25 May 2018 - Issue 6
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction It’s Half Term! I can hardly believe that we have already completed the first half of the summer term, and that it’s the Year 13 Leavers’ Day. Leavers’ Chapel yesterday afternoon was at times brilliantly funny, and at others very sad. As they do each year, the Year 13 students led the Chapel, and it was lovely to hear them reminisce about their time as Roedeanians, their favourite memories and many funny incidents from their younger years. There were lovely musical interludes, heartfelt thanks, entertaining videos, some tears, and awards were made to members of staff. It was great fun, and it ended with a choreographed dance, and then our traditional hand-shaking.
Everyone also enjoyed the Leavers’ Breakfast this morning, and, as Study Leave begins today, this is the last day when the entire year-group will be together, so it was an opportunity to take some photos for posterity. I am also sure that we will all enjoy the Ball this evening on the i360 and in The Grand. In Chapel yesterday, I quoted TS Eliot, ‘Fare forward, travellers! Not fare well, but fare forward’. As you leave Roedean and complete this stage in your lives, you can move into the next exciting one with great confidence because you are ready – good luck, Year 13! Well done to everyone involved in the Visual and Performing Arts experience day, especially the Admissions’ Department and those colleagues who ran the sessions – I know that the Year 5 and 6 girls who came had a
Year 13 Leavers’ Day selfie
wonderful time, working with Roedean staff and some of the Year 10s. Well done, and thank you - we are acquiring a very strong reputation for providing excellent experience days. I am delighted that Roedean has had a great week on the sports pitches and courts – it is excellent to hear of Tennis, Athletics, and Rounders successes. I am very pleased that Cricket, is going from strength to strength at Roedean, and our winning Junior sides are formidable opponents. I hope that those doing A Levels and GCSEs have a chance to recharge your batteries for the final run in June, and I wish you all a wonderful break next week.
25 May 2018 - Issue 6
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
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.
Hope G (Yr7) for her sponsored swim of 60 lengths in aid of 7P’s Pitch Perfect fundraising total. Hope has raised £112 all by herself. Well done! [MTA]
Atlanta S (Yr10) for her flights of A Level brilliance in her Year 10 Spanish written exam [AK]
OR and Kite Surfer Islay visits Roedean On Tuesday, we were delighted to be visited by OR Islay Symonette (No. 1, 1997-2003). Islay and her partner Stew are currently attempting to become the first people to circumnavigate Great Britain by kite surfing. Their 300-mile challenge started in Hull, and they are travelling clockwise around the British coastline. Along the way, they are hoping to raise £10,000 for two charities, the Armada Trust and the Marine Conservation Society.
Mr Chamberlain and Miss Fry (Staff) for both helping Mr East change a tyre in the quad so that the girls could have a nice safe journey on time [KHA]
This week, their adventure has seen them arrive in Sussex, and with a rest day on Tuesday, Islay hopped ahead and visited Roedean for a tour, and lunch with her old teacher, Sue Stanway. The visit was rounded off by Mrs Chandler bringing her Year 7 class out for an impromptu talk and kite surfing lesson, which the girls thoroughly enjoyed! The original hoped-for plan had been for Islay to arrive on the beach, walk up through the
Mr Miller and Mr McWilliams for bringing joy and light back to the lives of the House 2 fish by volunteering to clean the fish tank and doing an amazing job [AFS]
tunnel, and present a talk… but the British weather being typically unpredictable and therefore her arrival date equally so, that plan had to be abandoned. We hope instead to arrange for Islay to visit and present a talk after her adventure. Islay and Stew (and their support boat) have now made it as far as Newhaven, and, allowing more time for repairs, should be passing Roedean at 11 o’clock on Saturday. All of us here at Roedean wish them the best for the rest of their journey. GLC
Tash R and Hermione H (Yr13) for ringing the Chapel bell for the last time – although earlier in the year, Tash did break the bell-rope which had lasted over 100 years, meaning that they haven’t had quite as much practice, they were able to show that they have become accomplished campanologists! [RB]
Housekeeping’s won Gold! Well done to Roedean’s domestic department – the results of this year’s Cap Award for Housekeeping excellence have come through, and we have again achieved a Gold Award. This is a tremendous achievement for the team, particularly considering the many changes and challenges over the last year. Congratulations! Page 2
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
25 May 2018 - Issue 6
Year 13 Leavers’ Breakfast
Visual and Performing Arts Day We welcomed 55 girls from all over Brighton, Sussex and London to our Visual and Performing Arts Day this week. This day is one of the many popular experience days in our calendar of Admissions Events, allowing girls who may join Roedean’s Year 7 in September 2019 to visit the School, and see it in action for a day. They were also joined
by some girls who have accepted Dance, Drama, Music, and Art scholarships for 2018. Supported brilliantly by specialists teachers at Roedean, along with a number of girls in Year 10, our visitors experienced a carousel of creative workshops, learning dance choreography, making music, creating colourful masks, Page 3
and acting out poetry. This culminated in a fantastic theatrical showcase at the end of the day in our Theatre – each group contributed one element to demonstrate what they had learnt, based on their group name, Sky, Sea, Sand, and South Downs. Those parents who watched the final showcase loved it, and it was a great success. Well done to all involved!
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
25 May 2018 - Issue 6
House 3 and 4 Year 10 girls enjoyed a lovely meal together at GBK in the Marina. It was a lovely way to celebrate the end of the Year 10 internal exams and to round off the half term. MMU
Year 13 Chemists bid farewell to the Labs and their teachers!
Royal Wedding Breakfasts for Houses 1 and 2 House 1 celebrated Meghan & Harry’s Wedding with a Royal Breakfast on Saturday. The girls thoroughly enjoyed it. Can you work out which girl is behind these masks? House 2 had also been gearing up for ‘the biggest wedding of the year’. Firstly, the fabulous creativity of the girls was set free as they decorated the ODR with flags, bunting, and balloons, to a standard that rivalled that of Windsor Castle. The Year 9s made a delicious and beautifully decorated flag cake to share with the rest of the House. On Saturday, Mrs Waller prepared a street party picnic fit for the Queen (as well as the girls of House 2) consisting of some very British traditional food: Scotch eggs, scones, and shortbread. This was thoroughly enjoyed by all as they watched and got involved with the ceremony. There was the chorused sound of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the girls as they embraced the excitement along with the rest of the world.
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25 May 2018 - Issue 6
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Laila’s U14 Street Dance Champion Congratulations to Laila E (Yr7) who competed at a United Dance Organisation competition which was held in Germany. UDO is the largest street dance organisation in the world, and the selection process alone was a huge challenge. However, Laila she coped brilliantly, and, along with her partner, she went on to win the competition. What a fantastic achievement! It is also wonderful that Megan R (Yr7) also achieved a brilliant 4th place. Well done!
Tennis U13 AEGON vs Mayfield
The U13 Tennis team were up against Mayfield this week. The format of the matches was to play one singles and a doubles set. Roedean played some brilliant rallies during their singles and there were some very close matches. Phoebe H had a close singles result, but Mayfield was executing the shots successfully into space, so our girls found it hard to return the ball effectively and consistently. A special mention goes to India B who played some fantastic tennis and she placed her serves brilliantly down the T. This resulted in a 6-4 win. In the doubles matches, both Darcey and Phoebe showed brilliant teamwork – they improved massively throughout the game and they should be very pleased. India and Phoebe had a tough match against their opponents. Roedean was
use of long barriers. Roedean batted again and there were some tremendous hits throughout. A special mention to Ines, who managed to hit the ball deep and almost to the other rounders pitch, enabling her to score a confident rounder. The final score was a comfortable 28-9½ win. A huge well done to all!
Rounders U15A victory versus Brighton College
The U15A Rounders team played a cracking game against Brighton College last weekend! They started extremely well in the first fielding innings, with some exceptional catches by Annabel B, Yelena F, Ami F, and Eloise G, to name just a few! The girls communicated well and made good decisions, but they struggled to eliminate Brighton’s main player who scored a total of 7 rounders out of 8½! This was something they knew they would have to work on in the second innings. With some strong consistent batting across the whole squad, we finished the first innings up by just ½ a rounder. The girls had a new game plan moving into the second half, with the main objective being to stop their star player. All fielders went out in the field to cover as much ground as possible and to make it easier to pick up the ball. The plan worked and the team were able to stop her from racking up the rounders. We then saw another strong batting innings from us to finish, particularly by Ami F and Abigail B, enabling us to secure the win with a 17½ - 15 finish. It was a great game, and the player of the match was Abigail B.
U15B
The U15B team put on a fine display of team work, skills, and tactical awareness on Saturday. Sadly, we were slightly out-batted which meant that we lost 19-14. The girls demonstrated an outstanding level of support and coaching for each other to ensure they reduced Brighton’s score and increased their own. Well done to all involved – it was an enjoyable match with some great skill shown. The girl of the game was Demi, and she and Jacqueline got the catches of the game.
4-1 down and the girls managed to bring it back to 4-4. Then it was all to play for in the tie-break. Our girls showed some fantastic determination, but Mayfield demonstrated some strong, hard groundstrokes resulting in a 10-5 win. A huge well done to our Roedean players who demonstated some brilliant tennis!
U14B
The U14B team had a tough game in rounders on Saturday, however Rounders was the real winner at the weekend, with girls who might not ordinarily play being involved in sport. Lots of fun was had by all and there were some great performances from Annabel and Maria. It was a loss for Roedean, but there was still plenty to smile about from the girls.
U15A
29 to 14½ victory against Brighton College for U14A
The U14A team had a fantastic game versus Brighton College last Saturday. The format was to play timed innings of 12 minutes. Roedean fielded first and they demonstrated some excellent skills, especially Sophia and Onate who worked brilliantly at backstop and 1st base, enabling Roedean to get all players out before the time. Brighton College scored 4½. Roedean were up next to bat – they were confident and managed to score several rounders due to the girls hitting the ball deep and Brighton College finding it tough to field. Roedean scored 14 rounders. In the 2nd innings, Brighton College was determined to chase down our score and work tactically when batting. They were able to score an additional 5 rounders resulting in a total of 9½. Our girls were dominating the game and their fielding was outstanding, with the effective Page 5
U14A
25 May 2018 - Issue 6
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
Cricket Cricketers go into half term with all wins
On Wednesday, the U13 and U12 A&B cricket teams competed against Brighton College. All of the junior teams put on a great display of cricket, winning all of their matches. This is a great testament to how much progress the juniors have made over a short period of time this term. Well done! Thank you very much to Ian Veness who volunteered to coach the U12s to victory. Cricket has become hugely popular this summer, with over 60 girls competing in cricket matches. Thank you to all those parents who have been brilliant supporters at fixtures and for training your daughters up, whether it is in the garden or at a local club!
Results:
Roedean U12A – 253-1 Brighton College – 216-2 A special mention goes to Ava L and Erin S who scored 17 runs in two overs, and Roedean won by 37 runs. Roedean U12B – 229-2 Brighton College – 221-5 Roedean won by 8 runs, and well done to Isabella P and Nia S who scored 16 runs in two overs. Roedean U13A – 239-3 Brighton College – 238-4 A special mention must go to Ella KM and Marianna L who scored 24 runs in two overs, and Roedean won by 1 run! Roedean U13B – 248-4 Brighton College – 245-1
First win for U14 and U15 cricket teams
After a motivating bus journey watching the Royal Wedding on our phones, our U14s and U15s arrived at Sutton Valence School with the intention of bringing home wins. Whilst umpiring the U15s, I had a few looks over at the U14s match, and saw Lucy P and Scarlet R batting like an opening pair in the Indian Premier League! They clearly wanted the game to finish early so they could continue to watch the wedding! In a very high scoring game, Roedean produced an excellent total of 92 runs to Sutton Valence’s 80, meaning that we won the match by 12 runs.
The U15s batted first and there were some fantastic individual performances from Poppy T and Lizzie S, showing a variety of shots and keeping the runs ticking over. Roedean batted with a respectable total of 72-1 off 12 overs. Jess K and Zara G set a well-balanced field to put pressure on Sutton Valence. This was also supported by some fantastic bowling by the whole team, reducing Sutton Valence to 48-3 off 12 overs. This was a fantastic advert for girls’ cricket and great preparation for the Hurstpierpoint U15 tournament in the next couple of weeks. Well done to everyone involved!
Athletics at the K2 On Wednesday 9 May, several Roedean girls attended the Brighton, Hove and Portslade Schools’ trials, in the hope of representing the district at the Sussex Schools’ Track and Field Championships 2018, which will be held at the K2 Athletics track in Crawley on Saturday 9 June. We are very proud to say that all girls represented the school and themselves very well, and six students have made the district team.
Well done to: Gracie B - 800m Abigail B – Discus Serena C – High jump Tatum W – 800m Emily F – High Jump Amber P – Javelin Best of luck to all on the 9th June! CSI
Roedean won by 3 runs, thanks in part to Millie J who scored 16 runs in one over.
Year 12 Prefect Training
U12A
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