13 September 2019 - Issue 2
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction We have completed the first two weeks of term already, and it is wonderful to see how happy, involved, and engaged all the girls are. The Co-Curricular Programme is fully up and running, and I am pleased to hear girls talking excitedly in the corridors about what they have been doing and where they are going next. The breadth and variety of activities on offer each week is really impressive, and I am sure that there is something for everyone. There has been a literary focus to this week, and Book Week has been brilliant. Thank you to Miss Nixon and Ms Boobis for masterminding such a brilliant programme of activities and author visits, and the girls were excited to hear the writers speak and have their books signed. The highlight for many was, of course, the truly amazing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tea party. The themed food, prepared by Ms Sambrook and Miss Stevens, members of our own catering team, was exceptional – 175 girls enjoyed fantastical tea-party treats in five sittings, and they were all desperately looking for one of Willy Wonka’s golden tickets! I am pleased that pre-season training has gone well for our senior hockey players this week, and the launch of Artemis, Roedean’s Performing Arts School, was a great success yesterday evening, with girls from all sections of the School taking part in singing, dance, and drama workshops. We have also been very lucky to have the Reverend Helen Rose, from the Church of the Holy Cross in Woodingdean, leading the Chapel services this week. We look forward to meeting some Sixth Form parents at tonight’s Cheese and Wine evening, and I wish you all a restful weekend and a good week ahead!
Well done to our Year 7s and all the girls who joined School this year – hopefully you are feeling really settled already!
Roedean Book Week: Wondrous, Fine, Fantastic Tales ‘Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
‘We would leave !’ Keswick for this
zy (Yr9)
Amelia and Iz
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales And treasure isles, and distant shores Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars.’ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl This is the quotation from which we took our book week theme for this year, and what wondrous fine, fantastic tales we have to tell! We could tell the story of Aisha Bushby, the debut novelist who wowed Year 7 with her creative writing workshops, and who was then, in turn, wowed by the work that they produced. We could also tell the story of a closely fought Literary Quiz, for which Keswick ultimately claimed the crown (and the coveted book tokens). We could tell of a school in which the catering department, the IT department, the theatre technicians, the DT department, and the Librarians all came together in an unlikely alliance with one mission: to create a magical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Tea Party for our pupils. We could reminisce about the 80 or more books sold to enthralled pupils by the fabulous Juno Dawson, who gave such a relevant talk on her novel Meat Market, ranging from body image to sustainability, and a reminder to put your own stamp on however you choose to present yourself. Finally, we could tell of Sarah Juckes’s amazing talk to Years 8 and 9 about how an imagination can help you to feel free. We are so lucky to have these tales to tell and our memories from this week, but what I’ll remember most is the way these books helped our Roedean community come together in a shared excitement about the magic, and possibilities, of imaginary worlds. JNI
‘So epic’
Maria (Yr7)
‘Deliciously crumbly cupcakes that melt in your mouth’ Jess (Yr7)
13 September 2019 - Issue 2
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Unsung heroes in the spotlight
New Staff
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.
Name: Mrs Louise Brünjes Role: Head of Learning Support University: BA (Hons) Modern European Studies (Loughborough), PGCE (Cambridge) Previous school: Head of Learning Support, Lancing College Interests: Reading, HIIT classes, dog walking, going to the opera, theatre and as many literary festivals as time will allow You’d never guess... Before I became a teacher, I was an Army Officer where I learned to drive HGV trucks and ride motorbikes!
Name: Miss Alba Ibanez Barcelo Role: Head of Spanish University: BA in English Translation and Interpreting with French (University of Alicante, Spain), PGCE in MFL (UWE) and MA in Education (University of Sussex) Previous school: Teacher of Spanish and French at Lewes Old Grammar School Interests: cooking, reading, travelling and languages! You’d never guess... I have been dancing flamenco since I was 5 years old!
Name: Ms Ingrid Murray Role: Teacher of Physics Universities: Newnham College, Cambridge; St. George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London; University of Greenwich; University College London (UCL) Previous school: Lead Teacher of Physics/Co-Head of Science, UTC@Harbourside, Newhaven Interests: Yoga, Pilates, Particle Physics, and Astronomy (I am a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society), singing You’d never guess... I like listening to Grunge music and I can do the splits!
Name: Ms Hannah Bodsworth Role: Second in PE University: BSc in Sport Science with Management (Loughborough University) and PGCE, MA in Sport Pedagogy (University of Bedfordshire) Previous school: Bedford Modern School Interests: Sport, travelling, photography You’d never guess... I have lived in both Australia and America.
Lara P (Yr13) for stepping in to help host the Literary Quiz so well [HBO]
Tallulah H (Yr9) for her outstanding piece of prep in Biology [PCH] – see the separate article on page 3
Victoria C and Carina C (Yr12) for their amazing contributions to Staff CPD [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.
Ms Sambrook and Miss Stevens for their AMAZING confections [HBO] Mr Burlinson for his contributions to the tea party feast [HBO]
Year 7 History trip - Arundel Castle On Friday the whole of Year 7 ventured east to visit the wonderful Arundel Castle in glorious sunshine. This term the girls are studying all about castles and Norman fortifications and the chance to see such a grand castle in real life was a great treat for all them. Amongst other things, the girls enjoyed exploring the 11th century keep and battlements, had fun trying on medieval costumes and uncovered the wonders of the surrounding tropical gardens. It was a splendid opportunity for everyone to get to know each other in an alternative environment to school. They all had a splendid time exploring the past whilst having fun with their new friends at Roedean. A great historical day out! SBB
Miss Nixon for all her hard work putting on Book Week [HBO]
Page 2
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Staff News
13 September 2019 - Issue 2
An Amazing Response to Homework in Biology
Miss Wakeling and Miss Cheeseman took part in the National Aquathlon Championships in Arundel. They both did exceptionally well, and we are particularly proud of Miss Wakeling, who can put her performance forward for consideration for an Age Group Team GB spot at either the Europeans or World Aquathlon Championships – what an outstanding achievement!
What an amazing piece of prep Tallulah H (Yr9) produced for Biology! She was asked to make a poster about one of the 8 characteristics of living organisms, but instead she created this amazing model, which includes clear and detailed explanations, as well as being stunning to look at – brilliant! PCH
Summer Volunteering for Ji-Hyun Congratulations and thank you to Ji-Hyun L, who joined Year 12 this term, who has given up over 50 hours of her time over the summer as a Summer Reading Challenge volunteer at Jubilee Library. She has been encouraging children to take part in the challenge to read 6 books. She talked to children about the books they have read, and gave out rewards each time they read two books. Brighton & Hove Libraries shared this information with us, and they are incredibly grateful to Ji and the other volunteers from across the city who have volunteered. Well done!
GCSEs last year for two girls in Year 8 Congratulations to Olivia H and Alissandra H (who are now in Yr9) who both achieved Grade 9s in Spanish and German respectively – this is a fantastic achievement three years early!
House 3 Activity
Senior Oil Painting The Senior Oil Painting activity got off to a great start this week, with the girls being passionate about learning how to use oils. They looked at the work of Lucien Freud and how he uses a range of skin tones within his paintings. The girls then perfected their own colour-mixing, producing some excellent studies. It was lovely to see how excited the girls were about the colour-mixing process and applying the oil medium – they can’t wait for next week when they get to work from their own photographs in producing a sustained piece of artwork. EHA
House 3 have been busy this week with their evening activity programme. We started the week off with healthy savoury snack making on Monday, which went down a treat. On Tuesday, Mrs Allen created our own British Bake Off event, making fabric ice cream cones and cupcakes out of felt while watching the popular TV show. On Wednesday, the girls took part in their team tournament activity, making the highest tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows – Team 3 won the competition, followed closely by Team Tik Tok E-Boys. It was lovely to see all the boarders engrossed in competitive spirit. EHA
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13 September 2019 - Issue 2
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Hockey Pre-Season Following last week’s Pre-Season training with Helen Richardson-Walsh for Years 7-8, last Saturday from 9:30am-6pm was the Year 9 to Sixth Form Hockey Pre-Season. The training worked skills, match play, and lots of competitive fun! As well as regular training, the girls had an amazing opportunity to work with Tilly Spurr, who is a part-time Associate Lecturer and PhD student at Chichester University, specialising in adolescent performance, nutrition and skill development within team sport. Tilly provided GPS and heart-rate monitors for the girls, so she could monitor how hard they were training and measure how much distance they had travelled. Tilly will hopefully be returning again in the near future to see the girls in matches with the equipment. After the Pre-Season training, the 1st team girls then went to the Escape Rooms in Brighton for team-building. This was an excellent finish to the day with all the girls escaping!! ACA
Four Roedean Sheep helping in the community It is wonderful that so many girls are taking full advantage of being outdoors and spending time with the animals on the Farm. As you will know, the Farm is thriving, and lambing in Spring added to our flock. This means that we now need to reduce the number of sheep on the farm as the grazing land is suffering a little from supporting too many animals. In line with our stock management strategy, the four Welsh Badger Face sheep will therefore be moving on to a new home in a few weeks’ time.
find out more: https://www.eastclaytonfarm.org. uk/studentprovision. This means that the sheep will be looked after well, as well as making a huge difference to the lives of many young people who need support.
We are delighted that we have made a strong contact with a farm in West Sussex, East Clayton Farm, which runs programmes for young people with learning and physical disabilities, and those with behavioral issues – you can follow this link to
We have also agreed to re-home four hens from their farm, and, looking further ahead, we are exploring introducing new animals in the future, but we will keep you fully informed of any developments.
This arrangement has been discussed with the Farm Prefects, who have obviously built a particularly strong rapport with the animals, and they understand the situation, and support the re-homing of our sheep to such a worthy cause.
Sixth Form enjoying boxing on Hove Lawns
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 16 Sept
U16 Netball vs Hurst (H) U16A vs Roedean Moira House (H) Junior House Badminton
Tue 17 Sept
Year 11 Business trip to Drusilla’s Zoo U15B Hockey vs Roedean Moira House (H) U15A Netball vs Tormead School (H) U13A Netball vs Brighton Girls (H) 1st XI team Hockey vs Eastbourne College (H) Senior House Badminton
Wed 18 Sept
U12C & U13C Hockey vs Windlesham House (H) U12A&B & U13A&B Hockey vs Windlesham House (A) 1st team Netball vs Hurst (A)
Thur 19 Sept
U14A Netball vs Southend High School (A) U12A Netball vs Warden Park (A)
Fri 20 Sept
Year 11 GCSE Geography Residential Field Trip 1st XI Hockey vs Kent College (A) 2nd XI Hockey vs Kent College (H)
Sat 21 Sept
EXEAT
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