8 June 2018 - Issue 7
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Leavers’ Ball 2018 on the i360
Head’s Introduction It was a delight, as ever, to welcome 120 prospective girls to Roedean on Thursday for our annual Rockpools Day. With the guidance of Roedean staff and the enthusiasm of our fantastic Roedean girls, our visitors had an amazing day, searching for crabs, starfish and a variety of sea-life on the shore, along with enjoying a variety of other science, art and team building activities. Thank you to Mrs Banham and the admissions team and to all the staff and girls who gave their time and energy to make this another very successful day. It was also our pleasure this week, to welcome Robin Fletcher, the Chief Executive of the Boarding Schools’ Association, to Roedean. Following a tour of the School with Head of School, Lucy and Deputy Head of School, Molly, he toured our wonderful boarding facilities with our Housemistresses and talked to some of our younger boarders. His final task was to plant two apple trees in the Cloisters, in order to join the BSA’s Boarding Orchard, representing the importance of the tree of knowledge. Roedean is the 142nd school to plant a tree to join this group, with the majority in the UK, but also including others in USA, Turkey, and Malaysia.
Today, we also had the pleasure of welcoming all the new staff who will be joining Roedean in September. They were able to learn more about Roedean, meet their mentors, and spend a day in the Departments to get to know the staff here and our approach and ethos. In core areas of the curriculum, we are increasing the staffing to accommodate the School’s growth and it is very exciting to have additional staff to help build and develop the educational experience for the girls. Exciting news is also emerging from Roedean Farm. As the new chicks continue to grow and the sheep enjoy their annual shearing, new fencing has appeared beside the sheep field which is about six foot high. The rumour is that the farm will soon be home to a small number of pygmy goats. We will confirm this rumour, when we know more... We also heard some fantastic news from the Classics Department. A number of girls entered The Classical Association’s Jowett Sendelar Essay Competition. Congratulations must go to Liza and Anne-Sophie for achieving distinctions for their essays, and also for the other nine girls who achieved merits and commendations. It was wonderful to see that Roedean enjoyed so much success, but most of all, that the girls enjoyed the experience of writing to such a high level for an external audience. This week has been as varied as it has been busy across the school: the Roedean Musician of the Year competition began, we heard about EdClub at Roedean and being part of a global community in Chapel, there was an Art Trip to Graduate Fashion Week, there has been tennis and an amazing football tournament, as well as individual sporting successes. I am grateful to everyone involved in these activities, each of which is the result of detailed preparation and thought, as well as a commitment of time and enthusiasm – well done and thank you! This week has been the busiest for those doing A Level and GCSEs, so many will now have a sense, I am sure, that the end is in sight. I would like to congratulate all those in Year 11 and 13 for the positive approach you have maintained, and I wish you all well for next week.
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
8 June 2018 - Issue 7
Amazing success for Classical Essayists! Congratulations to many of our Year 9 Classicists who entered the Jowett Sendelar Competition, an annual national Classical Essay Competition. Eleven schools around the country entered students, who had to research and write a 1500-word essay on one of five Classical topics. We are delighted that three Roedean students were in the top 10 of all the entries, three others were Highly Commended, and five more were also Commended. Here are the results: JJ 3RD
– LIZA F (DISTINCTION)
JJ 4TH
– ANNE-SOPHIE L (DISTINCTION)
JJ 7TH
– ASHLEY W (MERIT)
JJ KATE
F, EVA F, EVA H – HIGHLY COMMENDED
JJ CAMILLE
C, HOLLY F, GLADYS M, JEMMA N-GS, ONATE O-D – COMMENDED
This is absolutely brilliant – well done to everyone involved! CEH
Leavers’ Ball Leavers’ Day on the last day of last Half Term concluded with the Ball. We enjoyed a pre-dinner drink on the i360, which as an amazing precursor to the main event in the Grand Hotel, just across the road. Everyone there looked wonderful all dressed up, and the lovely food and surroundings made for a wonderful event to round off the Year 13s’ Roedean careers!
Graduate Fashion Week On Monday, the Year 12 Art students trekked from Roedean to London Bridge (during rush hour) to go to Graduate Fashion Week. On the way, we saw some great street art in Brick Lane, and even managed to eavesdrop on a tour briefly. The exhibition space was amazing, and it was great to be surrounded by so many creative people. We got to speak to graduates, universities, and people in the fashion industry. Not only was the work stunning, but the style of the people attending was diverse and great to see, and the space was really buzzing with creativity. After we covered most of the exhibition space, we had the privilege of seeing the Bath Spa fashion show. The craftsmanship and ingenuity was brilliant. My two favourite collections took inspiration from cowboywestern clothing and anemones (separately, not together!). The day really helped to set us off on our Personal Investigation Projects – thanks to Mrs Strachan and Mrs Ellis for giving us this opportunity. Laura F (Yr12)
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8 June 2018 - Issue 7
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Skyping children in an African slum
Summer Reading 2018
Roedean’s EdClub pilot started on Wednesday this week, with 12 girls in Year 12 skyping children in a Nigerian slum for an hour. It was wonderful to listen to the chatter and the laughter, and both our girls and the Kenyan children got a great deal out of it. Here are some of their thoughts:
Following the success of last year’s Summer Reading Challenge, the Library is launching it again for students this summer. The aim of the challenge is to encourage all to read as widely as possible over the summer, and to try books which they may not have considered reading before. To do this, participants should complete as many of the reading categories below as possible. There will be prizes for students who read a substantial number of books. Fleur R-R (Yr 9) won the challenge last year, reading an incredible 20 books over the summer.
Fisayo: ‘Being a part of Edclub so far has been a great experience. I have the opportunity to make an impact in the lives of the wonderful children in Nairobi, improve their skills and help them learn new things which could be of benefit to their futures, and also to build a relationship with people from a different culture. So far, I have spoken to three amazing and intelligent children, and it was definitely worthwhile chatting and getting to know them.’ Anya: ‘Talking to kids in Nairobi over Skype was an amazing experience. Lucy and I talked to three different people, all under the age of 12, and helped them to learn some Maths. It felt so amazing to be helping people who live in such a different country to ours, and I feel truly lucky to have touched people’s lives in such a way. I’m really looking forward to chatting to them again next week.’ Emily: ‘Izzy and I skyped a girl called Mary who’s 14. She told us about her family and how she wants to be a psychologist, and we also listened to music with her and talked about it. It makes me realise just how lucky we are to have an education here. It is an amazing opportunity to be able to meet these incredible people from such different backgrounds, and hopefully we can make a big difference to them – 1 hour a week seems a very small price to pay to do that!’
Molly: ‘Georgia and I were lucky enough to meet George and Onesah yesterday. We asked them Maths questions and they taught us how to say hello and goodbye in Swahili. It was such an enriching experience and we spent the last few minutes laughing and dancing. I can’t wait for next week.’ Laura: ‘EdClub aims to improve the English of kids in a slum in Nairobi through Skype calls with students in the UK, and, as you’ve heard, learning English improves the children’s prospects, enabling them to be more employable for jobs like cleaning for a wealthy family. Hannah and I had the longest call with a boy named Patrick who is 14. We talked about football, dancing, and music, and although the internet connection wasn’t the best, we had a really nice conversation. I think that it’s awful that many of these children may be forced into prostitution, which is why I think what EdClub is doing is a really great opportunity for kids in the UK to use the access we have to a good education to help others.’
Lazerzone Before the end of term, a group of Senior Boarders got geared up in laser packs and armed with phasors ready to enter the Lazer Zone arena. They had a blast (!) working in teams to zap their opponents. All the girls thoroughly enjoyed their time and got right into their roles, but Mary M was the ultimate victor.
The Chicks are growing up… Our chicks have now grown to a sufficient size to be released into their roaming run. Here are some pictures of them exploring the fresh spring grass for the first time. Thanks to Beatrice (Yr7) for helping to assemble the new chicken ark during farm club. JRO
The challenge is to read a novel from these categories: Read a book… ■■
with a red cover
■■
featuring jewellery
■■
involving a heist
■■
with the letter Q in the title
■■
about an historical mystery
■■
set during winter
■■
which is a horror novel
■■
that features a garden
■■
set in China
■■
that involves the ocean
■■
which is a dystopian novel
■■
based on a myth
■■
featuring genetic cloning
■■
where the protagonist is over 60
■■
which is set in more than one country
■■
about a sport
■■
featuring art
■■
which is a memoir
■■
involving the paranormal
Happy reading! SBL Page 3
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Rockpools Day 120 girls in Year 5 came to Roedean yesterday to take part in our annual Rockpools Day. Although it was a muggy day, everyone loved searching crabs and anemones, and some even tried to spot the seal that was seen last year! Thank you to Mrs Harrison for running this part of the day. Our visitors also took part in some paper plane activities, each group designing planes to be judged according to the 3 categories of distance, acrobatics, and accuracy. There were also team-building activities on the fields, with relays and problem-solving. The girls all loved going down the tunnel, although coming back up was harder work, although one of our visits actually forward-rolled all the way back up to school from the tunnel entrance! Well done to everyone who took part, and thank you very much to all the members of staff and the Year 9 helpers.
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8 June 2018 - Issue 7
8 June 2018 - Issue 7
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Jemima Vanessa Knight Sprint Meet Jemima V (Yr8) entered 6 races at the Vanessa Knight Sprint meet in Littlehampton – she did brilliantly well, winning 4 Golds, 1 Silver, and a fifth place, in category A. Congratulations!
AEGON vs Worth U13 fantastic fixture
The U13 Tennis team were up against Worth. The format of the matches was to play one singles and one doubles set. Roedean performed some brilliant groundstrokes and showed true determination; both Phoebe and Olivia played exceptionally and utilised the space well, resulting in their opponent making a forced error. They both won their singles matches 6-1. Harriet performed well; however, her opponent proved strong. India had a tough match against the number 1 seed, but showed great resilience throughout.
England U17s Water Polo for Liv After a successful year in the water polo calendar, winning bronze at the Inter-Regionals, silver at the Nationals, and securing top spot in the British Water Polo League Champs 2 campaign, Liv H (Yr10) has been selected for the England U17s Water Polo squad. She is going to a training camp and international tournament in Hungary, and will be then joining the Stanford University U16 girls in California for some training sessions, before linking up with her England U17 team mates at a joint camp with New Zealand’s U17 girls. Good luck, Liv!
During the doubles, both India and Harriet tried their hardest, but, unfortunately, their opponents were too strong. However, they both performed some brilliant serves, making it difficult for the opposition. Phoebe and Olivia had a fantastic match with some long close rallies, resulting in them winning 6-1. This meant that it was a tiebreak shootout. Our girls managed to show some fantastic determination and brilliant movement around the court. Roedean managed to win 10-7 which was a super result! A huge well done!
Sussex Coach’s award for Lucy Lucy P (Yr9) was awarded the coach’s award for her season playing hockey for the Sussex U14s. The coach commented on how far she had come in the last year, having been rejected the previous season at JAC stage. She was commended for listening carefully to every bit of advice, and consistently playing great hockey right from the first game of the season. The coach also said Lucy’s attitude was excellent all the time. Well done, Lucy – what wonderful recognition!
Lucy - top row, 6th from left Page 5
8 June 2018 - Issue 7
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Roedean Football Tournament Roedean hosted a football tournament this week for 11 teams from schools in the area. The players enjoyed fantastic weather, and it was lovely to see such wonderful quality and great female representation in this sport. The six U12 and five U14 teams played 12 minutes, one way, on two pitches – with so much going on, strict time-keeping was really important. There were some brilliant goals, and everyone involved was very pleased with the day:
t ‘Many thanks – grea I afternoon as always. s have never in 14 year th attended an event wi g such slick time-keepin – awesome effort.’ Warden Park
‘Thanks for a thoroughly great afternoon. We really enjoyed participating.’ Bedes
rls were ‘Thanks – my gi t still d exhausted an ye day!’ e buzzing from th ol
Sackville Scho
Amy at Hickstead On her first outing to Hickstead, Amy N (Yr7) has qualified to ride in a National Pony Club event later in the season in Wales. On her new horse ‘Cherry Picker’, Amy had two clear rounds on the day, and she finished 2nd out of 40 riders to qualify. What a brilliant achievement!
JJ WHAT’S COMING UP IN THE
WEEK AHEAD?
Sat 9 June
Family Rounders
Mon 11 June
U14 Tennis vs Lingfield College (A) Athletics vs Burgess Hill (A) Vocal Masterclass and Teatime Recital
Tue 12 June
Year 10 & 12 Oxbridge Conference
Wed 13 June
U13A & B Cricket vs Westbourne House (H) U13C Cricket vs Westbourne House (A) U12A Cricket vs Windlesham (A) ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Thur 14 June
Roedean Sport Welcome Morning U15 8-a-side Cricket Tournament at Hurst (A) ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Fri 15 June
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 6
Year 12 UCAS Day ALICE IN WONDERLAND
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