Head's Weekly Review - Summer Issue 6

WEEKLY REVIEW

Head’s Introduction

The whole school has been in public examinations or end of year assessments this week, and I have been impressed by the students’ preparation and focus during this period. For those taking A Levels and GCSEs, half-term presents a really good opportunity to rest and recharge ahead of the next set of papers, and I hope that you have a welldeserved break.

I am also pleased that, alongside their exams and assessments, lots of girls have been able to balance their revision and studies with a range of activities –they also have taken full advantage of the School’s stunning grounds and the fantastic weather. Congratulations to our athletes, who have progressed through to the area Track and Field finals, and our Cricket teams have had some great matches, with high scores and excellent bowling and fielding.

As a new Head, over the last two weeks, I have attended conferences run by HMC and GSA, both prestigious educational associations to which Roedean belongs. The induction progress is comprehensive, and it was a pleasure to meet other Heads, and to learn about and discuss current issues in education, such as Artificial Intelligence and the structures of the exam system, and about challenges our sector may face over the new few years. I have returned with lots of ideas which I hope to share with the community.

I wish you all a wonderful half-term break with friends and family.

Year 7s' Waggle Dance for World Bee Day

Shaun the Sheep by the Sea

U12C Cricket vs St Christopher's

Shaun the Sheep by the Sea

This week, the Art Department adopted an animal addition. We welcomed our very own Shaun the Sheep into the Roedean flock. Later this year, he will be part of an Art Trail across Brighton, raising funds for Martlets. The trail will showcase sheep decorated by established artists and designers – this is where we need your help! We need an eye-catching design to decorate our Shaun the Sheep, and make him stand out. Your design could be anything, but you might want to think about celebrating aspects of life at Roedean.

The winning design will be painted onto our Shaun the Sheep and exhibited in Brighton as part of the trail. The competition is open to all year groups.

If you want to take part, please download a form from the link here. Completed designs should be delivered to Ms Strachan in AD1 or digitally to ssn@roedean.co.uk by Tuesday 6 June.

I hope you enjoy getting creative for an excellent charity, and I look forward to seeing your designs.

#BrightonFlock

Ms Strachan

Year 7s' Waggle Dance for World Bee Day

To mark this year’s World Bee Day on 20 May, 7P spent their Wild Friday session learning all about the fascinating world of bee ecology and conservation.

They discussed the importance of bees for maintaining biodiversity and food security through their role as pollinators. We also learnt how the changing landscapes, farming practices, and gardening habits have impacted on population numbers, and ways we can support bee species in the UK.

The girls were amazed to learn how bees can communicate where to find the best flowers, including both distance and direction, by 'dancing'. The highlight of the afternoon came when they successfully managed to communicate the location of a food store hidden on the school site to the other ‘bees’ in their group, by performing their own waggle dances.

Dr Turner

Brighton Festival Fringe Concert

Brighton Festival Fringe Concert – if you missed the concert or were not able to attend, you can watch the recording of Dido and Aeneas and our fabulous soloists here.

Inters Speed into the Local Track and Field Cup!

The Inter Athletics squad travelled to K2 on Friday, to compete in the first round of the Track and Field Cup.

Despite already being in the middle of end of year exams, the Year 10s in the squad were fully committed and focused on their events, getting some excellent results. Well done to the entire squad, but special mention goes to the following: Minnie, for a new 100m PB of 14.1 seconds; a new PB for Alicia in the 1500m of 5 minutes 23; Ruby getting a new PB in the 800m, down to 2 minutes 24; and Molly in the Javelin, throwing over 23 metres!

The whole squad performed extremely well, and, as a result, we have qualified for the regional round of the Track and Field Cup, which will take place after half term.

Well done to all who competed!

Juniors Through to the Track and Field Cup Regionals!

The Junior Athletics squad spent the day up at K2 last Tuesday, to compete in the County round of the Track and Field Cup.

We had 12 students from Years 7 and 8 competing in one track and one field event each. They all performed extremely well, and special mention goes to Poppy, for a new PB in Long Jump, and Andrea, who knocked 30 seconds off her 800m PB!

As a result, we received the very exciting news that they have now qualified for the regional round, which takes place after half term.

Huge congratulations to the entire squad – this is a brilliant achievement!

Miss Hammond

Miss Hammond

A busy week for Athletics was rounded off with the final Diamond League event at K2. Despite only competing 24 hours before, our Year 9s and 10s were raring to go again! In the Diamond League, athletes can compete in as many events as they wish, and it was great to see so many Roedean athletes competing for the first time and giving new events a go.

Romy and Izzy performed extremely well in Triple Jump, Megs did well in Long Jump, and Kelly ran well in the 100m, as well as many, many more impressive performances.

Thank you to you all for your hard work in Athletics this half of term – it is paying off! I cannot wait to see what the next half of the season brings.

Miss Hammond

Imi

Congratulations to Imi in Year 8, who took part in a brilliant synchronised swimming show at the Brighton Festival – it must take hours of preparation to be able to create such a display!

Well done!

Diamond League Finals Day House Tennis Project 125 Moldova –Sleep-Out for Off The Fence – Charity Abseil off Peacehaven Cliffs

It was a beautiful day for House Tennis, and we had a brilliant turn-out from the girls. Watch out Wimbledon! There were definitely some future stars in the making out there on the courts.

It was great to see some really close matches –here are the final results:

Year7

■ Winners – Houses 1 and 2

Year 8

■ Winner – House 3

■ Runner-Up – House 2

Year 9

■ Winner – House 1

■ Runner-Up – House 2

Year 10/12 combined

■ Winner – House 3

■ Runner-Up – House 1

Well done, everyone!

Miss Patching-Jones

So far this year, the Roedean community has raised a remarkable

£27,522

for a range of charities – congratulations to everyone involved!

After half-term, there are three large-scale charity events taking place, each to raise funds for incredibly worthwhile causes – if you would like to support any of these charitable endeavours, please follow the relevant links –thank you.

Wednesday 7 June – 'Dress in Blue, Red, and Yellow, the Colours of Moldova or Ukraine' non-uniform day

This is to raise funds for Ukrainian refugee children in Moldova – 12 students in Years 11-12 will be travelling to Moldova in July to teach English to 50 Ukrainian refugee children for one week, and funds raised will support this project and the children involved. https://www.justgiving.com/page/ roedeanschoolproject125moldova

Thursday 15 June – Year 10 SleepOut for Off The Fence

Around fifty students in Year 10 will be sleeping out on cardboard and under tarpaulin, to understand better the experience of homeless people – the funds they raise will be used to purchase sleeping bags which will be distributed by Off The Fence.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ roedeanschooly10

Friday 23 June – Year 7 Abseil down Peacehaven Cliffs

As a finale to their Wild Friday experience this year, Year 7 students will be abseiling down Peacehaven Cliffs to raise money for their dedicated charity, Rockinghorse.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ roedeanschooly7

Thank you in advance!

Dr Barrand

Netball – Surrey Storm Trip

On Friday, the Year 7 and 8s enjoyed a trip out to see Superleague Netball team, Surrey Storm versus Loughborough Lighting.

Before the match, the girls took part in a coaching session led by one of the junior Surrey Storm coaches. They took part in some fun warm-up activities, then split off into groups to do an attacking and defending session. One of the Surrey Storm players was also helping with the coaching, so the girls were getting the highest quality coaching possible.

They then finished with some match play. The girls had a question and answer session with Felisitus Kwangwa (Surrey Storm player) and asked questions such as; how many hours do you train for? what got you playing netball in the first place? It was very interesting to hear her journey from playing at primary school to superleague, and after a spot of dinner, it was then over to the arena for the match. Sky Sports,

who were broadcasting the match, asked if we would like to do a live section on TV, and we, of course, agreed!

The Corbin sisters (well known in the Netball world) did a true or false Q&A with the girls, live on TV – how incredible! Then it was on to the match, where two of the top 4 teams in the Superleague were playing against each other. Loughborough Lightning were victorious, but it was still an enjoyable match to watch, with some real standout moments. They then got to meet some of the players, have photos with them, and get some signatures. What a great day!

Miss Patching-Jones

This Week in Boarding...

The final week of the summer half term meant lots of fun activities to keep our boarders feeling positive during exam and assessment week.

House 1 enjoyed the House Team Tennis competition last week. On Saturday, the girls got crafty and made some stress dolls. Monday's quiz night went down a treat, with lots of laughter and smiles.

House 2 celebrated World Turtle Day on Tuesday, with some mindful colouring, and House 3 loved their 'Baby Photos Guess Who' quiz. Some of the pictures were tricky, especially with surprise staff pictures in the mix! The girls really enjoyed it, and it was a brilliant break from studying.

House 4 celebrated Strawberries and Cream Day by enjoying some homemade scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Keswick have been learning all sorts of new life skills this week, from cooking their own food to getting green-fingered growing some vegetables.

Lawrence girls have also been enjoying their beautiful outdoor spaces and growing their own carrots.

We are all looking forward to our upcoming half term. We hope the girls have a restful week, and can't wait to have them back with us in June to hear about their adventures!

Miss Rowe

Cricket vs St Christopher's

U12C

This week saw the U12C team's fourth fixture of the season. They were ready early, and had a strong team talk before the game started.

Fielding: We went out to field first, ready to keep the St Christopher's team down as much as we could. The team's communication in the field was outstanding, they backed up almost every ball, fielded with urgency, and worked really hard for each other. Paloma took two wickets and Greta, Zaina, and Joy took one each. St Christopher's managed to put up 356 runs.

Batting: The Roedean team batted second, with Georgie and Paloma opening again, with a strong 32 runs between them. Sophiia and Greta were met with a lot of no-balls, but. again, their communication was excellent and Sophiia could be heard all the way from France (!), adding

Cricket vs Burgess Hill

U14C Battle to a Draw

The U14C played their first fixture of the term after a few matches were called off due to wet pitches inland of us in Brighton.

After deciding we wanted to field first if we won the toss, it became irrelevant as we lost it and were put into bat. Ellie and Lola stepped in and surged us to 29 runs off their 4 overs, hitting a few good shots off the legs for fours. Good partnerships between Layla and Issy, and Poppy and Jasmine, meant that we were going to post a defendable score if we bowled well. The innings was ended with a blustery onslaught between Aimee and Bea, who finished off with 23 runs from their four overs.

Then it was our turn to bowl and we set a very defensive field in order to stem their runs early on. Burgess Hill ran well between the wickets, and, with some added extras, had a blinder of a start with 36 off their first 4 overs. This was followed by two good partnerships, meaning we needed a final 8 overs to really peg them back and stem the runs.

Aimee, Poppy, Ellie, stepped up next, and Lola managed to pull them back and keep it tight until the end. Off the final over, both scores were level, with Roedean needing to take a wicket and Burgess Hill needing a few runs: 1st ball – no run, 2nd ball – no run, 3rd ball – 4 runs from a pull shot off the hips, 4th ball – wicket! Burgess Hill needed 2 runs to win off two balls: 5th ball – no run, 6th ball – single! The scores were level, and the match was drawn at 111 runs each.

Mr Campleman

37 runs to the board! Zaina boomed some boundaries and Ezzie ran well between the wickets, and 23 runs were added. Aya and Joy faced some strong bowlers, but held their own, putting 30 runs on the board. Bella and Katherine were our last pair to bat, and, with an impressive 33 runs combined, the team's total was 355.

Losing by just one run was heartbreaking, but the team took it with grace and were pleased with the result regardless. St Christopher's gave Paloma Bowler of the Game and Katherine Batter of the Game. Coach's Player this week also goes to Captain Katherine, for her adaptive fielding, communication to the team, and excellent batting and bowling. It was another great knock for the U12Cs – I can't wait to see them back in action after half term.

Miss Bamford

Cricket vs Worth

U15A Score a Big Win

On Saturday, the U15A Cricket team played Worth in their third Sussex League Cup game. With a busy week, and some of the U15s not available due to DofE, and exam commitments, several U14s and Bella from the U12s stepped in to help field a team. With Worth opting to bowl first, the openers of Orla and Dot headed out to the crease: it was a sloping wicket and it took a few balls for the girls to get used to it, but once they had played themselves in, it didn’t take long for the runs to start flowing. Both girls retired on 40 (Dot off 24 balls and Orla 38). Grace and Indigo followed, and Indigo was unlucky to get run out at the non-striker’s end. Grace managed 37* with help from Chloe (Yr8) at the other end, leaving us on a total of 195 off 20 overs.

It was then time to bowl. Tilly and Bella opened the bowling, and both took early wickets. With a few too many extras, the opposition got up to 45 before the next wicket was taken by Orla, followed but another, 3 from Grace, and 1 from Indigo.

The final total for Worth was 93, seeing Roedean win by over 100 runs. Well done!

Miss Kirby-Jones

Sport Stars of the Week

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

Year 7

Andrea, for her excellent performance in Athletics, and achieving a new PB in the 800m

Year 8

Poppy, for great commitment and performance in Athletics, and achieving a new PB in Long Jump

Year 9

Ruby, for her excellent performance in Athletics, and getting a new PB in 800m

U13C Win

The U13C Cricket team played a rematch of last week’s great game of Cricket against Hurst, this time away.

With just one change to the line-up, bringing Gabby in, Matilda won the 'rock, paper, scissors' toss and again decided to bowl first. With each player bowling twice, everyone was able to show their skills, and there was some brilliant bowling on offer. Last week we took just one wicket, and this week there were 8 wickets taken, showing some brilliant progress and some excellent catching too.

Special mention goes to Claudia and Polly, with 2 and 3 wickets respectively. Hurst batted well and, with quite a few extras too, they were able to post a total of 330. With bat in hand, the team knew they needed to look after their wicket and score plenty of boundaries to reach the 121-run target. With the loss of only 5 wickets, the race was on; the top scoring partnerships of Amarah and Lola, and Molly and Claudia with 19, helped lead us to a 353 win.

Congratulations to the whole team!

Year 10

Eloise, for stepping into the Triple Jump event and performing extremely well

Year 12

Flo, for her superb attitude in a Cricket match, in which she contributed excellently in the field for her team

Miss Kirby-Jones

The U12Ds had a lovely warm afternoon up at Hurst for our second Cricket match of the term.

We won the toss, so chose to bat first. Our bowling was much improved from the last time we played, which reflects the team's hard work in training. The following players took wickets when bowling: Hazel, Rosa, Alma, and Tilly. We were smart when fielding, so kept them within reach, and they finished their innings with 115 runs.

Lucia and Tilly opened our batting, and Lucia scored a 4 to get us off to a good start. We had a steady innings, and Georgia finished the innings off with a 4. We finished on 102 runs, so just lost out by 13 runs to Hurst. A – it was a fantastic, competitive game of Cricket.

Well done to the whole squad. Opposition's Batter of the Game was Georgia, and Bowler of the Game was Tilly – well done.

Miss Hammond

HALF

@RoedeanSchool @RoedeanSchool

U12D

Cricket vs Hurst

TERM HAPPY