25 February 2022 – Issue 7
HEAD’S
WEEKLY REVIEW
Serena and Sophia at Roedean South Africa
Head’s Introduction
Race Around the World – Admissions Experience Day
Welcome back after half-term. I hope that you all had an opportunity to rest and spend time with family and friends, the importance of which has been brought into stark relief over the last week. There can be no doubt that we are living in troubling times, as the invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world. We must continue to hope that governments around the world will work tirelessly for peace and stability. For those with connections to the conflict, I encourage you to share any worries you have, so that we can do our best to support you and your families. Roedean’s diverse community is one of its great strengths, and it is more important than ever that we stand together and support one another. The storms at the end of last week took their toll on our buildings, and I would like to thank and congratulate both staff and students on the positive way they have responded – many colleagues came into School to ensure the site was safe for the students to return, and they had a whole range of issues to resolve. As a result, certain areas of the site have been cordoned off for safety reasons, and access routes and lunch timings have had to change, but everyone has accepted these inconveniences with good humour and understanding – thank you, and well done. Our Assemblies and Chapel services this week have focused on LGBT+ History Month – both students and members of staff shared their role-models in Assemblies, and our Chapel services addressed Section 28. The services ended with the congregation singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz together. Thank you to the staff and students who have contributed to all the activities which have been organised to raise awareness this month. It has been our great pleasure to welcome visitors to Roedean for a number of different events this week. The Admissions Department hosted a highly successful Race Around the World event yesterday, and the 34 Year 5 and 6 pupils who came had a fantastic time throwing themselves into a range of fun and engaging activities throughout the day provided by the Modern Languages and Classics Departments. We also welcomed our Year 8 parents to speak to their daughters’ teachers – not only are these points of contact so important when considering a shared approach to our students’ development and progress, but the pandemic has meant that it is a long time since some parents have actually been at Roedean. Congratulations to our sports teams this week! It is fantastic that so many students are having the opportunity to represent the School, and our teams have enjoyed some excellent wins this week. Particular congratulations go to the U15A and U13A teams, both of which have progressed to the Semi-Finals of the National Plate Competition – well done on this brilliant achievement, and we look forward to hearing about further successes over the coming weeks! Looking ahead, there are a number of exciting events coming up over the next few weeks: we are looking forward to seeing the students dressed as their favourite book characters on World Book Day to raise funds to update the stock at the St Mark’s Secret Garden Library; thank you in advance to everyone for the part you will play on Open Day next Saturday; and, the week after next, we have our International Women’s Day Festival, and The Romance and Tragedy Concert. I wish you all a great weekend, and good luck for next week.
U13A through to the SemiFinal of the National Plate!
Isabella & Pearl are ENG Netball U16 Southern Finals Champions