Head's Weekly Review - Issue 8

WEEKLY REVIEW

Head’s Introduction

This has been a busy week, with so many different activities running side by side, underlining the impressive breadth of opportunities here at Roedean.

Last weekend, the Year 9s and 10s completed their Duke of Edinburgh‘s Bronze and Silver expeditions, not only coping with the challenge of the expedition itself, but also the hottest day of the year so far – well done. I am even more impressed that some of those same girls are also among the 44 who chose to sleep out last night on the fields, to raise funds for the local homeless charity, Off The Fence – what a brilliant thing to do, and Year 10 has raised over £5997 for the charity over the course of the year!

Last night’s Evening of Summer Music was a remarkable showcase of musicianship in the Chapel – it was impressive to listen to so many talented performers. I also enjoyed hearing completely different styles of music inhabiting the same space, with James Taylor sitting comfortably alongside Handel and Mendelssohn. Congratulations to everyone involved.

I would like to congratulate Natalie in Year 8, who has successfully achieved her Trinity LTCL Performance Diploma – this is an outstanding achievement, which belies her age. Continuing with the Performing Arts, I am delighted that all those who took LAMDA exams in the last round have been rewarded with Distinctions – well done.

There has been lots of sport played in the summer sun this week – our cricketers have enjoyed some close matches, our Tennis players are doing really well, and a number of our Athletes have achieved new personal bests this week. Good luck to Liepa in Year 10, who will be playing Basketball in the Junior NBA European Finals in Spain!

Well done for a great week, and good luck for next – I am looking forward to the performances of Mary Poppins and to Sports Day on Roedean Day at the end of the week.

Year 12 Geographers on the Jurassic Coast

Year 10 Charity Sleep-Out

Boarding Social Fun!

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.

Mary (Yr12) – for producing a fantastic Pride edition of the LGBTQ+ Zine at very short notice [Ms Friedman]

A Glorious Evening of Summer Music

The Evening of Summer Music is the last concert before Speech Day and the Music Tour to Prague in the first week of the holidays. It was a wonderful summer’s evening, and the music complemented it perfectly.

The first performance was Lawn Tennis by the Swedish composer, Paterson-Berger, played on the Piano by Elin in Year 11. It was lovely to hear a little-known composer, and she played beautifully, with fantastic control; she also had the confidence to enjoy the rubato before the next phrase moved on.

Fola (Yr11) – for her amazing work in the Art Department, preparing the boards for the A Level Art Exhibition [Ms Strachan]

Also playing on the new Steinway in the Chapel, Michelle in Year 9 gave a highly accomplished performance next of Grieg’s Notturno. She produced a beautiful sound and demonstrated complete control of the instrument.

In a change of tone, Joy (Yr 8) sang Dream It Possible by Delacey – her powerful voice shone brightly in Chapel, and she gave a string performance. The fourth performer was Chloe (Yr 9), who played two movements by the French composer and flautist, Taffanel. These two virtuosic movements allowed her to show both her dexterity and the full range of the flute.

Ellen in Year 10 sang Nana, by the Spanish composer, de Falla. Her diction was excellent, her tone mature, and she captured the moorish feel of this Spanish folk piece perfectly. Sihu, also in Year 10, then played Sarah by Peter-Horas, and her playing highlighted the combination of styles for which he is known.

Sigrid, Maria, and Matilda (Yr12) – for their thoughtful contributions to, and reading in, Chapel last week [Ms Boobis and Ms Friedman]

Queena (Yr12) – for presenting her paper 'Evaluating the impact and success of UK Policies in addressing wealth inequality’ during Academic Lectures – well done! [Ms Ibanez-Barcelo]

Merla (Yr11) – for helping out in lots of different areas of the School now that her GCSEs are complete [Miss Allen]

Romy’s rendition of People Day We’re in Love by Rodgers and Hammerstein was lovely, and her control of the long phrases was effortless. This was contrasted wonderfully by a classical showpiece next – Schytte’s A Minor Étude, performed by Holly in Year 8. She lost herself completely in the music and was completely in control of the piano throughout, moving up and down the keyboard with great skill.

The next performer was Meghan (Yr9), who played two movements from Handel’s A Minor Flute Sonata. Her playing contrasted the two movements beautifully, and her tone was lovely. Charlie performed one of the challenging movements from Poulenc’s Trois Movements Perpétuels on the piano – it was beautiful, and she highlighted the deliberately atonal moments with great timing and confidence.

Emma and Sam (Yr10) gave a wonderfully atmospheric rendition of James Taylor’s Fire & Rain –Sam’s smokey voice carried beautifully over Emma’s clear strumming on the guitar. The next piece, the iconic Après un Rêve by Fauré, was played wonderfully by Zyta in Year 9. We hear the Double Bass showcased so infrequently that it was great to hear its rich tone and lovely top register.

The next player was Candis in Year 10, who played Rachmaninov’s challenging Vocalise on the Viola. Her rich tone was clearly evident, and she played confidently, clearly in complete control of her instrument. Alissandra and Niamh (Yr12) have sung together for a number of years, and this was obvious in their rendition of Larson’s Come to Your Senses – they were perfectly in sync, and their harmonies were lovely.

The penultimate piece was Hisaishi’s Merry-Go-Round of Life, played by Tiffany and Samantha in Year 12. This Piano duet was characterised by changes of style and tempo, and they captured the feel of the piece wonderfully.

The finale was the third movement of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, which Rachel (Yr10) performed with great panache. She was in complete command of the virtuosic elements, moving up and down the full range of the instrument, with immaculate timing throughout. It was clear that she relished the unrelenting pace of the piece, and it was a fantastic way to end the evening of summer music!

At this point in the academic year, when a number of the School’s more experienced musicians are focusing on their public examinations, it was such a pleasure to hear such accomplished and talented players in the younger year-groups – there can be no doubt that Roedean has remarkable strength in depth. Congratulations to the Music Department, and everyone involved.

Dr Barrand

Jemima's 1 of 5 Horrible History Winners

Congratulations to Jemima (Yr7), who was one of 5 winners nationally for the recent Sunday Times Horrible Histories anniversary competition to create a HH birthday card.

Her prize arrived through the post, and she opened the box containing six newly published Horrible Histories books – she is thrilled!

Well done, Jemima!

LAMDA Distinctions Across the Board

Congratulations to all those who took LAMDA exams in the latest cycle – again, every single student passed with Distinction!

Well done to the following:

Year 7

Flo Grade 3 Acting Distinction

Saffron Grade 3 Acting Distinction

Annabelle Grade 3 Musical Theatre Distinction

Heli Grade 3 Musical Theatre Distinction

Lily Grade 4 Acting Distinction

Georgie Grade 4 Acting Distinction

Year 8

Ruth Grade 4 Acting Distinction

Natalie Grade 4 Acting Distinction

Mia Grade 4 Acting Distinction

Lyla Grade 4 Verse and Prose Distinction

Modesire Grade 4 Acting Distinction

Year 9

Tess Grade 5 Verse and Prose Distinction

Year 12

Maddie Grade 6 Acting Distinction

Paloma Grade 7 Musical Theatre Distinction

Flo Grade 7 Acting Distinction

Lucy Grade 8 Verse and Prose Distinction

Gracie Grade 8 Musical Theatre Distinction

Natalie – LTCL Diploma

Congratulations to Natalie, who has passed her Trinity LTCL diploma on Violin! This qualification is the equivalent of a final year undergraduate degree recital

We all heard her play so marvellously at the Brighton Festival Fringe Concert earlier in the term, but this is a remarkable achievement for a student in Year 8 – well done!

Ms Bartlette

In addition, well done to the Year 8 Drama Scholars (Bonnie, Molly, Sasha, Blaize, Nathalia, Claudia, Lucy, Gabriella, Joy, Maud, and Ava) who have passed Grade 4 Group Acting with Distinction, and to the Year 7 Drama Scholars (Livvy, Bella, Jemima, Georgie, Lucia, Sorcha, Astrid, Rosa, Tilly, Annabelle, Lily, Maddie, Saffron, and Eva) who have passed Grade 3 Group Devising Drama with Distinction!

Well done, everyone!

Mrs Sellers

Bronze & Silver Duke Of Edinburgh's Award –Qualifying

Congratulations to our Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh's Award participants for successfully completing their Expedition Section of the Award. Our Silver group completed their 3-day, 2-night challenge, and our Bronze group completed their 2-day 1-night challenge.

We are immensely proud of your grit and determination to overcome the many challenges of teamwork, navigation, blisters, tiredness, camping, cooking, and hiking, all in a self-sufficient manner, and on the hottest weekend of the year so far!

We thoroughly enjoyed your company and sharing in your adventures.

Thank you to Mr Fieldsend, Ms Holmes, Ms Bartlette, Mrs Shrubsole, Ms Good, Mrs Sturgeon, and Mr Halsey for supporting our girls, facilitating this weekend’s success.

It has been another fantastic DofE Season!

Mrs Finn

Year 10 Charity Sleep-Out

Last night, 44 students in Year 10 slept out under the stars, along with 5 members of staff, to raise funds for Off The Fence, their yeargroup’s dedicated charity.

The charity’s founder, Paul Young, came to meet them at the start of the evening, and thank them generously for all they have done to support the charity over the course of the year.

The girls had a simple supper of dhal, and then set up where they were going to sleep. They played some football and chatted, and then some opted to sleep under a tarpaulin, but most just settled down to sleep gazing up at the stars.

Over the year, Year 10 have raised just under £6000, and this experience will give them some small idea of what it might be like to sleep outside.

Well done!

Ms Sturgeon

‘It gave me time to view the world from a different perspective.’

Aarushi

‘Paul Young was inspiring.’ Hettie

is‘Star-watching fun, but even better with friends.’

Maisie

‘It was empowering to embrace the experience.’

Eloise

‘This has given me the tiniest insight into what it must be like every single night for some people.’

Ida

Whole School Clothes Swap

A big thank you to those girls who donated and participated in our second Clothes Swap. Once again, you have helped to reduce environmental impacts of the fashion industry, alongside having fun and enriching your wardrobe.

Well done Eco-Change Makers!!!

Mrs Finn

Year 10s Taking on the Pretty Muddy Race

Erin, Fen, Freya, Tildy, Eloise, and Evie are taking on the Pretty Muddy Race for Cancer Research UK – 'Us six girls discovered during our silver DofE expedition how cancer had affected all of us in some way, claiming family members and friends in its harsh grip. Feeling helpless, we decided

If you would like to help them raise funds for this hugely important charity, please follow this link -

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/team/mud-buds-8

SheepShearing

On Wednesday this week, our flock of 16 sheep were shorn – you could almost tell how relieved they were to lose their fleeces in the current hot weather! They will go to our Textiles Club, who will spin the wool and make garments with it.

Holly the Sheep-Shearer’s dogs rounded up our flock, and the Farm Prefects and a motley crew of staff watched her quickly shear the sheep –you wouldn’t believe how much wool came off!

Mr Fieldsend

Roedean Academy Research Papers

The finale of the Roedean Academy for this year saw 30 students from Peacehaven Community School, Blatchington Mill, Dorothy Stringer, and Roedean present academic research papers to their peers.

They were given guidance about research techniques in March, and then given free rein to follow their passions and dig deeper into these topics. And the results were great – they included detailed research into the effects of animal agriculture, Alzheimer’s disease, ancient temples in Malta, ChatGPT, beetle diversity, Chernobyl, and 15th century witch-hunts.

This has been a wonderful opportunity for the students to move beyond their school subjects and indulge their intellectual curiosity just for the joy of it!

Well done to everyone involved.

Year 12 Geographers on the Jurassic Coast

Our Year 12 A Level geographers returned this week from 4 days and 3 nights on Dorset's Jurassic coastline. This annual trip is a mix of teaching 'in the field' (bringing the Coasts unit of the A Level vividly to life), and vital preparation for the students' NEA (coursework) investigations. Across the country all A Level Geography students must spend a compulsory 4 days carrying out fieldwork outside the school environment, and this stretch of southern coastline provides an ideal location to fulfil that requirement.

Coincidently, our visit happened to be on one of the hottest weekends of the year, meaning we got to see already dramatic landscapes at their most beautiful, and occasionally get our feet wet in the lukewarm waters.

Based at Leeson House field centre in the village of Langton Matravers (near Swanage) we visited

the following: the sand dunes of Studland Bay, Hurst Castle spit, majestic Chesil Beach, fragile cliff tops at Barton-On-Sea, the dystopian community of Poundbury, famous Old Harry Rocks, Lulworth Cove, and Durdle Door. Along the way, we studied the natural systems at work and how humans interract with this dynamic coastal environment.

In the evenings, our excellent Leeson House Tutor, Mark, led classroom sessions that taught many of the essential skills required to carry out A Level standard NEA fieldwork. However, there was also time for water fights, table tennis, takeaway curries, and even an initiation (for most) into the game of pool. This group of students know each other very well, and it was a pleasure to see them engaging so well with the work, whilst having a great time together wherever we went. The photos tell the story.

Each year we nominate one student as 'Geographer of the Year' whilst in Dorset, awarded to someone who makes consistent positive contributions, or demonstrates particular 'grit' over what can be an exhausting long weekend. Whilst Paloma and Janice will collect the Geography Award for best academic performance at next week's Speech Day, Ruby was named Geographer of the Year 2023, for tackling so many steep coastal paths with leg injuries and never complaining, as well as being an uncanny 'human compass'. A special mention must also go to Nettie, whose natural energy kept the team on its toes throughout.

This was a memorable end to another fantastic year of A Level Geography. Many thanks to Miss Smith for her help in making the weekend a success.

Mr Carter

A Celebration of Design & Technology GCSE Coursework

Congratulations to our GCSE students, who have been creative in producing their final GCSE prototypes. This year's design challenges ranged from 'Improving the experience of working from home' to 'Caring for animals', and 'Rethinking souvenirs from a place of interest'.

In the given time-frame, the students produced a 40-page portfolio and physical prototype manufacturing by hand, CAD/CAM, and experimentation with a range of sustainable materials.

As a result of their successful problem-solving, the students have developed innovative and wonderfully creative designs.

We now wish them all the best of luck with their upcoming written paper.

Mrs Quirk

This Week in Boarding...

House 1 girls enjoyed letting their creative sides out, making art for their House...and painting each other! House 4 enjoyed some homemade butterfly cakes!

Many girls have taken their ballet exams this week – good luck! Here's to hoping all the dancing down the corridors

We've been blessed with blue skies, glorious sunsets, and warm weather all week, and many have taken the opportunity to spend time outside! House 1 have filled the summer air with bubbles, while Keswick kept each other cool with a friendly water balloon fight.

Miss Barnett

Boarding Social Fun!

We had tons of fun at this week's boarding social, there was music, bouncy castles, Ice cream, and plenty of games for our competitive boarders. The winners of the tug of war game were House 1 for the juniors round, the senior winners were Keswick House, and between juniors and seniors was... House 1!

Miss Ali

Sea Swimming with Brighton Beach's Resident Seal

On Monday, the sea swimmers were joined by a very inquisitive guest, the now Insta-famous resident seal, who clearly didn’t want to just sunbathe on the beach. The seal dived back into the sea to swim around several students and teachers, enjoying the balmy 16°C water. What a marvellous experience for our girls and a great way to start the day! Thank you to Ms Johannisson for the fabulous photos.

If you would like to join Sea Swimming next term, it will be running from September to the October half term break. Look out for announcements in the coming months.

Mr Pocklington

Track & Field Cup – Regional Finals!

Last week, our Inter and Junior Squads travelled to Medway Kent to take part in the Regional B team finals. Despite an early start, the girls were still in strong spirits.

The Juniors started on the track and the Inters in the field. Well done to Matilda for a strong 100m performance, Megs for her Long Jump, and Romey for her High Jump PB!

After a highly competitive morning, they swapped over, and it was the Inters' turn to take to the track. We saw fantastic runs by Kelly in the 200m and Riley in the 800m. In the field, Poppy pushed her Long Jump even further, Katherine got a new PB in the High Jump, and Flo and Naomi were brilliant in Shotput.

It was a great effort from all involved – we are still waiting for the final National standings, but you should all be very proud of yourselves for getting this far, well done.

off Duckworth Lewis Method! Aquathlon vs Brighton College Liepa at the Junior

NBA European Finals

Congratulations to Liepa in Year 10 who has been selected as one of a squad of twelve U15 girls representing the Junior NBA in Valencia.

In the week before half-term, Liepa went to a basketball trial in London attended by 150 U13 and U15 students. She will now travel to Valencia for four days at the end of June to play at the Junior NBA European Finals.

Good luck, Liepa, and we cannot wait to hear how you get on!

U15B Win

The U15B team enjoyed a sunny day at Hurstpierpoint for their only cricket match in a weather-affected term.

Roedean won the toss and sent Hurstpierpoint into bat. With some tight bowling and constant wickets, we really squeezed the runs and ensured the Hurst batters never got going. Polly and Erin bowled particularly well, with good consistency and accuracy.

Our Roedean batters needed 270 runs to win. The limited time meant the Roedean batters only had two overs per pair to get the total and a Duckworth Lewis method was used to resolve the match to maintain fairness. The Roedean batters strode into the crease and scored good totals together, hitting freely and protecting their wickets well.

After our allotted overs we managed to score 253 in 7 fewer overs. Due to the Duckworth Lewis method, Roedean won the match by 3 runs, as we had a higher run-rate throughout our batting innings.

Mr Campleman

On Monday 12 June, 6 members of the Roedean Swim Team took part in an Aquathlon held here at Roedean. In spooky, misty, yet warm conditions, the aquathletes navigated a 300m swim and 1km run (Juniors – Yr7 & 8) or swam 500m and ran 1.5km (Inters – Yr9 & 10).

Originally Hurst and Ardingly were due to attend, but they had to withdraw just leaving us against Brighton College. Clara came 3rd in the Inters. Evelyn was 2nd in the Juniors and Farah 3rd. A big shout goes out to Astrid, who knocked 2 minutes off her previous best and Greta who knocked 90 seconds off her PB.

It was a fantastic effort by all entrants, in a gruelling event that saw our girls demonstrate marvellous determination, endurance, and resilience. Well done!

Mr Pocklington

Miss Hammond

U12D Cricket vs Brighton Prep U15A Victorious against Brighton College

The U12D team faced Brighton College Prep school at home on Wednesday. We started batting and scored the highest number of runs we have scored yet this season! There was particularly strong batting from Saffron, Georgia, Tilly, and Tilly. We went into field on 317 runs.

We started strongly, with slick fielding and bowling. Unfortunately, our form dropped slightly in the middle of the innings, and this allowed Brighton to quickly make some headway with their runs.

We picked up again for the final 8 overs and tried to minimise their runs as much as possible. Brighton took the win, but a huge well done goes to our girls for a massive improvement in their batting performance. Special mention to Georgia who received Batter of the Match and Tilly, who received Bowler of the Match. Well done!

The U15A had their final Sussex Cup League game this week against local opposition, Brighton College. After spying their results, we knew they have had a good season so far, and we were ready to stop this train rumbling on.

We lost the toss and we were put in to bat, not a decision we would have opted for. Eloise and Orla headed out to middle to face their opening bowler. It was not the start we wanted, as we were 8/3 off 3, losing Eloise, Dot, and Tilly quickly to some very good bowling. It was up to Orla and Grace to dig deep and bring the team back into contention, and that they did.

With some genuinely excellent cricket shots, they put 71 on the board after 12 overs before losing Orla (18) to a decent ball. More wickets fell around Grace (32), but a final partnership with Indigo meant we finished with a total of 115, a total which felt defensible.

The ball was given to Tilly to open the bowling, and she kept her tight line against the openers, but it was Grace who took the wickets of the first two batters, one in the 4th and the second in the 5th over. We then took wickets at regular intervals leaving Brighton at 51/5 at the halfway mark, courtesy of Orla (2) and Maya (caught Eloise).

With the opposition on the charge, looking for runs in any way they could, there were lots of run out chances, but Mia took to the opportunity to run out the dangerous number 6 who had backed up so far, she couldn’t get back in her ground when a straight drive was fired back down the pitch. Dot, Eloise, and Tilly all pitched in for the final wickets, and, with the opposition needing 19 off the final over, we were able to limit them and take an excellent 14 run win.

U13 Tennis vs Brighton Girls

It was the last tennis match of the summer term, and it was lovely to see all the bottom courts full of girls playing tennis matches. It was a friendly against Brighton girls and there were lots of evenly-matched games.

In the singles, the results were as follows (scoring was either proper tennis scoring or points scoring): Amelie lost 4-2, Elisabeth drew 2-2, Kat lost 16-12, Lucie won 26-13, Zoe lost 4-2, Erin won 3-2, Yas won 29-25, Sophie won 4-0. In the doubles, the scores were as follows: Amelie and Kat lost 4-1. Elisabeth and Lucie won 2-1, Zoe and Erin drew 2-2, Yas and Sophie won 12-3. Thank you to all the girls who took part and made it a great afternoon of tennis.

Miss Hammond

Miss Kirby-Jones

Miss Patching-Jones

Brighton Town Sports!

On Monday, a small group of athletes headed to Withdean for our final meet of the season, the annual Brighton Town Sports meet.

We had a fantastic afternoon, with some excellent times/distances being achieved. Minnie managed to run a PB in the 100m in 13.8 seconds, and Eva in 13.0 seconds – two phenomenal times! Alicia gave her all to the 800m and 1500m races, achieving impressive times in both. Maya made her team debut and ran 200m in 27.1seconds!

In the field, it was good to see Ruby back competing in High Jump! Our two relay squads gave us the performance of the season, with particular mention to the Inter relay team, Eva, Lizzie, Pearl, and Ruby, who ran it in 54 seconds! These two performances secured us first place and the winners of the Girls' Relay Cup! We came second in the Girls' Jump Cup, and we missed out on being crowned Junior Girls overall winners by 1 point.

It was a big day out – well done all, not only for Monday, but for all the effort you have put into Athletics this season.

Miss Hammond

U12A Superb at Windlesham

The U12A team took on Windlesham House School in their first official Hardball fixture of the term.

Roedean won the toss and put Windlesham in to bat, fancying a chase. Windlesham opened up well and managed 16 runs off their first pair. Chiara and Sorcha then stemmed the runs and brought them right back with 3 wickets and limiting the scoring. The remaining bowlers kept Windlesham at bay, with constant wickets and some good catching too. Windlesham set Roedean 276 to chase and, after a good team talk and strategy session, the girls confidently took to the crease.

Sorcha and Matilda hit a blistering 21 runs in the opening partnership, with some lovely drives through cover. Yasmin and Naomi came in and carried on the scoring, ensuring we remained on-target. The final pair of Chiara and Lili needed a positive runs score to seal the win and absolutely smashed it to all parts, scoring an impressive 26 in their three overs. Roedean took the win and move onto Hurst next week.

Mr Campleman

U12A impress in first T20 but narrowly lose to Hurst

The U12A team took on Hurstpierpoint U13B team on a scorcher of a day at Hurst.

Hurst won the toss and elected to bowl first. Roedean stepped to the crease of their first 20 over match, which was very exciting! Sorcha and Bella opened the batting and, after a few extras early on, a straight delivery took Sorcha's middle stump and we were one down. Lili, in at 3, received a pearl of a delivery taking her off-stump, unlucky as she has really worked hard on her batting this term. Yasmin then came in at 4, and looked solid for a few deliveries before she was caught playing an attacking shot.

Bella and Matilda steadied the ship and batted well for the next few overs, as we begun posting a total. Bella hit some fantastic shots on the off-side, and putting away the bad balls on her legs. Matilda played some mighty shots on the leg-side and ran well between the wickets. They managed to put on a 92 run partnership and remained at the crease the entire innings, no small feat, and there was some excellent batting! Roedean set Hurstpierpoint a total of 120 runs to win in their 20 overs.

The bowlers set to work, and Maddie opened the bowling, taking a wicket in her first over. Hurst number 3 came in swinging and connected with a few very impressive shots that went for 4. Into the attack came Sorcha to take a wicket and she did just that, skittling the number 3 and giving us a lifeline in the match. The Hurst batters played some good shots and protected their wickets well, putting on some strong partnerships and eventually taking the game away from us. The bowlers bowled accurately in the last few overs, but it just wasn't enough to stem the tide and Hurstpierpoint hit the winning runs in the second last over to win by 7 wickets.

One Run Win against Brighton College

On Wednesday, Roedean's U13D team travelled the short distance up to Brighton College to play in the searing heat of the Stanley Deaason astro.

Under the sun, spirits were high. This was the team's only fixture for this term, with a number of players having worked their way up from development to represent Roedean at the sport. Michelle was captain and gave an inspirational talk before the match, which had a positive effect. We won the toss and opted to bat second. Our fielders were out in force, and Hetty and Ava opened proceedings by bowling first.

Hetty made an impressive start, taking a wicket in the first over. Next up to bowl were Emma Lynn and Michelle. Emma Lynn also took a wicket in her first over. Lyla and Gabi also bowled exceptionally well, again taking a wicket. Brighton College girls later named Gabi as the Bowler of the Match. Rainah and Evelyn held steady and managed to field Brighton girls out during their reign.

paid off, but others saw the pair run out. Emma Lynn and Michelle were an incredible pairing; they took the score up, with Michelle batting an unbelievable two sixes. Gabi and Lyla followed, but the Brighton College girl's team was in fine form, bowling strongly during this over, which kept our score to a minimum. Next, Rainah and Evelyn batted exceptionally well and also managed two sixes between them. Captain Michelle and Hetty stood up to bat the final overs in the absence of a few key players.

Tension was high at this point. We were 21 runs behind and chasing. In an unbelievably exciting turn of events, it seemed Michelle could not miss. She batted some enormous shots, catching up the deficit and taking us to the victory of 71 runs, winning by one run! Michelle earnt the title of Players' Batter of the Day, which was well-deserved.

Well done to the whole team. You fielded efficiently, bowled with prowess, and batted exceptionally. Very proud Coach!

Sport Stars of the Week

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

Year 7

Greta, for good effort and performance in Cricket and the Aquathlon fixture

Year 8

Poppy, for her excellent performances in Athletics this term

Year 9

Maya, for a superb performance in the Athletics

Year 10

Eloise, for consistently fantastic effort and progress in Cricket and Tennis this term

Year 12

Tilly, for great effort and enthusiasm at Cricket this term

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: aws@roedean.co.uk