The Roedeanian
Winter 2018/2019
Developments at Roedean 2018
House 1 baking for the Christmas Fair
A Moment in Time Dance Showcase 2018
Science Experience Day for Prep Schools
Crista Cullen MBE runs a Hockey Experience day for prospective Roedean pupils
Alumnae Events
Audrey Ahmad and Diana Farley - friends reunited after 75 years!
ORs Steph Chung, Annabel MacLeod, Elizabeth Crosbie Jones and Funmbi Adeaogbo at Tianyi Li’s fashion show in Milan
Jenny Lebus and Nadia El Borai reunion in Tokyo
ORA drinks and canapes event at The Caledonian Club
Introduction As we enter a new year, it is important to look back on the achievements of the previous year. One of our biggest achievements last year was finally building the new allweather pitch. On page 10 and 11 you will find a full thank you list of all of our wonderful donors. Thank you to you all. Another area of progress for us last year, was our increased support of St Mark’s Primary in Whitehawk. Our Christmas Fair raised funds towards our efforts to build a library for them. I am delighted to be able to report that we raised over £7,300. We are also running an appeal for donations of books for the library. You can read more about this on page 5. The end of term also saw a hotly contested House Christmas Spirit competition, with each House winning in at least one category, and House 2 winning overall. I know you will all be pleased to know that House rivalry is still alive and well at Roedean and the girls really threw themselves into the competition. We also held our traditional Carol Services, and it was wonderful to welcome back ORs and Former Staff to the morning service. Right at the very end of term, we launched the Roedean Academy programme for this year. The programme began this month and brings together nearly 50 pupils from Roedean and three local state schools - Longhill High School, Blatchington Mill School and Peacehaven Community School. The students will take part in an eight week programme during which they can choose their main area of focus from core modules in the Arts, Humanities and Science and Maths. These will also be complemented by other modules which are about enrichment for its own sake, and include Beginners’ Portuguese, Greek Tragedy, Economics, Black Holes, Life drawing, Sustainability, Film Music and Politics. With best wishes for the year ahead, Oliver Blond Headmaster
Contents School Highlights
4-6
OR News
7-8
OR Interviews – Lady Ritblat Pitch Perfect Donor List
9 10 - 11
OR Interview – Audrey Ahmad
12
Obituaries
13
Dates for your Diary
14
Roedean through the Ages
15
3
School Highlights Roedean in South Africa In November, Oliver Blond along with three members of staff and sixteen pupils set off on an ambassadorial trip to our sister school, Roedean, South Africa. The aim was to reconnect with an important and fascinating part of the Roedean story, to meet with counterparts face-to-face and to build a lasting partnership. On arriving at the School, there were visible echoes of our own School in the style of the architecture and the girls clearly made immediate connections with each other. Mr Blond reflected: ‘I can clearly see how much we mirror each other. It was most visible in how quickly the girls have bonded, but it is in our name, our school badge, our motto, and our educational heritage. We bear a striking family resemblance. We hope that our schools in working together in the future can be the perfect complement of each other and host each other’s staff and students so that we learn more about each other.’ Mr Blond was also able to meet with Lindsay Lawrence, the President of S.A.O.R.A, the South Africa Old Roedeanian Association, and we hope to put our two ORAs in contact so that they can discuss how best to serve all their members.
Speech Day It was an honour to welcome Dame Carol Black, Newnham College’s current Principal, to the School as our Guest Speaker for Speech Day. Dame Carol spoke about women in Science, and, given her own background, she was delighted to hear and read about the strength of STEM subjects at Roedean. She told us that, as the first member of her family to go to university, she initially studied History, before changing direction completely and transferring to Medicine. It took great confidence for her to do this, but her decision was vindicated by her great successes and expertise, particularly specialising in scleroderma. With a number of girls in the audience grappling with a difficult choice to make about which subject to choose for university study, it was wonderful for them to hear that it really is fine to change tack. Her advice to the girls was to follow their passion, and be confident. Dressed in pillar-box red, Dame Carol spoke about projecting confidence, and how wearing red makes her feel stronger, and definitely better on a bad day. To end her talk, Dame Carol said, ‘I began life with one book in the house, the Bible. And on 1 September, I became Chair of the British Library.’ She is a perfect example of life being what you make of it.
Roedean’s on the shortlist! We are delighted to report that Roedean has been shortlisted for two awards. In the TES Independent Schools’ Awards for 2019, the School has been shortlisted in the IndependentState School Partnership Award category. According to the TES, only the most outstanding individuals and institutions that the independent sector has to offer have been recognised in the shortlist. We are also extremely proud that Roedean has been shortlisted for a national school award, in the Boarding School of the Year category. The Independent Schools’ Awards highlight best practice and exceptional 4
achievement throughout the country and in international schools abroad. Brought to you by Independent School Parent, Independent Schools of the Year 2018 is an awards programme designed to offer UK independent schools a platform to showcase their success stories and celebrate the student experiences they provide. This is wonderful news, and underlines the great strides the School has made in recent years.
Maria Paduroiu is a Rising Star! We are delighted to announce that Maria Paduroiu (No.2, 2016-18), has won the ‘Rising Star’ award in the Independent Schools’ Awards. The award recognises an individual who has achieved incredibly highly, despite difficult circumstances. When I got the email announcing that I had won the Rising Star Award, I had to read it three times in order to actually understand that what I was reading was real. My heart was beating so fast, and I was amazed that my name will actually be in such a prestigious magazine. I found out that the winners were voted on social media and knowing that this evolving platform is so tough and intimidating, I was touched to know that so many people were able to relate to my story, and were actually impressed with what I did. For me, all the efforts I made and all the work were things that I loved and enjoyed doing, so seeing my work being appreciated by so many people made me feel very proud of myself. Now I know that whenever I look back, I will see this little girl who was afraid to speak up, transformed into a confident woman after 2 years at Roedean School, and now I am actually a Rising Star. Maria Paduroiu. Maria has been asked to be the face of the awards, and there is talk that she may even appear on television to talk about her experiences – what a brilliant achievement!
Building a Library at St Mark’s Primary School Over the year we will be supporting St Mark’s Primary as much as we can, a state school less than a mile away from Roedean, but in the most deprived area in Brighton and Hove. One particular area of focus is its lack of a space dedicated to reading. The main focus of our fund-raising currently is the building of a Library at St Mark’s for which we
are raising money, and we have also asked all parents to help to stock the Library by donating a copy of their daughter’s favourite book from when she was aged 5 to 11. If any ORs would like to donate a book to St Mark’s that would be hugely appreciated. Please email alumnae@roedean.co.uk for details on how to do this. We are also producing a book to mark 100 years of suffrage, entitled 100 Roedeanians. Girls across the School were invited to undertake research and write a profile of an Old Roedeanian they respected, and we will be featuring 50 of these in the book, along with brief biographical information about 50 others. The book will cost £15 (plus postage and packaging) and all profit raised from the sales will go to the Library for St Mark’s appeal. If you would like to pre-order a copy, please email alumnae@roedean.co.uk.
5
School Highlights Carol Service It really was wonderful to see the whole school community come together to celebrate the end of term, and start of the Christmas season at the school’s carol services. At the first service we were joined by a group of ORs and Former Staff; it was lovely to welcome them all back to the School for a service that they all remember fondly from their time at Roedean. The programme, designed to complement the traditional nine lessons of the Christmas story, were read by readers representing every year-group, as well as well-loved classics from the choir and congregation. This was followed by a light lunch in the Old Ref, which gave everyone a chance to catch up.
Hockey Masterclass with Crista Cullen We were delighted to welcome Crista Cullen MBE to Roedean in November to run a Hockey Experience Day for prospective Roedean pupils. Like Roedean Sports Ambassadors Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh, Crista won Bronze at the London 2012 Olympics, and then added a Gold in Rio in 2016. The 65 girls who came to the day were over the moon to meet her and they learnt a great deal. It was a great pleasure to welcome girls form 16 schools, including Great Walstead, Pennthorpe, and Copthorne, and they were looked after brilliantly by Sport Scholars and top players from Years 9-10. Everyone had a fantastic day!
Christmas Fair The School Christmas Fair was held on Saturday 8 December and was a great success, raising a fantastic £7,300 for the St Mark’s library fund. The girls really went to town with their stalls, and they had some brilliant ideas to engage with our visitors. A big thank you to the Parents’ Guild, whose stalls, including the Silent Auction and tombola, were very successful, and who also oversaw a wide range of external stall-holders in the Studios. It was a brilliant event – congratulations to everyone involved and thank you to everyone who came! 6
OR News ORA Christmas Drinks A review of the ORA Christmas Drinks by ORA President Ginny Stephen (de Trense, No.3, 1954-60) The ORA hosted its annual Christmas Drinks in the Upstairs Room of the Antelope, SW1, on Thursday 6 December. This is a very popular event and was greatly enjoyed by the large number that came. The Christmas tree looked lovely and Izzy Holland’s (No.4, 2005-12) suitcase was at the ready to receive gifts for St Mungo’s Charity for the Homeless to which, as usual, ORs generously contributed. The Antelope, off Belgrave Square, is one of the oldest pubs in London and the floorboards creaked atmospherically as ORs met up with old friends and made new ones. This year, we decided to have some food – bowls of chips and sandwiches, which were surprisingly good and very welcome. Afterwards Robyn Crabbe (Blackburn, No.1, 1972-77) posted some wonderful photos on Facebook of everyone enjoying themselves.
We’re very grateful to the staff at the Antelope for creating such a lovely Christmassy atmosphere and for their help throughout the evening. Many thanks too, to Lorna Wallis (Hall, No.3, 1980-86) for designing such an eye-catching poster, and to Robyn for reminding and encouraging ORs to attend, and to all those ORs who were there and who made the evening such a success.
Kirstin Duffield (Cropper, No. 2, 1984-1989) Kirstin works in IT and is the Managing Director of Morning Data Ltd. Earlier this year Kirstin was diagnosed with breast cancer, but she has not let that slow her down! As well as now blogging about her experiences, she has also been raising money for Cancer Research UK – she has challenged herself to cycle 300 miles in a month, and she still finds time to run her business! This has culminated in Kirstin being named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Venus Awards 2018. This is an achievement anyone should be proud of, but even more so given her current battle. Congratulations Kirstin!
Beatrix Ong (No.3, 1992-94) ‘A Bee and A Tree’ is the new book by Beatrix Ong, who wanted to share the tale of overcoming difficulties. London-based designer, Beatrix has won critical acclaim, the receipt of the Freedom of the City of London in 2012 and a MBE on Her Majesty The Queen’s 2011 New Year’s Honours list in recognition of her services to British Fashion. “A very small Bee in a very big world decided to plant a seed...”. Follow A Bee’s journey of making her dreams come true through ups and downs. But not all dreams go to plan. Read this endearing tale to find out what important discovery she makes to not only overcome, but to fly higher and stronger than ever before. For ages 3 to 150 yr olds. It is available from Amazon and more information on it is on www.averysmallbee.com. 7
Tianyi Li (No.3, 2003-10) Sue Stanway (Head of Art, 1970-2016) was delighted to attend her former student’s fashion show as part of Milan’s Fashion Week in September. I was thrilled when Tianyi asked me to attend her Spring/ Summer fashion show: ‘Light and Space’ at Milan’s Fashion Week. This was her second major collection and her first on the international stage. I mused on what a long way she has come from the Studio at Roedean as a student. I was excited to go to see what Tianyi had in store for us, as, having now completed her Master’s degree at Istituto Marangoni in Fashion Womenswear in London, she is set for great things. Milan was in the throes of a heatwave and Fashion Week was well-underway when I arrived expectantly at 4.30 pm at the very glamorous venue at the Palazzo Reale, formerly the Royal Palace and now an exhibition centre and gallery.
I went ‘backstage’ and the rooms were heaving with assistants organising the chaos and allocating Tianyi’s designs, each with the name of the model to wear it on the catwalk. Looking round, my pride knew no boundaries when I took in the sign announcing ‘Tianyi Li, Istituto Marangoni’ above the gallery door. One person arrived, then two and soon, the entire Hall was completely bursting with chattering souls trying to find chairs. Rather than a catwalk stage, there were ‘snakeways’ round the seats, so everyone had a front row view. The models came suddenly, thick and fast, parading round the Hall - visions in diaphanous pink, lilac and ivory, shimmering silks and voiles highlighted with glittering trims and jewellery. This was real, constructed beauty from Tianyi and judging by the applause, everyone there thought so too. The highlight for me, though, was the very end, when the small figure of Tianyi appeared, wearing black and giving the briefest of bows. Typically modest! I hope and believe great things are in store for her from now on. A superb ‘Well done, Tianyi. Brill qual!’
Janet Starkey (Milne, No.1, 1964-67) Janet grew up in the Middle East and has published many books and articles on the region. After assignments in the Middle East, she worked at the British Museum and then the Oriental Museum, Durham. With family roots in Aberdeenshire and Banffshire that can be traced at least back to the 1690s, she returns to explore her family heritage through her latest book, ‘The Scottish Enlightenment Abroad: the Russells of Braidshaw in Aleppo and on the Coast of Coromandel’ (Leiden: Brill, 2018). In this book Janet examines the lives and works of Scots working in the mid eighteenth century with the Levant Company in Aleppo, then within the Ottoman Empire; and those working with the East India Company in India, especially in the fields of natural history, medicine, ethnography and the collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts. For more information on Janet’s work and publications, please see www.pandjstarkey.com 8
Istituto Marangoni
You can read more about OR businesses and books on the Roedean Community Network Business Directory (https://community.roedean. co.uk/news/business-directory) and Virtual Bookshop (https://community. roedean.co.uk/news/virtual-bookshop). To add your own entry, please contact Harriet on hdb@roedean.co.uk.
Get in touch If you would like to arrange a visit to Roedean, or would like help to arrange a reunion, please get in touch with Grace on glc@roedean.co.uk or by calling 01273 667398.
OR Interview
Lady Jill Ritblat OBE
her A Levels. After her children left home, she treated herself to a bachelors in the subject.
We were delighted to welcome Lady Ritblat to Roedean for a visit in November. After a tour of the School, and an informal talk on her life to a group of senior girls in Keswick Common Room, Lady Ritblat sat down with two Year 13s to talk about her time at the School and career.
She is now heavily involved in the art world. Not only has Lady Ritblat donated over 1,000 items of her personal collection of couture and ready to wear clothing, she also sits on a variety of boards and has strong affinity for modern art. When asked which artists she is most excited about she noted Richter as the best current painter and praised Hirst for his ideas and being a generally wonderful person. She said, like Hirst, a successful artist must be clever, but above all, must be brave. The best artists are very brave. She admires that he brought all the other YBAs up with him and admires his generosity. Whilst, Lady Ritblat is often mentioned for her involvement in fashion, it is more of a past time, her real interest is towards paintings. Although she does not paint herself, in her words, ‘to spare my friends and family’.
(Slotover, No.2, 1955-60)
Freya F and I had the pleasure of interviewing OR, Lady Ritblat after her talk on her experiences both in and outside of Roedean. When asked about her Roedean experience she commented on the rigorous schedule and high standards. She noted that this prepared her for her career as she could identify quality and has since kept up the high pace in her career. She remains lifelong friends with many of the Roedean girls she was at school with and misses the beautiful sea and apparently the roller rink! Having seen the new houses, she was really impressed as they were apparently ‘grotty’ when she was boarding. Not only that but the girls could only change their pants four times a week and have their hair washed every two weeks by a visiting hairdresser. And as her name was at the end of the register, they often ran out of shampoo and hot water. After Roedean, Lady Ritblat studied law and found a place in the Chambers of which Victor Durand was the head (his daughter, Angela, also studied at Roedean incidentally). However, the clerks did not want to invest in her career, as being a woman, they said she would eventually get married and have children. Afterwards she was in a career limbo as she had no real interest in the 4 other good criminal chambers. Instead she spent some time in New York studying Interior Design before she did marry and have children. She spent the next few years looking after her children until they went to school. Whilst, Lady Ritblat had gone into law she said her main love has always been History of Art which she discovered whilst taking a six-week course straight after A Levels. Unfortunately, her parents had pushed her towards law after
Her busy career hasn’t left much time to relax, but when she has a moment she swims. She reflected on swimming at Roedean, and then the pool used to be freezing as it was outdoors and unheated. She recalled that when a girl accidentally scratched her face with her toenail, she hadn’t noticed she was bleeding as she was so cold. Lady Ritblat really enjoyed sports at Roedean and as well as captaining her house netball team, she also won her colours for dancing at the age of 12 and competed in the School fencing team. In the future Lady Ritblat says she intends to spend more time with family, seeing more exhibitions and doing more sport; just generally taking a break. Perhaps she will get back into cross-country skiing. We asked about finding a work-life balance and she said whilst an ideal balance does not exist, one should aim to do what one enjoys, do not follow what others, in particular, parents force or expect you to do. She feels that whilst a lot of parents may think they know best, no one should make decisions for you, particularly regarding your education and career.
By Laura F and Freya F, Year 13
9
Roedean Pitch Perfect We would like to thank all our generous donors who supported our Pitch Perfect appeal. Rachel Adams (Chandler, No. 2, 1947-53)
The Clarke Family
Sasha Glynn (No. 1, 1980-87)
Audrey Ahmad (Lunger, No. 3, 1939-43)
Sheelagh Clarke (McKee, No. 3, 1947-50)
Ms Rachel Godwin
Aleeyah Amanda Ali (No. 2, 1987-91)
Robyn Crabbe (Blackburn, No. 1, 1972-77)
Jillian Gordon (Albury, No. 4, 1939-48)
Jennifer Allt (Barker, No. 1, 1956-60)
Gillian Darby (Keen, No. 2, 1953-60)
Monica Grattan Moore (No. 4, 1951-55)
Mary Anderson (Moss, No. 3, 1958-63)
The De Beer Modder Family
Peter and Louise Hambling
The Andrews Family
Spirit de la Mare (No. 1, 1997-2002) FRSA
The Harfield Family
Jeanne Armor (Howard, No. 3, 1948-55)
The Douch Family
Isabel and Natalya Harvey
Jennifer Aspden (No. 2, 1947-55)
Tilly East (No. 1, 1985-91)
Pat Haselhurst (Spedding, No. 1, 1934-39)
The Ball Family
Sally Echlin (Wilkes, No. 2, 1958-63)
The Hawker Family
Miss Ella Baker
Cherry Edgerton-Bird (No. 4, 1953-59)
The Hobbs Family
Mary Anne Baumgartner (Sgarlat, Lawrence, 1974-75)
The El Beleidi Family
Richard and Marisa Hollowood
Nadia Eskenazi (Salti, No. 3, 1974-79)
Miss Dulcibella Humphries
Mr John Farmer (Former Staff, 1971-2006)
The Ibru Family
Susan Fishlock (No. 2, 1948-55)
The Jackson Family
Ms Alison Fraser (Former Staff)
The Jenner Family
The Galvin-Wright Family
The Jeyes Family
Zerbanoo Gifford (Irani, No. 1, 1962-67)
Jenifer Joel (Tyler, No. 1, 1948-50)
Annabel Glauser (No. 1, 1983-89)
The Jordan Family
Roxane Glick (Eban, No. 2, 1973-77)
The Kemsley Family
Lynn Glyn (Weksler, No. 3, 1965-71)
The Kennedy-Martin Family
The Binks Family Oliver Blond and Helen Peters Miss Cecily Bolger The Bradly Family The Briggs Family The Brinsmead-Maclean Family Mrs Joanna Burrows Anabela Chan (No. 1, 1995-2003) Miss Sophie Cheesman (PE Teacher)
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Brenda Knopf (Wortley, No. 2, 1946-49) The Kortens Family Elaine Lawson (Caplan, No. 4, 1951-56) Sarah Le Blanc(Tyson, No. 1, 1974-80) Rebecca Long (No. 4, 1982-91) Pam Mainwaring (Watson, No. 4, 1956-63) The McAllister Family The McCulloch Family Ann Miller (Ruddock, No. 1, 1949-52) Mr Robert Mitchell Ray Mitchell (Ritchie, No. 1, 1945-49) Karoline Molberg (No. 4, 1982-89) Marion Munz-Jones (Munz, No. 2, 194954)
Sarah Saunders-Davies (Osborn, No. 4, 1960-67) The Scott and Goddard Families
Mr Mark Taylor (Former Staff, 2016-18) Angela Tebbit (Tupper, No. 2, 1991-95) Libby Thomas (Hamilton, No. 2, 1988-95)
Miss Jemma Neill-Gordon Spicer
Diana Scott (Churn, No. 1, 1961-69)
The Nicholas Family
Seema Sharma (Bahal, No. 1, 1983-85)
Jessica Thomson (Martens, No. 4, 196569)
The Nurse Family
Chhaya Shriram
Mrs Nicki Tucker
The Oppenheim Family
The Sigala-Leonardos Family
The Veness Family
Sydney and Jamie Oswald
The Simpkins Family
Mrs Ann Voigt (Former Staff, 1993-2002)
Teresa Outhwaite (Brach, No. 1, 1985-91)
Penny Sinclair (Lawson, No. 3, 1958-62)
The Wallis Family
The Owens Family
Rita Skinner (Oldak, No. 3, 1958-63)
Felicity Ward (Ewbank, No. 4, 1946-51)
Lavender Patten (Thornton, No. 3, 195561)
The Sladdin Family
Rebecca Watson (Nicholls, No. 3, 1980-86)
Emma Smellie (Beauclerk, No. 4, 1973-81)
Julia and Victoria Whitehouse
Miss Chloe Phillips
Vivien Smiley (Paulson Ellis, No. 2, 198893)
Renee-Jean Wilkin (Garrett, No. 4, 193942) and family
Emily Campbell (No. 3, 1979-88)
The Spicer Family
Sylvia Wollner (Colquhoun, No. 4, 1941-46)
Phillida Purvis (Seaward, No. 3, 1972-74)
Mrs Sue Stanway
The Yicheng Li Family
The Rawson Family
Mrs Kate Stoner
Roedean Parents’ Guild
Vanessa Richards (Kent, No. 2, 1959-64)
The Stornebel Family
Roedean Rocks
Phebe Robinow (Harman, No. 1, 1960-67)
The Old Roedeanians’ Association
Jean Robson (Beynon, No. 3, 1947-57)
Mrs Debra Swales (Former Staff, 20092016)
Countess Annie Romanov (Former Staff)
The Taggart Family
Susan Ryan (Plummer, No. 4, 1954-57)
Susan Tann (Goldsmith, No. 3, 1959-67)
Nikki Payne (No. 4, 2009-14)
The Pupils of Roedean School, and in particular Year 7 (2017-18) And all those who wish to remain anonymous
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OR Interview Audrey Ahmad
(Lunger, No. 3, 1939-43) Audrey started at Roedean in 1939 aged 13, and was at the School when it was moved to Keswick during World War 2. After leaving Roedean, she went on to study for a PhD in Central Asian History, and later, while living in India, studied medicine. Grace Cather caught up with Audrey in the summer to discuss her memories of her time at the School…
GC: What was the mood on the train on the way up?
Grace Cather: What led you to becoming a pupil at Roedean?
AA: I did enjoy it there. I loved fell walking and enjoyed walking in the hills. We were allowed to go walking, I loved walking so I went most weekends. I was in House 3 and we used to chant G2D No. 3, which stood for ‘Grits, Guts and Determination’.
Audrey Ahmad: I liked the idea of going to boarding school, I then saw an advert in the Times for a scholarship and applied. GC: What was your first impression on arriving at Roedean? AA: I loved it here, the building looked lovely and everyone was very welcoming. GC: How did you feel about having to move to Keswick in 1940, and how did it feel breaking up for the summer and not knowing where the School would be in September? AA: We were actually sent home a few weeks early because of the threat of invasion. It was quite a strange feeling not knowing where we would be going in September. We were told to look in the Times on, I think the 3rd of September, and they would announce where we had to go. We (Audrey and her parents) didn’t know where it was and had to look it up on a map. I thought it would be exciting.
AA: We were excited, and curious, we didn’t know what it would be like. GC: Did you enjoy the time at Keswick? What was the highlight for you?
GC: What was your favourite subject? AA: I didn’t really have a favourite subject, I liked everything, but I suppose languages and maths more than history. I really did love my time at Roedean. GC: What did you go on to do after leaving Roedean? AA: I went to King’s College and then the Slavonic College. I did my bachelors degree in Russian Language and Literature and then a PhD in Central Asian History. I met my husband in Oxford in 1945. He was Indian and went back to India after a while. I followed him in 1954. GC: How did you find moving to India? AA: I volunteered with the India League in London whilst I was a student so it wasn’t too much of a shock. I met Ghandi and once had to pick him up from his hotel to take him somewhere. It was a very smart London hotel and all the other men were in smart suits, but he was in his usual shirt and loincloth. I also knew Krishna Menon very well, we were good friends with him. I worked with the India League campaigning for Indian Independence. GC: Did you settle in well there? AA: Yes I loved it there. I would have stayed but my parents started getting ill. I came back in 1970. While I was in India I studied medicine and became a medical doctor. After I came back I worked in a hospital in Southall where not many people could speak English. There are a lot of Polish and Indian people there so being able to speak Russian and Hindi was invaluable. GC: Do you have any advice for our girls as they leave? AA: Do something that you are interested in and like, not just what your parents want you to do.
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Obituaries Mary Chevallier (No.3, 1939-45)
Mary was one of the 42 pupils to travel to Edgehill School, Nova Scotia in 1939. While in North America, Mary had the opportunity to spend a year studying at Wellesley, the women’s liberal arts college in Massachusetts, which she enjoyed immensely. Mary then returned to Roedean, which was at that time evacuated to the Keswick Station Hotel in the Lake District, to finish her education.
Mary went on to Girton College, Cambridge, where she achieved a First in French and Spanish. Following on from her degree, she joined the Foreign Office serving primarily in Germany and Burma. Mary then moved to work in Overseas Aid, and was particularly pleased with the Agricultural Institutions she set up in Mexico and Nepal.
Mary kept up her connection with the School, serving on Council from 1970 – 85, and on the ORA Scholarship Award Committee. Throughout her life she painted, gardened and sang, and her cheerful resilience was an inspiration. Mary Chevallier 1926 – 2018 Josephine Millar (Hamilton, No.3, 194245)
Gill Heslop
Sylvia Talbot Rice
Gill lived in Northumberland and when she left school she wanted to train as a doctor but this was forbidden by her father as two of his brothers, both doctors, had died in the First World War and he felt it an unlucky job to do. Instead she followed her great love of horses and worked with Fell Ponies training and showing them.
Born in London in 1931, Sylvia and her sister Poppy (Metaxas, No.2, 1944-46) were initially evacuated with their mother to New York during the Blitz, returning to England in 1943 to start at Roedean when the school was in Keswick.
(Robson, No.4, 1939-1946)
She married at the age of 20 and played many sports, most of which were for the County. Her favourites were tennis and badminton and in the winter she hunted 3 times a week and skied. As she got older she took up golf and again, played for the county. She had 3 children; 2 boys and a girl. Her daughter Judy (Heslop, No.4, 1965-71) followed her by going to Roedean. Her sixties and seventies were probably some of her happiest times as her husband had retired and they enjoyed long dog walks in Scotland and The Lake District and many golfing trips together. She remained a keen gardener throughout her life and whilst her husband tended the flowers she grew the vegetables. Family holidays were never taken in August “because of the raspberries....!” Judy Gear (Heslop, No.4, 1965-71)
(Metaxas, No.2, 1944-48)
Her final school report praised her musical ability; and after school she continued by studying the piano in Geneva (where she also danced with the Geneva Corps de Ballet), and later opera singing under the tutelage of Dino Borgeoli, a famous Italian tenor then based in London. She went on to sing as a soloist in various companies on tour around England and abroad, becoming a well-established solo artist. In 1961 she married Arthur Talbot Rice, who at the time was studying under the same singing teacher. They had three children and made a very happy home in Cowfold in Sussex, where in time she became a church warden and a very active member of the local community. In later life she moved to Hampshire to see more of her grandchildren, sharing with them her love of music. She was thrilled when her son Robert married Elspeth Lindsley, a fellow OR (No.2, 1980-85), who was also the daughter of one of her Roedeanian contemporaries, Elizabeth Lindsley (Oliver, No.1, 1945-53). She is survived by her children Victoria, Robert and Alexander, and by four grandchildren; and also by her sister Poppy who lives in California. Robert Talbot Rice 13
Dates for your Diary – 2018-2019 Monday 28 January 2019 6 pm
The Old Roedeanians’ Association Annual General Meeting The Caledonian Club, 9 Halkin Street, London, SW1X 7DR To be followed by a drinks reception. Please email Lois Johnson on membership-secretary@oldroedeanians.co.uk if you are planning on attending.
Monday 11 March 2019 6 pm
Governors’ Annual General Meeting The Caledonian Club, 9 Halkin Street, London, SW1X 7DR
Friday 15 March 2019 7.30 pm
Seasonal Spectacular Gala Concert Roedean Chapel
Tuesday 19 March 2019 4 - 6 pm
Careers Fair Roedean School If you would like to represent your sector please do get in touch with the Alumnae team alumnae@roedean.co.uk
Saturday 4 May 2019 4.30 pm
Brighton Festival Fringe Concert Roedean Chapel
May 2019 TBC
OR Afternoon Tea London – Venue TBC Please let us know if you can help with a venue
Saturday 22 June 2019 10 am - 4 pm
Roedean Day Roedean School - Our annual reunion day
September 2019 TBC
OR London Lunch
For more information and booking, please contact Grace: glc@roedean.co.uk. You can also call us on 01273 667398
Notices Regional Events and Representatives We would like to arrange more regional reunions with the help of regional representatives. If you would like to help arrange a reunion, or are interested in becoming a regional representative, then please contact Grace on glc@roedean.co.uk. The OR Magazine 2019 The Editor, Robyn Crabbe, is working hard on the next issue and would be delighted to hear from ORs with all their news and interesting stories to tell. Please contact her on magazine-editor@oldroedeanians.co.uk
Interested in becoming a Trustee for the ORA Scholarship fund? The ORA are looking for an enthusiastic OR to become one of the three Trustees of the ORA Scholarship Fund. The Scholarship Fund was set up 90 years ago originally to help the further education of leavers from Roedean. Since 1981 it has helped to fund a Sixth Form student. We are very keen to increase the funds available to us so that the award can be increased in monetary terms and maybe in the future it could fund more than one student. Although it is not necessary to have a financial background, any experience of fundraising could be very helpful. If you are at all interested and/or would like any further information then please contact the Trustees at trustees@ oldroedeanians.co.uk
2019 Roedean Calendar There are still copies available of the 2019 Roedean Calendar. This year the Calendar features School highlights and the travels of ‘Penelope’ the School Bear. Calendars are £7 by collection or £10 with UK postage. For international postage please get in touch. You can order a copy by contacting Grace Cather on either 01273 667398 or glc@roedean.co.uk or by sending a cheque payable to ‘Roedean School’ to The Roedeanian Office, Roedean School, Roedean Way, Brighton, East Sussex. BN2 5RQ 14
Roedean through the ages
Anna Augousti with her OR wedding guests
Danielle Pascoe - wedding photos, taken at Roedean
Cherrie Lau and fiance Lawrence engagement shoot at Roedean
Anna - while at school with ORs Sophie Bond and Jasperina Baharie
Danielle - while at school
15
Sylvia Lawrence – January
roedean.co.uk Roedean School, Roedean Way, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 5RQ Tel: +44(0)1273 667500 Registered Charity 307063