25th November 2016 - Issue 10
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction
The diverse articles in this week’s review are an excellent example of the amazing range of activities taking place at Roedean, from sport and our celebration service, to HHH and visitors to the school who are experts in their fields. It is this breadth of experience which makes Roedean such a vibrant community. I am very excited to see this evening’s gala concert, which I know is the culmination of an incredible amount of dedication and of hard work. With two weeks to go until we break up, there is a great deal to look forward to! There is the nail-biting and keenly fought Staff vs Student Hockey match on Tuesday, and
I look forward to seeing the wider Roedean community out in force at the ‘Christmas at the Movies’-themed Christmas Fair extravaganza on 3rd December. Both the girls and the Parents’ Guild have put a great deal of thought and hard work into this charity event – I am sure it will be fantastic. In the last week of term, the performances of the play ‘A Christmas Carol’ promise to be spectacular if the set that is appearing on
A Fitting Farewell to Sue Stanway and Simon Rothon On Friday 18 November, the School held a beautiful evening Chapel service to celebrate the achievements and contributions of two key staff members who have recently stepped down from their duties at Roedean.
stage is anything to go by. We all look forward to the Carol Service that always marks the start of Christmas. Congratulations on a wonderful term so far, and good luck for the last two busy weeks of term before your well-earned holidays!
Simon Rothon has served as Roedean’s Chair of Council for the last five years. Simon, who is also a former parent, has shown a great commitment to all aspects of School life. Perhaps his most notable achievement during his time as Chair was to appoint Mr Blond. The pupils were so impressed by the account by fellow Council member Margot Chaundler of Simon’s illustrious career and multi-linguistic skills, that he has been invited to deliver a Roedean Academic lecture in the New Year. Tributes to Sue Stanway, who retired from her post as Head of Art after 47 years of service to Roedean, came from Mr Blond and OR Sasha Glynn. Quite how so many years can be summed up in a few minutes was a challenge for us all, but appreciative sentiments and much nostalgia was shared. However, it was the words of current pupils Tori Nathan-Maister (6.1) and Eunice Yuen (6.2) which touched our hearts. They spoke of Mrs Stanway’s unfailing dedication to her many pupils over the years, and these touching words from Eunice struck a chord with us all: ‘You told us that we are each one of your precious collection of memories – Dear Mrs Stanway, we are very proud and honoured to be part of your collection.’ SEL
You are all welcome to the
Christmas Fair
Saturday 3rd December – 10 till 1 Come along and meet Santa, and get some stocking fillers too! You can still donate uniform and anything for tombola prizes – please drop them into the Houses
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.
Maggie El-Beleidi and Elsa Heath (6.1) for stepping in to help out at Parents’ Evening [SEL]
History alive at Roedean On Monday, the girls in U4 and L5 took part in a fascinating World War One living history presentation by Dickie Knight from Anglia Tours. The U4 girls learned all about recruitment, trench warfare, gas attacks, and even got to try on some of the uniforms and primitive gas masks. The theme of the L5 talk was the development of surgery and treatment on the British sector of the Western Front. The girls learned about how casualties were removed from the battlefield, the different types of injuries the soldiers sustained, and new surgical techniques of the time. Lalita Cornejo-Spink (L5) and Grace Ridout (L5) even showed some promise as stretcher-bearers! Many thanks to Corporal Knight for such an informative and enjoyable day. RCH
Consuella Zhao (6.2) and Laura Waterman (6.2) for attending The Royal Institute of Philosophy Annual Debate ‘The proper aim of art is aesthetic excellence not moral efficacy’ in London on Wednesday evening [KHB]
Harriet Moore Holland and Phoebe Hambling (U3) for helping to move lots of bags from PSHE1 [SEL]
Piano virtuoso at Roedean We were delighted and privileged to welcome the internationally renowned pianist Noriko Ogawa to Roedean this week, to lead over 20 of our pianists in a day of group masterclasses. She has achieved considerable success throughout the world for her “ravishingly poetic playing” (Telegraph). Noriko has twice played at the BBC Proms, and performed at the most famous venues around the world. Our pianists represented all year groups in the school and everyone came away thrilled with the guidance they received from Noriko. To conclude the day, several girls went on to perform in our third Teatime Recital this term, and Noriko commented on how all the girls rose to the challenge of public performance. The warm and appreciative audience was also delighted
to hear Noriko perform herself, with a most bravura performance of Je te veux by Erik Satie, which she has recently recorded. ‘The masterclass session with Noriko was absolutely wonderful and within a short amount of time I learnt so much. Listening to her perform at the end of the teatime recital was a lovely way to round off the day as a whole.’ – Zarbanu Malekshahi (U5) ‘The masterclass is very good experience. Although the session was quite short, I think I really learned a lot. The excellent performance from Noriko really encouraged us all to keep practising.’ – Yaqi Yu (U5) Page 2
25th November 2016 - Issue 10
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
25th November 2016 - Issue 10
Fairy tale mural at children’s hospital This week the junior boarders swapped their pens and uniform for paintbrushes and overalls, as work on a fairy tale mural began at the local children’s hospital. The junior boarding team have kindly offered their time and effort to paint the mural as part of their community service for the year. The mural will take centre stage in the babies’
waiting room, and it will undoubtedly be enjoyed by hundreds of babies and families in the future. The mural includes flying fairies, magical toadstools, and mystical princesses, and is being painted with care and precision by our students. Keep an eye out for the finished mural in the next few weeks!
Senior Maths Challenge Results 2016 The Maths department are delighted to announce that there was a bumper haul of certificates and also progress for Roedean girls through to the subsequent rounds in this year’s Senior Maths Challenge. It is fantastic that Miranda Liu made it through to the British Mathematical Olympiad, meaning that she was one of the top 1000 entrants in the country, but we are pleased that
eleven more girls performed well enough to get through to the “Senior Kangaroo” for the next 2000 entrants; qualifying for either of these competitions is a real achievement. The girls in the “Senior Kangaroo” are Jenny Zhu, Vicky Zhang, Rachel Zhou, Valerie Lau, Miranda Gao, Junyu Luo, Melanie Chen, Sharon Qian, Anni Fan, Pearl Yuan, and Olivia Song. Both the British Mathematical Olympiad and
HHH Life Saving Last Friday, an U4 class learnt a potential life-saving skill during their weekly HHH lesson, with the help of Anne, the mannequin, who was brought in by the first aid tutor. The students were able to learn the techniques used in an emergency situation when a causality is unconscious and not breathing, and then practise the techniques on Anne. They practised the lung compressions to the Bee Gees song ‘Stayin’ Alive’, which has just the right amount of beats per minute as recommended by the British Heart Foundation! Whilst we hope that the students never have to use this new-found technique, it is reassuring to know they have the skills and confidence to help, should the situation ever arise. ‘I learnt what to do if someone stops breathing. I have been taught to do DRABC and to perform CPR. This will be really helpful in the future. It took me a while to get over the fact that we had to ask a mannequin questions!!’ – Eva Pomery (U4) ‘This week I learnt how to do CPR. I have enjoyed learning this as I believe it will be a useful skill to have.’ – Saoirse Jackson (U4) ‘I was most interested to learn that there are different sized defibrillator pads for babies.’ – Joni-May Leach (U4) GWI Page 3
the “Senior Kangaroo” will take place on 2 December. On top on these wonderful achievements, Roedean girls earned 14 gold, 14 silver, and 12 bronze certificates from a total of 45 entries, a strike rate of almost 90%! The Maths department is very proud of all the girls’ efforts.
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
25th November 2016 - Issue 10
CroyMUN On Saturday, Roedean sent its first MUN team to the one-day Model United Nations at Croydon High School. The girls were distributed amongst various committees – health, gender, politics, and the Security Council. Despite terrified morning faces mouthing ‘Madam, we don’t know what we’re doing’, all the delegates acquitted themselves well, speaking during debates and having their resolutions picked for discussion. Well done to the Two Graces (Ridout and Robertson), Ayla, Amy, Carrie, Maya, Georgina, Maggie, to Natasha Tan for organising the teams, and to Miss Balnaves for supreme map-reading skills (who needs SatNav when you’ve got BalNav?)! KRH
House 4 On Wednesday 23 November, the House 4 staff and students gathered to celebrate our community event. To begin, over 70 fabulous House 4 girls were involved in a house photo! For the evening’s main event, the House 4 ODR was converted into a cosy cinema, with a large projector screen, bean bags, pillows, and fairy lights. Chinese food was delivered and the girls were served by the House 4 staff – the food was authentic and delicious, including chicken chow mein, beef in black bean sauce, spring rolls, and prawn crackers! Once all girls had been served their dinner, the Christmas movie began and Home Alone was enjoyed by all members of the House 4 community. ‘It was the most magical evening and I can’t wait for the next community event – I love House 4!’ – Zara Cardoso (U3).
‘The House 4 event was so much fun with all of my friends gathered together. The atmosphere was bubbly, fun and comfortable, and the food was so tasty! It was such a great night – thank you, House 4!’ – Mwaba Mwiko (L4) ‘I loved the House 4 event; it was so nice to share it with the day girls and to socialise with girls from all year groups. Eating Chinese and watching a film was a relaxing break from school work, and Home Alone was a great way to get into the Christmas spirit!’ – Ava Zoccola (L5) Thank you to all the House 4 girls who were involved in our community event; it was a really fantastic evening and we look forward to many more in the future! SEW
Geography Ambassador’s visit The Roedean Geography department was lucky enough to host Mr Alex Homatas, an ambassador from the Royal Geographical Society this Wednesday. The U4 and 6.1 Geographers got to hear how studying the subject at GCSE and degree level can broaden their horizons, and open doors into some unexpected careers. The lunchtime session entitled ‘I love Geography’ (part of the academic lecture series) was well attended by a variety of year groups who got to explore the idea of spaces as public or private areas. This threw up some very interesting conversations and debates, and highlighted one of the many ‘grey’ areas found within human Geography. The Geography department would like to thank all those who took part in the activities and helped in their organisation – we look forward to another visit in the future! Page 4
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW
25th November 2016 - Issue 10
Maddie wins an award for sailing her topper dinghy Maddie Quinn (L4) has been selected to be one of 15 youngsters to win awards, from over 80 applications, after competing in the Royal Yachting Association Zone Championships which took place at eight venues in September. Run by the RYA, OnBoard is a grass roots programme which introduces sailing and windsurfing to young people aged 8 to 18, through schools, youth groups and training centres. Over a ten year period, OnBoard has introduced more than half a million children to sailing and windsurfing in the UK. Since 2012, JMST, a charity partner of the RYA, has donated more than 50 single-handed junior pathway boats and boards to promising sailors. This year, JMST donated 13 boats and two boards to the 15 awardwinners, including Maddie, to provide them with the opportunity to use the highest quality of equipment to develop their sailing skills. This is a wonderful way to recognise her commitment to sailing, and we are sure that Maddie will go from strength to strength.
Saskia gets her trophy from Rio Gold medallist If Saskia Levy Dethmers (U3) looked a bit tired on Monday morning, the reason was blowing in the wind: she had spent the whole weekend on her Optimist boat, widely known as an ‘Oppy’, pulling in her sail to catch the brisk breeze. Saskia is a racing sailor in the Optimist class, the largest and only international junior boat class. It’s a single-hander, so she spends between 4 and 6 hours a day on the water without a break when she’s racing. On the weekend of November 19th and 20th, Saskia raced in the national Winters Championship, at which the 130 competitors completed in three races each day, taking about 45 minutes to go around the course. Saskia performed brilliantly, and was the second junior girl! But her biggest thrill of the trophy presentation was that she received it from her name-sake Saskia Clark, a Gold medallist at the Rio Olympics and the female World Sailor of the Year. Roedean’s Saskia has been competing in national regattas of between 130 and 250 sailors since 2014, and she was selected this year to be in one of the two national squads organised by the Royal Yachting Association to coach promising sailors. The squads offer intensive winter training for the top 40 sailors in the country and prepares them to compete in selections for international events. Alongside the RYA support, Saskia also trains with a world-famous Optimist coach, Vagelis Atzemian. Congratulations to Saskia for this wonderful achievement – we can’t wait to hear what she does next!
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25th November 2016 - Issue 10
HEAD’S WEEKLY REVIEW SPORT back post. This happened again in the second half and Jemima was able to score another. The game remained 2-0. The player of the match was awarded to Hana Al Arari. The U13C team was unfortunate to lose 2-1 against Gildredge, as they showed some great team work. The defence played well together and made some super clearances, but unfortunately Gildredge took their chances well.
Swimming
The swimming team travelled to Moira house on Monday evening to swim against Moira House and Mayfield. We entered a junior, intermediate and senior team, and all the points were added together to give the final result. Due to other commitments, we were missing some senior girls, so both Gracie Bernard and Liv Henderson had to swim up an age group. They both took on the challenge and came 2nd in their races.
The U13D team won 1-0, with a great goal from Mwaba Mwiko. It was an overall great performance from the team, with both the forwards and defence linking together, and there was some great play from Maddie Quinn.
Hockey
The U14 girls played against Seaford on Thursday in very windy conditions. The team gelled well again and put in an admirable performance from the GK to the centre forward. We scored mid-way through the first half, with a lovely run down the right from Bea Wright, and Jemima Goddard slotted the ball in from the
The U15s took on Burgess Hill in our first 5-a-side indoor football match. We played exceptionally well, but narrowly lost 4-3 in the end, after Burgess Hill was awarded a penalty in the last two minutes. We had a great attacking presence throughout and had several attempts on target. The Burgess Hill goal keeper was awarded player of the match, and that is a reflection of how many outstanding saves she made. Our defensive play was brilliant, with lots of important tackles made, and great saves by our keeper. Well done to all involved, and we look forward to the next match. The Roedean player of the match was Mary McHarg.
Volleyball
The Volleyball 1st VI played Burgess Hill this week, and had a fantastic game. The matches were close, everyone had lots of fun, and Melanie Chen (6.1) made her debut appearance. Roedean actually won the match 2 sets to 1, but everyone was having so much fun that they decided to play another set, resulting in a 2-2 draw. This is a very positive start to the year for the Roedean volleyballers!
The final squadron was super-exciting and Roedean led from the first length. This is a race of 6 swimmers with two from each age group. We knew it was going to close, but Roedean came out on top and won overall – well done! Final results: Juniors – we won; 2nd in the Intermediates – 2nd; Seniors – 2nd (by 1 point!).
Football
U12 Hockey
The U12B&C teams played against Windlesham House. Both teams played some fantastic hockey, displaying great individual pieces of skill. Unfortunately, the B team could not convert its chances, and this cost them. The final score 5-1 to Windlesham House. However, the C team played brilliantly, and they won 4-0 – congratulations!
JJ WHAT’S
COMING UP IN THE WEEK AHEAD?
Results Sport
Team
Hockey
Roedean U14A
2–0
Seaford College
W
Roedean U13A
5–0
Gildredge House
W
Roedean U13B
4–1
Gildredge House
W
Roedean U13C
3–1
Gildredge House
W
Roedean U13D
1–0
Gildredge House
W
Roedean U12B
1–5
Windlesham House
L
Roedean U12C
4–0
Windlesham House
W
Swimming
Gala v Moira House and Mayfield
Netball
BMW League – Roedean 1st
Football
Roedean
Volleyball
Roedean 1st VI
Result
Opposition
2nd Wasps
L
3–4
Burgess Hill
L
2–2
Burgess Hill
D
10 – 33
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 Page 6
Mon 28 Nov
U4&L5 Intermediate House Hockey Teatime Music Recital
Tues 29 Nov
Staff vs Seniors Hockey
Wed 30 Nov
U12A&B & U13A&B Hockey vs Brighton College (A) L4 Theatre Trip to see ‘Blood Brothers’
Thur 1 Dec
Music Scholars to Brighton Dome
Sat 3 Dec
Christmas Fair – ‘Christmas at the Movies’
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