Roedean’s Festival

Celebrating Inspiring Women 2023

2023 is the 125th anniversary of the founding of the School on this site by the Lawrence sisters. Their founding ethos, that this school should provide girls with an outstanding education to empower them and prepare them to make their mark in society, makes marking International Women’s Day all the more important this year.

They had the courage and creativity to imagine a school that, even years later, was still described as a ‘sublime act of faith’. In many ways, they were trailblazers, who believed that young women should have every opportunity to excel, and we are fortunate that ‘Nelly, Dolly and Milly, the Lawrence sisters, saw visions and had the courage to follow the gleam.’

At this year’s festival, Roedean is proud and delighted to welcome twenty-one speakers, all of whom are at the forefront of their careers – they cover a range of topics, catering to diverse interests and passions. We are also pleased that Roedean students and staff will be joined on this day by our Year 10 Roedean Academy students from local state schools.

We hope that today’s talks are both exciting and enlightening, and that they inspire our students to take full advantage of the opportunities they have, and to have the self-belief to chase their dreams.

Dr Ross Barrand Deputy Head: Co-Curriculum and Partnerships