It was wonderful to welcome everyone to Roedean last Thursday and Friday, I am pleased that the term has started well. A school is always a slightly strange place without its students, so I am enjoying the purposeful energy their return has brought. It was such a pleasure to celebrate the start of term back in Chapel – some year-groups have not been in the building before, and others were very clearly glad to be back, singing Jerusalem in full voice.
House Shout this week was also a loud affair, but in a different way! The Quad was full of students in the colours of their House, singing and chanting in turn. It was an excellent way to forge house spirit at the start of the year. Each House had its strengths, but House 1 were worthy winners overall.
There have been a number of individual success stories over the holidays, including open water swimming success for both Trinity and Maisa, a STEM award for Ms ReesinkWells, and Dr Black successfully completed her PhD. Good luck to Clara, who will be taking on the challenge of swimming to France in a relay again next week. However, perhaps the most remarkable success was that of OR Amber Anning, who ran at the Olympics in Paris, and won two Bronze medals in her debut Games – what a remarkable achievement, and we are very proud of her.
I encourage you to read the Roedean's Impact Statement, which highlights the huge amount of positive work the School committed to partnerships, bursaries, and charity work over the course of the last academic year. Together, we deserve to be very proud of this – well done!
Next Saturday, we will be welcoming prospective families to Roedean for our Open Day, so I would like to thank you all in advance for this. I hope you all have a relaxing weekend.
Shout!
International STEM Education Award for Ms Reesink-Wells
New Staff Profiles
Welcome to the new members of staff who have joined Roedean this term – here are some profiles, and more will follow.
Name: Miss Catherine Harker
Role: Chemistry and Physics Teacher
University: BSc in Oceanography from the University of North Wales, Bangor, and PGCE in Science form the University of Sussex
Previous School: Heathfield Community College
Interests: Running, reading, gardening, pottery, and generally enjoying the outdoor environment
You’d never guess: I have run ultramarathons and lived in Australia
Name: Mr Chris Paton
Role: Senior Theatre Technician
University: BA (Hons) in Technical Theatre at University of Essex
Previous School: Richard Challoner School
Interests: Ice Hockey, Music, TTRPGs
You’d never guess: I’m a drummer in a Blues band, and a Goalie for an Ice Hockey team – and this year I walked from London to Brighton in less than 24 hours to raise money for MacMillian Cancer Support
Name: Ms Catalina Villa Valencia
Role: Spanish Language Assistant
University: MBA at University of Brighton, BSc (Hons) in Business Administration and Marketing at Universidad EAFIT (Colombia)
Previous School: Hove Park School, Cullum Centre (National Autistic Society), Beechwood Sacred Heart in Tunbridge Wells. Interests: Dancing, yoga, travelling, wellbeing, and cuisine.
You’d never guess: I speak Italian, and I have seen the pink dolphins swimming in the Amazon River!
Name: Mr Kin Fai Tai (Kenneth)
Role: Computer Science Teacher
University: BEng (Hons) in Electronic Engineering, PGDE in Computer Science and Mathematics, and Master's in Education (Educational Psychology)
Previous School: Shatin Tsung Tsin Secondary School
Interests: Table tennis and badminton
You’d never guess: I finished a half marathon in under 2 hours
Roedean Makes an Impact!
Mrs Green led our First Chapel services, focusing on our school motto:
'I am so pleased to be back in our newly-renovated Chapel, on the first day of our academic year. It is is a very special place indeed, and, for many of you who are new to the School, it will be the first time you have experienced its magic.
Chapel is a place of calm, reflection, celebration, music, and prayer. It is a place where we are able to, as our motto says, ‘Honour the worthy’. Spoken in French this is, ‘Honneur aulx dignes’ which (if you say it quickly) sounds like ‘Honour Roedean’.
There is certainly so much to honour today; your adventures this summer, an amazing set of GCSE and A Level results, our Year 13s who have left to take up their places at top universities, to name a few. In addition there are the accomplishments of two members of staff; Ms Reesink-Wells won a ‘Science on Stage’ award in Finland during her summer holiday, and Miss Donovan successfully swam across the English Channel as part of the OR Channel Relay team.
Finally, did you watch the Olympics? There were so many accomplished athletes to marvel at, including an OR, Amber Anning, who won two bronze medals in Paris in the Women’s 4 x 400 metres Relay, and the Mixed 4 x 400 metres Relay. Amber holds the British record for 400 metres, and narrowly missed out on a medal in the women’s individual event. Once, she was a student sitting in this Chapel, just like you are today, and now she has a string of athletic achievements to her name. If you visit CHall, take a moment to look up at the Honours Board and you will see her name there. She has achieved her dreams through hard work, commitment, and dedication to her sport. Without doubt she has made a big impact upon her team, her club, her friends, her family, us here at Roedean, and even her country.
So, what will your impact be this term? What will you do to make an impact upon your year group, upon your friends, upon yourself? How do you plan to make an impact on your chosen charity? Our teachers have been thinking about how they will have an impact upon your learning this term. Our Pastoral team have been working on how they will help you make an impact upon your mental and physical well-being. Now, it is your turn. You need to focus upon making an impact here – make a difference, embrace this new start, and make the most of the fresh opportunities on offer.
Roedean is a very special community to be part of – please make sure that you make an impact upon it and truly celebrate ‘Honneur aulx dignes’.
Congratulations, Dr Black!
Congratulations to Dr Black, our Assistant Head: Academic, who has completed a part-time doctorate through the University of Bath. Her thesis title was 'Decolonising history curricula as challenge or gesture? Perceptions of history educators in British International Schools in Kenya.'
In 2022-23, she spent 9 months in Kenya, where she interviewed 19 teachers at 11 schools. She found strong links between coloniality and teacher agency, especially for host-nation teachers, and she hopes her research will help to inform future curriculum design and practice in international schools.
It was a long journey (9 years overall!), with stops and starts, but Dr Black is now looking forward to reading for pleasure and enjoying some free-time. 'I loved the research in Africa, but it is a long process – I am delighted that I have got to the end, and I am very proud that everything came together!'
Well done!
Dr Barrand
We are hugely proud of Roedean's social conscience. This is our Impact Statement for 2023-2024, which makes impressive reading – thank you to everyone who helped our community to make an impact!
https://w3u.uk/roedean-impact-report
Roedean Makes an Impact! International STEM Education Award for Ms Reesink-Wells
This summer, Ms Reesink-Wells (Physics & Sciences) won first prize, representing the UK’s primary and secondary STEM educators at the 'Science-on-Stage' Conference in Finland. Each year, hundreds of teachers from over 35 countries enter this friendly competition to bring together STEM teachers with outstanding teaching ideas, to inspire and excite students beyond national borders.
The project 'Replacing Plastics: Investigations into Making Natural Polymers' was executed by the students of Roedean’s Eco Club. It was selected for an upgrade to an hour-long workshop shortly after submission, because of its broad appeal and interdisciplinary nature. In this project, our students made teaspoons from the polymers that naturally exist in milk. The students designed tests to compare the natural polymers against traditional plastic spoons, by looking at strength, ability to withstand heat, and acid and alkaline materials, as well as practical requirements such as shape and smell. They then expanded the project by creating composite materials, looked at materials for laminating, considered types of composting, and developed ideas on 'the true cost of natural polymers'.
The project targeted a wicked problem: Responsible Consumption and Production (UN Sustainable Development Goal 12). SDG12 is a critical key to a healthy and sustainable future for mankind, as it spans across topics, such as plastic pollution. The burden of such large targets may overwhelm at first glance, however, vision knowledge and creative energy converge to create solutions when our imagination is allowed to flourish. Working together, we have
more and more diverse ideas. This is what Ms Reesink-Wells and the Roedean Environmental and Eco Club have shown in their outstanding project.
Ms Reesink-Wells will be heading to the EU Parliament Conference on Sustainability and UN Sustainability Goals in Brussels, as well as the Annual Science Conference in Nottingham (ASE), to continue to develop her track record of outstanding education. The Environmental club and Eco Club will continue during Activity sessions, and we look forward to finding out more about this important field!
Congratulations on this remarkable work!
House Shout!
House Shout brings out the very best House spirit – there is facepaint and chanting, and pompoms and mascots, and it is brilliant! Everyone gathered together in the Quad, and Senior Team judged the competition, with prizes awarded for Volume, Clarity, Style, and House Spirit.
The prizes were awarded as follows:
Congratulations to everyone, but the overall winner for this year's House Shout was House 1
Roedean Bears on Tour!
This summer, our Roedean Bears have enjoyed adventures across the world with our new families!
– we’re delighted to share some of these holiday snaps with you. A huge Roedean welcome to all our new students – thank you for keeping the Roedean Admissions team up-to-date with your travels over the last few weeks.
■ Amber (Yr9), took her Roedean Bear to Wulanhada Volcano Park in Inner Mongolia
■ Cara (Yr7) and Rowena Bear, grooming ‘Maisie’ the donkey
■ Marvel (Yr7) took her bear on summer’s day outing to the park
■ Audrey (Yr7) took her Roedean Bear on a Beijing adventure!
■ Sela (Yr7) and Bear went to the Dali Bai Torch Festival and Erhai Lake!
■ Maisie (Yr7) took her bear to enjoy bao buns in London.
■ The Admissions Team
■ Deema (Yr7) and Bear went on a trip around London to Trafalgar Square.
Thoughts from our new Sixth Formers
Welcome to all our Year 12s joining Roedean and our Sixth Form this academic year. We asked them what they were looking forward to and had the loveliest replies:
When I join Roedean I am looking forward to…
...experiencing the extra-curricular activities
...visiting the new library
...embarking on a new journey filled withchallengesexciting
...meeting new friends with different backgrounds and learning their culture to widen my horizons
...immersing myself into the vibrant school life
...meeting a brand-new group of wonderful people
...being part of a new community
...living in a house with other girls and making the most out of our time together!
…meeting everyone and creating lasting friendships and cherished memories
...making connections with my classmates
...exploring all the amazing opportunities Roedean has to offer
We wish all our Year 12s the very best as they start their Sixth Form adventure.
Clara's Swimming the Channel Again!
Clara (Yr12) has joined an international team of swimmers to take on the Channel crossing again, having already made it to France as part of the Roedean relay team in June 2022.
Always up for a challenge, she has joined a group who had a space in their team, and we are sure they will be glad of a strong and reliable swimmer: 'Next week, I’m part of Oceans 6, an international English Channel relay team, and we are hoping to make history by having the biggest age gap of any team. I’m 16 and my eldest team-mate is 69! Three of the team are from England, 2 are from the USA, and 1 is from Czechia. An English Channel crossing is not an easy feat, and we could be faced with jelly fish, tankers, sea-sickness, and choppy conditions.
As a swimmer with hidden disabilities, I have decided to raise money for Level Water. This extraordinary charity changes lives, by teaching children, sometimes with profound disabilities, to swim. This gives them confidence, but, most importantly, swimming is fun! If you are able to support this charity by supporting me, I’d be really grateful, and you’ll be changing lives too.'
Good luck, Clara!
link Clara's fundraiser for Level Water – https://w3u.uk/justgiving-clara-level-water
Maisa’s
Open Water Regionals Success
Fresh from Roedean’s Channel Crossing training, Maisa (Yr8) took part in the South East Open Water Regionals competition in July, in the 2000m event.
Despite not being used to the hectic race conditions, with swimmers all vying for their place, Maisa swam hard and pushed on. As a result of the acclimatisation built up during Roedean’s sea swimming sessions, she fared extremely well in the cold and rainy conditions to achieve a Silver medal in her age group, with an incredible time of 24:21.80.
She has proven herself to be an exceptional swimmer in both the pool and open water, and we can’t wait to see all that she achieves next. Well done, Maisa, for all your hard work!
Miss Donovan
This Week in Boarding...
It is so lovely to welcome our new and returning boarders into the Houses, and they have certainly got stuck in with all the exciting activities on offer. As a whole boarding community, the first few evenings were full of exciting activities, including a firepit with toasted marshmallows and s'mores, rounders, biscuitdecorating, and a water fight! And, of course, there have been plenty of stunning sunsets!
Our first House Competition went off with a rather loud bang! All the Houses competed in the House Shout, with an array of drums, trumpets, and plenty of House-coloured items, including paint and pompoms! Every House was very loud, and the competitions this academic year will certainly be competitive! Huge congratulations go to House 1 who were the overall winner!
House 1 turned the ODR into a chocolate factory and enjoyed a fruity fondue this week, all while making friends! Following their triumphant win at House Shout, the girls celebrated by tucking into some tasty doughnuts!
House 2 made the most of the late summer evenings, and had an ice cream bar, with an array of different sweet and colourful topping! The girls were full of the giggles, and expressed their competitiveness during their House 2 obstacle course evening. The Year 11s spent an evening burning off some energy doing Just Dance on the Nintendo Switch!
House 3 were all smiles as they headed off on their first school day of the year, looking very smart in their uniforms. The girls have also been creative, making door signs for their bedrooms!
The House 4 girls enjoyed getting to know each other with some fun ice-breaker games. The boarders headed on a blackerry-picking walk, and baked a delicious cake and blackberry muffins with their haul. Even the icing was coloured by squeezing the blackberries into a puree!
Lawrence having been getting their hands dirty, planting a herb garden, to spice up their future kitchen creations! The boarders enjoyed a smoothie evening, and catching up with their friends and the House staff.
Keswick have been welcoming girls new and old to their house, enjoying evenings of chatting over hot chocolates and even a game of bingo! Some of the girls have dived straight into their studies, preparing for their upcoming mock exams.
Overall, the boarders have had a cracking start to the new term!
Miss Barnett
Trinity’s Triathlon Triumph
Roedean’s very own Channel relay attempt team member, Trinity (Yr13) took part in Brighton Triathlon’s 1500m swim event on Sunday – it was her first sea swimming event since the valiant Channel-crossing attempt back in June.
It was a beautiful day for it, and, cheered on by a large crowd of onlookers, Trinity really got into her stride in the sea. She paced herself well and gave it her all, which resulted in her achieving a time of 27.11 – this gave her first place in the overall female category, despite being one of the youngest competitors.
This is a huge achievement, and I have no doubt we will see many more open water successes for Trinity in the years to come. Congratulations!
Miss Donovan
U16B Hockey vs Brighton U16C
The U16Bs certainly got their hockey season off with a bang. What an impressive performance against a solid Brighton College team! Roedean dominated throughout the match, having possession for most of the game. Brighton College snuck a few goals past us, but this didn’t reflect how well the team played and the chances that they had.
BC scored late in the 1st quarter, however we equalised off a brilliant short corner in the 2nd quarter, with Alicia scoring the goal in the last seconds of the quarter. BC then managed to score at the end of the 3rd quarter, when they
turned the ball over and bolted down the pitch, catching us a bit unawares and when we were most tired.
But the team dug deep and fought hard in the final quarter, resulting in several chances at goal. Our best was Alicia dribbling down the right, taking it into the D, passing it off to Sienna on back post, who was beautifully positioned – the ball just caught under her stick and she couldn’t quite slot it in, but, wow, it was textbook hockey.
In defence, Nathania, Athena, Jasmine, and Sophie did a great job throughout the game,
against some strong and physical BC players, often turning the ball over before it got into the D and clearing it out.
Lots of our forwards and mids switched positions during the game, but everyone played their socks off in their various positions – being able to adapt is a key skill we want in our players. There was lots of lovely dribbling down the right, often by Bea and Tiah, who then passed the ball down the line to Alicia, Sienna, and Niz.
A big thank you goes to Megs for playing in goal, which she had never done before. Thank you also to Alice, Tiah, and Bea, for playing in their 2nd game of the day and really strengthening the team. Sophie, in Year 8, also turned up, and she ended up playing, even though she only came to watch!
The overall score was a 2-1 loss, but it a really positive game and I was super-impressed with the team.
Players of the Match: Attack – Alicia, Defence –Jasmine
Coach's player: Izzy (Yr9) for creating so many options in the middle of the pitch, often leading off her player to receive the ball in space.
Well done!
OR vs Students Hockey
The first Saturday back at Roedean after a long Summer meant only one thing, and that was to have an almighty clash on the Astro between the Sixth Form girls and the OR Hockey XI.
Previous results were in favour of the formidable OR team, who were victorious over the girls in 2022, and who played for a hard-fought draw in 2023. This time, the girls at Roedean saw the match as an opportunity to even up the playing field, but it would be a tough old battle out on the Astro.
The ORs in their sheer numbers arrived early, and they set about their warm-up and cranked up the tunes for a suitable prep before taking to the Astro. From the first whistle, it was attack after attack, with the pupils getting up to speed with the match, and getting a foothold in the game. The girls edged into the lead with a wellexecuted Penalty Corner which Lydia smashed in a rebound off the OR keeper in goal.
It was 1-0 after the first quarter. The second quarter saw the OR midfield begin to dominate, and each attack was relentless until finally the girls' defence broke, and this led to an equaliser toward the end of the second quarter.
It was all square and the match was balanced nicely. The third quarter led to counterattack
after counterattack, with both teams pushing all the way up the pitch, until finally Elodie broke down the right, carried the ball to the baseline, and then round the keeper to make it 2-1 to the girls. The final quarter saw a lot more action, but no goals, as the girls held off the ORs and evened up the results, with one win each in three matches.
It was a wonderful morning, with great support for both teams, including parents and OR friends who were reunited for the first time since university. The OR team spanned a number of year-groups, going back as far as 2015, and it even included three pairs of sisters! At the end of the match, everyone came together in the Clubhouse to enjoy a delicious match tea and have a long-overdue catch up.
Until next season for the next encounter! There's a rumour that the OR side have scheduled training sessions prior to the match...!
Ms Ellis and Mr Campleman
Roedeanians at the Keswick Hotel 80 Years On
Over the summer, three of our Sixth Formers set off walking in the Lakes, and they found the hotel to which Roedean was evacuated during World War II:
'As part of our 5-day hike to raise money for the WWF, Mia, Merla, and I briefly visited the Keswick Hotel where the Roedean girls were evacuated to during WW2 (- this is how Keswick house has its name!). We ended up having a fantastic time, and it was super-fulfilling to raise £250 for charity – thank you to everyone who contributed! We visited Skiddaw House, the highest hostel in England (1550ft up a mountain), saw the RAF performing training exercises by flying planes through the valleys, and we walked over 50 miles! Overall, it was a fantastic experience with equally fantastic panoramic views!' – Lydia (Yr12)
We welcome contributions from all parts of the Roedean community. If you have something you would like featured in the Head’s Weekly Review, please email: aws@roedean.co.uk
