18 September 2020 - Issue 2
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Roedean goes with the flow!
Head’s Introduction
It really is wonderful to have everyone back at School, and to hear the corridors full of busy and purposeful chatter. After just restarting School, we could never have foreseen that we would have to close the School site earlier this week due to a water leak. The burst water main in the local area really did mean that we had no water in School. I was very proud of the way the girls responded on Monday afternoon – instead of having their lessons, they suddenly found that they were either going home, walking to the Marina, or being taken into Brighton. Everyone responded very positively and showed again how adaptable they are. Our new girls and Year 7s have coped with this in only their second full week at Roedean. I am grateful to all my colleagues, who put activities in place for the girls on Monday afternoon, to those who drove the day
l Artefact Ida Wins Nationa ion tit pe m Co to Art
girls home at lunchtime, to all teaching staff who returned to providing online lessons on Tuesday, and to our site team for delivering water across the site and working around the clock to get things back to normal. We are fortunate that a water tanker on site initially solved the problem and that the supply was back on very quickly. Thank you to all who helped. Year 7 and other new girls have had their school photos taken in their new blazers this week, and we have completed all of our year-group First Chapel services, including our newly-adopted tradition of Covid-secure ‘hand-waving’ instead of hand-shaking. It is fantastic to see the girls playing sports on the fields, pitches, and courts, and enjoying the weather in their communal year-group outdoor spaces at break. We also saw some of my colleagues adapting their teaching to
Ashlyn’s Research Paper – what a remarkable achievment
Learning about Coastal Processes Mr Sheriff and the Year 11 Geographers have been taking advantage of the glorious weather to discuss coastal processes with the English Channel in front of them, and moving in sociallydistanced waves in the Quad to represent long-shore drift – Geography in action!
use outdoor spaces in Dance and Geography this week. The HHH programme for Years 7-9 is up and running, and you can see in this review some of the work they have been producing, and also some photos of the orienteering activity which is part of this programme. I am pleased that we will still be able to hold a Macmillan Coffee Morning next week, as we have for many years, although it is a shame that we will not be able to share it with the wider Roedean community. Nevertheless, I am sure the girls and staff will enjoy the many treats, and I hope that we can raise important funds for this worthwhile cause. Wishing you all a great weekend.
Macmillan Coffee Morning
18 September 2020 - Issue 2
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
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. Sorrel (Yr11) for her outstanding support in comforting new boarders and making them feel at home at Roedean [CLE]
Macmillan Coffee Morning – Friday 25 September We are delighted this year, that despite the current situation, we are still holding our traditional Macmillan Coffee Morning. Unfortunately, we are unable to welcome parents and guardians into School, nor can we accept any cake donations sadly. As a school, we would like to support this charity as much as we can, as we have for well over 15 years. Our amazing Catering Department will be supplying individually wrapped cake, brownies, flapjack, and cookies which the girls and staff will be able to purchase during the morning break on Friday. We are asking for a minimum 50p donation for each item, which the girls will be able to drop into a money jar – we are unable to give back change at the current time. The girls should have appropriate change on Friday, and, if you and your daughter would like to make a bigger donation to this worthwhile cause, we would be happy to accept whatever you feel able to give – your daughter can just drop it in the jar. The link below gives information about the Charity https://coffee.macmillan.org.uk/about/why/ Thank you in advance for your support!
Alice and Romey (Yr7) for noticeable acts of kindness and support to their Year 7 peers [JC] Talia (Yr11) for being a tremendous support for new Year 9 boarders these last few days in House 1 [CLE]
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. Miss Edwards for her fantastic contribution to the quarantine supervision of boarders in August, as well as creating innovative opportunities during the boarders’ induction programme in their first week [the Boarding Team] Mr Tester and the Housemen for helping me sort through 12 huge boxes of text books – they went above and beyond to help me out without being asked [RHA]
Mr Bischoff and Mr McWilliams in full PPE flushing clean water through the toilets
Ida Wins National Artefact to Art Competition We are delighted to announce that Ida (Yr8) has won the much contested 11-14 Visual Arts category of the Artefact to Art Competition hosted by University of Leicester. Ida created an amazing amphora which was inspired by the Euboean Black Figure Neck Amphora. Ida said ‘people decorated vases with what they spent their time doing, myths, gods they worshipped, making offerings and sacrifices. In the modern world, we spend time on and base a lot of our life around social media'. These social media apps depicted are important to us like the scenes of gods to the Classical World.’ Well done to Ida this is an amazing achievement and to everyone else who entered, we were so impressed, as were the judges!
Staff Congratulations Well done to two members of staff, who have completed qualifications alongside their fulltime jobs at Roedean: congratulations to Mrs Chaston, for being awarded her IDPE and IoF Certificate in Fundraising with Distinction, and also to Mr Burlinson, for completing his Law degree with Distinction. Page 2
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
18 September 2020 - Issue 2
Roedean goes with the flow! It was wonderful to welcome the girls back to School last week after months away because of the pandemic. Little did we know that we would have to close the School again earlier this week because the mains water supply had gone off for many homes, schools, and businesses in the surrounding area. With no water on site on Monday afternoon, day girls went home and there were impromptu trips for boarders – by the time they got back, Portaloos had arrived, along with copious supplies of drinking water. Although School remained closed on Tuesday, all lessons were taught remotely. Fortunately, a tanker came on site to resupply the School, pumping 30,000 litres of drinking water into our tanks, and the mains supply has been fixed today. As ever, the girls and staff took this in their stride – just another example of Roedean’s indomitable spirit!
Ashlyn’s Research Paper Congratulations to Ashlyn (Yr13), who has undertaken independent research into how well the decoupling theorem works with a quantum computer she wrote this up as a research paper, which has been accepted by the 2020 International Conference on Energy Science and Engineering Thermophysics, and will be published – what a remarkable achievement! Ashlyn is also the first in the Year 13 cohort to submit her university application form this year. She is applying to the very best universities in the UK to study Engineering, and, given her accomplishments already, she will certainly go far! Page 3
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
18 September 2020 - Issue 2
Week 1 – HHH Creative Task Pupils in Years 7 & 8 who had HHH on Tuesday were given a creative task to do in their lesson. Their prompt was ‘The Day the Farm Animals Couldn’t Find the Farmers’. There were some absolutely super responses, and some of Ms Boobis’ favourites are shared here. If you would like to get involved with something similar, read on! Tildy (Yr8)
Sophie (Yr7)
Nina (Yr7)
Lydia (Yr8)
Animals Paradise by Samantha (Yr8)
Up at the farm on a sunny day All the animals gather to say ‘where are the farmers, where have they gone?’ The animals can’t see anyone The wings of a chicken flapping loud The fluffy white sheep deeply proud The fierce little goats yelled with a yawn That the farmers of Roedean are finally gone! Down they go, down the hill Passing all the daffodils To the entrance of the school All the animals found it super cool The sheep entered the library Finding paper to eat gracefully The chickens see the DT hall And played with all the mechanicals The goats have found the theatre room And messed with all the lights of doom But right when they were having fun The humans came and made them run They left all rooms they have destroyed And ran to places they can’t avoid They left the school, back to the farm Where home is safe, with no alarms
The Farm of Roedean
by Polly (Yr7) and Georgia (Yr7) It was dead silent. Esie woke up and she turned around to see that the big looming building was pitch black. Hungry goats moaned. Chickens groaned. Why was it so quiet? Where were the chattering schoolgirls rushing to classes? Where were the cars driving into school? Why were there no lights on in the windows? Esie called a farm meeting – the chickens, Rick the rooster, the sheep and the rest of the goats came running to find out what was happening. The chickens were panicking – where were they going to get their food? The sheep were stressing – who was going to clip them and stop them becoming fluff balls? Esie realised they needed a plan. Esie decided to send Rick in through a small gap in the wall to investigate. Rick had always thought he was more than a rooster and now he knew what he was, he was a spy. Rushing into every room on the lower floor, he slowly realised that he was on his own. He rushed to the kitchen he found a donut from donut Thursday he had always wanted to try one as he always saw the children eating them in his face he was amazed about how delious it was. Suddenly he remembered that he was on a mission he ran as fast as he could with all the food he was carrying to house 4 where the gap was. Then he opened the door and animals rushed in started ripping walls and chewing sofas. It had been one month since they were left – now it looked as if it had been through a war then they heard a creek behind the door…. A human stepped out and it wasn’t just any human it was Ms Chandler “what have u been doing?” “we have all been in quarantine and then I come back to find this the school has been trashed, this is not a good way to start a new year!”
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18 September 2020 - Issue 2
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
New Competition! After the success of the submissions from Tuesday’s HHH task, each week, Ms Boobis will set a prompt for you to produce a creative response. These will be due by Wednesday, and the best ones each week will receive a prize and be featured in the Head’s Review! The competition is open to every year group and here are the rules: Spend no more than an hour producing a creative response to the following stimulus: The Day the Queen Realised She Had Been Betrayed ■
Where is she queen of? Is she a monarch or is the word ‘queen’ more metaphorical?
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Who betrayed her? How?
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How did she find out?
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How does she feel about it? Hurt/angry/ relieved…?
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What will she do now that she knows?
House Boarders' Activities The boarders' in Houses 1-4 and Lawrence have enjoyed a range of evening activities this week – thank you to the House Staff for organising this.
WEEKLY YEAR GROUP ACTIVITIES
8.15 m 9.00p
WEEK COMMENCING: Monday 14th September 2020
MONDAY Year 7:
TUESDAY
Year 9:
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
Year 7:
Year 9:
Location: Studios
Location: Studios or Outside
Year 8:
Year 11:
With s!! prize
Location: Studios
Location: Studios
Year 8:
Year 10: With s!! prize
Location: Studios
Location: Studios
Location: Studios
Location: Studios
Isobel’s Gold DofE Congratulations to Isobel (from last year’s Year 13), who achieved her Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award. To achieve this, she volunteered for a year, working each Saturday for BSTARZ Drama Academy, for her skills section, she completed a year of Acting lessons, and for her Physical section, a year of Dance. In addition, she had to complete a 5-day residential course, which she did at the Orchards Cookery School in Worcestershire, and two 4-day expeditions, her practice in Wales and her qualifying expedition in Derbyshire. Well done, Isobel – what a brilliant achievement!
U14 Netballers Back in Action We are really pleased that some of our U14 netballers were back in action last weekend, playing their first match since lockdown with the modified rules. The girls were representing their clubs, CD Phoenix and Magic Netball Club, and they had a highly competitive match in preparation for a return to the regional leagues. All the girls played extremely well, despite the long break, and it was fantastic for them to step back on the court.
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18 September 2020 - Issue 2
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Year 7 Discus in the Glorious Sunshine
Jasmine named Co-Captain
Co-curricular clubs return
Year 8 Sports Scholar Jasmine has been named Co-Captain of the U13 Magic Netball Squad. Jasmine says ‘This is the second year that I have been selected as captain of the squad. It’s an honour and a privilege to be given this opportunity to lead my team as we work towards a top ranking in the regionals next Summer.’ Jasmine has been working hard on her ball skills and fitness throughout lockdown and over the summer. We are really proud of her hard work and dedication – well done, Jasmine!
HHH Orienteering This week students from Years 8 & 9 have been Orienteering on the South Downs. This activity forms part of the Heads, Hands, and Hearts (HHH) curriculum. The lessons aim to teach the valuable skill of navigation, as well introducing our students to the local area, its history, and the South Downs National Park, which is right outside the School’s back gate.
This week, they navigated across the open access area to St Wulfran’s in the village of Ovingdean. A student from each grouped presented on the history of the church, sharing facts about the 12th century church which was mentioned in the Doomsday Book. Next week, we will navigate to Beacon Hill Nature Reserve, while learning about the smuggling history of Rottingdean. LFI
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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