8 November 2019 - Issue 8
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction
Speech Day last Saturday was a wonderful day, which, for me, showcased everything which is remarkable about Roedean: of course, it was wonderful to congratulate the girls and celebrate their achievements, and particularly our returning leavers, who shared stories of their first month at university and life after School; although many girls, members of staff, and guests were hoping for an England win in the Rugby World Cup, it was great to have the opportunity to watch the match by delaying the ceremony and screening the game around School; the six performances in the ceremony were outstanding, especially because they were being presented in a Sports Hall and not a theatre; and, despite the very high winds and driving rain, we showed that ‘the show must go on’. We also welcomed a most outstanding guest speaker in Rachel Parris, whose address was both humorous and fastpaced, but also pitched perfectly for the girls, whom she reminded that it’s really okay not to have everything mapped out and set in stone. Her delivery and timing were brilliant, and it was fantastic to hear her sing her advice to the girls from behind a piano too – I have no doubt that many girls in the audience felt very reassured by what are they heard. I am incredibly grateful to Mr Hawkes and Mr Parker and their teams, which battled on in the terrible weather conditions on the day to bus the girls and guests to Centenary Hall from the main parts of School and back, and to Mr Wailes and the Theatre team for the work they put in on the day and before to make excellent performances possible in the Sports Hall. The few short hours of the Speech Day ceremony are the brief culmination of a huge amount of work in preparation – I would like to thank everyone involved for making the day the best in my time at Roedean. Apart from Speech Day, thank you to all those who have been conducting interview practice with the girls who may be interviewed at Oxbridge age other top universities, and I also hope that the rehearsals for the Dance Showcase next week have been going well – it is always a wonderful event, and I am looking forward to seeing the excellent performances on Tuesday. Congratulations to all the girls involved in our many sports this week, and to our U14 Hockey team in the Sussex finals – it was brilliant to be able to see this via a live twitter feed, which was a great way to see them in action, and it is excellent that Roedean will be representing Sussex in the Regional Finals for the first time in years. Next week, we will be marking Remembrance on Monday with two Chapel services, as well as keeping a two-minute silence throughout the School at 11:00. Good luck to Year 11 for your trial examinations next week, and I wish you all a great week!
Speech Day
Rachel Parris – an Inspirational Speaker for Speech Day Battle of Hastings at Roedean! Click on title to jump to article
Musicians at St Mark’s Bonfire Night Festivities for House 3 and 4 Alex Smashed Her Own British SpeedSkating Record In the Top 2 in U14 Sussex County Hockey Finals Speech Day Photos if you would like to buy any photos from Speech Day, please follow this link: https://bit.ly/2CsGpC8
The Roedean Shop is launching soon!
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Rachel Parris – an Inspirational Speaker for Speech Day It was our pleasure to welcome the wonderful comedian and musical improviser, Rachel Parris, star of AUSTENTATIOUS and The Mash Report to Roedean for Speech Day on 2 November. As an Oxford Music graduate, she absolutely loved the girls’ performances, which included four diverse pieces performed by the School Choir and the Senior Singers, as well as House 4’s winning piece from House Drama, and 'One Day More' from Les Misérables. She was also very impressed by the girls’ wide-ranging achievements, and her address, which was directed primarily at the girls, was incredibly reassuring for anyone who is feeling that they are lacking a little direction and don’t know exactly where they are heading in life. One of our Head Girls, Florence, sent Rachel an email this week:
‘On behalf of all the girls who were lucky enough to hear your speech on Saturday, I would like to say a huge thank you for your absolutely brilliant, and witty address. Personally, I found your speech to be very thought-provoking, and as someone who is still unsure of what path they would like to follow, your words have left me feeling reassured and confident about my future. Never before at Speech Day has a guest speaker performed a song for us, especially not one with such a positive message; it is certainly something that will stick with us all. Thank you for your down-to-earth and uplifting energy. Your contributions left girls and staff alike feeling enthused and inspired.’ Rachel really was incredibly engaging, talking about her own journey to becoming a comedian and obstacles which sometimes need to be overcome in the struggle to follow your passions. The girls were drawn in by her outstanding comic timing and her delivery, which was slightly risqué at times, but most impressive was the fact that her frankness was both disarming and empowering. We hope that we may welcome Rachel back to Roedean in the not too distant future.
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8 November 2019 - Issue 8
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
8 November 2019 - Issue 8
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. Abby L (Yr12) for helping her housemates with history revision [MDC]
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.
Victoria C (Yr12) for preparing all the tea and coffee for Year 8 parents evening on Wednesday [TKE]
Miss Matusik for her dedication to helping Year 11 Lawrence boarders prepare for their mocks [MDC]
Are you a budding photographer? We would like to have a team of student photographers, who will then take photographs of the huge variety of events and activities which go on at Roedean. If you would like to be part of this, please email Nour (Yr12) on na37@roedean.co.uk
Year 10 Design and Technology Trip to the Design Museum In the final week before half term, Year 10 Design and Technology students ventured to the London Design Museum to see the Beazley Design of the Year Exhibition, as well as the permanent display. The students were inspired by the huge range of innovative and problem-solving designs they encountered and particularly enjoyed being able to test out the spinning top-inspired Heatherwick chair. The Beazley Design of the Year Exhibition showcases innovations and inventions from around the world, across fashion, architecture, digital, transport, product and graphic design from the past 12 months, providing real-life examples of how transformative good design can be. It was a thoroughly inspiring day for all! EGM
Battle of Hastings at Roedean! The Battle of Hastings came to Roedean last Tuesday! The whole of Year 7, who were busy making swords and shields over the half term break, met for a final clash on the front lawn where they were ‘inspected’ and judged by Mr Blond and Mr Chamberlain. The quality of workmanship and effort that went in to making every single sword and shield was extremely impressive, with winners from each side chosen: well done to Willow W and Tilly O for their fine shields, and Maisie B and Pippi W-O for their swords and mace. Well done though to everyone else for the effort and enthusiasm shown – the fearsome battle-cries and warrior faces were worthy of scaring any army! Final score: victory to the Normans! SBB Page 3
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
8 November 2019 - Issue 8
Julia’s Amazing Roedean Collages
Open Teatime Recital
These fantastic collages are by Julia Z in Year 12.
This week we had a lovely Teatime Recital, with a diverse programme including both classical and modern music, and a wide range of instruments and a number of singers. It was particularly good to hear many of the musicians performing in front of an audience for the first time, and also not necessarily on their first instrument. One highlight for me, perhaps because it is so unusual, was hearing Christy Y (Yr10) playing the harp so beautifully, and this is all the more impressive because she has only been playing for two years – you can hear her piece by following this link: https://vimeo.com/371911704 RB
Musicians at St Mark’s The Year 12 CAP Music group had its first session at St Mark’s this week. They helped with the Choir initially, and then they presented a short concert to the entire school in their Assembly. Among other pieces, two flautists performed the Flower Duet from Lakmé, Jacqueline sang, and Jojo played the xylophone, which the children loved. The Roedean girls also spoke about their instruments, and showed them saxophones, clarinets, and percussion. The group will be working with Ms Bartlette at St Mark’s every fortnight, preparing lessons for them in between, and then taking a set of violins or percussion for them to use, or teaching them to play the ukuleles which St Mark’s already has. The focus of the project is for the children to be able to perform a concert, either at Easter or in the Summer term for the residents of the Blind Veterans’ Home, which will bring together three elements of our local community!
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HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Bonfire Night Festivities for House 3 The House 3 girls this week have really enjoyed bonfire night festivities – it was a joy for them to be outside, watching the fireworks, and eating popcorn with sparklers in their hands. To continue the theme of bonfire night, we held a bonfire cake-decorating competition to see which team could make the best bonfire on a cake. Although the focus of the activity was to construct a bonfire out of the chocolate and sweets, the girls also enjoyed eating the treats, both during and after the competition!
8 November 2019 - Issue 8
House 4 The House 4 girls loved baking and decorating chocolate cupcakes with Mrs Wilson! Thank you to Lara for the delicious recipe!
Teams 6 and 5 were thrilled when they were announced the winners!
On 5 November many girls braved the cold evening to enjoy waving their sparklers in memory of Guy Fawkes, followed by yummy homemade s’mores and hot chocolates!
To celebrate Halloween the House 4 girls enjoyed a meringue ghosts masterclass with Miss Truman! The girls also got into the Halloween spirit with our annual pumpkin carving activity!
One Roedean The second issue of this joint review between Roedean and our sister school in South Africa can be viewed here. It is wonderful to see all the successes in both schools! Page 5
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
8 November 2019 - Issue 8
Roedean Christmas Fair Are you already looking forward to Christmas? This year’s event has a fantastic Harry Potter theme, and it will be brilliant. If you have anything you would like to donate to the Parents’ Guild for the event, you can drop off any raffle or tombola prizes in the Houses – if you are leaving alcohol, please drop it off personally into the House Study! Thank you in advance, and, of course, parents and guardians are welcome to come – you might find some cracking stocking-fillers!
Alex Smashed Her Own British Speed-Skating Record Alex S (Yr8) spent all of her half term either training or competing, and she has achieved some well-earned successes on the speed-skating track. During half term she trained in Paris with USF, her French short track club, as well as in Bergamo, in Italy, with Sport Evolution Skating. Last week, she was also in Inzell, in Germany, for a week-long UK long track training camp. Alex also competed in 3 large international competitions, two for short track and one for long track. Star Class 1 brings together the very best Junior short track speed skaters in Europe, and Alex finished in 11th place out 36 skaters overall. This means that she is now only one place away from qualifying for the Europa Cup to be held in Kolomna, Russia, in March 2020. Over 40 European countries vie for a place at the Europa Cup, including Russia, so qualification is very difficult. Alex is focused on getting well within the top 10 over the course of the next two competitions to be held in Lommel, Belgium, in two weeks’ time, and Groningen, Netherlands in February, in order to secure qualification to the Europa Cup. The Frillensee Cup, where Alex competed on Saturday, was her first long track competition of the season. With skaters from all over Europe competing, it was a tough. She competed in the 500m and 1000m races. In the 500m, Alex came within a twentieth of a second of achieving her Personal Best time of last season, 47.50 seconds, which is excellent for this point in the season, but she hopes to bring her PB down to under 45 seconds this season. In the 1000m, she achieved a new Personal Best time of 1:37.65, more than 4.5 seconds faster than her previous PB. This places her at number 12 in the world ranking for this distance in the U14 category, and she also broke her own British U14 1000m record!
day’s Games.
We all wish Alex all the best for a brilliant season ahead!
Spin for the Year 12 and 13s in Tues
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HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
8 November 2019 - Issue 8
In the Top 2 in U14 Sussex County Hockey Finals Congratulations to our U14 Hockey players who competed this week in the Sussex County Hockey Finals. They played Hurst in the semi-final in a tight game. Hurst went 1-0 up in the first half, so the pressure was on our girls to fight back. In the second half, we battled well and scored a late equalizer before full time, scored by Erin S. This meant that it went to Penalty Shuffles – Nia S, Amelia K, and Isabella P stepped up to take them. We scored two of the three, and Hurst only one, thanks to some outstanding goal-keeping by Eliza S. As a result, Roedean progressed to the final, versus Brighton College. Unfortunately, we lost this match, however both of the two top teams move forward to represent Sussex in the Regional Finals, which is a particularly good achievement, since it has not happened for a good number of years. Congratulations to everyone who played, and good luck for the next round!
Hockey U13C
The U13Cs had a great pre-game training session and the girls took these skills confidently onto the pitch. They had a short match, but showed determination throughout. We had a couple of good chances, but unfortunately they were well blocked by the goalie. Well done!
U12B
The U12Bs played some fantastic hockey in Wednesday's match and they were unlucky to come away with just a draw. Izzy showed some great defensive skills and control of the ball, while Tildy made some excellent runs up the pitch. Roedean nearly scored on a couple of short corners, but, with some excellent saves from the goalie and a few shots wide of the post, the final score was 0-0. It was a brilliant effort by all the team, and well done to Alya who was voted Player of the Match by the opposition.
U12D
The U12D team played the U13D team on Wednesday, which was a great challenge for them to play against the girls in the year above. They worked hard and lots of substitutions were made, so all the girls got an opportunity to play in a competitive game. They conceded 2 goals but they remained positive throughout the game. The Player of the Match was Lydia.
Energy Balls and Nutrition for the Sport Scholars The Sports Scholars loved making different flavoured energy balls this week, as part of their sports nutrition talk with Tilly Spurr from Chichester University on Monday lunchtime. They have also been fitted with devices to measure their activities, as part of their programme.
Sea Swimming This Friday we had the last sea swimming session. Sea swimming is going to take place in the pool on Mondays and Fridays from 6:30-7:15pm.
U12D
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8 November 2019 - Issue 8
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
U14 Schools’ Hockey Tournament We were one of 8 schools playing in the U14 Schools’ Hockey tournament this week. We played 3 schools in our group. In the first game, they girls had some brilliant defensive play, and did well to draw 0-0 versus Benenden B. The girls knew that the second game versus Bede’s was going to be tough, but the girls showed some good resilience. They suffered a heavy loss, but the girls started to develop some good attacking play in the second half. The third game was versus Sevenoaks, and girls demonstrated a good formation throughout and made good clearances from defence. Overall, they played well and it was a good learning experience.
Sussex Selection for Year 7 Cricketers
Sussex Cricket Development Squad
Congratulations to two Year 7 Cricketers – Tilly O and Dot B have both been selected for the Sussex County U12 squad. The selection process lasted 3 weeks, so this is a brilliant achievement – well done. The picture is of Tilly in her Sussex kit.
Well done to Maria V (Yr9), who got onto the U16 Development Squad for Sussex Cricket. The U16 is a huge jump from U13s, but she is up for the challenge! Congratulations too to Eliza S (Yr9), who made the U15 Squad too.
Roedean Swimmers Victorious Congratulations to the Junior and Senior A and B swimming teams, who fought hard against a strong Benenden team on Monday night. The gala was turned into a relay gala, and finished with a 10x25m relay, which included nearly every girl in the team.
The Roedean A team won with 28 points, Benenden A team came 2nd with 18 points, and our B team was only 5 points away with 13 points. Well done to all those involved – the next home gala is on the 27 January.
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
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Happy playing Hockey in all weathers J WHAT’S COMING UP IN THE
ANTI-BULLYING WEEK
WEEK AHEAD?
Mon 11 Nov
REMEMBRANCE DAY Two-minute Silence @ 11:00 Academic Lecture: Sustainability U16A Hockey vs Hurstpierpoint College (A) Year 12 A Level Geography fieldtrip to Rottingdean
Tue 12 Nov
ODD SOCKS DAY DANCE SHOWCASE U14A vs Ardingly College (A) 1st Badminton vs Burgess Hill (H)
Wed 13 Nov
DISCOVERY DAY U13A EGHA Hockey Cup Year 10 Romeo & Juliet troupe performance
Thur 14 Nov
U14B Hockey vs Hurstpierpoint College U14C (H) U12A Badminton vs Roedean Moira House (A) Year 13 Dinner
Fri 15 Nov
2nd Hockey vs University of Sussex (H)
Sat 16 Nov
EXEAT WEEKEND Year 13 Politics MUN trip to Croydon English Schools’ Swimming Association Championship Finals
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