The weather has simply been wonderful this week, and I have enjoyed watching the girls take full advantage of the warm days and stunning evenings.
I am delighted that those students who took LAMDA exams in the last session have performed so well – these outstanding results are testament to the students’ nurtured talent and their dedicated approach. Particular congratulations go to Merla and Amelia in Year 13, who have both been awarded Grade 8 with Distinction in their final year at Roedean. Not only is this set of results impressive, but even more impressive is the fact that over 90% of all LAMDA exams over the last four years have been awarded with Distinction. Thank you and congratulations to our LAMDA teachers, and well done to all the students involved.
On Monday this week, it was a pleasure to welcome the hugely talented Netballer, Halimat Adio, to Roedean. Over 80 prospective students took part in this Admissions’ Experience Day, and I know that they had a wonderful day. I am grateful to the Admissions team and to the PE Department for organising and running such a successful day.
The School’s strength in Netball was definitely on show in both teams last Saturday, when an OR team took on the 1st team. Both teams played excellently in the sunshine, but the ORs’ greater experience allowed them to edge the win in the final quarter. Well done!
I am looking forward to this evening’s Fringe concert – good luck to Sarah, Elspeth, Julia, Alicia, and Ellen, the five soloists, and to all our musicians.
I hope you all have a lovely long weekend.
Year 12 Peer Listeners
Closely Fought 1st Team vs OR Netball
Marion Wins the Easter Cake Design Competition
Well done to Marion (Yr7). who won this year’s Easter Cake Design competition. Her amazing design was made into a cake by our expert pastry chef, Ruth Sambrook. Marion delivered, alongside her cake, over fifty easter eggs to the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital before the end of the Spring Term.
The recipients were delighted with the cake, and it was quickly shared amongst the staff who work so tirelessly every day. The Easter eggs were given to patients, and the family and friends who spent time at the hospital during Easter. This year’s theme was Woodland Wellbeing Days, after the special days the hospital runs for children managing challenging
health conditions. Marion wanted the cake to represent the outdoor aspect of the special activity days, along with being egg shaped in a nod to the season.
She said, “I do quite a lot of drawing and love to sketch. As soon as I found out the theme was woodland wellbeing, I thought of trees and made them a big part of my design. It’s great to see it come to life!”
Well done to Marion and thank you to all those who donated eggs for such a wonderful cause.
Astonishing LAMDA Results
Congratulations to all those who took LAMDA exams in the last session – again, they have achieved some remarkable results! Out of 42 entries, 35 were awarded Distinctions, and the remainder all achieved Merits. This level of success mirrors that of previous sessions – over the last 4 years, 92% of the 237 entries have been awarded with Distinction, which is truly exceptional.
Well done to the 23 students in Years 7 to 9, who achieved excellent results in this session, including the Year 7 and 8 Drama Scholars, who achieved Grade 4 with Distinction for Group Devising. The following are the results for those in Years 10 to 13:
Year 10
■ Sasha – Grade 5 Acting with Distinction
■ Claudia – Grade 5 Musical Theatre with Distinction
■ Stella – Grade 5 Acting with Distinction
■ Mia – Grade 5 Acting with Distinction
■ Molly – Grade 6 Acting with Distinction
Year 11
■ Charlotte – Grade 3 Musical Theatre with Distinction
■ Anna – Grade 5 Verse and Prose with Distinction
■ Sonia – Grade 6 Acting with Distinction
■ Chloe – Grade 6 Acting with Distinction
■ Jemima – Grade 6 Acting with Distinction
■ Lennie – Grade 6 Acting with Distinction
■ Matilda – Grade 7 Acting with Distinction
■ Jasmine – Grade 7 Acting with Merit
Year 12
■ Daisy – Grade 6 Acting with Distinction
■ Rida – Grade 7 Acting with Distinction
Year 13
■ Yuki – Grade 6 Verse and Prose with Merit
■ Amelia – Grade 8 Musical Theatre with Distinction
■ Merla – Grade 8 Acting with Distinction
Unsung heroes in the spotlight
garden'
and generally
These results are stellar overall, but particular congratulations go to Merla (Yr13), who achieved 100% in her Grade 8 Acting!
Well done to all the students, and to the LAMDA teachers who guided their students to this success.
Mr Wilson
Dr Barrand
Mr Edwin-Scott and the Grounds Team – for all their lovely work in repairing the pond, planting a 'secret
behind Design,
keeping all the beautiful flowers around the site thriving [Sky (Yr11)]
Year 12 Peer Listeners
‘This year, the Peer Listener team has been working hard to promote wellbeing and build connections across the School. We began with a training day with a qualified Psychotherapist, to develop key listening and support skills, and have since held weekly meetings to plan and reflect on our initiatives.
The Peer Listeners are present in the House 1 Hobbies Room during every activity slot, offering a friendly face and a safe space for conversation. Pupils can book in via the link in the Student Bulletin or just turn up to chat. We've also been visiting Year 7 tutor groups and leading fun, engaging activities to help younger students feel more settled. In addition, we’ve launched affinity groups, including an Islamic Society (ISoc), to create inclusive spaces for students with shared experiences.
Our outreach efforts continue with Year 7 and 8 group sessions, and we’ve recently begun attending boarding activities to support students more informally in their downtime. We are proud of everything we have achieved so far and are excited to keep developing our work over the coming weeks.’
Farah (Yr12)
Roedean Golf
As the blue skies, sunshine, and light winds make their welcome return in this early summer season, the fair weather Roedean golfers knew it was time to pick up their clubs and hit golf balls again.
While looking out over the wonderful English Channel, balls were struck in many directions and occasionally missed completely. There was lots of laughter along the way as the girls fine-tuned their skills and technique. The Roedean Golf Club takes place on Tuesday afternoons in Activity 2, and all ability levels and year groups are welcome.
Mr Wriglesworth
This Week in Boarding...
House 1 were keen to get back after the Easter holiday for their famous bingo night, full of friendly competition and great prizes! The girls have been loving the sunny weather this week, and even participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for mental health. A chilled weekend saw the boarders baking delicious cookies with friends and settling down to enjoy an evening of entertainment watching Britain's Got Talent. To make the most of the sunshine, the Housemistresses set up an obstacle course on the fields, with girls winning water balloons for each section they completed. At the end, the girls and staff had a big water balloon fight, with everyone getting soaked!
House 2 game night was back with a bang, as the girls participated in a very competitive game of Grabolo! Boarders have set themselves a mega jigsaw challenge, fuelled by snacks of course! I wonder how long it will take them to complete it.? As the sun has been shining over Roedean, the girls have spent a lot of time outside, playing outdoor games and a hilarious edition of the 'one word story' game! There were lots of colourful materials as those seeking shade from the weather had a calm afternoon stitching handmade scrunchies.
House 3 celebrated St George's Day with a treasure hunt and some very patriotic English flag toast –yummy! The girls have been doing a mini showcase performance for staff during lights out, and this week it was Grease! Adding to the many handmade decorations in House 3, the boarders crafted a summer/House 3-themed wreath, which is proudly on display for all to see. The ODR has been filled with some wonderful smells, as the girls have made pretzels for National Pretzel Day and hosted a hotpot banquet, with an array of delicious ingredients. The boarders have loved being back together, celebrating sweet 16th birthdays and having fun on Just Dance!
House 4 acknowledged ANZAC day with some delicious ANZAC biscuits, which went down a treat! On World Morse Code Day, girls were set a challenge and had to
work in teams to decipher Morse code messages. The House has been cooking up a storm, as girls couldn't wait for their favourite foodie evenings to arrive. Flipping pancakes was just the start of the fun, as girls had all their favourite spreads restocked and couldn't choose just one to top their pancake! As the weekend arrived, boarders debated over which toppings to add to their homemade pizzas – yummy!
Keswick boarders nominated each other to complete the Ice Bucket Challenge, all in aid of raising awareness for mental health – and a bit of fun in the sunshine!
Lawrence have been busy nurturing plants, and are hoping to soon harvest some mint and carrots! Although the exam season is almost here, girls have been making the most of the nice weather and taking their textbooks outside to revise in the warmth.
To celebrate St George's Day, the girls had a lovely afternoon tea, complete with a classic cream tea!
Miss Barnett
Eco Council Orchard and Pond Update –Plus a Call for Plastic Bags!
Exciting news – our Early Spider Orchids are starting to bloom! Plant No. 5 is leading the way with its flower spike, and we’re hopeful that the others will soon follow. If you notice the foliage beginning to die back, don't worry, this is completely natural. These orchids are native to Southern Europe, where they enter dormancy after flowering to survive the intense summer heat and dryness.
The Orchard is looking especially beautiful right now, with trees in full blossom. We hope you take the time to enjoy it!
While you’re visiting, you might notice that the pond has experienced an algal bloom. This is very common in new ponds and, although it might not look very attractive, it benefits the tadpoles by providing cover from predators like gulls. The algae also serve as an important food source for the tadpoles. To help manage the algae and prevent water quality issues (known as eutrophication), we’ve deployed an 'army' of solar fountains! The brilliant gardening team are now busy developing the bog garden and installing stone edging around the pond.
Eco Council Needs Your Help! As part of our Climate Action Day on 13 June, the Eco Council is hosting an exciting recycling workshop, and we need lots of plastic bags to make it a success! Please donate any spare plastic carrier bags (not the heavy-duty “bags for life,” please) by dropping them off with me in the History Office by 9 June. Thank you for your support!
Mrs Pashley
Last term, 160 Roedean students completed their Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze and Silver training expeditions in Ashdown Forest. The 103 Bronze participants took on a 2-day, 1-night journey, while 57 Silver participants tackled a more demanding 3-day, 2-night experience.
The expeditions were no small feat. Students carried up to a third of their bodyweight in rucksacks whilst hiking, navigated using maps and compasses, cooked their own meals, pitched tents, and worked together as a team through fatigue. Despite the challenges, they all pushed through and did an amazing job.
Taking part in DofE builds resilience, confidence, and independence, and equips our students with invaluable life skills that will benefit them far beyond the classroom.
A huge thank you goes to Mr Fieldsend, Miss Holmes, Ms Bartlette, Ms Harker, and Mrs Sturgeon for making the training expedition both enjoyable and a success. I have no doubt that they will be more ready and prepared for the assessed expeditions in June.
Mrs Finn
Closely Fought 1st Team vs OR Netball
Last Saturday, we had our annual OR vs 1st team Netball match. It was a glorious day for it, and lovely to welcome back lots of ORs.
It was an extremely closely fought match, with the current Roedean 1st team taking a 4-goal lead after the first quarter. The ORs got into their rhythm in the second quarter and managed to pull it back to a draw, so it was all to play for going into the second half.
The third quarter was goal for goal, and the current first team had the edge, leading by 1 going into the final quarter. Both teams were on fire defensively, making turnover after turnover for their team. The 1st team capitalised off theirs more in the first part of the quarter, extending their lead.
However, the ORs gave it their all in the last 5 minutes, snatching the win in the final minutes of play. The ORs ended victorious, taking the win 25-23. An excellent game of netball was played by everyone, and we are delighted that the OR team came back to School to play.
Mrs Hammond
Tennis vs Hurst
Summer had arrived for our first Tennis fixture of the year. It was a glorious day and we had 11 girls representing the School across almost all the year groups.
It was lovely to see all of the courts filled with girls playing tennis. For some, this was their first ever competitive fixture against another school. The girls played both singles and doubles, and
there was a mixture of wins and losses, but overall Hurst won the fixture.
Thank you to everyone in the team: Sela, Ottie, Erin, Lindo, Faye, Coco, Kayla, Amelie, Miranda, Mancy, and Alicia.
Mrs Patching-Jones
U12C Cricket vs Brighton College
On Wednesday, the U12C team took to the cricket pitch for the first time. For some of the girls, this was their first EVER game and the bubble braids were in and we were ready for business. We played Brighton College in a tightly-contested match. Captains Deema and Summer lost the toss, meaning we batted first. With lots of no-balls and wides, it was hard to score runs with the bat, but it was the captains who scored the most runs, both bagging their first 4s each! In our first ever innings, we put 248 on the score boards.
Heading out to field, the team were determined to keep BC's score down and they did just that. They bowled excellently, but it was their fielding that shone through. We took two catches and got two run outs, taking 20 runs off of BC's score, with a shout out to Mattie for her caught behind the wicket when keeping and Alia for hitting the wickets from a distance to take another! Unfortunately we couldn't keep them down enough, losing the game in the last two overs by only 13 runs.
It was an excellent first game and very exciting. I'm extremely proud of the team and look forward to seeing what they can do next. Well done team!
Miss Bamford
Isabelle in the National Hockey Finals
Isabelle (Yr8) finished her club hockey season on a high, helping both her HC Knole Park U14 and Women’s teams to win their respective leagues. To top it off, she also competed in the National Hockey Finals at the Nottingham Hockey Centre, where her team finished as U14 National Runners-up. Isabelle was also named the Player of the Match for her performance – what a fantastic achievement!
Mrs Wienekus
Diamond League Athletics
Last Saturday, we had the first official round of the Diamond League Athletics meet in Eastbourne. It was a fantastic day, with lots of our students participating, some for the first time.
Special mentions go to Sophie for getting a PB in Javelin, Matilda for winning the Shotput, a PB for Andrea in the High Jump, and Amber for an outstanding performance in 100m.
It is looking to be a very exciting, promising season. We wish our athletes the best of luck at the second round this Saturday.
We welcome contributions from all parts of the Roedean community. If you have something you would like featured in the Head’s Weekly Review, please email: aws@roedean.co.uk
