20th January 2017 - Issue 3
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Year 7 made Chocolate Fondants in HHH
Top Girls’ School in Sussex in the new league tables 51.9% of girls achieved A Level grades of AAB or higher in at least two facilitating subjects last year, and we are absolutely delighted that this places Roedean as the highest performing girls’ school in East and West Sussex, ranks us second of all schools in this area, and indeed higher than the top girls’ schools in Kent and
Head’s Introduction There has been something for everyone at Roedean this week, with a mobile Planetarium from the Observatory Science Centre coming to school on Monday, a dynamic contemporary dance company performance on Tuesday, and an exciting steel band workshop for Year 8 on Thursday. I am delighted that these diverse events are available to the girls – at the very least, they enrich their experiences, but for some they may even be that eureka moment for a lifelong passion! As you may know, a new independent school inspection regime was introduced this academic year with a focus on compliance. While such inspections will not provide the very positive all-round feedback of the full inspection we underwent in March, ensuring the quality of our policies and practice is also an essential part of providing a high-quality education. We started the week with an one-day ISI compliance inspection looking at the quality of our provision. The inspectors were delighted by everything that they saw, and were full of praise for the girls, whose behaviour and manner they thought was exemplary. They praised the quality of the staff, the strong relationships, and the richness of the provision. The school was fully compliant in all the areas inspected – thank you to all staff and girls who supported the inspectors. I wish you all a restful exeat weekend, after which I look forward to next week’s events building up to the start of Chinese New Year and the fireworks display on Friday, we will also mark Holocaust Memorial Day in our Chapel services, and the girls of Keswick House are hosting a 1920s Gatsby-themed party for the Sixth Form on Friday evening – have a wonderful week!
Hampshire. This is according to the Department for Education’s new national league tables, published this week by The Telegraph, which rank schools according to this criteria, meaning that our girls have the best access to the very top universities in the country. Congratulations to all on this great accolade!
L4s are transported to the Caribbean in their steel pan workshop and performance All the girls in L4 enjoyed a fabulous day on Thursday of vibrant music-making in the company of musicians from the group SOLID STEEL. The girls learned from scratch how to play steel pans in a whole class ensemble in this interactive workshop. Each of the three classes had just one 45 minute lesson to put their piece together, so all our students showed a great deal of concentration, teamwork, and disciplined learning. All the performances were just fabulous and it was wonderful to see how the girls clearly enjoyed the whole event. Two classes performed traditional Calypso and the third learned to play quite an extensive version of the Jessie J song Price Tag. It was quite clear from the buzz in the Theatre, the total commitment in rehearsal, and the performance, that the L4s had a wonderful experience making music together. Excited and enthusiastic conversation followed each session and here are some of the girls’ reactions to their day:
‘The steel drums was an amazing experience, as I have never learnt how to play them before. I hope we’ll be able to do it again.’ Gowri P (L4) ‘I really enjoyed the steel band coming, as it was a really fun experience to play in a big group with so many parts and kinds of drums.’ Molly M (L4) ‘I am so glad we did this activity; it was a great experience’ Julia C-P (L4) ‘It was an amazing day, and taught me a lot about playing together in a large group.’ Poppy T (L4) ‘I really enjoyed the exotic feel of the music; we also had a great laugh doing it.’ Scarlett R (L4)