7 June 2019 - Issue 6
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Peter Pan
Head’s Introduction Two important highlights of the week have involved looking backwards in time and looking beyond Roedean. On Thursday, we held a special service in the Quad, overlooking the English Channel, to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. The impact of the readings and hymns while overlooking the sea on a bright morning was very moving. Not only is D-Day a highly significant event in twentieth-century history, the fact that Roedean housed a Naval training base in World War II gives D-Day particular significance for us. The servicemen and women at Roedean would have watched the boats and ships as they departed across the Channel to the Normandy beaches. The School remembered those who served and their sacrifices along with a great many other services across the world. Also on Thursday, we delivered our first set of freshly cooked meals to the homeless in Brighton. One of our aims is to make deeper and more significant connections with the local community and I am delighted that we have forged a strong connection with local charity, Off the Fence. Our Catering Department prepared 50 additional meals yesterday, which were taken to the homeless in Brighton. I am very grateful to our catering department and Mr Weir for helping to take this wonderful initiative forward. As with St Mark’s and all our Community Action Projects, everyone at Roedean feels strongly that they want to be part of the local community. Well done to everyone involved.
We have only been back from the half-term break for a week, but I know that everyone involved in Peter Pan is working very hard to get ready for the show, which will include a number of the girls ‘flying’ in the Theatre. Looking back to half term, it was wonderful to be part of the Leavers’ Ball, and for the girls in Year 13 to be able to round off their school careers with a fantastic event on the i360 and in The Grand. I understand that the small group of Sixth Form girls who went on a cultural trip to Berlin over the break had a brilliant time - there can be few European cities which can be more of a meltingpot culturally and historically.
The challenge is for every girl in school to walk 5 kilometres (there is an option to walk 10 kilometres too!) – if everyone were to raise £15, that would meet our £7000 target.
Please see page 2
The fantastic weather has meant a fantastic week of sport, both in and out of School, with athletics and tennis practice and fixtures, and a football tournament. It is also great to hear of Roedean girls’ individual sporting successes. We also hosted an admissions event on Thursday, the Visual and Performing Arts Experience Day, and the girls who came had a wonderful day of workshops, culminating in a lovely performance in the Theatre - they really did achieve a great deal in a short time. Today, it has been a pleasure to welcome to Roedean those new members of staff who will be joining the School in September. I wish you all the best for next week, in particular to the cast of Peter Pan!
Roedean Charity Walk – can we raise £7000? In the last week of term, the whole school will be taking part in a Charity Walk, to raise funds for our two brilliant school charities, Plan UK and St Mark’s Library. We have been able to make a massive difference to both of these – we have already raised £21,000 since September, so thank you and well done!
Roedean marks D-Day 75 years on
Lunch for Off the Fence – a brilliant initiat ive
Please see page 4
Leavers’ Ball – a fantastic send off
The girls will be asked next week to choose whether you want to walk 5 or 10k, but we hope that family and friends will sponsor the girls to help raise lots of money for our charities – if you would like to do so, please use this link: https://roedean.wufoo.com/forms/5kschool-charity-walk/ Thank you in advance for your support – we really appreciate it! Please see page 3
7 June 2019 - Issue 6
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Roedean marks D-Day 75 years on In 1940, during World War II, the pupils and staff of Roedean were evacuated to Keswick in the Lake District and to Canada, and the school site was taken over by the Army for 6 months, and then by the Admiralty. From that point, Roedean became known as HMS Vernon, a Royal Navy Training School for Torpedoes and Mining.
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. Biba Sahi (Yr7) for noticeably excellent manners and kindness shown to staff in the dining rooms on a number of occasions this term [JC]
Ava Z (Yr12), Anne-Sophie L (Yr10), and Fleur F (Yr7) for reading in the D-Day Chapel service with incredible composure [RB]
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. Mr Weir for helping referee at the football competition [KWA]
In 1940, British troops had been evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk and the majority of mainland Europe fell under Nazi occupation. There was a very real possibility that Britain would be invaded by Germany and that democratic freedom would be abolished. For the next four years, Britain fought desperately to avoid such an invasion, experiencing German air attacks and bombing raids on many major towns and cities. The German defences in the north of France were thought to be almost impenetrable, and any direct attack via the beaches of Normandy would result in a huge loss of life. Despite this, the 6th June was earmarked as D-Day, when the British and US forces would attempt the reconquest of Europe by attacking four different Normandy beaches. 75 years ago on D-Day, the occupants of Roedean School, known then as HMS Vernon, stood in the School’s Quad and watched hundreds of ships, containing men and supplies, depart for the attack on Normandy. The assault on the beaches was terrifyingly brutal, with 425,000 Allied and German casualties. In under a year, the war in Europe was over, and the rebuilding of Europe and the liberation of prisoners from Nazi Death Camps would begin.
There is a photograph in the Naval Archive looking out to sea from the Roedean’s Quad; given the importance of this anniversary, 75 years on, we decided to recreate this experience by holding a Chapel service in front of School, with the girls facing the English Channel. It was a very poignant service – we raised the Union Flag, and held a minute’s silence to reflect on the terrible loss of life and on the significance of this momentous day in Roedean’s history.
Record-breaking Junior Mathematical Challenge results Congratulations to our mathematicians in Years 7 and 8 who smashed Roedean’s JMC record by gaining 8 Gold certificates, more than in the past five years combined! With a further 6 Silver and 20 Bronze certificates this year, it was indeed a remarkable achievement. Participants in this national competition faced 25 tough questions designed to test their problemsolving skills; four of our students (marked with an asterisk) will progress to the European ‘Kangaroo’ challenge later this month. Page 2
Well done to all those who took part, and especially to our Gold certificate winners: ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■
Elsie B (Yr7) – Best in Year 7 Navya D (Yr7) Rose O (Yr8)* Polly S (Yr8) Maria V (Yr8) Yoyo Z (Yr8)* Caroline Z (Yr8)* Joy Z (Yr8)* – Best in School and in Year 8
JTH
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
fun ‘It was so much like lt fe dressing up – I it was d n A ! ss ce a prin yone’s great to see ever s!’ se gorgeous dres Zarbanu M
7 June 2019 - Issue 6
Leavers’ Ball – a fantastic send off Our Year 13 Leavers had a brilliant time at their Ball on the Friday before Half Term. The evening started with a pre-dinner drink on the i360, Europe’s tallest moving observation deck – the views from the top were spectacular. This was followed by a wonderful dinner in The Grand. It was very special for so many of the girls to be able to share this event with their guests, parents, and guardians. Everyone looked wonderful in their finery, as can be seen from these photos, and it was a lovely way for the girls to round off their school careers.
‘I loved the whole thing , but having the event starting on the i360 made it extra special!’ Akum N
‘I just hope tha I can gate-cra t sh next year!’ Sorcha H
TRIPS
EVENTS
ST MARK'S
124 days
211
583
of trips since September
in the 30 weeks since September
Roedean pupil-hours’ contribution
1752
21,756
114
girls on a trip
= pupil participation
Roedean staff-hours’ contribution
Student:Staff trip ratio =
9,421
2245
= parent/visitor participation
St Mark’s pupil-hours’ benefit
8:1
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HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
7 June 2019 - Issue 6
Lunch for Off the Fence – a brilliant initiative Every Thursday, Roedean will be providing lunch for 50 people at Off the Fence. Mr Weir in the Maths Department is on the board of the charity, and he invited Paul Young, its founding CEO, to Roedean to try to forge a link – the charity has captured the girls’ imagination, and we are keen to support it as one of our nominated school charities next year.
Thursdays, and a hot main course and healthy pudding will be delivered each week to Off the Fence by the Housemen.
Off the Fence provides food for the homeless in Brighton, as well as opportunities for them to wash their clothes, among many other things.
This is a wonderful initiative, and the Charity Prefects are delighted to be part of it. Looking ahead, volunteering with Off the Fence will be a Year 12 CAP option next year, we will be working with them as part of the enrichment days at the end of this term, and Paul’s wife, Wendy Young, will be our Guest Speaker at our Prize Giving ceremonies at the end of this term.
Rather than simply donating left-over food, the Catering department will be preparing 50 additional portions of what the girls will be eating on
Congratulations to everyone involved in this project which really will make a difference to people’s lives.
Year 12 Chemistry students visit Sussex University On Thursday, a group of five Year 12 scientists visited Sussex University to learn about Scanning Electron Microscopy. Not only did we have the opportunity to observe high-resolution images of photocatalytic mesh, we also saw x-ray crystallography, learnt about Sussex University’s Nobel Prize for the “Bucky-ball” and heard about nanotube technology. It was a highly informative and interesting trip thanks to the fantastic Dr Chen’s wealth of knowledge and many of us are planning on using these concepts and techniques in our personal statements or EPQs. Overall it was incredible to see such dynamic research and we would like to thank Mr Ebden for organising this trip. Rosie J (Yr12)
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HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW ‘I’m currently learning about democracy and dictatorships in History, and to see the place where the political foundations of Germany were set brought my studies to life.’
‘Walking along the remains of the Berlin Wall, I felt that the past and future were just by my side.’ Wendi H
7 June 2019 - Issue 6 ‘The visit to the Stasi Museum gave me some amazing insights.’ Lottie M
Siko M
A Cultural Trip to Berlin
‘I’m absolutely in love with Berlin. Visiting the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and the Topography of Terror really opened my eyes to the dark history of Berlin.’ Holly C
The Humanities Faculty took a small group of Year 12 girls to Berlin over the half term break for a four day tour. The verdict: Go! See! Study there! Live there! Wonder at it all! Berlin is an extraordinary city, with so much recent history on its streets, its architecture, and its politics. It was the ideal place to take these interested and scholarly girls to learn more about Nazi Germany and the Cold War, not to mention Baroque palaces, stunning ancient treasures in the museums, Currywurst, and the amazing new structures springing up all over the city. I urge you to visit this place, we all learnt so much! We covered lots of ground over the four days, travelling by tram, bus, train, underground, boat, and, of course, our legs! The girls were fabulous company, noticing all sorts of details and full of questions whenever we had a tour guide. Ms Stidston and I hadn’t been to the city for nearly thirty years or more, so it was a special trip for us too. Thank you everyone! RMI
le ‘I was delighted to be ab h to get my way throug a conversation at the till, the shop assistant !’ thought I was German Sophia E
‘I will definitely go back.’ Fawn C
‘The Reichstag highlight as th was a huge incredible and e views were it to see how anot was exciting h political system er country’s developed.’ La ra P
breath‘Charlottenburg Palace was the at d aze am taking and I was stories Baroque-styled rooms and the Terror of hy ap ogr behind them. The Top from our brought to life the pictures .’ oks school textbo Lucy L
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HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
7 June 2019 - Issue 6
Year 12 artists meet up with OR at Graduate Fashion Week
The Art department go to Graduate Fashion Week!
A Level Art students were fortunate to bump into OR Kelly Wing Kui Chan at Graduate Fashion Week on Tuesday. She was displaying her portfolio as a graduate of the Westminster University BA Fashion Communication course, and she was delighted to talk through her work to Kelly C, Fawn C, and Rolin D. To add to the interest, Kelly showed us her fashion photographs featuring former Roedean Head Girl Saorise McGilligan, who enjoys success as a model. Kelly is looking forward to her forthcoming internship at Hong Kong Vogue and studying for an MA. SEL
On Tuesday, the Year 12 A Level Art students visited Graduate Fashion Week and the Whitechapel Gallery in London. The former was a great opportunity to see exceptional pieces of design, as well as meeting fashion graduates who helped to inform us about the process of applying to university and creating a portfolio. Seeing the Bournemouth catwalk show was a highlight, with a diverse range of high-quality student work that we enjoyed sketching, photographing, and applauding.
Eris K (Yr12)
Oxbridge Conference at Roedean On Wednesday 5 June, over 60 Roedean students from Year 10 to 12, along with their parents and guardians, and 12 students from each of Varndean and Longhill School, attended our Oxbridge Conference. Mr Homer, Head of University Admissions, hosted a panel discussion with representatives from both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. They were joined by OR Emily Townsend, who is currently in her first year studying Chemistry at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. The purpose of the evening was to inform students about the application process and to answer a wide range of questions regarding these two highly academic and selective institutions. It was fantastic for all the students to gain an insight into the life of an Oxbridge student, and to learn about the unique character of these universities. JSH
Creative competition success for Amirah! The Art Department is proud to announce that Amirah M (Yr12) has won a coveted place at the prestigious Kingston School of Art Architectural Drawing Summer School in August. Amirah is aiming for a career as an architect and is currently in the process of applying for undergraduate courses. The summer school experience will undoubtedly support her applications. Well done, and good luck, Amirah! SEL
7 June 2019 - Issue 6
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
House 4 Celebration Dinner This week, we held a special celebration carnival-themed dinner and awards ceremony for the House 4 boarders, to thank them for the fantastic year we have had in House 4, as well as highlighting a number of girls for their individual contributions to the house. The evening started with a lovely supper of Thai green curry and chocolate cornflake cakes, supplied by our wonderful catering team. Our dinner was followed by a house team quiz, which involved identifying a number of board games and logos; this was won by our Zebras team. We then had a round of pinning the tail on the donkey, which was hotly contested by the teams, while eating some homemade cupcakes. Eight awards, focusing on positive boarding characteristics such as tidiness and organisation, kindness, and good manners, were awarded to the girls. Our All-Rounder Boarder award was given to Holly G, and Camille C was the runner up – both girls have had a significant and positive impact on House 4 this year. EHA
Two Golds for Bridget
VPA Day We welcomed 40 girls from all over Brighton, Sussex and London to Visual and Performing Arts Day this week. This day is one of the many popular experience days in our calendar of Admissions Events, allowing girls who are joining or may join Roedean’s Year 7 in September 2020 to visit the School, and see it in action for a day. They were also joined by some girls who have accepted Dance, Drama, Music, and Art scholarships for 2019. As our KS3 production this year is ‘Peter Pan’, this was the theme of the day. Supported brilliantly by specialists teachers at Roedean, along with a number of girls in Year 7, our visitors experienced a carousel of creative
Bridget R (Yr8) plays badminton with the Lewes club, and during half term she took part in a Rising Stars tournament organised by Sussex County Junior Badminton. She was delighted to win Gold medals in both U15 singles and U15 doubles! Well done! workshops, learning dance choreography, singing, creating flags and badges, and acting out scenes from the book. This culminated in a fantastic theatrical showcase at the end of the day in our Theatre with our Peter Pan and Wendy kicking off the show by flying onto the stage. Those parents who watched loved it, and it was a great success. Well done to all involved!
Isabella at K2 Congratulations to Isabella P (Yr8), who competed in two events at the K2, and she won the 300m and came second in the High Jump. Congratulations!
Rania’s going to the Nationals! Congratulations to Rania K (Yr8) who completed at South East Regional Swimming Championships, where she made 5 finals – she came fifth 400m free-style, and was the Bronze and Silver medallist in 100m and 50m free-style respectively, the latter for which she also broke a Sussex County record. As a result, she has now qualified at these distances for the English National Championships, which are being held in Sheffield this summer. Her success is the result of a great deal of hard work – she swims 6 days a week, often getting up at 5:00am!
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HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
7 June 2019 - Issue 6
5-a-side Football Tournament On Wednesday, Roedean held its 4th Annual Girls 5-a-side Football Tournament. We are always really excited about this event as it attracts local schools we don't always manage to have fixtures against, such as Warden Park and Sackville. The weather was kind and we were able to play a full afternoon of football. Roedean had a team in both age groups and had some strong performances. Pearl P and Elsie F performed very well, along with Beata S-T and Ruby A. In the older age group, Alma S and Frankie S were really positive and kept smiling the entire time, along with strong performances from Erin S and Marianna L. In the Year 7 age group, Ardingly were the triumphant winners who played excellently all day and in the U14 age group, another strong side from Warden Park were the team on top. This was a lovely tournament to start the first week of this half term and perfect timing with the Women’s World Cup starting this weekend. GCR
Tennis vs Bede’s On Monday, three of our tennis teams were involved in the AEGON matches versus Bede's. It was great to see so many of our girls playing!
U15 Division 2
Our U15 girls had some very competitive matches which was great to see. Charlotte D, who was our number 1 seed, had some fantastic rallies against her opponent and performed consistently good ground strokes. Molly M also had a good match, playing some brilliant backhands into space. India B had a successful singles match, resulting in a 6-1 win. Harriet M-H performed very well in her match, showing some fantastic footwork around the ball, enabling her to win 6-1. In the doubles, both pairs had successful matches, and the overall result was Roedean 8 to Bede's 4. Congratulations!
U13 Division 1
Our U13s had a very successful day overall, and all our girls performed fantastically in their singles
matches. Nia S had a comfortable win 6-2, Amy N hit some great forehands and won 6-0, Izzy B had a long tough match in the heat but was fantastically determined to win 7-5, and Amelia K ran for every ball and won 6-1. In the doubles matches, all the girls performed brilliantly, demonstrating some fantastic teamwork. The overall result was Roedean 12 to Bede's 0. A great win!
U13 Division 2
Our U13 Division 2 team had a tough day, but they showed some fantastic grit and determination throughout. Grace T, our number 1 seed, defended well, Sophie N drove towards every shot, Tara K moved her opponent around where possible, and Atlanta H performed well in her first ever tennis match for Roedean. In the doubles, Bede's applied pressure, but Roedean played some brilliant defensive shots throughout. The overall result was Bede's 10 to Roedean 2. A huge well done to all who played!
Staff-Student Football Tuesday saw a brilliant staff-student football match on the astro. The girls were given the option to mix up the teams, as we do for netball, but they chose to take on the staff – a team of 10 girls played 7 members of staff, for two halves of 15 minutes, and it was great fun. The girls were missing their footballing talisman, Bryony (Yr13), with her experience on a national level, but Janki (Yr12) filled her boots very well, scoring some excellent goals. In the second half, the Headmaster gave away a penalty, and Kelly
(Yr10) buried the ball in the top corner of the net. Congratulations to Onate (Yr10), who made some wonderful saves, and well done to some Year 11s who used the game to de-stress after some GCSEs in the morning. The final score was an honourable 5-5 draw. Well done to everyone involved. DRO Page 8
7 June 2019 - Issue 6
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Junior Summer Hockey League coming along
More success for Mollie in the pool! Mollie T (Yr7) had an amazing weekend at the regional championships. She swam both the 100m and 200m breaststroke, made the finals for both, and came 7th in the 100m and 3rd in the 200m. She was over the moon with her whole performance, but having the chance to stand on the podium and receive a bronze medal was clearly the highlight for her! Following her performance at this year’s regional championships, she has been selected to take part in the 2019 South East Regional Athlete Development Programme. This programme is over three days during the year, and 36 children in the 12 year-old category, 18 girls and 18 boys, are invited to take part. The programme sounds challenging, but hugely rewarding: ‘The syllabus for these camps has been prescribed by the nationally focused England Talent team to ensure a seamless development pathway within the sport. Across the three camps, swimmers will undertake technical work on starts, turns, finishes, and transitions on each of the four strokes, and participate in ‘swim specific’ dry land training. They will also receive three educational workshops.’ This is a huge achievement for Mollie – congratulations, and good luck!
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
JJ WHAT’S COMING UP IN THE
WEEK AHEAD?
Mon 10 June
Vocal Masterclass Teatime Recital
Tue 11 June
U14 Sussex Schools’ Tennis Competition at Bede’s
Wed 12 June
PETER PAN Years 9 & 10 Senior Athletics Town Sports at Withdean U13B and U12B Cricket vs Mayfield (A) U13A&C & U12A Cricket vs Mayfield (H) U13A AEGON Tennis vs Mayfield (H)
Thur 13 June
PETER PAN ROCKPOOLS DAY U15A AEGON Tennis vs Brighton College (G)
Fri 14 June
PETER PAN U15 Cricket vs Hurts (A) U15 AEGON Tennis vs The Weald (H)
Sat 15 June
EXEAT DofE Silver Award Qualifying Expedition
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