Roedean students and staff display a keen desire to make an impact, both locally and further afield, and I am often reminded of the strength of our school community’s social conscience. I am hugely proud of this facet of Roedean life, and I am thoroughly convinced that the compassion and generosity of spirit fostered at the School through a wide range of activities will stay with Roedeanians for life.
I am delighted that Roedean is deeply embedded in the local community, and that, through a range of partnership activities, we make a tangible impact in the local area. We contribute to the work of a range of institutions, with a particular focus on St Mark’s Primary, just a mile from Roedean, and we have been providing food for the homeless of Brighton and Hove on a weekly basis for seven years, working with Off The Fence.
Through charitable fundraising and philanthropic endeavours, our students widen their horizons and develop an understanding of society, and this encourages them make a meaningful impact to a number of charities. We also strive to empower others, and Roedean has supported ten girls in countries around the world through Plan International’s #BecauseIAmAGirl campaign, helping to keep them in education.
For me, a Roedean education should be accessible to those students who would benefit from its rigour, breadth, and diverse opportunities. I am therefore delighted that we are able to provide scholarships and bursarial support, and I am very grateful to those Old Roedeanian donors who also support places for talented, deserving students. Thank you to everyone involved in these activities – together we make an impact!
Niamh Green – Head
Making an impact through
Partnerships 23-24
Much of our partnership work cements
Roedean’s place in the local community, and we are proud to support many local schools and organisations on a weekly basis, as well as through ad hoc events.
Roedean students committed 2134 hours to partnerships
Pupils from St Mark’s Primary enjoy academic and sporting enrichment at Roedean every week of the year
Partner recipients have benefitted from 14227 hours of support
Year 10 students from 6 local state schools attend the Roedean Academy
Over 630 primary school children from 6 schools have visited Roedean for enrichment activities over the last 2 years
Students visit local institutions every lunchtime to support their work
Roedean staff have contributed 582 hours to partnerships
Making an impact St Mark’s Primary Partnership
Roedean has worked closely with St Mark’s Primary School in Brighton since 2016, in a partnership of mutual benefit in a range of different ways, including weekly enrichment at Roedean, lunchtime activities every Wednesday, and the building of a library from scratch.
Each of the Year 4-6 cohorts comes to Roedean on Thursdays for a term each of sporting and academic enrichment, after which they stay for lunch. They enjoy our sporting facilities, as well as discrete academic lessons, taught by Roedean staff, which are designed to spark the pupils’ curiosity. The Joint Head of Maths also goes to St Mark’s once a week to work with the Gifted and Talented pupils in Year 6.
Year 9 students travel to St Mark’s once a week to act as Reading Buddies, listening to the children read in a safe and supportive environment. At the same time, pupils for whom English is not their first language are paired where possible with Language Buddies of the same background from Roedean, giving them a chance to chat in their own language and help with any communication issues.
To support the focus on reading, in 2018, the Roedean community raised over £30,000 to build the Secret Garden Library at St Mark’s, and every student donated her favourite book to stock the Library.
This space is very popular with the pupils, and it is also used by the Reading Buddies – the collection of books is maintained and updated every year, with close support from the Roedean Librarian.
It’s inspirational and enjoyable to support young children who need our help. It has made me think differently about how I interact with young people. “ ” Isla (Yr9) – St Mark’s Reading Buddies
Roedean Academy
Since 2018, Roedean students in Year 10 have been joined by like-minded top academics from six local state schools to take part in the Roedean Academy. The programme of supra-curricular academic enrichment lasts for up to eight weeks in the Spring term, in addition to which there are touch-points in the other two terms: the students come together to attend Roedean’s annual Black History Month lecture in October, followed by discussion, and each presents the findings of an academic research paper of their choice to their peers in June.
269 have taken part in the Roedean Academy in the last 4 years
96% of those who attended
last year would ‘strongly recommend’ or ‘recommend’ the programme to others
In 2023-2024, 31 members of Roedean staff taught modules
Examples of modules taught in 2024:
• The Parallel about Worlds of Blake’s Poetry
• President or Prisoner? What next for Donald Trump?
Every student in Year 12 takes part in Roedean’s Community Action Programme on Wednesday afternoons. Not only does this help them to develop skills which will be valuable beyond School, but it ensures that the our students are fully embedded in the local community, doing what they can to effect positive change.
So that the programme can have the greatest impact, there are twelve activities with a range of partners, from which the students can choose the one which most suits their interests and skills. Examples include:
BSL in the Community • Junior Roedean Academy • Rockinghorse and Royal Alex Children’s Hospital • Community Cooking • Sports’ Leaders • St Mark’s TA Support and Choir
Through conversations and organising activities, I have gained an insight into the lives of the elderly and enjoyed brightening their day!
The Junior Roedean Academy is one of the twelve strands within CAP, and it has been running for 2 years. It brings 140 children from three or four local state primaries to Roedean for 90 minutes of academic enrichment on Wednesdays for an 8-week block.
The Year 12 watch and learn how to teach a large class of primary children, and then take over the teaching themselves, sharing their passions with the children – the experience is an exciting learning opportunity for both parties!
So brilliant – it was really rewarding giving food to the homeless and learning valuable skills.
”
” Suraya (Yr12)
Phoebe (Yr12)
CAP Music allowed me to get in touch with the local community and taught me about event-planning.
I’ve learnt basic sign language and experienced this fantastic silent communication by working with deaf children.
” ” Ella (Yr12)
Julia (Yr12)
Making an impact through Philanthropy and Charity Fundraising
Each year-group in School has both a dedicated charity and an institution which they support throughout the year. They raise valuable funds for their charity, and support their partner institution through weekly visits and activities. In order to forge a strong and meaningful connection, representatives of each charity and institution visit Roedean at the start of the year to speak about their work and the importance of our support in Assemblies – this makes what our students are doing all the more worthwhile and tangible for them.
In 2023-2024, Roedean raised
£46,313
In last 3 years, Roedean raised
£100,364
The Roedean Mission Fund
The Roedean Mission began in 1894, at the suggestion of the Prefects, to give ‘London waifs the benefit of a fortnight at the seaside.’
Today, a small Committee of Sixth Form girls and Staff award grants from the interest on its investments, approximately £15,000 per year, to a number of organisations which help children under the age of 16, across the breadth of the United Kingdom.
In 2023-2024, the Roedean Mission granted £13,440 to 15 different charitable organisations.
Year
7
Rockinghorse Charity and the Royal Alex Children’s Hospital, and Saltdean Primary TA Support
Year
8
Motor Neurone Disease Association, and Homework Club at Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School
Year
9
Raystede Animal Sanctuary, and St Mark’s Primary Reading Buddies
Year
10
Years
11-13
Off The Fence, and the Somerset Centre
Project 125 Moldova and the Rainbow of Hope Orphanage, and CAP
Making an impact Project 125 Moldova
Following the hugely successful inaugural trip to Moldova last summer, the trip was repeated in July 2024, and it will now be an annual event.
Along with two members of staff, twelve students in Years 11-12, travelled to Moldova to teach English to Ukrainian refugees and underprivileged Moldovan children. After being selected from a large pool of applicants, these students undertook two terms of weekly training sessions, to develop their skills and prepare all of the materials they would need. They taught 62 children, aged 6 to 14, for four hours a day for four days.
The trip was facilitated brilliantly throughout by the local NGO, Hope4, and the group also distributed donated clothes and shoes from a warehouse to needy families to support its work. This was followed by a moving excursion out of the city to the villages to visit families supported by Hope4.
On the last day, the group visited the Rainbow of Hope orphanage, for which the School has been fundraising since last September. In July 2023, this was the most emotional element of the trip, and our students were moved to support it. Roedean has pledged to cover 3% of the total annual running costs of the orphanage, every year for the next decade – this is about £5000. It was wonderful to present the orphanage with a cheque for over £8300 when we visited this year.
The trip was a remarkable, and truly transformational, experience.
To know that you have made a difference in people’s lives and have been able to help them, even in the smallest way, is so inspirational. “ ” Mia (Yr12)
As much as I loved teaching children in Chisinau, I know I have really enjoyed being able to learn from them also.
The trip of a lifetime. The culture, food, and community of the country made this trip so incredible, but it’s the people that made it an unforgettable experience that has changed my life forever.
Although we were told this experience would have a huge impact on us, I didn’t completely believe it – on reflection, my outlook on life has completely changed, and I’m so grateful to everyone on the trip.
We visited some of the villages suffering from poverty outside the capital, listening to the stories of each family we visited, and wishing we could’ve done more to help.
Liv (Yr12)
Chaya (Yr11)
Mackenzie (Yr12)
Angelica (Yr11)
Making an impact
7 Year 9 Year 8 Year 10 Year
Rockinghorse Charity supports children with life-limiting conditions at the Royal Alex Children’s Hospital in Brighton
The Year 7 cohort abseiled 50 metres down Peacehaven Cliffs in June, to raise £7,842, as a finale to their Wild Fridays programme – they conquered their fears to raise valuable funds for this important local charity
Motor Neurone Disease Association is all the more important after Rob Burrow tragically passed away this year
Year 8 challenged the rest of the School to be the first to cover 777 kilometres – they walked through the night for 24 hours, and together they smashed their target, covering 3,079 kilometres in total, and raising £10,114
Raystede Animal Sanctuary cares for animals in need in Sussex
49 Year 9 students and staff completed the iDrop in May, dropping out of the pod of the iconic i360, 165 metres above Brighton – they raised an amazing £10,615
Off The Fence supports the large number of homeless people living in Brighton and Hove
42 members of Year 10 and staff spent the night sleeping on cardboard on the fields, to gain the smallest insight into what it must be like to be homeless – it was a glorious moonlit night, and they raised £6,891
Making an impact through Bursaries and Scholarships
In order to widen access to a Roedean education, the School offers a significant number of transformational and potentially life-changing means-tested bursaries which support a range of families, and these awards complement the wide range of scholarships available for outstanding achievement and potential in the different aspects of school life.
There are also Brighthelm Scholarships, which are available to high-achieving students joining Roedean from the state sector who live within a 20-mile radius of the School.
If you would like to donate to these bursaries, to help provide access to an outstanding Roedean education for talented students with high aspirations, please click on this QR code to find out more.
Total funding for Bursaries and Scholarships in 2023-2024 is £3,203,130
9 students are on fully funded places in 2023-2024
The Lesley Lindsay and Shellim Scholarships are fully-funded bursaries provided by two very generous Old Roedeanians 27.6% of day students receive means-tested support in 2023-2024
The OR Scholarship Fund provides support to enable two talented students to stay at Roedean for the Sixth Form
Brighthelm Scholarships total £169,020 in 2023-2024
Total funding for Bursaries and Scholarships over the last five years
£15,181,844
Brighthelm Scholars
Each year, talented local students win Brighthelm Scholarships to join Roedean from state schools within a 20-mile radius of the School. These students always have huge intellectual potential, and they thrive in this environment, where they can throw themselves into a range of activities and focus on excelling academically.
Ella, from Cuckfield, joined the Roedean Sixth Form in 2022 from Warden Park School, and her academic prowess was immediately evident. Studying A Levels in Mathematics, History, and Physics, she achieved A*AA grades. These outstanding results take her to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where she is reading PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics).
“ ” Ella
Over the last two years at Roedean, my academic ability has flourished more than I could have ever anticipated. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been afforded this opportunity, and excited for future students who will continue to benefit and exceed expectations, no matter what barriers they may face.
Ukrainian Scholars
After war broke out in Ukraine in February 2022, Roedean was determined to support girls who had fled their homeland. In September 2022, nine Ukrainian students, who were part of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, joined the School on 110% scholarships, giving them the opportunity to continue their education in a stable environment. To support the School’s efforts, Old Roedeanians and parents have generously donated approximately £70,000 to contribute to these awards.
In 2023-2024, eight Ukrainian students, aged 12-18, have enjoyed a full Roedean experience. This number includes three students in Year 13, whose successes are all the more remarkable since, between them, they have achieved 11.5 A Levels in a second language, while also completing their education in the Ukrainian system online in the evening.
HMC Scholars
In September 2021, two HMC Projects Scholars from Moldova and North Macedonia were awarded 110% Sixth Form scholarships. Sabina and Marta were two of about 60 exceptional students, from 14 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, who won scholarships at UK boarding schools.
Between them, Sabina and Marta achieved 2 A* grades and 6 As at A Level in June 2023, and both have just finished their first year at university in Europe. Sabina is studying Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at Krems University in Austria, and Marta is reading Physics at university in Holland.
Roedean is delighted to be able to provide this transformational opportunity again from September 2024, when we will welcome two new HMC Scholars to the School.
