30 November 2018 - Issue 12
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction
Congratulations to everyone who was involved in the Literally Music Gala Concert last week. The standard was incredibly high, and it was wonderful to see so many girls performing. Given its literary theme, the concert was an ideal fund-raiser for the St Mark’s Library, so it is wonderful that the evening raised well over £1600 – well done to everyone involved! Thank you very much to those who have already donated a book to help stock the Library – if you can, please help to support this following the link at the bottom of this page of this review or buying a book at the Christmas Fair. Tonight’s Winter Wonderland Ball in Keswick House promises to be a lovely event for the Sixth Form and their guests, and it will be the first of
a series of events leading up to Christmas in the last week of term. Next Friday, we will have a ‘Christmas Jumper’ non-uniform day, and then our annual Christmas Fair on the following day - as ever, the girls have come up with some wonderful ideas, and I hope that many friends and family will join us at this event to buy some lovely stocking fillers and have some fun, all to raise funds for our School charities. We are very pleased to be welcoming our two Sports Ambassadors, Kate and Helen Richardson Walsh, to Roedean next week. They will be working with girls from all years on Monday, as well as running a workshop with older girls about what it takes to be successful
while remaining true to themselves. It will be lovely to have them back at Roedean. Good luck to those Year 13s with Oxbridge interviews next week. One student has already been, and we are delighted that the largest number in many years have been called to attend interviews. Well done to the GCSE Drama students whose devised pieces went very well this week, and good luck for the A Level pieces next week. I hope you all have a wonderful last few weeks of term - the School is looking very festive, with the lovely trees and decorations going up, so we are certainly getting in the spirit of it!
Books can change lives…and so can YOU! How to be a CHANGE MAKER and HELP THE HOMELESS AT XMAS This term, 7D’s English class have been reading the fabulous Stone Cold by Robert Swindells, a book about a homeless boy named Link and his experiences on the streets of London.
Through our reading we gained insight into the causes and effects of homelessness, and everyone agreed that our perceptions of homeless people have changed vastly after reading this life-changing book. Previously, we might have been quick to pass blame and look at them negatively, but Swindells really sets out to dispel stereotyped beliefs and incite our sympathy and compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves. His lead character never sinks to feeling sorry for himself and provides a consistently friendly voice through his honest and down to earth narrative. As part of our research and newly-developed understanding of the homeless, we reached out to Mr Weir who has volunteered in the past with Off the Fence, the incredible homeless
Please help us to stock St Mark’s new Library!
charity in Brighton. They have worked tirelessly for 21 years on the streets of Brighton, giving food and shelter, showers, clothes, or simply a kind and listening ear to people who find themselves living rough in our city. We were delighted to welcome Mr Weir’s good friend, and founder of the charity, Mr Young to the Year 7-9 Assembly on Monday 26 November. Mr Young was the epitome of a truly inspirational person and speaker. He told us about his own difficult upbringing and all the amazing work his charity has achieved over the years – he spoke
fondly of his love for his home city Brighton and how he wanted to give back to the home he held so close to his heart. In closing, he challenged all of us to be ‘change makers’ in the future, stating how excited he was to work closely with our school community in helping the homeless. If you would like to be a ‘change maker’ and help out in the run up to Christmas, please email Ms Shillito for more information – we are asking for donations from an Amazon wishlist that Off the Fence have sent us, and every little donation can help make a big difference.
Thank you very much to all those who have already donated books – the children at St Mark’s will love them - but the library is not even half full yet! Please help to support St Mark’s Library by following this link: https://roedean.wufoo.com/forms/book-donation-for-st-marks-library/ You can also purchase a book at the Christmas Fair and put the cost on your daughter’s bill.