Heads Weekly Review - Autumn Issue 4

Head’s Introduction

This week really has seen something of everything at Roedean, highlighting the many exciting things which go on in a typical week! The boarders enjoyed a walk around the local area on Monday after watching the Queen’s funeral, and I am very grateful to my colleagues in boarding who looked after the girls so well while the School was closed for the Bank Holiday. The Houses also got together again yesterday afternoon for a highly competitive Bin Bag Fashion Show – House 2 won the overall prize, but it was a great success all round!

The first Teatime recital of the term was a great success, and I would like to thank and congratulate the Music Department and our scholars for a varied programme of very beautiful music. Not only was the range of instruments and periods of music impressive, but I particularly enjoyed hearing our new Year 7 scholars performing alongside the older girls who have honed their talent over their time at Roedean. It really was a lovely way to end the day yesterday.

We have enjoyed Chapel services this week highlighting fantastic sporting achievements over the summer, particularly for women. Thank you to Dr Barrand for leading the service, but particularly to the six students from across the School who spoke so eloquently about their sporting heroes and inspirations. However, we need look no further than within our School for sporting success, and I am delighted that our teams have had some brilliant matches over the last week, including beating a local rival to progress to the next round in the National Netball Cup – well done.

Thank you to everyone involved in the Wild Fridays Experience Day – our visitors’ smiling faces whenever we saw them showed that they were having a great time, and I am pleased that the weather stayed fair all day! Looking ahead, thank you in advance to all the students and my colleagues for Open Day a week tomorrow. We are excited to welcome the visiting families to Roedean, and for them to see and experience our wonderful school.

Well done to Year 13 who have completed their first set of assessments this week. And finally, I wish you all a restful weekend, and good luck for next week.  WEEKLY REVIEW Experience Day

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.

House Fashion

On the back of the fantastic House Shout, yesterday’s House challenge was House Fashion! Students from all years pulled together to test their creativity at a making challenge, which was turning rubbish sacks into high fashion.

Three Year 7 models from each House strutted their stuff on the catwalk, in an impressive display of creative confidence. With only half an hour to conjure up an idea, everybody looked amazing.

Prizes and points were awarded to all the Houses by our wonderful judges, selected, of course, for their innate sense of style, Miss Phillips and Mrs McWilliams:

Creative use Catwalk

Winners were selected in each category, but the overall winner, for producing the best design, was House 2!

Congratulations, and well done to everybody who got involved and came along to support their House!

Amelia (Yr12), Andrea and Flo (Yr7), Zella and Saffron (Yr10), and Romy (Yr9) – for sharing their thoughtful reflections on women's sport in Chapel this week [Dr Barrand]

Galina (Yr11) and Gianna (Yr13) – for playing so beautifully in our Chapel services this week [Ms Bartlette]

Lily, Hetty, YanYan, Flo (Yr8) for being brilliant helpers for the Wild Fridays Experience Day –they could not have done more! [Miss Clarke]

Lydia (Yr10) – for running to get me a napkin when it looked like I was about to get BBQ ribs sauce on my shirt while serving lunch! [Dr Barrand]

Ms Strachan

Multiple Exposures

Kary, in Year 12, is the talented photographer who has been working around the school site this week.

Using the latest Canon mirrorless camera, she has captured images using the multiple exposure setting. This has allowed her to layer together imagery on the camera, rather than post-edit.

She has really captured the busy nature of the school day, particularly around the main staircase, to produce some striking imagery.

Well done, Kary!

Sport Stars of the Week

Congratulations to this week's Sports Stars! [Miss Kirby-Jones]

Year 7 – Matilda, for her excellent Hockey performance this week

Year 8 – Evelyn, for helping to coach at swimming club

Year 9 – Romey, for her footballing enthusiam

Year 10 – Kelly, for brilliant cocurricular sporting commitments

Year 11 – Jamie, for all round sporting commitment

Year 12 – Kaia, for her effort at swimming club.

Year 13 – Lea, for helping out at the Aquathon

Congratulations to Astrid (Yr7), who is this week's Golden Ticket Winner!

Mrs Alexander

Life Drawing

On Friday Evening, a group of Art students from Years 11-13 participated in a life drawing workshop, led by artist and tutor Sara Reeve.

Reeve is a visiting tutor at the highly-esteemed Brighton Draw, an atelier for practising artists and students. She led our students through an intensive 6-hour series of drawings and exercises, designed to enhance looking and observation skills.

Working directly from the model is one of the best ways to develop and improve drawing, which is the foundation of all disciplines in art.

Reeve commented afterwards: 'It was great working with you and your fantastic students last week – what an incredibly talented group they are.' This is high praise indeed.

Ms Strachan

Wild Fridays Experience Day

On Thursday this week, we welcomed 35 girls in Years 6 from the local area and Sussex to take part in an exciting and innovative outdoors experience day. This replicates our Wild Fridays offer in Year 7, for which the year-group spends every Friday afternoon outside, engaged in a variety of outdoor activties.

The girls had a brilliant time, and they threw themselves into team-building activities (including stepping-stones and a drain-pipe run), as well as learning about farming and animal welfare. In the afternoon, against the backdrop of an aerial hang-glider display team over the Channel, they devised their own outdoor wellness and yoga routine, and learnt a range outdoor survival and bushcrafting skills, including how to make a fire!

They had a ball, and the sun shone down on them all day!

Miss Clarke

Scholars' Music Recital

The first teatime recital of the year is always dedicated to the Music Scholars – it was wonderful to hear the range of pieces and instruments and voice on show, and also that the Old Ref was full with an audience of friends and family.

Molly in Year 7 started the concert, with a very confident rendition of As Long As He Needs Me – her tone was rich and warm. Jemima, also in Year 7, then sang the iconic song A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, and she captured the wistful feel of the song. A third scholar from Year 7, Annabelle, played Musette on the guitar next, showing strong dexterity and confident performance skills.

Galina in Year 11 took on a challenging piece by Lutoslawski on the clarinet, and she demonstrated complete mastery of the fast tempo and the music’s folk influences. Also in Year 11, Solari played a lovely Haydn rondo on the viola – she kept up with the relentless movement of the piece and played with great confidence.

Alma, in Year 13, performed Britten’s Corpus Christi Carol with great bravura – from the opening top G, she was clearly in complete control. Karena’s rendition of Kuchynka’s Concert Waltz on the double bass was wonderful, particularly so because it is so unusual to hear the full range and dynamism of this instrument shown off so well.

Tiffany (Yr12) accompanied herself singing Is It Just Me? by Emily Burns – it was hauntingly beautiful, and her voice has a lovely warm tone. In a contrasting style, Gianna in Year 13 performed an unaccompanied movement from Suite No2 by Bach – the piece is very exposed and was written to show off a performer’s mastery of their instrument, which she certainly achieved.

The next piece was Mozart’s Das Veilchen, which Niamh (Yr12) sang with great power, and well-controlled vibrato. Not only was she in complete command of the German, but her top notes rang out like a bell. Rachel in Year 10 played the fourth movement of Ysaÿe’s

unaccompanied sonata with great aplomb. This challenging piece includes virtuosic passages, with double-stopping and harmonics almost throughout – it was an impressive performance.

The penultimate piece was The Man I Love by Gershwin – Abi (Yr12) performed on the piano with great composure, and it was clear that she enjoyed the style and feel of the music. Alice in Year 10 sang Caldara’s Alma del Core to close the recital – she performed this Baroque piece well, and the slow passages were beautiful.

As long as he needs me

Congratulations to everyone who performed – it was excellent!

The next Teatime Recital will be on Thursday 6 October. This is an open recital, and anyone can sign up, with any type of music or song. Please either email  sob@roedean.co.uk or use the sign-up sheet on the Music noticeboard. Group items are welcome too.

L Bart Voice: Molly – Yr8

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square Manning Sherwin Voice: Jemima – Yr7

Musette

Anon. Guitar: Annabelle – Yr7

Dance Preludes Lutoslawski Clarinet: Galina – Yr11

Hungarian Rondo Haydn Viola: Solari – Yr11

Corpus Christi Carol Britten Voice: Alma – Yr13

Concert waltz Kuchynka Double Bass: Karena – Yr13

Is it just me Emily Burns Voice: Tiffany – Yr12

Suite No 2

Bach Flute: Gianna – Yr12

Das Veilchen Mozart Voice Niamh – Yr12

Sonata – Movement 4 Ysaÿe

Violin: Rachel – Yr10

The Man love Gershwin Piano: Abi – Yr12 Alma del Core Caldara Voice: Alice – Yr10

Excellent ABRSM Music Exam Results

Congratulations go to all our current students who were successful in last term’s music exams. These were a mixture of Trinity, ABRSM, face-toface, and online exams.

Grade 3

Kitty (Yr9) – Singing

Zoe (Yr8) – Saxophone (Merit)

Sofia (Yr8) – Piano

Ellen (Yr10) – Trumpet (Merit)

Grade 4

Alicia (Yr9) – Violin

Grade 5

Meghan (Yr9) – Flute

Maddie (Yr11) – Violin

Inky (Yr10) – Violin

Grade 6

Chloe (Yr9) – Flute

Grade 7

Niamh (Yr12) – Singing (Distinction)

Zyta (Yr9) – Double Bass (Merit)

Grade 8

Zoe (Yr13) – Singing Kyra (Yr9) – Double Bass

It is particularly pleasing to see the number of younger students achieving well in the higher gades, which bodes well for the future. Keep up the good work and we hope to hear you all playing this year.

Mr Wilson

Dr Barrand

Ms Bartlette

Dance Showcase Rehearsals Are Underway

On Sunday, over 70 pupils were busy rehearsing for the annual dance showcase.  This year’s theme is A Night at the Movies, with pieces from Chicago, Flash Dance, Bohemian Rhapsody, and more!  This photo is of the Key Stage 3 dance scholars rehearsing their piece this week.

Miss Abaza

Queen Elizabeth Tribute in Lawrence

Victoria and Lawrence boarders spent some time on Monday remembering Queen Elizabeth by creating a wonderful display in Lawrence House reception that the girls felt honoured the memory of our Monarch. This was well received by visitors to the boarding house and will be here until Exeat for those who would like to come over and admire the display.

Mrs Diplos

Roedean Charity and Partnership Work

Our students have a very strong social consicence, and they are brilliant at raising money for a range of charities and contributing their time to support our partner insitutions –well done!

One of the charities we support is Off The Fence, a local charity which works with the homeless in our city. This week, we re-started our twice weekly donation of food to the charity, and Paul Young, who is its Founder, came to School to speak to Year 10, so that they had a clear understanding of the work the charity does. Paul has invited Roedean to be involved in a new arm of the charity, which will launch in December, and we are looking forward to getting involved.

This year, in order to increase the focus on specific charities, and to make the results of the students' endeavours more tangible, each year-group has a dedicated charity and partner institution – thank you to Mr Wilson for pulling this together. Each year-group will also have a specific charity event to build towards, in the hope of raising funds for their charity.

Dr Barrand

Chapel: Sport – Summer 2022

This week's Chapel services, led by Dr Barrand, focused on some of the sporting successes of women over recent months. The achievements of women in a range of different sports has been hugely inspiring, and society is making huge strides in making women’s sport more widely recognised and popular.

We had some amazing tennis at Wimbledon, featuring the amazing Serena Williams, who has retired this summer, or, as she refers to it, ‘evolved’, because she’s got lots of other projects to focus on. Over her career, she won 23 Grand Slam titles, and she was ranked number 1 in the world for 319 weeks (– that is over 6 years!). Serena didn’t make it to the Wimbledon final, but it was contested by two other groundbreaking women – Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan was the first woman from her country to achieve such a victory in tennis, and the success of her Tunisian opponent, Ons Jabeur, has subsequently inspired and empowered many women in the Arab world to aspire to greatness in sport.

At the Gymnastics World Cup, held in Italy, among the wonderful performances was one from Oksana Chusovitina, who is still competing at the highest level at the age of 47! She has had a remarkably long career – her success started when she won Gold at the 1992 Olympics, before most of the other current competitors were even born, and she is the only female gymnast ever to compete in 8 Olympics! She is a fantastic example of determination, resilience, and honing your talent over time.

At the risk of being a little jingoistic, it was brilliant to watch the Lionesses, the England Women’s football team, become champions at the Euros in July. The final had the largest number of spectators in its 50-year history, with over 87,000 watching at Wembley – and, with the score a nail-biting 1-1 at the end of normal time, Chloe Kelly scored a brilliant goal in extra time to win the final.

Amelia – ‘Good morning, I am Amelia in Year 12. On Sunday, the 7th August England’s Ladies Hockey Team beat tournament favourites Australia, 2-1, to win a historic Commonwealth Games gold medal. It had taken 24 years to finally claim the gold medal, after just falling short with either a silver, or bronze medal at every Games since 1998. To me, as an avid hockey player, it was wonderful to see them play so well as a Team and finally win the gold medal. This will hopefully now build on the excitement, and interest in the game, that was generated in 2016 when the Ladies GB Team won Olympic Gold, and inspire more girls to play hockey. However, perhaps the most impressive aspect for me, was the manner in which they finally attained their goal, remaining unbeaten throughout the tournament, scoring 23 goals and conceding just two. This is an incredible achievement. It was truly inspirational to see a women’s team displaying not only great technical skill and teamwork, but also such remarkable mental strength and self-belief.’

Andrea – ‘Hello, I'm Andrea in Year 7, and I’m a netballer. I loved watching England vs Australia battle for fourth place in the Commonwealth Games. The score was really close – it was 51 shots to England and 60 shots to Australia. But one thing I saw when I was watching the game was that England looked like they were having such a good time compared to Australia's team. Even when they were walking onto the court, England's team was smiling and laughing, but Australia's team looked so serious and they had straight faces –hopefully, this message tells people that sport is not just about winning, it's about having fun on and off the court, but also playing a good game even if you don't win.’

We should be proud that we have more opportunities in society than ever before in so many ways. I hope that these wonderful role-models can make us all more even more determined to work hard to realise our full potential, to be resilient when we make mistakes or do not succeed in the way we hoped for, and to be open to new experiences and opportunities.

Romy – ‘Hello – I’m Romy in Year 9. I am a Basketballer, and this summer the Chicago Skys really inspired me and were enjoyable to watch. Their passion for basketball is remarkable, and this was really obvious in their recent matches. Basketball is often seen as a sport played by men, but I am really pleased to see that more people are starting to watch WNBA all over the world, finally giving it the recognition and audience it deserves.’

Zella – ‘Good morning. My name is Zella, and I am a footballer, and I've been playing football for nearly five years, playing with a league team, and I train with Brighton now. It’s given me so much confidence over the years, and I've always had football high up on the list as a career choice. After watching the Lionesses win the Euros, I suddenly realised that I could make a living out of the sport I love most. Also, seeing the lionesses play in front of 80,000 people showed me that women's football is on the rise. It gave me hope and it felt even more important to me winning this than the men's Euro football tournament; because women's football has been trying to come up the ranks for years, women have been working hard to pursue the sport they love, to keep going even though they knew they weren't been given support they deserved by the football association. Jill Scott, who played for the Lionesses in the tournament, and who is now in her thirties, had not long ago been sleeping in the back of cars, making money with extra jobs, but carried on playing football. If it wasn't for people like Jill, I don't think I would have been that optimistic. So as a budding footballer, I want to have an impact on the rise of women's football, and maybe one day I’ll play in front of a crowd of 80,000 people, playing for the Lionesses. I hope that I speak on behalf of all the other young girls aspiring to be footballers, because here's a message for you: it’s only up from here.’

Flo – ‘I am Flo and I’m in Year 7. I am a dancer and I love to dance wherever I am. Dance helps me and many others to share our feelings and emotions with the rest of the world, whilst doing something we love. What I love about dance is that no matter where you come from or what you look like, dance will always include you .It inspires me to try a range of different dance styles from various places around the world, and helps me to incorporate them into my dancing. When I had the privilege to compete in the Dance World Cup, I saw amazing dancers from as far as Australia come together, not just to take part in a competition, but to make new friends along the way and be inspired by each other's unique dancing styles. Dance inspires me every day, and I hope you find something that inspires you just as much.’

Saffron – ‘Hi, I’m Saffron and I am a tennis player in Year 10.  Over the course of Serena Williams’ career, starting in 1995, she has had amazing success. Despite this, growing up alongside her sister, Venus, she has also faced many challenges such as racism and others. She is inspirational to lots of people, including me, in so many ways. Some ways she does this is talking openly about body image she does this by saying in an interview, ‘Not everyone’s going to like the way I look, what matters most is if I like myself!’. She was also very serious about closing the pay gap between men and women and it wasn’t until 2007 when this was successful at Wimbledon. Through her whole career, she has shown that women can do anything men can do, and even better. She has changed views within the society, especially on the African American side and has proven that she is incredible. Serena retired just a couple of weeks ago at the US Open after 27 years, but she has left us with a legacy which will never be forgotten.’

Our first 3 weeks in House 3

'The first weeks in House 3 have been packed with loads of fun activities. From Biscoff Tiffin to record bowls, we’ve done it all! The weekends are filled with heaps of great activities too, such as baking, resin keyring-making and, our personal favourite, Henna tattoos.

Besides all of the activities, we have also loved meeting and socialising with all the girls, new and old, who have become our friends. It was also great to be part of the Boarding Captain elections where the Year 11s put in their bid to become leaders in House 3.

To sum up the last 3 weeks, we would say they have been inclusive, fun, and exciting. We can’t wait to see what other surprises House 3 has for us as we continue to make it our Happy House 3 home away from home.'

Greta (Yr7), and Lucy and Gabriella (Yr8)

This week in boarding...

Afternoon tea, Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations, hot chocolate, Twister, Mexican Independence Day, fashion design, bubble tea and puzzles, and visits from Olive the puppy – what a lovely

U15As Register a Win against Eastbourne

The U15A team were looking to bounce back strongly from the defeat at Ardingly, and they started impressively.

The first half went by quickly with some excellent attacking hockey and good play by both teams. Our defensive shape was sound throughout the match, with Eastbourne not achieving many circle entries and the scramble defence working effectively when losing possession. One magic moment occurred in the second half with Izzy combining with Orla on the right, who in turn played a superbly weighted pass to Liepa who ran baseline and squared the ball perfectly to Eloise who flicked the ball on her backhand to finish the lovely flowing movement off. The game was played in good spirits and both teams were working hard to get a foothold in the game.

The match ended 4-0 to Roedean. Mr Campelman

U16A Hockey vs Eastbourne

The U16A produced an incredibly hard-working performance to win 3-2 against Eastbourne’s 2nd XI. The game was a contrast of styles, with Eastbourne favouring a structured, methodical style of play and Roedean playing a little more off the cuff. The first half was all action – Liv scored first and Eastbourne hit back, Elodie scored and Eastbourne equalised again, before Solari scored to take a 3-2 lead in to half time.

There were no goals in the second half, but plenty of chances. Alice made some great saves when the defence was breached, Liv marshalled the defence brilliantly, Alex worked tirelessly and the midfield and forwards covered miles between them to ensure they were (mostly) in the right positions when required.

U15C vs Eastbourne College

It was that time of the week again when the U15C team get their shin pads on and tighten their shoe laces...

Eastbourne College were next on their agenda. The team were led this week by Georgie and Amelia, as Captain and Vice-Captain. We had superRosa back in goal for her first match of the season – could she hold down another clean sheet?!

Eastbourne came out fighting early doors, swamping all the space and crowding our players at the first whistle. This meant that we had to adapt and play a very different game, looking to force fouls and play the ball backwards to find a new space on the pitch. The team adapted to this superbly and enjoyed a different challenge.

At the back this week, it was Jess, Sophie, Amelia, and Olive holding down the fort, and they were able to play slightly higher up the pitch compared to normal, creating more attacking opportunities. The mids, Jamie, Maisie, Georgie, and Indigo, kept a calm and composed shape, even with the swarms of red on them on every ball. The forwards, Millie, Aarushi, Isabella, and Nancy, had some excellent opportunities to score and took some excellent short corners all match.

Girl of the Game went to Maisie for her excellent and tireless work in the middle. The final whistle went with a 3-0 win on the boards, with Millie scoring an outstanding goal from the left, Maisie taking her first goal, and Aarushi banging another into the goal. And, Rosa kept her clean sheet!

It was another outstanding performance from the unbeatable Cs!

Miss Bamford REVIEW SPORT

U16B vs Eastbourne 3rd team!

The U16Bs had a match of two very different halves. We struggled to hold solid shape in the first half, and Eastbourne took advantage of that, driving the ball through the gaps in our defence.

It was a very physical game, and Roedean put their bodies on the line on multiple occasions. The first half ended 3-0 to Eastbourne. We re-grouped at half time and went out with fighting spirit. With ferocious defending from all the team, with particular mention to Ruby and Gabby, we held our own. Unfortunately, Eastbourne snuck another goal past us but we didn’t let our heads drop.

We defended well and caught Eastbourne on the break, we drove the ball up the pitch quickly and with a fantastic finish from Tallulah, we finished the second half with a goal! The final score was 4-1 to Eastbourne, but a huge well done to the U16Bs who gave their all against a physical Sixth Form side. Well done girls!

U13B Hockey vs Worth U13A

The U13B team won a tight encounter 1-0 at Worth, following an end to end game. The first half was goalless, but it was hard to work out how, given the number of short corners and amount of time each team spent in the attacking D. Anya, Roedean's goalkeeper, contributed really well, and she was outstanding throughout.

The second half followed a similar pattern. Iris was tireless in tracking Worth’s most dangerous player, and Flo and Amara were strong in the tackle in defence. The defining moment of the game came with two minutes remaining. Roedean defended a short corner, Anya kicked the ball towards the halfway line, and one more pass set Bella running into the D where she produced a cool finish.

Congratulations!

U12Bs Worthy of a Win at Worth

The U12Bs took to the Astro in the first match ever for Roedean on Wednesday against Worth School.

With only a couple practices before playing this fixture, the girls showed incredible spirit and determination to attempt to play with the principles they've learnt in lessons. After a busy and toughly fought 15 minutes by both teams, Roedean managed to score a lovely flowing move down the left, where speed and an early shot aided the success in the goal.

In the second half, Roedean put another two in the goal with some flowing hockey, this time on the right-side of the pitch and finished off brilliantly by Erin.

The match ended 3-0 and they look ready for their next fixtures next week.

Mr Smethurst

Mr Campelman

U13s win Hurst’s HocNet Tournament!

The U13As started with Hockey and played three games during section of this tournament. Their first game was against St Christopher’s, who they beat 5-0, with Sorrel, Poppy, and Sophie all playing some free-flowing Hockey in the lead up to those goals. We then drew against Burgess Hill, where Amarah made a vital save to keep us level, and some solid tackles from Natalia kept them at bay. Our final Hockey game was against Hurst. During this match we played some of our best hockey of the tournament. YanYan and Izzy were brilliant in defence, which allowed Bella, Sorrel, and Amelie to have lots of chances at goal, with us finally putting the ball past the Hurst Keeper to take the win 1-0.

They transferred quickly to the Netball courts and stepped onto court to face a tough Hurst side. Hurst came out strong and went up by 2, but our girls did not let their heads drop and they fought back to get the score 4-4. Unfortunately, we couldn’t quite cling on in the second half, and Hurst took the win 9-5. The girls grew in confidence during the second match against Brambletye. We had the opportunity to try out new combinations, which, due to effective communication, worked well. The final score was 12-3 to Roedean. The final match of the day was against Brighton College. We came out strong and took the lead straight away. With some fantastic interceptions from YanYan, we kept their score to a minimum. The final score was 11-1 to Roedean. The overall results were a combination of both Hockey and Netball. As the 13s had such strong performances across both sports that they came 1st and won the U13 Hurst HocNet tournament! Players of the tournament were Sorrel and YanYan. Congratulations to all girls – you were brilliant!

Miss Hammond

U12s first HocNet experience!

Our U12s didn’t know what to expect with a Hockey and Netball tournament mixed up, but they thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon! They started at Netball and played really well in their first Netball match for Reodean. We tried out lots of different rotations and the girls held their own, winning 4 out of their 5 matches, with some impressive wins against St Christopher’s, Hurst, and Brighton College. The girls communicated effectively and supported each other through the court. After a very impressive Netball performance, it was onto some Hockey.

Within the Hockey section of the tournament, the U12s had a strong start, beating St Christopher’s 2-1. Sophie was ruthless in front of goal, with some great build up play from Paloma and Katherine. The girls then had to play Brambletye, who are a very experienced side, and, although Maddie, Andrea, and Chiara defended tenaciously, Roedean lost this game 5-0. Next up, we played Brighton College. The girls made some great leads and Yasmin, Matilda, and Alex displayed excellent attacking play, which allowed us to take the win in this game. The final game of the tournament was against Hurst, and, despite our best efforts, Hurst took the win 2-0. Overall, they had a great first tournament for Roedean, and they learnt lots to take back to training. Players of the tournament were Chiara and Katherine. A big well done to all!

Miss Hammond SPORT

Roedean U16s beat Brighton College in the National Netball

The U16As drew Brighton College in the first round of the National Cup. The girls knew this would be a challenge after coming across them in numerous tournaments over the years. They came out strong in the first quarter, but we managed to keep it goal for goal.

In the second quarter, our defence held their own and got countless intercepts. Unfortunately, we also made lots of errors so could not capitalise on the turnovers. At half time, we were trailing by 3.

Roedean came out stronger in the third quarter, and the attacking movement improved, allowing the shooters to shoot from a more comfortable, closer range. We won that quarter by 2, so we went into the last quarter down by 1. We went out fighting in the last quarter, giving our all to take the win.

Jasmine made crucial intercepts at the back after excellent pressure from the whole squad, which enabled them to take the lead. Pearl controlled the middle with effective communication to her team. Fantastic composure from our shooters allowed us to get ahead by 4 with 7 minutes remaining.

Brighton fought back, and it was a very close final few minutes, but the girls played smart and saw the win over the line. Roedean beat Brighton College 36-32.

A massive well done to the whole squad for securing a place in round 2 of the National Cup. They should all be very proud of themselves for the performance they displayed. Special mention goes to the following players: Jasmine for being the Opposition's Player, Elsie for being Players' Player, and Katie and Pearl for being Coaches' Players.

This was a very promising start to this season's Netball from the U16s. Well done all!

Miss Hammond SPORT

Badminton vs Brighton College

Both the U18 and U16 Badminton teams took to the court last week against Brighton College. The U18 game on Tuesday was a tightly contested fixture, with lots of great badminton on show.

Four pairs played four rounds of doubles, each to 21 points. The games were well balanced, with the teams only separated by 2 points going into the final round. With three wins in the last round, Roedean were able to take the win by 2 points. Thursday’s match for the U16s was a show of Roedean dominance, with only 3 out of the 16 games being lost. The pairs worked well together and showed positive team spirit.

We look forward to the return away fixtures later this term. Miss Kirby-Jones

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: abw@roedean.co.uk