The Roedeanian Take Your Seat! – Supporting Roedean Theatre
Spring 2021 1
Developments at Roedean 2021
Art through Lockdown
Voice workshop with Liz Flint, resident voice coach on Matlida the Musical
Y10-13 Netball Session with Anna Carter
Celebrating World Book Day 2021
Alumnae News
Anabela Chan's stunning spring watercolour
Charlotte Fiell speaking to students at Roedean's Festival Celebrating Inspiring Women 2
Jane Chan speaks to students as part of the Pathways lecture series
Kathy Cowell supporting 'Knitting for Premature Babies'
Introduction We were delighted to welcome back the girls at the start of the summer term. With the changes in travel restrictions, it now means that most of our boarders are back with us. The school is looking beautiful, with wonderfully manicured lawns and beds planted with spring flowers. We have waited two years for a summer term on-site at Roedean and fingers crossed we will be able to enjoy plenty of sunshine, warmth and beautiful scenery for the next few weeks. This is a very busy term, and especially so for those pupils in their final year of GCSE and A Level. We remain very impressed by the resilience of all our girls in public examination years. It has been a long and often confusing journey, but we have tried to keep focused on the educational aspects we can control, to ensure that they are confident, both for their assessments and for the next stage of their educations. More widely, the girls in all years have had to manage and face up to so many challenges over the last twelve months – many of these are known and widely experienced, and others will be more personal. Now that the world is beginning to open up, and we are able to begin getting back to normal, I hope that the patience, faith, and hope that everyone has had in a better future begins to emerge. We are also now looking forward to the refurbishments to the Theatre, which will be taking place this summer, to take advantage of a quieter period of external lets. Having been in almost daily use since the Theatre was built nearly 30 years ago, much of our current seating is extremely worn and many are in an unusable state of repair. The works also give us the opportunity to improve our energy effiency by replacing the House lighting system with a state of the art LED system. You can read more about how you can help us achieve this on pages 6 and 7. With best wishes
Contents School Highlights
4–5
Take Your Seat! Campaign Launch
6-7
OR News
8–9
Feature: Cricket at Roedean
10
Obituaries and dates for your diary
11
Oliver Blond Headmaster
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School Highlights Roedean’s Festival Celebrating Inspiring Women Roedean’s annual Festival marked International Women’s Day, and it was another inspirational day. We were very fortunate to have 18 wonderful female speakers on the day, including 2 OR’s Sarah Dixon (No. 2, 1983-91) and Charlotte Fiell (Hunter, No. 2, 1978-81). All spoke remotely, but this didn’t affect the huge impact of the event. The range of topics addressed by the speakers meant that there was something to match the interests of every girl. Lots of girls and members of staff have commented on how much they enjoyed the day. ‘I just wanted to say that I personally thought that the International Women’s Day was the best one ever. I was particularly inspired and impressed by Dr Suzie Imber and Aisling Swaine. Suzie's sense of adventure really resonated with me, and I could really relate to Aisling's efforts to help less fortunate people, as well as their own personal journeys towards the career and life they wanted. As always, Helen Richardson Walsh spoke so well about her challenges and achievements. I really admire her resilience when faced with
Dr Suzie Imber challenges.’ Maria (Yr10) It was also fantastic to receive really positive feedback from the speakers, who were really impressed by the girls: ‘It was an absolute pleasure to speak to the girls.’ Charlotte Fiell ‘The girls had some really good questions. I think it's great that the virtual format allows them access to so many fantastic women.’ Prof. Ellie Highwood It was a brilliant day, and we hope that everyone was able to take something incredibly inspiring away from it. You can read about all of the fantastic speakers here: https://issuu.com/roedeanschool/docs/
Supporting St Mark’s during lockdown Although we were not able to maintain the same breadth of activities as normal at St Mark’s during the past term, as a school community, we worked hard to continue to support the children at the School. Last term we sent regular PE workout videos, a video Q&A about Chinese New Year, as well as Art tutorials. We also loaned the school 20 iPads as some children at St Mark’s may not have had appropriate devices to access their school activities during lockdown, but this loan gave them the opportunity to do so. Mrs Jane Fendley, Head at St Mark’s sent us this message of thanks: ‘Thank you so much for the wonderful contributions from the girls, which have been very well received by staff, who are looking forward to sharing them with their classes. I would also like to say a huge thank you for the loan of the iPads. These have enabled us to ensure all of our children can access remote learning, both at home, and when they attend for critical worker/vulnerable places in school.’ 4
Alexia’s Im'peck'able assignment Well done to Alexia (Yr7) for her incredible Biology assignment. The task had two parts: firstly, the class researched the different types of wings present on specific animal species; and secondly, they were challenged to design and create wings suitable for humans. We were really impressed with the life-size wings that Alexia created, and her in-depth consideration of the most appropriate materials to use. Her wings have a span of 6.7 metres, with 108 individual feathers on the wings. No two feathers are identical, although opposite pairs are mirror twins, and the wings weigh 5 kilogrammes.
Alexia said: ‘It was important that we made the structure light and strong, just like a bird’s wing. We considered a number of materials, like wooden poles or metal pipes, which were both too heavy. Carbon fibre poles would have been ideal, but were too expensive. We settled on plastic conduit. We used a saw to cut each pipe to the right length, hot-glued them together at the joints for added strength, and made sure the structure was symmetrical. To make the feathers, we used loads and loads of cardboard. We cut out primary feathers and secondary feathers, and made the first five for the wing tip go up like eagle feathers. With the wing structure hanging from the ceiling, we started to add the feathers on. We used masking tape to hold each feather in place, to make sure each individual feather was the right distance from the wing, and we used interconnected strips to recreate the internal structure of a bird’s wing. McLaren Automotive sent me some of the ultra-lightweight fabrics that they use in racing cars. We used some dark blue Alcantara for the greater covert on the back of the wing, an incredibly light and strong material called ultra fabric for the underwing coverts on the front of the wing (light blue), and some black and yellow Alcantara for the lesser covert over the top of the wings.’ What an amazing project!
Sixth Form Pathway Lectures Last term, the School held its series of Sixth Form Pathways lectures. The lectures offer students in the Sixth Form the opportunity to learn from ORs, parents, and industry experts, about their experiences in the workplace, their career journey, and their cutting-edge research or developments. The lectures are themed according to four ‘Pathways’: STEM; Business, Economics, and Enterprise; Society; and Creative and Performing Arts. The students were able to select from three or four lectures each week, that are either linked to their A Level subjects, their career interests, or something completely different for a new perspective! This year was a little different, as each lecture took place remotely, however, this has meant that we are able to hear from speakers living all over the world. One of the speakers was OR Sally Griffiths (No. 4, 1997-2002), a freelance director of documentary and factual television for both UK and US networks. ‘Sally talked all about her experiences of working at major television corporations, such as ITV, Channel 4, and National Geographic. I found Sally’s experiences to be very engaging, especially as she has worked in many varied genres from more entertaining documentary to investigative work. It was also very motivating to hear about her experience as a woman in a male-dominated industry, and how it sometimes affected the way those she was filming viewed her. Overall I think the talk really opened my eyes and made me think about an industry that combines both the technical side of filming and producing, but also strong human narratives. She also emphasised the need for strong interpersonal relationships between those doing the filming and those on camera, in order to tell a story – this is a side of television programme making which I hadn’t considered before.’ Anamika (Yr12) 5
eat! Take Yoeduearn’Ss Th eatre Supporting Ro
The Prologue An integral part of Roedean From Junior House nativity plays to whole school productions and House Dance, Drama and Music competitions, the Performing Arts are integral to Roedean. We are proud that many ORs, have gone on to excel in careers as actors, dancers, musicians and producers to name a few. Central to this is our theatre, built in the early 1990s, through the incredibly generous support of our community. The Theatre is a space our students, staff, parents and Old Roedeanians can come together as a community. It is also an important resource to raise income, and to build links in the local community by making it available for external hire.
The Set List What will we do with your donation? The School is able to fund most of the £370,000 costs, but we need your help to raise the final £75,000 to ensure that we can complete the improvements, and if we manage to raise even more, we can reallocate the School’s investment into other much needed capital projects. We are planning to: • Increase capacity from 320 to 355 seats.
Setting the Scene
• Improve our energy efficiency with a new LED lighting system (which will pay for itself in 7 years).
Time for the auditorium to be refurbished
• Increase the amount of accessible seating.
The facilities we have are fantastic, with recent investment in our backstage area and stage lighting. We now need to update and improve our auditorium in order to ensure all our audiences and guests have an enjoyable and high quality experience whenever they use our theatre.
• Improve the audience experience by facing 40% more seats directly towards the stage.
With 30 years of almost daily use, the current seating has served us well but is extremely worn and currently many of the seats are in an unusable state of repair. We therefore want to use the opportunity provided by a quieter summer for our theatre lets to move ahead with the refurbishments. However, as you will understand, due to our reduced income over the last two years, we need our community’s support to carry out the works.
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• Improve the acoustics by installing wooden wall panelling and replacing the metal balustrades with wooden ones. As well as all of this, the Theatre will also receive a long overdue refurbishment with new carpets, re-painted walls and a new stage curtain. These changes will mean more of you can support our girls at shows, more of you will face the stage directly, and the acoustics will do better justice to their incredible performances.
Audience Participation How can you help? Roedean has a long history of our community generously supporting our desire to provide the best facilities possible. Your support, however large or small will help us complete the refurbishments, so we invite you to Take Your Seat:
Act I Donating up to £200, means you will be thanked in the donor list in the programme for our re-opening gala performances.
Act II Donating £200 or more means you can name a seat, or for £250 or more you can also add a short personal inscription, such as a favourite quote, or ‘In Memorium’ dedication. We also have a limited number of seats to sponsor in rows 2-4 for £500, or in the front row for £1,000. If you sponsor one of these seats, you will also be able to include your personal inscription.
Act III If you would like to donate at a higher level, we will include your name on the donor board, noting the item you have sponsored. This could be: • The new stage curtain for £3,500. • The accessible seating area for £4,000 • A portion of the new lighting system for £10,000 (or the whole system for £60,000) Donations over £5,000 will also mean you become a member of the 1885 Society and a Friend of Roedean Theatre. There are also naming opportunities available for larger donations, if you would like to talk further about donation options, or for more information on the project, then please contact Grace Chaston on 01273 667398, glc@roedean.co.uk, or by writing to the School address.
How to donate Donations can be made online by going to https://community.roedean.co.uk/pages/take-your-seat, by returning our Gift Form (available here) or current parents can choose to pay through your school bill across up to three terms. To learn more about the project and tax efficient giving, please go to our website, download a copy of our brochure, or contact Grace Chaston. 7
OR News 10 Questions with… OR Yang-May Ooi (No. 3, 1975-80) This month we had the privilege of speaking with Yang-May Ooi, an award-winning theatre maker, TEDx speaker, writer and podcaster. Yang-May shares her memories of writing for the school magazine Kaleidoscope, directing House Plays and how the familiar smell of gorse will always remind her of sunny days on the playing fields. You can read Yang May’s interview here: https://community.roedean.co.uk/news/ default-general/526/526-10-Questions-withYang-May-Ooi
Rebecca Hall
Dr Zoë Graham
(No. 4, 1996-2000)
(No. 4, 1980-87)
Congratulations to Rebecca who is in the recently released Godzilla vs Kong, playing Ilene Andrews. The film is the fourth instalment in Legendary’s MonsterVerse. The film further adds to Rebecca’s wide range of roles, which has so far seen her star in productions as diverse as Iron Man 3 and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. It has also recently been announced that, following the film’s debut at the Sundance Film Festival, Rebecca’s directorial debut Passing (which she also wrote) has been picked up by Netflix for world-wide distribution. The release date hasn’t yet been set, but we will be sure to share it with you all as soon as it is. Based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen, the film tells the poignant story of two old friends, both light skinned mixed-race women, one ‘passing’ as white, who are reunited by chance, threatening their carefully constructed realities.
Zoë has written a timely and delightfully illustrated workbook for children (5-11 years), Coronavirus Memories - A Children’s Workbook. The workbook touches on many typical difficulties faced by young people through Covid-19 and lockdown. It provides a gentle structure to process and preserve memories for the future with a positive focus and elicits coping strategies for the main challenges (angry, sad and scared). The natural style aids children in opening up and initiating discussion with familiar adults whilst introducing the notion that further support exists if needed. A practical and charming tool for home and school use supporting children through the mental health consequences of the novel coronavirus. Zoë is an experienced Consultant Clinical Psychologist now in private practice who shares her approachable, creative resilience work to help primary school-aged children cope with the impact of the unfamiliar lockdown and pandemic context. Coronavirus Memories is available now from all good bookshops.
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OR News Anabela Chan
(Tapp, No. 1, 1987-92)
(No. 1, 1995-2003)
Congratulations Penny who has written a book for children to raise money for charity. Chasing Rainbows is a story of hope, written to help start conversations about lockdown with younger children. Although the book does not directly mention COVID-19, it does mention things shutting and not being able to see loved ones such as grandparents. Ultimately, it is a positive look at what is going on in our society at the moment. Aimed at 2-8 year olds, it tells the story of twins Maddie and Mo who love spending time out and about in Jersey. Then their world suddenly changes and they are very sad. Will they find their inner rainbows? All proceeds from Chasing Rainbows, which is sponsored by The ARK Foundation, go directly to The Salvation Army Jersey who provide frontline relief to those in need at this difficult time. You can purchase Penny's books directly from her website here: www.pennybyrneauthor.com/store/
Designer Anabela started her Flower Therapy You, Me, Flowers & London initiative last year in response to the Covid19 pandemic. ‘As a designer, I have found endless inspirations from nature far and wide. During this testing time I have started painting flowers from our garden for a sense of calm, creativity and therapeutic refuge, I call it my daily flower therapy. This idea came from New York based designer Brent Neale, I loved it so much I DMed Brent to ask if she would be happy for me to do the same for London and she said Yes! I painted a flower sketch each day, every original sketch will be sold at £250, with 100% of it going towards the endowment of a park bench in Central London, dedicated to all frontline healthcare and key-workers worldwide during the Covid19 pandemic.’
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Penny Byrne Lauren Radley Liz Wackett
You can also read about Penny’s other books (and other OR authors) on the Roedean Community Network Virtual Bookshop.
Adele Geras (Weston, No. 3, 1955-62) Dangerous Women by Hope Adams (pseudonym of Adele Geras) is based on a real-life voyage of a Victorian convict ship, where the female convicts aboard famously crafted the beautiful Rajah quilt during the crossing. London, 1841. The Rajah sails for Australia. On board are 180 women convicted of petty crimes, sentenced to start a new life half way across the world. Daughters, sisters, mothers - they'll never see home or family again. Despised and damned, all they have now is each other. Until the murder. As the fearful hunt for a killer begins, everyone on board is a suspect. The investigation risks tearing their friendships apart . . . But if the killer isn't found, could it cost them their last chance of freedom? We can’t wait to dive in and see how the story unfolds. Dangerous Women is available from all good book shops.
If you are interested in supporting this special initiative please see link below: https://anabelachan.com/collections/flower-therapy
Noo Saro-Wiwa (No. 3, 1986-94) Noo has recently presented a documentary for Dan Snow’s History Hit, an online only channel for history fans. The documentary looks at Cheddar Man, a human fossil from the Mesolithic period, whose DNA analysis raises interesting questions about who the indigenous people of Britain are, as it shows he had dark skin and blue eyes. The channel is subscription-only, but there’s a 30-day free trial. In a bonus OR connection as well, Dan Snow’s great-grandmother, Lady Olwen Carey-Evans, was also an OR in House 2 from 1908-10. You can read more about Noo and Olwen in 100 Roedeanians, available from www.roedean.co.uk/shop. 9
Cricket at Roedean There has been a long tradition of cricket being enjoyed and played at the School. Champions of the game over the years have included Miss Cecilia Robinson, often known as Bobby, who shared her passion of the game with many girls during her 32 years at the school (1949-81). 1917 A talented cricketer, Cecilia toured Australia with the England Women’s Cricket Team, and also played for England in 1963. “At a cursory glance this season may not to have been any more successful than last…the victories against Moira House, The Star of Brunswick and the Fathers being vastly outnumbered by the defeats against The Coachmaker’s Arms, Sunshine Playroom, l C Brown & Son, Sussex County Cricket Supporters and the Teaching Staff.” Cricket report from the School Magazine, 1984.
cricket in what then became a bit of an obsession! My love for cricket was cultivated With Andrew England, 2019 and actively nurtured at Roedean. After I left university, I got a job on the cricket statistics desk at the Press Association during which time I was the official West Indies scorer on their 2004 tour of England, and had the privilege of scoring the one-day international final between West Indies and New Zealand at Lord's in the same year. I then became a cricket reporter for the Press Association and the ECB website, living the dream and watching and writing about cricket on a daily basis, for several years. I couldn't have done any of this, and had the career I had, without the support and encouragement I received at Roedean and the potential they must have seen in me. For that, I shall always be grateful.’ Catherine Goble (No. 4, 1991-98)
Over the past few years, cricket has once again become a permanent fixture of the summer sports curriculum, with the intention being to revive the halcyon days when it was With Cecilia Robinson, 1955 the major summer sport at the School. Thanks to a generous OR donor, in 2020, two astro wickets, and two new batting cages were Following in the footsteps of Cecilia, came the legendry installed at the School. A new Head of Performance and Andrew England, who taught Chemistry at Roedean from Cricket, Mike Smethurst, has also been appointed, and he 1978-2019. From Cricket playing on the TV in the has high hopes and plans for the sport. background of A level practicals, to girls going on to be part of the county side, Andrew almost singlehandedly ran ‘In January 2019, cricket was introduced as a Games option cricket for the whole school from his first year at Roedean. for all year groups in the autumn and spring terms. This saw The overriding theme was of the fun and camaraderie of a fantastic uptake from lots of girls, including many for playing in a team. Legend has it that Andrew, driving the whom this was their first experience of playing the game. minibus to away matches, stopped at a pub and the whole From this summer, a significant number of girls in years 7-9 team had a pint on the way back! will play cricket in two double games sessions each week, so in 3-5 years, we hope the programme will be flourishing. In ‘Roedean was a huge influence on my cricketing life. It was addition, there has been a significant increase in the the early-90s when girls' cricket was still fairly rare, and number of fixtures and we hope this will lead to playing although I freely confess I wasn't very good, I made up for opportunities to suit everyone; from inexperienced girls that by being so keen. And this devotion was supported a lot playing softball pairs cricket for the first time, to our most by both Annie experienced and skilful girls testing themselves against Romanov and some of the strongest Andrew England. I school teams in the vividly remember county.’ being taken to Hove by Andrew to see a Six girls are currently limited-overs game playing at County level, between Sussex and and we hope to see this Yorkshire - my first increase over the taste of county coming seasons. 1964 New batting cage, 2021 10
Obituary Robin Horlock (Tanner, No. 3, 1933-41) Robin was the third of the five Tanner sisters who all attended Roedean during the years when their aunt, Dame Emmeline Tanner, was Headmistress. She was surprised to be accepted at Roedean when, at age 10, she could not yet read. Today she would be considered dyslexic, but in 1933 it was her Housemistress, Miss Middleton, who welcomed her warmly and told her that they would meet daily, and that Robin would be reading fluently by Christmas. When Robin left school at 17 she immediately started training as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital. In 1945 at the end of her four year training at Guy’s, she completed her midwifery training in Brighton, and in 1948 began pediatric nursing at Great Ormond Street. While there she was asked by a South African doctor if she would be willing to work in South Africa at McCord’s Zulu Mission. She accepted, and for a year worked at the Mission Hospital, training local nurses, and being responsible for opening the premature baby unit there. She and Wimburn Horlock married in 1960, and in 1962 started Stepping Stones, a pre-prep school in Hampstead. Robin revelled in being Headmistress, surrounded by young children she loved. To them she was not a distant figure, but was at the front door to greet them by name each morning and again when they left to go home.
In 1977 they bought a country house in superb surroundings in Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire. This is the home to which they eventually retired to enjoy its magnificent grounds, and to share the tennis court and swimming pool with anyone who wished from nearby villages. All were welcome, especially children! Sadly, Robin’s retirement was severely affected by injury and infection. A fall fracturing her shoulder resulted in almost total loss of mobility in that arm. A few years later, following hip surgery, she developed an intractable infection in the leg. She endured countless treatments to no avail, and in 2004 it was amputated. Despite the devastation of losing a leg, her spirit remained indomitable and she was determined to carry on her life as normally as possible. As one of her 12 nieces and nephews, in addition to many “greats”, I am privileged and grateful to have been a recipient of the generosity she showered on all of us. More importantly, the example of dogged determination and courage that she set for us is the greatest gift of all. Without a doubt, an OR who was a credit to the school. Tessa Oglesby (Newth, No. 3, 1950-56) It is with sadness that we would like to inform you that School Council Vice-Presidents Sheila Fowler-Watt (Beynon, No. 3, 1947-55) and Jean Peacey (Thirlby, No. 1, 1937-45), both passed away this winter. Their continued support of the school and wise counsel will be much missed. Obituaries for both Sheila and Jean will be included in the summer edition of the Roedeanian magazine.
Dates for your Diary Wednesday 30 June 2021 7pm
Headmaster’s Lecture - OR Dr Eugenia Cheng (No. 4, 1987-94) From Roedean Prefect to Chicago Professor: A Mathematician's Manifesto for Rethinking Gender in a Male-Dominated World The lectures are an opportunity for our whole community to join together to celebrate a role model, and tickets will be open to ORs, current and former staff, current and former parents and 6th form students. Tickets will be free of charge, but there is an option to make a donation to support the school and our community work. Bookings for the event will open shortly.
Monday 8 November 2021 6.00-7.30pm
ORA AGM As announced at the last ORA AGM, in order to reduce the time lag between the end of the financial year and the AGM, there will be a further ORA AGM in 2021 covering the period April 2020 - March 2021. This will be a hybrid event enabling attendance online via Zoom as well as in person (if Covid restrictions allow) at the Caledonian Club, 9 Halkin Street, London, SW1X 7DR.
For more information and booking, please contact us on alumnae@roedean.co.uk or call us on 01273 667398 11
School Play 'Let There Be Light' 1960s
roedean.co.uk The Roedeanian Society, Roedean School, Roedean Way, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 5RQ Tel: +44(0)1273 667398 • Registered Charity 307063 12