7 June 2019 - Issue 6
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Peter Pan
Head’s Introduction Two important highlights of the week have involved looking backwards in time and looking beyond Roedean. On Thursday, we held a special service in the Quad, overlooking the English Channel, to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. The impact of the readings and hymns while overlooking the sea on a bright morning was very moving. Not only is D-Day a highly significant event in twentieth-century history, the fact that Roedean housed a Naval training base in World War II gives D-Day particular significance for us. The servicemen and women at Roedean would have watched the boats and ships as they departed across the Channel to the Normandy beaches. The School remembered those who served and their sacrifices along with a great many other services across the world. Also on Thursday, we delivered our first set of freshly cooked meals to the homeless in Brighton. One of our aims is to make deeper and more significant connections with the local community and I am delighted that we have forged a strong connection with local charity, Off the Fence. Our Catering Department prepared 50 additional meals yesterday, which were taken to the homeless in Brighton. I am very grateful to our catering department and Mr Weir for helping to take this wonderful initiative forward. As with St Mark’s and all our Community Action Projects, everyone at Roedean feels strongly that they want to be part of the local community. Well done to everyone involved.
We have only been back from the half-term break for a week, but I know that everyone involved in Peter Pan is working very hard to get ready for the show, which will include a number of the girls ‘flying’ in the Theatre. Looking back to half term, it was wonderful to be part of the Leavers’ Ball, and for the girls in Year 13 to be able to round off their school careers with a fantastic event on the i360 and in The Grand. I understand that the small group of Sixth Form girls who went on a cultural trip to Berlin over the break had a brilliant time - there can be few European cities which can be more of a meltingpot culturally and historically.
The challenge is for every girl in school to walk 5 kilometres (there is an option to walk 10 kilometres too!) – if everyone were to raise £15, that would meet our £7000 target.
Please see page 2
The fantastic weather has meant a fantastic week of sport, both in and out of School, with athletics and tennis practice and fixtures, and a football tournament. It is also great to hear of Roedean girls’ individual sporting successes. We also hosted an admissions event on Thursday, the Visual and Performing Arts Experience Day, and the girls who came had a wonderful day of workshops, culminating in a lovely performance in the Theatre - they really did achieve a great deal in a short time. Today, it has been a pleasure to welcome to Roedean those new members of staff who will be joining the School in September. I wish you all the best for next week, in particular to the cast of Peter Pan!
Roedean Charity Walk – can we raise £7000? In the last week of term, the whole school will be taking part in a Charity Walk, to raise funds for our two brilliant school charities, Plan UK and St Mark’s Library. We have been able to make a massive difference to both of these – we have already raised £21,000 since September, so thank you and well done!
Roedean marks D-Day 75 years on
Lunch for Off the Fence – a brilliant initiat ive
Please see page 4
Leavers’ Ball – a fantastic send off
The girls will be asked next week to choose whether you want to walk 5 or 10k, but we hope that family and friends will sponsor the girls to help raise lots of money for our charities – if you would like to do so, please use this link: https://roedean.wufoo.com/forms/5kschool-charity-walk/ Thank you in advance for your support – we really appreciate it! Please see page 3