9 November 2018 - Issue 9
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction Hello from South Africa! It is absolutely wonderful to be at our sister school in Johannesburg, but almost surreal – not only are we having a wonderful time discovering our shared history and traditions, but it was also only a few days ago that we were back in Brighton watching the Dance Showcase! We are being hosted fantastically well, and I am delighted to see how quickly and easily the girls from both schools have gelled. Roedean South Africa is a beautiful school, and it really is a great pleasure to be here to build strong connections with a school which is incredibly similar to our own. Despite being very tired from the overnight flight, the girls are throwing themselves into every activity and they are exceptional ambassadors for Roedean. Thinking back less than a week, Speech Day was a wonderful event last Saturday. It was a great pleasure to celebrate the girls’ successes over the
Roedean in South Africa Sixteen girls and four members of staff are currently in Johannesburg in South Africa, as part of an ambassadorial trip to our sister school there, to forge a strong and lasting partnership.
last year, and also to welcome the Leavers back. It is very powerful for the girls at School to hear the stories of what they have been doing after they left and about their new university lives. I think that our Guest Speaker, Dame Carol Black, was an outstanding speaker, and what she had to say was directly relevant to so many girls in the audience who are trying to make decisions which seem huge at the moment, but they are not necessarily finite – I am sure that many took great heart from hearing such a woman who has been successful in so many fields describe how she made some wrong choices along the way, but was simply determined to change the direction she was going in, even if that meant going backwards a little to retrain. Thank you very much to everyone who made Speech Day a great success – it really is a team effort, with many groups within school working together seamlessly to get the School ready for a large event – congratulations!
The Dance Showcase was a wonderful display of a variety of dance styles, and I would like to congratulate everyone involved, particularly, of course, all of the Dance teachers. The range of styles and honed technique was really impressive – well done. I am also very pleased to hear that the visit of Lady Ritblat (OR) to Roedean was also a great success. From reading about her visit, it is obvious that she struck a chord with many girls, and they really enjoyed hearing about her career. I am grateful to Miss Cather for working hard to make strong connections between the School and the great wealth of experience and knowledge among the ORs. Good luck to all of Year 11 for their trial examinations next week! I hope that they go well, and that they help to show you where you need to focus ahead of your GCSEs in the summer. I hope that you all have a wonderful week.
Roedean South Africa was also founded by one of the Lawrence sisters, Theresa, along with her friend, Margaret Earle, in 1903. This is the first trip for students from Brighton to Roedean South Africa in many, many years, and we have already had the most wonderful experience. After the overnight flight from Heathrow, with very little sleep, we were welcomed with open arms, and had a brilliant first day, touring the school, observing some lessons, and in discussion groups. It really was wonderful to see how quickly the girls form the two schools bonded and shared experiences – it was if they had known each other for years! The grounds of the school are amazing, with tranquil courtyards, fragrant jacaranda trees and jasmine, wonderful Sir Herbert Baker buildings, and secret gardens to lose yourself in. Their traditions are deep-rooted, much like ours, and one is that the bell is rung 22 times on Founders’ Day to remember the first 22 pupils of the school. We are only in South Africa for a few short days, but our itinerary is full of fantastic experiences, both in school and out – we have no doubt that such a brilliant experience will lay the most solid foundations for a variety of exchange visits and joint projects over the coming years.
Further updates will follow in the next issue of the Head’s Review... RB
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
9 November 2018 - Issue 9
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.
Olivia W and Dara F (Yr9) for kindly going on an errand to Lawrence House, despite the cold weather [MDC]
Tia L (Yr8) for stepping in to a dance with just 20 minutes to go before the Dance Showcase [SA]
Amelie H (Yr10) for juggling her studies and huge external commitments brilliantly [TW]
Lottie M, Ellie F and Mint W (Yr12) for outstanding History essays on the Catholic Restoration [RCH]
Ayla Z (Yr12) for volunteering to help preparing the meal for the Mexican party in Lawrence House [MDC]
Lara P (Yr12) for making a brilliant start to Politics, a new subject, in Sixth Form [JHM] Eliza F, Melanie W, Freya F, and Laura F (Yr13) for helping us to show a warm welcome to Lady Ritblat [GLC]
Manon A, Sara S, Liza U, Katie JA, Carina C, and Victoria C (Yrs7&11) for all their help with the Discovery Day sleepover girls and for keeping positive and being helpful, polite and kind [JWL]
Year 9 Philosophy Winners 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.
Ms Fewkes for delivering a programme of wonderful music on Speech Day [CEH]
The Sports Department for stepping in last minute due to the weather and delivering an engaging and enjoyable session for the Discovery Day visitors [DBA]
Congratulations to the winners of the Year 9 Philosophy Competition! The girls picked a challenging question (below) and answered it with flair, creativity and deep insight: Q1 – Would you still be you if you’d had different experiences in life so far? Why?
Amaz(on)ing prep work from Tallulah! Well done to Tallulah H (Yr8), who goes above and beyond each week for her Geography prep. This superb piece of work is last week’s on the Amazon Rainforest. Well done! HSM
Q2 – Could we create a perfect copy of ourselves if we made a person with the same DNA and gave it the same experiences? And the winners are: First Place: Flo IS Joint Second Place: Aitana MA Alma S Lillie MP Honourable mentions: Alice B Jamie B Obomate O-D Chloe E Bo Ana M Jemima V Well done to everyone who took part! EEA
Page 2
9 November 2018 - Issue 9
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Dame Carol – simply inspirational 121 years after the Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, laid the foundation stone for Roedean on its current site, it was a delight and an honour to welcome Dame Carol Black, the college’s current Principal, to the School as our Guest Speaker for Speech Day. Dame Carol spoke about women in Science, and, given her own background, she was delighted to hear and read about the strength of STEM subjects at Roedean. She told us that, as the first member of her family to go to university, she initially studied History, before changing direction completely and transferring to Medicine. It took great confidence for her to do this, but her decision was vindicated by her great successes and expertise, particularly specialising in scleroderma. With a number of girls in the audience grappling with a difficult choice to make about which subject to choose for university study, it was wonderful for them to hear that it really is fine to change tack. Her advice to the girls was to follow the passion, and be confident. Dressed pillar-box red, Dame Carol spoke about projecting confidence, and how wearing red makes her feel stronger, and definitely better on a bad day. As ever, the music was exceptional - the Strings played Vivaldi as the Staff and Platform Party processed, and our Guest Speaker particularly enjoyed the Senior Singers’ performance of Mozart’s Laudate Dominum. We were also treated to wonderful renditions of songs from the Greatest Showman and Annie Lennox, all of which complemented the presentation of prizes beautifully.
Geography Photo of the Month Gina D (Yr9) has won the Geography Photo of the Month competition for November, with a photo she took whilst flying over the Alps. Congratulations!
It was fantastic to welcome back those girls who left last year, many of whom are now 6 weeks into their undergraduate courses at universities up and firm the country. They are clearly enjoying this new stage of their lives, and our current girls loved hearing about what they are doing. To end her talk, Dame Carol said, ‘I began life with one book in the house, the Bible. And on 1 September, I became Chair of the British Library.’ She is a perfect example of life being what you make of it. Dame Carol was both a wonderful role-model to the girls and one of the very best speakers we have had in recent years, and, as well as strengthening our relationship with Newnham, it was an honour to welcome her to Roedean. RB
Annabel – calm under pressure! Well done to Annabel B (Yr12), who showed outstanding maturity, calmness, and compassion last week, by seeking emergency support for a member of the public who was in a very severe state of distress on the coast road. Annabel called 999 and was able to provide the police with the exact location of the gentleman, so he could get the help he needed. We are incredibly proud of Annabel and have awarded her a commendation. RCH Page 3
Art Scholars’ Masterclass This Monday we had the very first Art Scholars’ Masterclass. It was with Tanya Gomez (a Lewis based ceramicist) and was really fun. We started of making basic pinch pots and then moved on to fruit and slabs. After that we let our imagination run wild and sculpted whatever we liked!! I would like to say thank you to Tanya and Mrs Strachan for organising the event, I had so much fun!
Katie JA (Yr7)
9 November 2018 - Issue 9
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Alex skating in Germany
Roedean girls excel again in the World Chinese writing competitions
Just recently, Alex S (Yr7) was in Inzell, Germany, for a week’s training alongside other British speed skating team members. Inzell has some of the finest speed skating facilities in Europe and a number of Olympic teams regularly train there. Alex spent last week there with her team GB/ UK Longtrack coaches, Piet Knip and Monique Vergeer-van den Heuvel.
It was a successful week, with Alex achieving a new PB time of 52.75 seconds for the 500m, putting her within a split second of the season PB of the 2018 current British Champion. This was an incredible 11 second improvement on her previous season’s best time. Well done, Alex – we look forward to hearing about your future successes!
OR Lady Ritblat OBE comes to Roedean On Wednesday, we were delighted to welcome OR Lady Jill Ritblat OBE (No. 2, 1955-60) to Roedean. Her visit started with a tour of the School with Eliza F and Melanie W, both in House 2 themselves. After lunch, she presented an informal talk on her life to a group of senior girls in the Keswick Common Room. The room was packed, with some girls having to perch on the kitchen island as we ran out chairs. After giving us a brief look into her varied career, from a young ambition to be a ballet dancer, school life at Roedean, and training as a barrister, to eventually finding her feet in the art world, via a fabulous fashion collection, the girls were given the opportunity to ask her questions. Lady Ritblat finished with a list of ‘Dos and Don’ts’, which she and her husband put together to inspire the girls to follow their dreams and loves, and, above all, to be brave. A selection of her list is here for you to read. The visit concluded with Freya F and Laura F interviewing Lady Ritblat for a future issue of The Roedeanian Magazine. GLC
It was a pleasure to welcome Lady Ritblat to the Art studio on Wednesday morning. She told us all about her memory of making a lino-cut print in the studio, and it was a sheer co-incidence that Year 10 happened to be cutting print blocks at the time of her visit. Lady Ritblat also enjoyed chatting to some of our Year 13 students who are applying to Art School; she was interested to see their work and hear about their plans for the future. It was Lady Ritblat’s interest and knowledge in high-end fashion that fascinated the students most and she recounted a story of having collected pieces by Alexander McQueen when he was a young fashion designer, and how she knew him well. Lady Ritblat also told us about how her wedding dress and trousseau were handmade made by Christian Dior, causing quite a gasp from the audience. She has donated a huge number of her garments to the V&A for their collection, and has 2 pieces in the forthcoming Dior exhibition. Lady Ritblat has extensive connections in the world of Fine Art being on the board of the Design Museum and other notable institutions. She helped with many Tate initiatives, including being on the judging panel for the Turner prize in 1988. Surely one of her most notable experiences was having her portrait created by Andy Warhol, and having rejected an offer to be painted by Lucien Freud because she wasn’t too keen on his style! SEL Page 4
There are two prestigious standard-Chinese writing competitions in the world. The two competitions’ UK Awarding Ceremony took place in London on Sunday 21st October. Two Roedean girls, Dawn T (Yr8) and Christine H (Yr11), won 2nd prize in the 19th Worldwide Students’ Chinese Writing Competition. Dawn also won 1st Prize in the 18th World Chinese Youth Writing Competition. Another five Roedean girls have also submitted their writing to the 19th World Chinese Youth Writing, and the results will be published in May 2019. Ashley W’s (Yr10) article ‘My Home Town’, about the snow fall and fun in winter, which won last year, and Dawn T’s writing ‘My Friend’, about friendship in school sports, which won this year, have both been published in a worldwide Chinese education newspaper entitled ‘Chinese Language Teaching’. Congratulations to Dawn, Christine, and Ashley! LWU
Lady Ritblat’s Dos and Don’ts Do...
e Something you lov t ar he Follow your cts Listen to your instin ine, decent, nu Be pragmatic, ge charitable, e, rat ide ns patient co and honest Don’t… Help others Do it only for the money Aim for fame or celebrity Be dishonest Sail close to the wind
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
A Moment in Time – 2018 Dance showcase Excitement levels were high in the Theatre at 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon, as all of KS3, and several others besides, eagerly awaited the beginning of the annual Dance Showcase: A Moment in Time. The programme began with a large ensemble silhouetted in front of a projection of images of key moments from history. As a voice over talks through their significance, the tension continues to build. Finally, we see the faces of potential future world leaders clad in camo tops and baseball caps, reminding us it is dog-eatdog out there and everybody wants to rule the world. The programme was curated beautifully, both through the selection of historical events to pay tribute to, and with the juxtaposition of slow, pensive routines with more upbeat, energetic ones. A particularly powerful instance of this was the movement from Molly J’s high energy and crowd-pleasing street dance choreography (to Lady Gaga’s Telephone), into Scarlett J’s moving ballet in commemoration of the Manchester Arena Bombing last year. Impressively, she danced not to music, but to a voice-over celebrating Manchester’s resilience. There was also a strong theme of commemorating the achievements and histories of women throughout the pieces: we saw some Michael Jackson-inspired dance moves celebrating gender equality in the UK military; a playful tap routine to Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 in honour of Nasa’s Katherine Johnson; a celebration of women’s suffrage from Amelie and India H (complete with synchronised backflip); a commemoration of the founding of Roedean; and, perhaps most movingly, Gabi D’s stunning ode to Ruth Ellis that somehow represented the cool calm of a murderer, but also aching sympathy for her fate as the last woman to be hanged in the UK. The spectacular closing number, providing a salve from heartbreakingly poignant Schindlers List, was from The Greatest Showman. Impressively, Eden W-N and Bo Ana M sang whilst dancing, proving that, perhaps, in all its pyrotechnic glory, this year’s Dance Showcase could actually claim to be the greatest show! Congratulations to all our dancers, choreographers and backstage team on such a thrilling and thought-provoking programme – well done to everyone involved! HBO Page 5
9 November 2018 - Issue 9
9 November 2018 - Issue 9
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
It’s only 46 days to Christmas! It’s only 46 days, but it is even fewer until the Roedean Christmas Fair! The Parents’ Guild is raising funds this year to contribute towards for a new recording studio for School and to support the School’s fund-raising for the Library at St Mark’s. I really hope that you would like to support us at this year’s Christmas Fair. Support can be provided in a number of ways: ■■
■■
■■
the Guild is taking donations into the House Studies of bottles and/or tombola prizes, and nearer the date of cakes for the café or cake stall if you or a company you know would like to donate a larger prize for the silent auction, please let us know by contacting parentsguild@roedean.co.uk if you are able to spare some time on 8 December, we are looking for volunteers to man the Guild stalls and sell raffle tickets – it is a great opportunity to meet other parents
If you have any ideas for the Christmas Fair, please contact Steve Pomery (Acting Chair and Yr11 parent) on pomerys@sky.com Finally, if you are interested in being involved in a team to organise a large fundraising event in the spring, please also contact Steve for details.
Cross Country Both the Junior and Inter Girls had their first race of the season in the ESAA Cross Country Cup Round 1 at Bishop Luffa School. The Juniors were first up and they performed brilliantly over the 2.9km race. The gun went off – they all maintained a strong pace throughout and gave it their all with a sprint finish at the end. They ended up with an overall result of 58 points which enabled them to finish 3rd overall, which was fantastic! Our Inter Girls were up next, with a 3.2km race. They all set off at a reasonably high pace, but they managed to keep this up throughout and finish strong. The result was 50 points, which placed Roedean 4th. A huge well done to all the girls, you were absolutely brilliant!
FRIDAY 23 NOVEMBER:
Literally Music Gala Concert, 19:30, Theatre Roedean’s musical community comes together to bring you a breath-taking programme of beautiful music inspired by famous works of literature. The orchestras, choirs (main school choir, senor singers, Year 7 and 8 singers) and concert band will all be performing in our first major concert of the academic year. The theme for this concert has been chosen by a group of senior musicians and the literary inspiration draws on some of the most famous of novelists, playwrights and poets: Shakespeare, Ibsen, Victor Hugo, C S Lewis, Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll and Jane Austen. Musical highlights in the
programme will include Prokofiev’s March of the Knights from Romeo and Juliet (theme from The Apprentice), Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Alice’s theme from Alice in Wonderland, a selection from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory plus hit numbers from Les Miserables, Aladdin and Matilda There will be much to delight all musical tastes in this gala concert and we warmly invite everyone to attend. Drinks and snacks will be available prior to the concert and during the interval in the dance studio. Tickets: £5/£2
Hockey U12A vs Burgess Hill
On Tuesday, Roedean U12A team played against Burgess Hill under the lights. With a very defensive squad because attacking players were missing due to the Dance Showcase, Roedean adapted well and stuck to the basics with some excellent passing into space. The match was a very even encounter, with both teams having good opportunities. Elsie B showed some tremendous courage to prevent a short corner from going in and continued to play on to the end. With a bit of magic in the middle by Talya H and dynamic movement at the top by Jamie O, Roedean continued to create chances, however they could not get it past the goalkeeper. Final score 0-0
U12B vs Burgess Hill
The U12B team had a great game under the lights versus Burgess Hill. Roedean were demonstrating some strong attacking play during the first half and moving into space to receive some brilliant passes. There were a number of short corners and, as soon as Burgess Hill’s defence ran out, our girls were ready to attack. Our forwards worked well, enabling Holly to score a brilliant goal. Burgess Hill then showed some great determination by tracking our players, but Roedean were able to hold them off (and clear the ball). During the second half of the match, Roedean applied great pressure and kept possession of the ball throughout. Overall, it was a close game with some fantastic play. Well done to Grace J for some brilliant defensive play and for being awarded player of the match. A huge well done to all!
JJ WHAT’S COMING UP IN THE
WEEK AHEAD?
Mon 12 Nov
Remembrance Chapel services
Tue 13 Nov
Year 10 GCSE Drama trip ‘Comedy about a Bank Robbery’
Wed 14 Nov
U12B&C Hockey vs Lancing Prep (A) U13B&C & U12A Hockey vs Mayfield (H)
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
Thur 15 Nov
Badminton vs Burgess Hill (H)
Sat 17 Nov
EXEAT
1st Hockey vs Burgess Hill (H)
Follow us
@RoedeanSchool
@RoedeanSchool