Head's Review - 25 June 21 - Issue 31

25 June 2021 – Issue 9

HEAD’S

WEEKLY REVIEW

Year 9 Play – Emma

Head’s Introduction

Congratulations to the Year 9 cast of Emma and Mrs Woodbridge on a wonderful performance last night. The performers captured the period style of this adaptation of Austen’s novel brilliantly, and the double-casting of some of the roles worked very well. Everyone mastered the complex language and performed with great confidence – they should all be very proud of what they have achieved in difficult circumstances. Despite all the Covid-safe measures for the audiences, it really has been a pleasure to see live performances in the Theatre again over the last weeks – well done! We are delighted to have received so many generous donations for the Take Your Seat Campaign – please do support the campaign if you can.

Downs View Wishing Tree Click on the title to jump to the article

I am very pleased to hear about the unusual installation at Downs View School, created by a group of Roedean students in Year 10. The Wishing Tree is the result of a great deal of hard work, but it is also an excellent example of problem-solving and adapting. The girls have not been able to visit Downs View for much of the year, but they wanted to make an impact on the children’s experience nevertheless, and the tree now has pride of place in their new garden area. Well done to everyone involved, and to Mr Wilson for his work to help the girls realise this project.

Following on from Year 13’s farewell celebration on the i360 last week, when they enjoyed a brief break in the weather to see the lights of Brighton at dusk, on Wednesday and Thursday our Year 11 students were able mark their last days before they move on into the Sixth Form. They reflected on the year and thanked their tutors in their Assembly, and the finale was a chance for them to dress up and enjoy each other’s company and some dancing in the marquee.

Both year-groups have negotiated so many challenges over the course of the year, so I am very pleased that they have been able to mark the end of this year formally.

Looking ahead to next week, Sports Day on Tuesday will be a lovely opportunity to come together as a community, albeit bubbled, down on the fields. This will be followed by a series of activities and workshops for the whole school based around the theme of ‘telling your story’.

On Wednesday evening, I am looking forward to our second Headmaster’s Lecture, with Dr Eugenia Cheng OR as our Guest Speaker – Eugenia, who will be speaking from America, is a highly talented polymath, and her talk follows the week’s theme in outlining the experiences which led her from Roedean to her current role as a Scientist in Residence at a university in Chicago. I hope that many of you will be able to attend this virtual lecture.

I wish you all the very best for the last week of term.

New Girls’ Day

Year 13 Leavers on the i360 Headmaster's lecture Dr Eugenia Cheng (OR)

BOOK NOW

Wednesday 30 June

HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW

Unsung heroes in the spotlight

New Girls Day

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.

A very unique and special New Girls Day was celebrated on Wednesday afternoon, heralding the gradual return to events with parents in attendance. Flanked either side by days of rain, the sun shone in abundance whilst over 70 girls completed a Treasure Hunt across the grounds in their fantastic House t-shirts, and they finised the afternoon with a fabulous Bollywood Workshop in Roedean sunglasses against the backdrop of a sparkling blue sea. A special mention must go out to the enthusiasm of Ms Abaza and the irrepressible Mrs Chandler! Meanwhile, over 120 parents visited Roedean Theatre, all the while following COVID protocols, for presentations

Lennie (Yr7) for her dedication to her bowling technique in cricket – she has come on in leaps and bounds due to her focus and attention to detail [KWA]

Freya (Yr7) and Jojo (Yr13) for their top musical performances of the week [SOB] – please do keep sending your entries through to sob@roedean.co.uk

Alice (Yr7) for her general enthusiasm and determination towards cricket this term [KWA]

Oyinda (Yr8) for making exceptional progress in cricket this term and an incredible performance in a recent fixture [KWA]

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25 June 2021 – Issue 9

from staff, followed by afternoon tea on the lawns to watch the Bollywood performance.

The comments below, received since from some happy parents, sum up the atmosphere: “What a fabulous day! An outstanding effort from all concerned” “…it was perfect, quite original” “So many schools have not been able to achieve this. Thank you for your determination and planning to make this happen. It was a really important, positive step that we all needed.”

DBA

HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW

25 June 2021 – Issue 9

It’s a Wimbledon Thing

Unsung heroes in the spotlight

Congratulations to Sophie (Yr8); she auditioned alongside hundreds of others to be in the new Wimbledon advert, ‘It’s a Wimbledon Thing’, before COVID and got the part! We are delighted to finally be able to watch her in action:

Each week, a member of staff who has gone above and beyond the call of duty can be nominated by their colleagues or the girls.

Mrs Sambrook for making the most amazing cupcakes for the practice Sports Day – the girls loved them, and they tasted as good as they looked! Thank you [KWA]

(16) All England Lawn Tennis Club "It's a Wimbledon Thing" by McCann

Roedean Academy Mrs Alexander for all her extra hard work over the last few weeks – she has been an amazing support to all the students and staff in the Art department [APH]

Over the last two weeks, the Roedean Academy has brought together over sixty students with high aspirations from Roedean and six local secondary schools. As the programme was entirely virtual this year, the modules were in the style of seminars, in order to encourage as much as possible debate and discussion.

Congratulations to everyone who took part, and I am also grateful to all of the members of staff who offered exciting and challenging modules, designed to ignite a spark, whet the intellectual appetite, encourage wider thought, and raise interesting questions – thank you!

RB

Year 13 Leavers on the i360 Our Year 13 students officially left Roedean last Friday, and, although their leavers’ event was not able to go ahead exactly as planned, 55 students enjoyed a wonderful flight, within their bubble, on the iconic i360. It was pouring with rain when they arrived, but the weather cleared for the duration of their flight and they were lucky to get

some wonderful views from the top. They were delighted to be able to have a formal event to round off their year, and for the opportunity to dress up and enjoy each other’s company. We look forward to seeing them again soon, and wish them the best of luck in the future!

Miss Bye, Mrs Lugton, Mrs Chandler, and Mrs Robins for helping the Admissions Department and being so unflappable under trying circumstances [ABW & JBO]

Mrs Baker for her enthusiasm and dedication with horse-riding this term – she has been fantastic and organised several events, ranging from regularly taking the girls off-site to undertake private lessons, and a fantastic opportunity whereby the girls received specialist coaching by a previous international dressage rider, Amy Stovold [KWA]

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HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW

Year 9 Play – Emma

by Jane Austen Last night, the Year 9s triumphantly completed our season of Key Stage 3 Drama Club performances. In contrast to last week’s play, The Light Burns Blue, this was an adaptation of a novel rather than a real-life story (Elsie Wright). The play follows Emma’s antics, as she diverts her own romantic frustrations with her passion for matchmaking. This leads to a tangle of misinterpretations, forcing Emma to take responsibility for her actions, as she finally learns to take other people’s feelings into consideration.

The novel was written in 1815 and has had many adaptations since, mainly in the field of period costume film and television, with the most recent version starring The Queens Gambit actor Anya Taylor-Joy. There have also been modern adaptions, that have made the novel more relevant, such as Clueless, starring Alicia Silverstone.

The Year 9s achieved a performance that combined the modern and the classical, by using the theatrical device of a play within a play.

During the opening scene Jane Austen is asleep and her nieces steal the book she is currently writing, Emma. The nieces narrate and then bring the play to life as they cast each other in the leading roles. This gave some wonderful comic moments with one niece demanding to play the pretty one, Harriet, during the opening sequence. While at the end of the play, when Knightley is described as handsome and tall, the performer fulfils the description with a little assistance, by purposefully standing on a block.

There were many more examples where the Year 9 pupils transformed their earlier rehearsals into an exciting and inventive performance. This was mainly due to excellent characterisation from the entire cast, all the pupils were given the opportunity to play one of Jane Austen’s iconic characters through double casting. This resulted in an array of wonderful characterisations from the chatterbox, Mrs Bates, to the opinionated Mrs Elton, from the mysterious Churchill to the elusive Jane Fairfax, from the anxious Mr Woodhouse and dastardly Mr Elton. The cast were brilliant at interpreting these famous characters to make them their own. There was also an integration of an original regency dance, The Wakefield Hunt, as well as beautiful singing for a moment of reflection in the mayhem of Emma’s emotional journey, which was exceptionally portrayed throughout.

Well done, Year 9s, for a marvellous accomplishment and what a wonderful way to end our KS3 trilogy of plays.

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25 June 2021 – Issue 9

25 June 2021 – Issue 9

HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW

Newnham Essay Competition Ten girls in Year 12 entered the Newnham College Essay Competition this year, following Venetia’s success last year. They all relished the challenge and academic rigour that this national essay competition provided, and it was all the more remarkable as they chose to do this largely independently.

A huge congratulations to Liv who was commended and Megan and Molly who were highly commended for their essays: Molly: ‘I

really enjoyed my first experience researching and writing an extended essay. My title, questioning the impact of the technology industry on inequality of opportunity between the citizens of rich and poor countries, was within the Computer Science category. However, its emphasis on technology’s impacts on society allowed me to combine my interests in Geography and Physics, as I was able to find out more about how geographical processes such as globalisation are facilitated by technological innovation and the growing tech industry. I was able to combine subject matter from my Geography, Maths, and Physics A Levels and further my study in each.

This benefits my university application, as I have been able to show how my STEM related A Levels link to my desired course, Geography and Economics.’

Megan – Engineering: Is biomimetic architecture the answer to a sustainable built environment?

Molly – Computer Science: Has the tech industry narrowed or widened the gap between opportunities available to citizens of rich and poor nations?

Liv – Mathematics: Will artificial intelligence one day make human mathematicians obsolete?

Liv: ‘I

wrote an essay for the Newnham Philippa Fawcett Mathematics Essay Prize titled ‘Will artificial intelligence one day make human mathematicians obsolete?’, for which I was Commended. I found the experience very useful as it enabled me to practise and improve my research skills, and in particular taught me about referencing correctly, a skill that will be invaluable to me in the future. Having decided to pursue mathematics at university, taking part in the competition was really beneficial as it provided another way for me to demonstrate my love for maths, which will help to strengthen any applications I will make. I particularly enjoyed discovering new areas of mathematics that I did not previously know about and may not have otherwise come across, as this helped me to ascertain my ambition to study maths in the future.’

Megan: ‘For

the Engineering prize, entrants were asked to choose one or more examples of how biomimicry has been used in engineering. Biomimicry is the practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges in a regenerative way. My title, ‘Is biomimetic architecture the solution to a sustainable built environment?, allowed me to consider the possibility that part of the solution to our global climate emergency and our ever-increasing population lies in biomimetic architectural design. I looked at examples such as the Qatar Cactus building, Beijing Water Cube, and the Gherkin. I am applying for Product Design at university so, although this prize was engineering focused, it really helped me to recognise the importance of sustainable design. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for new examples of biomimetic engineering as it is a constantly evolving and exciting field.’

Year 11 Pre-A Level Art Programme Over recent weeks, those in Year 11 intending to take Art in the Sixth Form have been following the Pre-A Level programme, and they have been looking at macro/micro as a theme. They have produced some great work, and here are some of the highlights.

SAL

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HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW

25 June 2021 – Issue 9

Rockpools Festival Even though we were unable to run our annual Rockpools Festival this year in light of the restrictions not easing, Bella, who has already accepted her place for September 22, took to the beach to do her own Rockpooling research and be with Roedean in spirit! Here are Bella & Beau (2 seagulls and Doris the dredger) trying their best today, giving Roedean a thumbs up!

We are super impressed with Bella’s enthusiasm and hope that we will be able to run the Rockpools Festival in the Autumn term, so that she and the rest of the cohort can learn a little bit more about our local habitats and get to know Roedean in style!

Downs View Wishing Tree All year, aone of the Year 10 Co-Curricular groups has been supporting Downs View, a local special school. Roedean has a long-lasting relationship with Downs View – in past years, a small group of Year 10 students have visited the school each week to spend time with the students and support where possible. Despite not being able to visit physically, the Year 10 students have done a wonderful job at keeping in touch with their students, including making videos and recordings of support.

In September, the students decided a meaningful way to show Downs View School that we continue to support them and are still thinking of them during challenging times would be to create a piece of Art they could display in their new wild garden. The students brainstormed various ideas until they decided upon an individualised bamboo wishing tree, inspired by the Taiwanese tradition of hanging bamboo wishing tubes from trees.

After months of planning, designing, drawing, lockdowns, and restrictions, the students finally presented and installed the bamboo wishing tree this week. It includes over 120 wishes and stretches over 5 metres long. Each bamboo piece is adorned with an individual wish and the name of a student. The bamboo wishing tree looks incredible in its new home and creates a calming and gentle melody.

We hope that it will provide a long-lasting reminder of the link between our two schools, and always to have hopes and wishes, even in challenging moments.

Here are some of the memorable wishes: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Jenny – I wish for ice-ceam every day!

Sohail – I wish everyone was happy Alfie – There was no more sadness, only happiness Lisa – A three-day weekend Maryam – I wish for love Ryley – a lifetime supply of feathers and a disco room Lily – I wish to be a princess Bruno – I wish for happy times Chloe – I wish my animals could talk to me Alfie – I wish the world was clean and everyone was happy

Congratulations to all the students that were involved in this memorable and inspirational project.

GWI Page 6

HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW

Sunday BBQ Fun The whole boarding community came out on Sunday to enjoy the unexpected sun and some tasty BBQ food for dinner. The boarders really enjoyed the opportunity to gather outdoors within their year group bubbles. Thank you for the catering team and Mr Wilson for organising such a great event.

Literary supplement

Key Stage 3 English Projects Ms Shillito’s Key Stage 3 English classes have been working on special book projects to showcase their love of reading: Year 7 are working on producing very professional book-based magazines, with reviews, adverts, interviews, and persuasive articles about their favourite mystery, thriller, romance, and fantasy books ■ Year 8 are working on an election campaign to promote their favourite books of all time!

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Summer Competition – Recommended Reads We would like you to pick your favourite read of the summer, and do a brilliant poster review or creative book report.

Your review or report can be about anything you have read that has inspired you, such as fiction, nonfiction, a magazine/ newspaper article, or a poem.

Be as creative as you can as all of the entries will form a display in September!

There will be prizes for the most original ideas!

Here are some suggestions to get you started: create a brochure about the book make a 3-dimensional interpretation of the book/article/poem ■ make a timeline or map ■ make a decorative poster for your review ■ make a book report t-shirt!

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Year 9 are working on creating film trailers for their favourite books, and each winning team in each class will win a fabulous booky prize!

Thank you to Ms Shevah for donating a signed copy of her latest book to the Library!

How to Save the World with a Chicken and an Egg by Emma Shevah High-spirited Ivy believes she can talk to animals, while Nathaniel, a boarding-school boy, is obsessed with animal facts. They come together unexpectedly on a cold English beach, with the arrival of a rare and wondrous sea creature: a giant leatherback turtle who lays her eggs in front of the world’s media. Soon they’re on a mission to make a difference to the world – even if they have to do it one animal at a time.

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25 June 2021 – Issue 9

HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW

25 June 2021 – Issue 9

SPORT

Year 7 – Roedean Road to Wimbledon Recently our Year 7 girls were involved in the semi-finals and finals of the Road to Wimbledon event. The girls eagerly came down during lunchtime to play their matches. First up was Chloe and Jemima versus Tiah and Bella. This was a great match as both doubles’ pairs managed to place the ball well, and Tiah and Bella demonstrated excellent attacking shots.

Both Jemima and Chloe were however able to play effective defensive shots and gain an advantage during the rallies, and this earned them a place in the final. The second match was Aimee and Isabelle versus Bea and Alicia – this match was a close game as both pairs were playing consistent groundstrokes and their serves were effective. Aimee and Isabelle managed to secure their place in the final.

The finals match was a close game, as all players were rallying well and both pairs were desperate to win. It was clear that both Aimee and Isabelle had clear tactics and applied these well throughout.

A special mention goes to Isabelle, who managed to secure her place in the singles final versus Alya in Year 8 to see who would reach the next round. Overall, Alya managed to secure the win of the Road to Wimbledon event after a close singles match. A huge well done to all that played! In the consolation draw, Lexi and Kali were up against Elsa and Chloe. This was a great game whereby both pairs communicated well and played consistent ground-strokes. Elsa and Chloe demonstrated brilliant volleys throughout.

Well done!

Athletics at Hurst We were all super excited to get to our first meet last weekend at Hurstpierpoint College. Our Juniors, Inters, and Seniors gave their all in every single event entered. There were PBs broken and new events tried – fantastic!

In the Senior section, Serena cleared an impressive 1.49m to win the high jump and Sophia jumped 9.79m in triple jump to also claim 1st place. The senior relay was a nail biter to watch, and we came a very close 2nd place. The Inters threw themselves into all events, even though they had not competed in all of them before and achieved some great results.

The Junior girls represented Roedean well, with multiple entries into a few events displaying a fantastic ‘can do’ attitude.

A big thank you to Hannah and Mairi for stepping in at the last minute, and knocking 6 plus seconds off their PB! Finally, congratulations to Izzy for stepping up a year group and producing some great results.

A massive well done to all that took part – we are looking forward to seeing you all compete in the future.

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Maddie’s a Lewes Lioness!

Maddie (Yr9) plays rugby for the Lewes Lionesses U15 every Sunday, and, for the last few years, the team has been going from strength to strength, despite the difficulties with COVID. Maddie is a fantastic player and her team generally wins most matches. So we are all very proud of them.

On 11 July, her team will be going to Twickenham to have a training session with some of the England Ladies Rugby team and coaches. This is a special event organised through a competition that was won by the women’s rugby team at Lewes.

25 June 2021 – Issue 9

HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW

Year 7-9 Practice Sports Day Congratulations to all the Year 7-9 pupils for participating in an incredible practice sports day two weeks ago. They had a fantastic day competing against each other, having fun, and improving their distances and times.

J WHAT’S COMING UP IN THE

ROEDEAN FESTIVAL WEEK

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: marketing@roedean.co.uk

WEEK AHEAD?

Tue 29 Jun

Sports Day Secret Garden Walk

Wed 30 Jun

Headmaster’s Lecture: Dr Eugenia Cheng U12C & U13B Cricket vs Dorset House School (A)

Thur 1 Jul

End of Year Trips

Fri 2 Jul

SUMMER TERM ENDS

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