22 June 2018 - Issue 9
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Head’s Introduction Yesterday we welcomed all the girls who will join Roedean in Years 7-9 in September - it was a stunning day, and it was fantastic to see how excited they all are about coming to Roedean. They had a great time, working together in group activities, learning a song to perform to their parents in about 30 minutes, and roaming around the site solving clues. At the same time, their parents met Senior Staff, their daughter’s new Tutor, and House Staff. I am sure that everyone will have left yesterday very confident about how smooth the transition to Roedean will be in September. I am grateful to the Admissions Team for organising a highly successful day, and to all of our girls who were involved. Congratulations to all those who performed in the Finals of Roedean Musician of the Year on Monday. The standard was remarkably high, and these performances were the product of years of dedicated practice and focus - I was very impressed and moved by the performances. My particular congratulations go to Martha W (Yr12) who won the Grade 8+ class with a brilliant performance on the Oboe, and to Freya S (Yr12), the runner-up who showed, as the judge noted, that she has the heart of a musician. Well done to the winners of every category, but importantly, to all those who performed in the competition, whatever the outcome. The standard and quality of all performers was wonderful to see and their performances across the board were appreciated and admired. Well done to Mr Rous who accompanied the players in the most advanced class with seeming ease, and to the Music Department for another wonderful showcase of Roedean musicianship. I very much enjoyed the Academic Mentoring presentations given by 22 Year 9 and 10 students on Wednesday. I was delighted to see the range of interests which come to the fore when students are given the freedom to pursue whatever they want - we had presentations ranging from investigations into female aviators and the paranormal, to debates about America’s gun laws and Artificial Intelligence. Well done to everyone involved, and I hope that this scheme, overseen by Miss Kazem, has whet your appetites to dig beneath the surface of other interesting and challenging topics. The last GCSE papers have taken place this week, so well done to all in Year 11, and good luck to those sitting the last A Level papers on Monday. Good luck too to all those in Year 10 who are off on their Silver DofE expeditions this weekend, and to you all for an exciting and varied Activities Week. Tomorrow is Roedean Day, one of the most important days in our calendar, when girls, parents, Staff and Old Girls come together to celebrate and showcase the best of Roedean. I am very much looking forward to hearing from our Guest Speaker, Kate Richardson-Walsh, tomorrow and to celebrating the achievements of many students in Years 7 to 10 at our two Prize Giving ceremonies. It will also be great to see the exhibition hockey matches on the new All-Weather pitch, before enjoying Sports Day in the afternoon. Good luck to you all for the last week of term!
Year 11 Social Year 11 celebrated the end of their exams in style with a lovely evening in Keswick. There was food provided and some excellent music – a great way to end what has been a challenging time. A special thank you to all of the Year 11 team for supporting this event and even bigger thank you to those in Year 11 that attended. You have worked so hard over the past 5 weeks and now have a very long holiday to wind down from the exam experience.