24th March 2017 - Issue 11
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction As the weather is becoming increasingly spring-like, it is a delight to see girls running around the site at lunchtimes and after school, enjoying Roedean’s wonderful grounds and space. The girls’ carefree fun is in stark contrast to the very sad events in London this week. Our thoughts, as a community, are with those families who have suffered loss and injury, and with those ordinary people and public servants who ran to the aid and support of all those who suffered. It should remind us, even when tragic events unfold, that we live in a world in which acts of kindness, generosity, self-sacrifice, bravery and love far outnumber acts born of ignorance and hate. In the last week, we have enjoyed an Entrepreneurs’ Event, hearing from five people who run hugely successful businesses, we welcomed girls from two Prep Schools to Roedean to take part in a netball masterclass, had a tea-time recital on Monday, the L5 girls and their parents came to our Parent-Tutor meeting in Keswick Hall, Roedean girls took part in a Chemistry competition in London, over 30 Japanese girls on a cultural
visit to Brighton observed some L5 Biology lessons and then showed us wonderful origami skills, Centenary Hall was filled with chanting and pompoms for House Badminton, the interviews for next year’s Prefect team took place, and members of our community have received some exceptional results in the Biology Olympiad and in LAMDA exams. What a fantastically diverse range of activities, and this is all just in one week - congratulations, and well done to everyone involved. But the week is not even over yet, and I would like to say ‘good luck’ and ‘break a leg’ this evening to those running the CAP charity fashion show, to those taking part in the exciting paper aeroplane-flying competition in the Library, and to those in the Scholars’ Drama Performance.
Staff get in the Red Nose Day spirit
Olympiad success for Roedean Biologists Congratulations to all of those who competed in the Biology Olympiad – the results have just come out, and some of our students have done very well indeed. Grace R (6.2) was Roedean’s top performer, achieving a Gold medal, which means that she is in the top 6% of students in the country who took part in this very prestigious competition. Congratulations also go to Georgina K (6.2) who was awarded a Silver medal, and Catherine C, Vivian L and Tiffany L (6.2) achieved bronze medals. We also have six girls in 6.1 and 6.2 who were highly commended and commended. Well done to all the girls who took part! PCH
Mrs Smillie’s tutor-group gave a wonderful presentation in Senior Assembly on Wednesday, reminding us about all the lovely things our mothers do for us, and I hope that you all have the chance to reflect on this on Mothers’ Day this Sunday and that you send best wishes to your families and loved ones, wherever they may be. Good luck to you all for the last week of term.
Chemists achieve no mean feat at Greenwich On Wednesday, three budding chemists Martha N, Selen S, and Emily T (6.1), battled the elements on their way to the University of Greenwich to compete in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s School Analyst Competition. The first challenge they faced involved using a visible/UV spectrophotometer to produce two absorbance v wavelength graphs for samples of potassium manganate (VII) and potassium dichromate (VI), to deduce the wavelength of maximum absorbance, and determine the
concentration of an unknown solution. The girls had never used a spectrophotometer before and had to familiarise themselves with the apparatus quickly. The second task involved preparing a standard solution and using it to determine the concentration of a hydrochloric acid solution. Congratulations to the girls who were complimented on their skill and teamwork, and proudly came fourth out of twenty schools. ASE