16th September 2016 - Issue 2
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction Roedean was a little quieter than usual for the first half of this week, with the girls in Years 7-9 all enjoying their annual residential trips to Bushcraft and Kingswood. We’ve been hearing all about their adventures, from toasting marshmallows over campfires and taking part in talent shows, to working together to tackle lots of practical activities, such as building shelters. Quite a few even braved a particularly cold lake with great enthusiasm. All these activities have helped them to make new friendships and bond as year groups. They returned to school on Wednesday, tired, but, I’m sure, with a strong sense of achievement and group spirit. I know you will want to join with me to thank all the twenty-two members of staff whose dedication and commitment enabled these trips to go ahead. I am delighted to see that ‘new’ and ‘old’ girls in all year-groups have gelled quickly, and they all seem so settled that it is sometimes hard to identify which girls have only just joined Roedean.
As well as girls and staff, parents are, of course, also central to our Roedean community, and I look forward to seeing many of the new Year 7 parents next Thursday evening; this event will provide an opportunity to match some faces to the teachers’ names your daughters have mentioned so far, and to meet with other parents too. Even though it is early in the term, there is already a great deal going on: co-curricular activities are well underway, the girls in 6.1 have chosen their volunteering activities for CAP, preparations for Open Day in two weeks’ time are afoot, auditions for the winter production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ have taken place and it has been cast, the 6.2 girls are working on their university applications, and I have already seen posters up around school for the hotly contested House Drama competition! The buzz surrounding this wealth of activities is fantastic to see and underlines our belief in a holistic
approach to education; we know that the girls who are busy with these activities will find them hugely rewarding and also achieve highly in the academic work. It was wonderful yesterday to see 30 pupils from the upper years at Deepdene School in Hove enjoying our pitches and the space to run around, while working with our Sports Department. Deepdene and Jolesfield Primary are also taking part in English and Geography workshops at Roedean today and early next week, with the youngest pupils coming only 5 years old. We are so fortunate with our stunning grounds and exceptional teachers, and I hope that sharing these will help to inspire some young minds in some way. I wish you all a wonderful week ahead.
Sponsoring 2 girls on the other side of the world Tutor-group 12D started the year talking about charity, and as a result of this they have decided to support two girls with the charity Plan International UK. The first girl is called Cheslande – she is 7 years old and comes from Haiti. She has three siblings, lives in a house made of cement blocks, and walks 45 minutes to primary school each day. The girls also decided to support a slightly older girl in Sudan – Eltaf is 12 years old, and is growing up in a country which is in the middle of a civil war. Her house, which she shares with her parents and two brothers, has an earth floor, a pit latrine toilet, and the nearest water source is 30 minutes away. It costs £20 a month to support each girl, helping provide medicine, vaccinations, access to education, and clean water. Each member of the tutor-group will donate just £2 each month to support both girls – what a fantastically rewarding thing to do, and at such little cost. It was initially suggested that they support one girl, but it was a member of the group who said ‘why not 2?’, so that’s what happened. The girls will receive photos and updates via the charity every few months, and they will write regular letters to Cheslande and Eltaf. Plan International UK is working very hard to give more and more girls around the world access to education, and 12D knows that the support they are providing will make a huge difference to the lives of these two girls.