13th October 2017 - Issue 6
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
The buzz of conversation about Sixth Form options
Head’s Introduction
Hampton Court
Greetings from Hong Kong! As you know, I am here to meet with ORs and prospective students, and it is wonderful to be able to share with them the exciting news of how well Roedean is doing at the moment. Those we have met have been really impressed with the school’s growth, excellent exam results, and the developments in facilities. Many follow what’s happening back in Brighton with interest through the Head’s Review and on our website.
On Tuesday, the Year 8 History groups spent a jam-packed day at Hampton Court. Currently learning about the Tudors, the girls were able to experience life in 1562 when Elizabeth I contracted smallpox at Hampton Court Palace and lay delirious, apparently on the point of death. This was one of the most intense succession crises of her reign. Led by a costumed interpreter, the students took on the role of the Queen’s counsellors at the time of great danger and took part in a heated debate: if the Queen dies, who should have the throne? There are some definite potential politicians and lawyers amongst the group, who gave rousing performances both for and against the potential claimants.
Open Day was a great success last weekend, and it is wonderful that so many families wanted to see the school. Thank to everyone who was involved, whether you were tour guides, performers, in departments, or speaking on stage - it really is a group effort. The Sixth Form Information Evening on Tuesday also went well, and our current Year 11 girls and their families were joined by another 30 external families. There was a tangible buzz at the event, and it was great to see the girls getting excited about the depth and independence of Sixth Form study. There has also been a trip to Hampton Court, and a concert in Lindfield. I hope that they were enjoyable and informative, and I am grateful to the staff who led them. Thank you too to Dr Hobbs for leading this week’s Chapels on recycling and rubbish in the sea, a topic which I know is dear to his heart. Good luck to those playing sport this weekend, and I wish you all a wonderful half-term break when it arrives on Tuesday.
Year 8 also had the chance to look around Hampton Court and its Gardens, exploring the kitchens and the apartments. They were extremely mature in the questions that they asked the guides to aid their understanding of how Hampton Court played a major role in the lives of the different Tudor Monarchs. A fun and informative day was had by both pupils and staff. ER
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Harry Potter Hot on the heels of Open Day and despite the exhaustion of an extra-long week, 54 enthusiastic and excited Harry Potter fans spent their Sunday exploring the fantastically intricate, authentic sets, marvelling at the many thousands of genuine props, and wolfing down Butterbeer ice cream at the Warner Brothers Studio Tour in Leavesden. New for 2017 and in time for Halloween, the studios were hosting a special feature dedicated to the Dark Arts. The Great Hall was decorated with over 100 floating pumpkins, something which has never been seen before as they were digitally added in the films, the girls could learn wand combat moves in an interactive experience, and there were Death Eater duels in the Backlot where they could test out their newly learned skills. The original Death Eater costumes from the films were also on display throughout the tour
and we discovered the secrets behind making snot, blood, and drool for the big screen… gross! The spectacularly intricate 1:24-scale Hogwarts model used to film the exterior of the school throughout the octalogy was one of the highlights of the tour, but it was fantastic to see the new installations, such as the Forbidden Forest and the living room of Number 4 Privet Drive, as well as some of the old sets and props, like Platform 9 and ¾ and its impressive Hogwarts Express, and the centrepiece for the Yule Ball, which was inspired by our own Brighton Pavilion. Our tour culminated in the Studio shop where lots of memorabilia was purchased and many pockets stuffed with Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, and Peppermint toads, before we headed back to our own Hogwarts! JBO
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.
Ellie G (Yr13) and Rosie H (Yr12) for being such good sports at the Shoreham College Sixth Form Fair [DBA]
13th October 2017 - Issue 6
Tilly C and Izzy B (Yr7) for wonderful support and kindness shown towards other girls [JC]
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Priya T (Yr9) for her review of Paper Butterflies, which was excellent; the author of Paper Butterflies, Lisa Heathfield, thought so too! [SBL]
Sophia E (Yr11) for producing the best revision notebook in the year [RLP]
Aisha T (Yr12) for voluntarily clearing away cups, saucers and glasses in the aftermath of the Year 11 subject fair in Keswick this week [FTH]
Maria P for her vocal support in a recent SFC fire drill [CC]
13th October 2017 - Issue 6
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Venus’ Bronze Medal
Competition – Design a Bookmark
Congratulations to Venus G (Yr10) who has achieved a Distinction in her LAMDA Bronze Medal Grade 6 Speaking Verse and Prose.
To fit in with our ‘3 Rs’ theme, the Art Department, in collaboration with the Library, is holding a Design a Bookmark Competition for Years 7-9. The Art Department will provide every girl in Key Stage 3 with a ‘blank’ bookmark to customise with a unique design over half term. A display will be made of all the entries in the Library when we return, and the winners will receive a prize.
KS3 Design a bookmark competition
Use any media – drawing, paint, ink, crayons, collage, photos, stitching, paper cutting, etc.
There will be prizes!
Submit your named design either to your Art teacher or the Library – closing date for entries is Monday 30th October at 4.30pm
You will be provided with a blank bookmark onto which to make your design
Life Drawing Classes in the Art Department On Monday this week, all 32 of the A Level Art students benefitted from an intensive day of life drawing in our newly refurbished Art Studio. The students were taught by renowned life drawing tutor, Jake Spicer, who runs the well-respected local drawing school ‘Draw’.
Jake also writes books about drawing, a monthly column for Artist & Illustrators magazine, and gives lectures and classes on the applications of drawing as a tool for understanding, communication, and art-making as a vehicle for social good. In addition to running ‘Draw’, Jake also works with Camden Arts Centre and The National Portrait Gallery. All the pupils made great progress, producing truly exciting work. They were energised by the experience and learnt a huge amount by working directly from the model. SSN
Hot Pot Night! 50 boarders from both Keswick and Lawrence attended Hot Pot Night last weekend! ‘Many Sixth Formers had a lovely evening enjoying “Hot Pot Night” in Keswick last Friday. While some were happy to eat food from their home country, others were eager to try things they have never seen before, such as spicy noodles, and fish-balls. It was wonderful seeing girls, house staff, and teachers exchanging cultures. All of us were in high spirits by the end of the night – we even had a rap battle in Chinese! – and we certainly look forward to similar events in the future. Thanks to Miss Smith for preparing all the delicious food!’
Sophie H (Yr12) Page 3
Have fun!
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Bronze DofE The Bronze DofE students have started giving their presentations this week (as the final part of the expedition section of their logbooks), and the remaining groups, including the Silver groups, will present next week. They have all done really well so far, and here are some pages from a diary one of the groups wrote. The deadline for anyone else to sign up is Monday 16 October, and forms should be handed in to Mrs Dunlop.
House 1 Halloween House 1 had a fun Saturday evening preparing the house for our Halloween Party on Thursday evening. We carved pumpkins, decorated our famous House 1 branch, and made other decorations to put around the House for the party.
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13th October 2017 - Issue 6
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
13th October 2017 - Issue 6
Music Scholars perform at All Saints Church, Lindfield
17 - 21 October
Nightly at 7:30pm. Thursday & Saturday Matinees at 2:30pm
Ten of our very talented musicians performed this week in a public concert, part of the lunchtime series of concerts hosted by All Saints’ Church in the beautiful Sussex village of Lindfield. The friendly capacity audience, which included some Roedean families as well as local residents, enjoyed a programme full of musical contrast and styles. One of our newest music scholars, Marina B, opened the concert with an assured performance of the first movement of a recorder concerto by Herbele. Other accomplished instrumental performances included Freya S (Violin) with a stunning and stinging solo mimicking mosquitoes, and Anamika N-W whirled us away with a confident performance of Chopin’s Minute Waltz. Martha W once again demonstrated real musical poise in the beautiful opening movement of the Poulenc Oboe Sonata. The rest of the programme featured some lovely vocal performances from
Book Online: www.theoldmarket.com Phone 01273 201801 Mon - Fri, 1pm - 5pm
Fame for Roedean! The Brighton Theatre Group Youth presents ‘Fame The Musical’ on Tuesday 17 to Saturday 21 October at The Old Market Theatre. Three Roedean girls are in the cast – Erin J (Yr7), Eden WN and Ava D (Yr10). It would be wonderful if you wanted to support them over the half term. Congratulations to Erin and Eden for being cast in their first show with BTG, and particularly to Ava who will be one of the principle roles, ‘Serena Katz’. ■■
Ticket prices £10 – £17.50
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17th to 21st October, shows each night at 7:30 pm
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Thurs and Sat matinées at 2:30 pm
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Book online http://theoldmarket.com/shows/ fame/ or by phone 01273 201801
Roedean’s Archive Photos with a Modern Twist! A group of Sixth Formers are taking some of the fantastic archive photos taken of school life at Roedean over a hundred years ago, and re-shooting them today. Each week, they will be setting any budding Roedean photographers the challenge of doing the same, and the best reproductions will feature in a calendar which will be sold to raise money for charity – we hope that lots of you will get involved, and have great fun doing so! Here is last week’s winner:
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Amelie S and Jacqueline L sang from West Side Story, Charlotte B sang the delightful Shepherd’s Song by Elgar, and Sorcha H performed a partially jazz improvised version of the old favourite Can’t help loving that man of mine from Showboat. Ava D and Eva P provided the grand finale with a most heartfelt performance of the duo For Good from Wicked. Very special thanks to Mr Rous who organised the concert and played all the piano accompaniments beautifully. Very well done to all our musicians who performed - you were a real credit to Roedean.
13th October 2017 - Issue 6
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
More cricketing success! Last weekend, Maria V (Yr7) took part in the Sussex County U12 girls’ Cricket trials. She was already in the U11 County Squad, but the competition was fierce, so she was delighted to find out she made it through again as Wicket Keeper. Her training begins on 5 November in order to get ready for the cricket season this summer. Well done, and we all look forward to hearing about the games!
Hockey A great win for U12Bs vs Great Walstead The 12As had a tough fixture against Great Walstead this week in the driving rain. It was definitely a game of two halves, with Walstead dominating in the first half and Roedean in the second. Our midfield of Isabelle B and Amelia K worked hard to keep the ball moving forward. Amy N kept her width and regularly found space in behind to take shots on goal. Their keeper was outstanding and made some awesome saves. We lost 7-2, but the score did not reflect what was an amazing fixture. The Player of the Match was Amelia K.
The 12Bs started out particularly well, scoring a goal in the opening minutes, although it was sadly disallowed. However several minutes later, Alicia S scored, followed by a cracking goal from Georgina GW, to put us 2-0 ahead at half-time. In the second half, we continued with this winning streak, fielding 2 goals from Amelia M, a brilliant goal from Izzie B, and yet another goal from Georgina. This gave us a 6-0 win. The team gelled exceptionally well to produce a well-deserved win.
Cross Country Both the Junior and Intermediate teams took part in the first cross country meeting of the season, the Schools’ Cross Country Cup 2017 held at Worth. The first race was the Junior Girls and the course was just over 2km. Roedean did fantastically, and all the girls crossed the line with a sprint finish. Huge congratulations to Rania K who finished 17th and to all the juniors for finishing in the top 55. The Intermediate Girls’ race was up next, but they were ready to tackle the course, especially the big hill at the end. A fantastic well done to Tatum W (Yr9) who secured 5th place and to Grace B (Yr10) who was just behind in 6th. The sisters, Serena and Sophia, also had a strong finish, coming in 20th and 25th. Congratulations to both teams for a brilliant effort! We are proud to announce that our Intermediate girls cross country team have been selected to compete in the regional final at The Judd School on Saturday meaning the score ended with a loss 0-1. Player of the match was awarded to Phoebe H for excellent composure on the ball when dribbling. The U13A hockey team played against Christ’s Hospital in very wet conditions this week! The game was played at a good tempo with both sides having good chances. Roedean was showing a lot of promise in attack, but looked fragile in defence when Christ’s Hospital counter-attacked. The second half was a great half to watch, with their keeper making a number of fantastic saves. The final score was 3-2 to Christ’s Hospital. The U13D team had a promising game playing at Wilson Avenue on Wednesday. Christ’s Hospital were a physical side who had a big presence on the pitch, but our girls held their own, showing some nicely thought through passages of play, in particular along the wings. Isla B captained the side well, motivating her players, and there were some strong moves from Issy J and Emilia B through central midfield. We were unlucky to concede the 2 goals, and Lucy H protected the goal so well throughout in her Goal Keeping debut. The game finished 0-2 to CH, with Emilia B named Player of the Match.
U12s and U13s vs Christ’s Hospital
The U12B team played in a very competitive match against a very physical Christ’s Hospital. The game was very evenly matched with both sides showing a determination to win the game. Roedean were very skilful and composed when on the ball and had a lot of possession in the first half. Unfortunately, Christ’s Hospital scored an unlucky goal at the end of the first half. Roedean began the second half very strong being awarded a number of short corners, disappointingly the ball did not go into the goal
Saskia sails into the National Squad! Well done to Saskia, who came 5th overall (2nd girl) in the racing event she sailed in last weekend in Weymouth. This was the last event to decide the annual national ranking of sailors, which means Saskia is 6th in the current UK ranking from around 200 competitive sailors, and is therefore selected for the National Squad training run by the RYA over the winter.
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
11th November. 14 schools from a variety of regions have made it through.
Roedean Biathlete Congratulations to Isabel H (Yr8), who competed last week in the South East Regional Biathlon Champs in Gillingham in Kent. She was in the U13 age-group which required a 100m swim, followed by a 1600m track run. She came 7th overall out of 31 girls, which is an outstanding result. Hopefully, this means that she will have acquired sufficient points to qualify to represent Roedean at the British Schools’ Modern Biathlon Championships at Crystal Palace in March next year. Isabel hopes to improve her run time over the next few months, so we might see her taking advantage of any down time at school by putting in some extra training!
Another day at the office for House 2 Minion
JJ WHAT’S COMING UP IN THE
WEEK AHEAD?
Mon 16 Oct
Beat Goes On workshop and teatime recital Year 8 and Year 11 Zoo Lab Visit
Tue 17 Oct
Years 11-13 Classics lecture at Ardingly HALF TERM BEGINS
Wed 18 Oct
Hockey Tour to Rotterdam
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