Head's Weekly Review - Autumn Issue 10

Head’s Introduction

Congratulations to all our performers and our Music Department for the fabulous Gala Concert last Friday evening. It was a wonderful extravaganza of different musical styles and groups for which the Chapel was transformed by lighting and screens to reflect the mood. For 160 performers to be involved in a single concert is remarkable, and this is only possible due to the commitment and talent of our Music Department, our Technical crew, all the support staff involved behind the scenes, and, of course, all our talented music teachers and musicians. Thank you to you all. A final word of praise for our four student conductors, who demonstrated great control and confidence. If you were not able to see it, there is a video in this Review.

On the same evening, three members of staff slept on cardboard boxes in Brighton to raise awareness of homeless people, along with funds to support them. I am very proud of our strong partnership with Off The Fence over the past four years. Thank you to the School community for supporting Ms Sturgeon, Mr Halsey, and Mrs Crawley in raising £2000 for a worthy cause. Their single night sleeping outside gave them only a brief insight into the challenges homeless people face every day and night, but they also brought these harsh realities to the attention of our whole community.

‘Woolly Hat Wednesday’ this week captured the imagination of girls and staff, and there was an amazing array of woollen items on show. As a community, we raised over £700, and this will go to Chailey Heritage and our school charities. Thank you to everyone who took part!

It has also been a busy week for the Sports Department, with fixtures in Hockey, Badminton, and Netball, as well as House Hockey too. Well done to everyone who has represented the School. Congratulations to all who played and to the U18 Badminton team, the U12B and U14C Hockey teams, and the U14A Netball team, all of which had good wins. I wish everyone playing in next Monday’s Staff vs Student Hockey match the best of luck!

Hot on the heels of the Gala Concert, the Music Department has had a busy week, with a Flute Masterclass, a teatime recital yesterday, and CAP musicians delighting the residents at the Blind Veterans, as well as preparing for the Carol Services. Our newly formed Gospel Choir, led by Mrs Walker, also sang in our Chapel services this week. Well done to all our musicians.

Good luck to everyone involved in ‘Six’ for your final rehearsals before the shows next week – the whole School is really looking forward to seeing the performances. I wish you all a great weekend, and good luck for next week.

Roedean Raises £1956 at the Big Sleep Out

On Friday night, three members of Roedean staff slept out in support of Off The Fence’s ‘Big Sleep Out’ in Brighton.  Ms Sturgeon (Head of Year 10), Mr Halsey, and Mrs Crawley slept rough by St Peter’s Church, along with about 100 others, in order to better understand the experience of being homeless.

Roedean has worked closely in partnership with Brighton-based charity, Off The Fence, since 2018, and it is the designated charity for our Year 10 students this year.  Before Covid, the School delivered 100 hot meals each week to be distributed among the homeless – the current need is slightly different, and the charity has requested a twice-weekly delivery of 25 sandwiches, pieces of cake, and water, which they take out to new homeless people on their nightly trips.

Our three intrepid members of staff braved the elements on Friday night – fortunately for them, the weather was kind and it was dry, and, although they were warm enough in their layers, they were very uncomfortable, sleeping directly under the stars on cardboard.  This experience has provided them with the briefest snapshot of what homeless people experience each night, and it was very powerful for them to hear the stories of people involved with Off The Fence. Ms Sturgeon said, ‘I was really impressed by the way they treat everyone as individuals. The reasons which result in someone

becoming homeless are incredibly complex, and the charity works very hard to make sure that they do everything possible to meet everyone’s needs.’

'We had six hours of broken sleep, and I felt completely disorientated and genuinely frightened when some party-goers set off fireworks nearby,’ said  Mr Halsey. ‘I didn’t know what was coming next, so I couldn’t sleep properly or rest.  I honestly thought the fireworks were gunshots.’ This constant sense of uncertainty must be inescapable for the homeless, and the staff felt that the opportunity to experience just one night of homelessness has deepened their understanding in some small way.

'Sleeping out in the open in central Brighton was an eye-opening experience, the noises, the people, being vulnerable to the elements and the uncertainty of things,' added Mrs Crawley. 'It gives you a real appreciation for all that you have.'

The School raised and donated £4500 to Off The Fence last year to support their vital work, and the Roedean community has already donated £1956 to support the three Roedean staff and their Sleep Out on Friday – if you would like to donate, please follow this link: Roedean Fundraising is fundraising for Off the Fence Trust Ltd (justgiving.com)

Flute Masterclass

Seven of our fantastic flautists had the wonderful opportunity to take part in a flute workshop with the revered flautist and composer, Ian Clarke, on Thursday afternoon.

They joined students from other local schools hosted at Brighton College. Ian Clarke, professor of flute at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, worked with the group on a myriad of musical skills and advanced flute techniques, including listening and playing by ear, whole tone scales, quarter tones, flutter-tonguing, singing and playing at the same time, and multiphonics (playing more than one note at a time, which the flute does not usually do). The discussion covered a wide range, including purely musical matters, but also relating to the physics of the harmonic series of notes. Ian was lively and engaging; a wonderful performer, musician, and teacher.

After dinner, we had a concert where the audience were treated to a performance Ian’s piece Zig Zag Zoo, played by all the students in the workshop, followed by a recital given by Ian and his pianist, which was an absolute delight and a fantastic experience for our girls.

Well done to Chloe, Ella, Kate, Navya, Queena, Sarah, and Yolanda for taking part, and many thanks to Mrs Leclercq and Ms Bartlette for organising the trip.

Mr Rous

Mr Clingan – for a fantastic lecture on 'Understanding the Current Economic Crisis, the Mini-budget Mayhem and why Liz Truss became the shortest serving PM of all time!’ – thank you so much to all the Year 12s and 13s who attended too! [Ms Ibanez-Barcelo]

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.

Gabriella and Olivia (Yr11), and Charlie (Yr9) – for speaking so well in this week's Chapel services [Mr Wriglesworth]

Mrs Mitchell and Mrs Andrew – for leaping out of their comfort zones and singing solo in Chapel as part of the Gospel Choir [Dr Barrand]

PERFORMING ARTS

The Natural World Gala Concert

Friday night saw the most wonderful gala concert in the School’s Chapel, featuring a whole host of musical items with a focus on nature.

Eight different ensembles, including over 160 musicians, performed a brilliant repertoire, which ranged from Mendelssohn to Marvin Gaye, from Saint-Saëns to Elton John, and from Eric Coates to Van Morrison. No fewer than fifteen pianists performed in the Carnival of the Animals, the famous Swan and the Elephant were characterised beautifully by two soloists, and four students also jumped at the challenge of taking up the baton to conduct individual movements.

The Chapel was bathed in coloured light, which related to the pieces being performed, creating a sensory experience for the audience of 350 concert-goers. Huge congratulations go to all our musicians, to Mr Benjamin Rous and Ms Sophia Bartlette (Director and Assistant Director of Music) our Music teachers, and to the Theatre team who worked their magic to create such wonderful effects.

The Natural World (Autumn Gala Concert).mp4 (vimeo.com)

Sport Stars of the Week

Year 7

Janice, for working really hard in goal in hockey Year 8

Catherine, for her efforts in netball this term Year 9

Maggie, for brilliant progress in hockey over the term

Year 10

Rida, for her effort and progression in hockey

Year 11

Elodie, for excellent efforts in Sport Science, Hockey, and Tennis Year 12

Katie, for her effort during netball and badminton games lessons Year 13 Narie, for stepping in and helping with a Badminton fixture

Well done to Naomi (Yr7), who has been awarded this week's Golden Ticket [Mrs Chamberlain]

Congratulations to this week's Sports Stars! [Miss Kirby-Jones]

Dr Barrand

PERFORMING ARTS

Teatime Recital

We enjoyed another lovely Teatime recital this week, with representatives from the youngest to the oldest in the School, and a range of pieces – what a talented group of students!

The Year 7 Singers started the recital off with a crowd-pleasing rendition of How Far I’ll Go from Moana. This was followed by an impressive performance by Yolanda in Year 11 of a challenging piece called Hypnosis on the flute – she demonstrated excellent mastery of the instrument. Next, Athena played Passacaglia on the Viola. The piece was beautiful, and the tone was lovely.

The next performance was of Without You by Ellen (Yr10) – she commanded the stage well, and her characterisation was excellent. In stark contrast, Candis (Yr10) played an unaccompanied Gigue by Bach, which required strong dexterity, and she showed that she was in full control of the Viola. Next, Vivian sang a lovely aria by Mozart, Ridente la calma – the top of her register rang out in the Chapel.

Rachel (Yr10) and Zyta (Yr9) performed Mélodie by Tchaikovsky. Not only did Rachel play the Violin with great panache, but it was wonderful to see another student accompanying her, as this is a challenging undertaking. Natalie (Yr13) then played Norton’s Jingo on the Piano – her dynamic

CAP Musicians Perform at Blind Veterans

Yesterday, the CAP Musicians visited the Blind Veterans to bring them some early Christmas cheer. They performed an enjoyable range of repertoire form Gershwin to Bach.

The students organised the programme themselves and put in a lot of practice. They started with a group song from Frozen, and continued with various instrumental and vocal solos, ending with a rousing version of Jingle Bells!

A special well done to Abi, who also accompanied on the piano. The Blind Veterans were thoroughly entertained and the students enjoyed some lovely tea and cake from the residents to say thank you. Well done to all the Year 12s: Maria, Alissandra. Lyris, Emily, Abi, and Eni!

Ms Bartlette

range was excellent, and she did very well.

The next piece in the recital was performed by Elspeth (Yr10) – it was lovely to hear the recorder, and she played the third movement from Heberle’s Concerto with great control. Meghan (Yr9) then played Rutter’s Suite Antique on the flute, and her haunting playing captured the emotion of the

brilliantly. The last piece, an excellent arrangement of Moon River

was performed by a Piano Trio, made up of Rachel, Sarah, and

on piano – it was a lovely way to end the recital.

Well done to everyone who performed!

music

by Zyta (Yr9),

Zyta herself

Dr Barrand

Woolly Hat Wednesday

This week, all Roedean staff and girls took part in 'Woolly Hat Wednesday', an initiative to help raise funds for the Chailey Heritage Foundation, a local organisation supporting young people with complex disabilities, and one of our designated charities this year. We have so far raised £707, and that total will be split with half going to the Chailey Heritage Foundation and half to our other designated charities.

Classics Trip to the British Museum

The Classics Department took a group of Year 10 and Year 12 Classicists to the British Museum and Borough market in London. It was a wonderful experience for the girls, as we were treated to another talk by Lesley Fitton OBE, retired Head of the Greece and Rome department. Her ability to spark enthusiasm and joy at the vase paintings of stories of the Trojan War was tangible. She was pinned down by questions from keen girls at the end. Meanwhile, the Year 10 girls explored the galleries connected to the Roman army and its provinces, connecting the artefacts to an upcoming literature module, 'Conflict and Conquest'. It remains a joy to be able to take the girls out into the wider world and to fill all our minds with beauty and sources of inspiration.

Mrs Barlow

Mrs Miller

Art Print Exhibition

This evening's Art Exhibition in the Old Ref features print works by staff and students in Years 10-13, employing a range of different techniques.

There are wonderful prints made in our brand new dark room, by A Level Photography students, dry-point etching, lino-cut printing, and digital photography. The sheer range of techniques and skill on display is testament to the students' impressive talents.

The staff pieces include screen prints by Ms Strachan, etchings by Miss North, photography by Mrs Alexander, and photopolymer etching by Miss Phillips.

Weekend Art workshops

On Saturday, 17 students from year 11 to 13, took part in a life painting class with artist Sara Reeve. Working directly from the model in oil paints was a challenge which all students tackled with admirable determination. Sara introduced the students to the Zorn palette, developed by the Swedish artist Anders Zorn, which is a method of oil painting which uses only 4 colours. It is incredible that the students were able to produce such impressive work in such a short time.

Boarding...

U13B Hockey

The U13B team lost 2-3 following am under-par performance. Roedean took a 2-0 lead into half time, with goals from Yan Yan and Liv, but lax marking and players regularly being out of position flagged up some warning signs.

The second half saw these problems become more noticeable, and this resulted in the team conceding three goals; one was well worked, but the other two were far too easy. Anya was outstanding in goal and, without her, saves the score line could have been much worse.

Mr Smethurst

Windy Win for U13C Hockey

The U13C team had a windy penultimate game of the season against Brighton College and were able to come away with another win. We started quickly with an early goal Amber who, with help from Iris broke away quickly into the D and scored from a rebound off the goal keeper. Molly and Lois, yet again had great games in defence along with Gabriella who debuted for the C team. Four more goals were scored by Maud, Polly, Emma and Amber to make it up to 5. A quick break from the opposition saw them score a fine goal. Emma was made player of the match for her excellent drives down the righthand side.

Miss Kirby-Jones

U13B Hockey vs Cumnor House

The U13Bs lost narrowly to a strong Cumnor House 2nd VII in a tight game.

Cumnor looked well-organised and dangerous from the start – they took the lead in the first half with a well worked goal, and looked as though they may score several more. However, Roedean worked their way into the game, and began intercepting lots of passes and creating attacks of their own. The rest of the game followed a similar pattern, but Roedean just lacked an accurate final pass and some composure in the D, so couldn't quite grab an equaliser.

Overall, it was a good game.

House Hockey

Year 7 Year 10

Mr Smethurst

House Badminton – Inters

Well done to everyone who played in House Badminton this week – the level of play was excellent.

Congratulations to House 1!

Kirby-Jones

U12C vs Hurst

The U12Cs played Hurst in a very competitive match this week. We played four 10-minute quarters, so got so much hockey in! The girls dominated the first quarter, and had the ball in the opposition's half most of the time. We had countless shots at goal, but Hurst defended ferociously and kept a goal at bay.

The second quarter was the same, and we had four attacking short corner opportunities. Unfortunately, Hurst caught us on the counterattack and went 1-0 up just before half time. Roedean continued to play exceptional hockey and were really enjoying themselves out there!

Hurst snuck another one past us in the third quarter, so they were 2-0 up. We had multiple chances in the final quarter, but their goalie played extremely well and denied us the goals! The match finished 2-0 to Hurst.

A huge well done the all the team – it was a great game of hockey.

U12B Remain Unbeaten with One Game to Play

The U12B team, in their second last match of the season, played Brighton College – they are unstoppable! After a brief stormy moment to ensure the pitch was slick to play on the match got underway. Roedean was lethal going forward, eliminating opponents with confidence and speed, subsequently finding themselves 4 goals up in no time.

We then conditioned the way we played in order to attempt to play the brand of hockey we were trying to play. 5 passes before a shot could be had and with relentless substitutions, this only fuelled their desire to score and get shots at goal.

By half time, Roedean was up by 7, and the team reflected on how we wanted to play and how we could get the best out of the remainder of the match. The Brighton goalkeeper was re-energised for the second half, making some good saves against wave after wave of Roedean attack but the second half continued in the way the first did.

The final score was 9-0 to Roedean.

Mr Campleman

U18 Badminton vs Brighton College

The U18 Badminton team took to the court on Wednesday night for a smashing win over local rivals, Brighton College.

After a few pairs reshuffles, the pupils got underway in a doubles tournament. Ellie and Twinkie played two thrilling games which both went down to the line, but put us ahead by six points going into round three.

Skylar and Alicia stormed through their 4 games, going unbeaten and not even allowing their oppositions to gain half their scores.

There were also some other brilliant games, and the team was able to win 13 games out of 20, winning 42 points to 28.

Well done!

U13D vs Handcross Park

Unfortunately, our U13Ds experienced their first loss of the season in a narrow defeat of 1-0 against Handcross Park's U13C team.

Both teams were very evenly matched, and, in particular, applied a lot of defending pressure, closing down the space and limiting attacking options. This put our stick skills to the test. On those successful occasions in which we did out-manoeuvre the opposition, there was a lot of open space to speedily transition the ball through the pitch. Emma in particular capitalised on these opportunities, with great speed and control of the ball, which safely made it into our attacking D. Without the attacking options ahead of play, we just weren't able to secure the goal.

The first half concluded 0-0, with an excellent save by Gabi in goal, confidently kicking the ball clear of the D after a close-range shot, without defending support. It was the second half which saw Handcross Park end up in a 3v1 situation and convert, taking the victory, the game ending 1-0.

Opposition's Player of the Match: Emma

Coach's Player of the Match: Emma Miss Kennerson

U12A

vs Brighton College

The under 12A faced up against Brighton College on a windy day on the cliffs of Roedean. Goals were shared around in a dominant performance. The girls looked to play quickly and move the ball out wide. Despite Roedean dominating possession, Beth, Chloe, Sophie, and Katherine held the clean sheet, despite some fantastic attacking chances for Brighton. Coach's player goes to Paloma for her workrate and staying out wide.

Mr Borsoi

Miss Hammond

Miss Kirby-Jones

Roedean Netballers Win Awards at the Annual Magic Awards

Congratulations to all those Roedean girls who received awards from their coaches at Magic's awards' evening for the 2021-22 season:

■ Molly – Most Improved U14

■ Ruby – Coaches' U14 Player of the Season

■ Jasmine – U15 Club Contribution Award & Long Service Award

■ Elsie – Coaches' U16 Player of the Season & Club Contribution Award

■ Jamie – Most Improved U16

Congratulations to all – your hard work is paying off, keep it up!

Jasmine at the Liverpool National Amateur Championship

Year 12 & 13 Swimmers!

U14A Netball Win Against Brighton College.

The U14A Netballers had a great pre-season friendly against Brighton College on Monday night, and came away worthy winners.

It was a match focused on trialling numerous rotations and gearing up for next term, and the team showed they are more than ready for the Netball season to start in January. It was a slow start with both teams finding their feet, and Roedean one goal behind at the quarter break. It was this point that we started to pull away, with Harriet and Gaby rotating well in the D, and Molly and Minnie providing opportunities to attack down the court.

The second half saw us win both quarters, with the defence turning over lots of balls. Credit must go to Layla who stepped in at the last minute and played really well. Well done to opposition's MVP Ruby.

The final score was 20-13.

Miss Kirby-Jones

The Sixth Form swimmers have been working extremely hard all term in Games. As a result, they had a fun second half of their session this week with big floats! A big well done and thank you to all of you for your work this term.

Miss Hammond

Miss Hammond