixth Form study, in preparation for next year.
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Head’s Introduction
The highlight of the week for many of us was listening to our prospective Year 12 Prefects talking passionately, and with such integrity and insight, about leadership and the areas of the School where they wanted to make an impact. They were very impressive, so well done to every girl who has put herself forward for these important roles.
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Race Around the World – we’ve reached
CAREERS FAIR
7 May 2021 – Issue 3
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.
Alma (Yr11), and Victoria and Toni (Yr12) for their excellent contributions to this week’s Chapel [RB] Alma (Yr11) – Au Bord de l’Eau by Fauré
Staff heroes in the spotlight Each week, a member of staff who has gone above and beyond the call of duty can be nominated by their colleagues or the girls. Mrs Chandler for running Year 7 athletics club with Miss Wakeling – she couldn't do it without you! [KWA]
Mr Homer for giving his expertise as a sound engineer and many hours of his time to advise on the purchase and installation of a fantastic new sound system for the Music classroom [BMR]
Miss Bamford for getting the gym up and running for the boarders; the girls love it, thank you! [KWA]
Jasmine’s Double Clear Round Sixth Form Shining Stars Holly (Yr12) for printing out revision checklists for our friendship group [nominated by Jemma]
Lauren (Yr13) for helping me with Psychology [nominated by Holly]
Jasmine (Yr7) has competed in the Eventer’s Challenge at Coomblands, where she achieved a really fast time of 64.9 seconds with a double clear round. Overall, it was a very positive training and learning experience, and was amazing seeing her perform tight jump off turns and demonstrating great confidence and skill with her horse Boo! This was such an incredible opportunity to test her and Boo’s skills, and she is gaining more experience in these events, the more she competes. Well done, Jasmine and Boo; the Roedean XC shirt and hat silk with pom pom certainly looked amazing!
Seaspiracy In our cooking Community Action Programme (CAP) project, we have been reflecting on our consumer habits and analysing ways to increase the sustainability of our diet. Whilst investigating, our research has led us to a lot of startling figures about food cultivation. To understand the full effect of our consumption tendencies, we decided to watch ‘Seaspiracy’, partly to inform us, but also to scare us into radical change and to become advocates for environmental causes – it most definitely did this, and it is well worth a watch for anyone who needs to be inspired Page 2
into changing their lifestyle (something I didn’t realise I needed until I watched it!). Lara (Yr12)
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Chapel – Finding Your Voice
Year 8 Instrument Projects
Ms Keller led Chapel this week, with Toni and Victoria (Yr12), focusing on having the confidence to find and share your voice:
This week, the Year 8 instrument projects are introducing you to the Harp, Bassoon, and Flute. If you would like more information about these instruments, come along to the Music Department at break or lunch. SOB
One Wednesday in January this year, in Washington D.C., a striking young woman stood at a podium on the steps of the US Capitol.
MUSIC PROJECT ABOUT FLUTE
She was surrounded by the country’s leaders, who were masked against the pandemic. She was unmasked. She radiated joy, conviction, and purpose, as she read her poem – called The Hill We Climb – that she had written to mark the inauguration of Joe Biden as 46th president of the US. Tears sprang from the eyes of many listeners, those weary and wary from four years of domestic discord – hearing her words, they felt hope for the future. This woman’s name? Amanda Gorman. She is America’s first national youth poet laureate and, at 22, she also is the youngest poet accorded the honour of delivering the presidential inaugural poem. But despite her youth, Amanda Gorman’s assurance and bearing made her seem to stand outside time. She had not wanted to dwell on the rancour, racism, and division of America’s four years under the Trump administration. Instead, she wanted to: “use my words to envision a way in which our country can still come together and can still heal”. That way would require action, and so her poem declares: “We lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms… so we can reach out our arms… to one another,
7 May 2021 – Issue 3
By Venice & Sienna
who was a middle-school English teacher, Amanda overcame daunting obstacles to forge her path. She and her twin sister were born prematurely. In kindergarten, this future poet was diagnosed with an auditory disorder that gave her a speech impediment. As she struggled to improve her spoken fluency, she also strove for social justice. For her, it was clear from the start that expression was to be both poetic and political.
Bassoon JASMINE & SAMANTHA
At the age of 16, she founded a nonprofit organisation to support poetry workshops and youth advocacy leadership skills, called One Pen One Page. The following year, she published her first poetry book. In the first week of January this year, Amanda Gorman was halfway through writing her poem, The Hill We Climb, when a mob of angry Trump supporters invaded the US Capitol in an attempt to violently overturn the election result.
THE HARP B Y R I D A A N D K AT E
She finished the poem in the hours after the melee, undeterred. Lin Manuel Miranda – the writer and director of the stage play Hamilton congratulated her as follows: “The right words – in the right order – can change the world; – and you proved that yesterday. Keep changing the world, – one word at a time.” As Amanda writes in her forthcoming book, Change Sings: I can hear change humming In its loudest, proudest song.
we seek harm to none – and harmony for all.”
I don’t fear change coming,
Amanda Gorman knows the importance of taking action to make the change you want to see. Raised in Los Angeles by a single mother,
And so I sing along.
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If you would like to be featured playing your instrument or singing in the Head's Review, please send a recording to Ms Bartlette, sob@roedean.co.uk. We really enjoy hearing them, and video or just audio is fine – please remember to introduce your piece at the beginning!
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
7 May 2021 – Issue 3
Literary supplement
New Fiction Books in the Library The Boy who Made Everyone Laugh – by Helen Rutter
Kate in Waiting – by Becky Albertalli
Billy Plimpton is an eleven-year-old boy with a big dream. He wants to be a stand-up comedian when he grows up: delivering pinpoint punch-lines and having audiences hang on his every hilarious word. A tough career for anyone, but surely impossible for Billy, who has a stammer. How will he find his voice, if his voice won't let him speak? The idea for this story came from Helen Rutter's son, who has a stammer: she wanted to write the book that he would love to read, starring a child like him.
Best friends, and contrary to popular belief, not codependent. Examples: Carpooling to and from theatre rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway. But when Kate and Andy's latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off-script.
Show Us Who You Are – by Elle McNicoll
Alpha Omega – by Nicolas Bowling
When Cora's brother drags her along to his boss's house, she doesn't expect to strike up a friendship with Adrien, son of the intimidating CEO of Pomegranate Technologies. As she becomes part of Adrien's life, she is also drawn into the mysterious projects at Pomegranate. At first, she's intrigued by them – Pomegranate is using AI to recreate real people in hologram form. As she digs deeper, however, she uncovers darker secrets... Cora knows she must unravel their plans, but can she fight to make her voice heard, whilst never losing sight of herself?
With the discovery of a human skull on the playing fields, children displaying symptoms of an unfamiliar, grisly virus, and a catastrophic malfunction in the site's security system, the NSA is about to experience a week that no amount of rebranding can conceal. As the school descends into chaos, teacher Tom Rosen goes looking for answers, but when the real, the unreal, and the surreal are indistinguishable, the truth can be difficult to recognise. One pupil, Gabriel Backer, may hold the key to saving the school from destroying itself and its students, except he has already been expelled. Not only that – he has disappeared down the rabbit-hole of "Alpha Omega", the world's largest VR role-playing game, filled with violent delights and unbridled debauchery. But the game quickly sours. Gabriel will need to confront the real world he's been so desperate to escape if he ever wants to leave...
Pretty Funny – by Rebecca Elliott
Haylah Swinton is fairly confident she's brilliant at being a girl. She's an ace best friend, a loving daughter, and an INCREDIBLY patient sister to her four-year-old total nutter of a brother, Noah. But she has a secret. She wants to be a stand-up comedian, but she's pretty sure girls like her – big girls, girls who don't get all the boys, girls who a lot of people don't see – don't belong on stage. That hasn't stopped her dreaming though, and when the seemingly perfect opportunity to write routines for older, cooler, impossibly funny Leo arises . . . well, what's a girl to do? But is Leo quite as interested in helping Haylah as he says he is?
Amari and the Night Brothers – by B.B. Alston
Amari Peters knows three things. Her big brother Quinton has gone missing. No one will talk about it. His mysterious job holds the secret . . . So when Amari gets an invitation to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she’s certain this is her chance to find Quinton. But first she has to get her head around the new world of the Bureau, where mermaids, aliens, and magicians are real, and her roommate is a weredragon.
Run, Rebel – by Manjeet Mann
The Infinity Files – by S.M. WIlson
I am restless, my feet need to fly. Amber is trapped – by her father's rules, by his expectations, by her own fears. Now she's ready to fight – for her mother, for her sister, for herself. Freedom always comes at a price. Run, Rebel is a trailblazing verse novel that thunders with rhythm, heart, and soul.
Ash Yang dreamed of being a starfighter pilot. But when she crashes out of her final test – literally – she somehow lands the most powerful job in the universe. As Guardian of the Infinity Files, she must secretly planet-hop through the galaxies, stealing or returning treasures that have the power to stop wars… or start them. But when her home planet is the one at war, can she get the job done?
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HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
7 May 2021 – Issue 3
Literary supplement
Getting to know the Roedean Reading Reps Rida (Yr8): My name is Rida and I’m a Reading Representative for Year 8. I wanted to be a Reading Rep because I saw it as a great opportunity to spread my love of reading to my year group. Currently, my favourite book series is the Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens, and I would recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it already! Each book and and the characters mystery always keeps you on the edge of your seat, g is important, readin think I and setting remind me of Roedean a lot! nation! imagi your h stretc and because it’s a great way to relax
Daisy (Yr7): I wanted to be a Reading Rep, because readi ng is one of my favourite occupations, and I wanted to share the enjoyment to be foun d in books with the rest of the school. I think my favourite author would be Terry Pratchett, because I love his style of writin g, as well as the fantasy settings and plot lines . For this reason, I would recommend his Tiffany Aching series if you like more magical books. I’d also recommend the entire Anne of Green Gables series, because she has such a posit ive outlook on life. I think reading is important because it broa dens your vocabulary, interests, and knowledge. It can also inspi re you to write your own stories, or even find something you admire in a character and incorporate it into your own life.
Roedean Staff Reads… Our Reading Club have been out and about interviewing Roedean staff to find out what books they have really enjoyed reading.
Mr Lutwyche (Maths)
Mr Halsey (Maths)
Book: The Thursday Murder Club Author: Richard Osman Description: This book was very funny and engaging. It was set locally and had good characters. One thing I didn't like is that, at the end, it dragged on a little. The writing style was very idiosyncratic and took a little bit of getting used to. My favourite character was Josie. All in all, this book was humorous and unique.
Book: Mystic River (Sixth Form and up) Author: Dennis Lehane Description: I liked that this book painted a picture of life in Boston from several different angles. It included different time frames and a twist at the end. I did need to persevere with it at the start, but as soon as I got into it, I couldn't put it down. The style of writing was fragmented and came from different perspectives. All in all, this book was well written and a page turner.
Dr Hannan (Director of Sixth Form) Favourite Book: Normal People Author: Sally Rooney Description: This book observes the complexity within relationships really well. It allows the reader to form judgements about characters. My favourite character is Cornell, because he is thoughtful and loyal. I thought that the writing style created an atmosphere and was concise in description, but I found the ending a little unsettling.
Mrs Mcwilliams (School Office) Favourite Book: The Humans Author: Matt Haig Description: I liked this book because it was different, and it was sci-fi (a genre that I don't normally read). I liked that Matt Haig seemed to be speaking about what comes into his head. There was nothing that I didn't like. My favourite character was the main alien that hates humans.
*Some brilliant maths books that have also been recommended by Mr Halsey and Mr Lutwyche are The Simpsons and their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh and Humble Pi by Matt Parker.
Miss Bye (School Office) Favourite book: The Faraway Tree Author: Enid Blyton Description: I liked this book when I was younger, because it is so magical and allows you to use your imagination. It had great characters, is descriptive, and you can picture everything. One thing that I didn't like is that there were quite a few sequels that weren't as good. My favourite character was Silky the fairy.
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HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
7 May 2021 – Issue 3
Sport
BHCC U13s Taverners Cup Game Win Well done to Sophie, Grace, Lydia, and Tilly, who played for BHCC U13s vs Horsham in the Lady Taverners Cup Game on Sunday 2 May. B&H fielded first, with Tilly opening the bowling, taking 2 superb wickets in the first over. Lydia managed to bowl a maiden over and also scored a run out. The girls kept the runs low and fielded really well as a team. Horsham were 53 all out after 15 overs. Grace opened the batting and led BHCC to a very comfortable win within the first 5 overs, hitting numerous fours! Well done, girls, on a fantastic match!
A great win for the U15 St James cricket team Last night, the U15 St James girls played their first game of the season vs Ansty Cricket Club. There were 6 Roedean girls on the team: Maria, Eliza, Polly, Georgina, Bridget (making her debut) and Dot (who normally plays U13, but stepped up to play with the U15s). They had a great win, with Maria, Polly and Eliza all retiring on 30, and Bridget and Georgina both finishing the last few overs not out. Dot and Eliza got 2 wickets each and Maria kept wicket, getting a catch behind. Bridget and Georgina bowled very economically. Everyone bowled really straight and accurately and they should be so proud of their excellent performance. The club are delighted to welcome new member Bridget, as she will be a great asset to the team. All girls are looking forward to representing Roedean at cricket fixtures very soon.
Year 7 girls loving being at it in Cricket: Year 7 cricketers have been hard at work these first three weeks in Cricket. Having not played in a while, they quickly got rid of the cobwebs and are now really striding forward. Batting, bowling and fielding drills, and games are focusing on them getting into really good habits, and testing their cricket knowledge and rules associated with the game. Fixtures are starting next week, and the girls are incredibly excited. Let’s get stuck in and learn as much as possible from these opportunities!
7 May 2021 – Issue 3
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Race Around the World – 17,451 Kilometres! Ita
We have made it to Egypt; next stop: Israel! We are still racing around the world, trying to go to every country where a Roedean student is from!
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Please do follow this link, and log your distances – remember, if you have a smart phone, it has probably logged your distances covered automatically, and you can include everything back to the last time you submitted the form – if this is your first time, you can count it all the way back to 1 January 2021, when this challenge began!
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Please follow the relevant link to log your distances:
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Well done, and thank you for getting involved!
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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
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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 7
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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.
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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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