School Highlights

Congratulations to Bella, Clara, Liv, Rose, Amy and Jemima, our incredible sea-swimming team, on completing their Cross-Channel relay. The girls left Dover just after 11 pm on Wednesday 15th June, and taking it in turns in hour long stretches, they reached the beach near Gap Gris in France at 12:45 pm on Thursday 16th June. Before their swim, the girls took on hours of training, spending time acclimatising to the cold water and building their endurance. This laid the foundations for their outstanding achievement, but all the training in the world could not have prepared them for the reality of setting off on this adventure in the dark water of the open sea under the moonlight. But as a team, which had bonded over time through this shared experience, and brilliantly supported by Dr Hobbs, Miss Wakeling and Mr Serafimov, they did it! Jemima, Head Girl, and Swim Team member, shared her thoughts on the experience: On the first day of Channel-swim training, way back in April, we gasped as we entered the icy water – at just 10.5 degrees, we lasted 20 minutes and came out with rattling teeth and “ice-cream head”.

So it was hard to believe that in two months we would be ready to cover 28 miles as a team of six! But we persevered with our early-morning training, and with the enthusiastic and positive support we received from Dr Hobbs, Miss Wakeling, Miss Bamford, Miss Johannisson, and Mr Serafimov, we transformed into a strong and determined team, ready to take on the wildest waves and even the dreaded jellyfish. Swimming 200m to a deserted beach in the dead of night was surreal, but turning to wave to the boat as I reached the shore felt magical in the light of a beautiful strawberry moon. Exhilarated, at 11.10pm, I began my first swim from Samphire Hoe beach towards the little boat that was waiting to follow us to France! My second swim, at dawn, was tough against the tide, but swimming in the light of day was less disorientating – although it meant I could see all the jellyfish lurking in my path! And yes, they did sting! By far the most arduous was my third hour – Dr Hobbs had just explained to me that for our swim to be officially recorded, I needed to swim very fast and hard against the strong tide to get us back on course. And we made it! I was even accompanied by a dolphin for part of the way – perhaps it was a guiding spirit? I am now the proud owner of a tiny French pebble! My shoulders were killing me for a couple of days though – but it was worth it for the fantastic welcome we received from everyone at School on our return, and for the amazing amount of money donated to the Ukrainian appeal. Thank you!

Roedean is celebrating national recognition in the prestigious Independent Schools of the Year awards for 2022. With competition fierce across the twenty-two different categories, we are delighted that Roedean is on the shortlist in four categories: • Independent School of the Year for Performing Arts (Music and Drama) • Independent School of the Year for Sporting Achievement • Independent School of the Year for Community Outreach • Independent Girls’ School of the Year The awards celebrate excellence and the remarkable breadth of opportunity and holistic approach in independent schools. We are hugely proud of the entire school community, and look forward to the list of finalists being announced on 7 September.

Our main School production, Matilda, was a triumph, even more so as it had double casting. This meant that we had the opportunity to see two different Matildas, Miss Trunchbulls and Miss Honeys, each with their own interpretation of the characters. Congratulations to Mrs Woodbridge, both casts, and the backstage crew.

With the School too large to all fit in one place on site for Speech Day, it has been a number of years since we have been able to hold one for everyone together, and with Covid, a few years since we have been able to have Speech Day at all. So it was fantastic to all celebrate together at the Brighton Dome on the last Wednesday of term. The range of prizes and awards, coupled with the varied performances and student reviews, presented an exciting snapshot of the Roedean experience. Sharing her experiences and the journey she has been on since leaving Roedean, our guest speaker, Beatrix Ong MBE (No. 3, 1992-94), offered a strong message which was relevant to every student there: if you want something enough and you are determined to achieve, give yourself permission to go for it!

To mark Pride Month, we held a special al fresco assembly in the Quad with the theme ‘what Pride means to me’. During the assembly, the Pride flag was raised on the flagpole, and there was a brilliant performance of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way by a group of singers from across the School. The Pride celebrations continued throughout the day, with a collaborative art installation, a lunchtime lecture on the History of Pride, and PSHE lessons providing an opportunity to learn more.

Students in all year groups were joined by primary school children from City Academy Whitehawk and St Marks Primary for our first Literary Festival in recent times. The students were challenged with creating a book aimed at a primary school audience in just one day. The day started with workshops delivered by a range of authors and illustrators from the fiction and non-fiction world. The students learned many skills such as how to focus on character voice and how to storyboard a plot. After this, they got into their groups to plan their books and assign their roles, with support from the authors and illustrators. After lunch, the School became a flurry of creative energy, with pupils creating their books in almost every classroom. The collaboration and creativity were wonderful to see, as were the care and thoughtfulness of the relationships with our visitors. In just two hours, the books were complete and submitted for judging by the Book Nook. Judging was incredibly difficult because the quality was so high, but the winners were The Unicorn Who Lost His Horn by a group of Year 9 students and Fred Saves the Zoo by a group of girls from Year 10.

Having been postponed in December due to high winds, May finally saw 6 students and staff members take on the i360’s 165-metre abseil. Congratulations to Sophia, Jemima and Molly (our outgoing Head Girls and Charity Prefect in Year 13), Mr and Mrs Wilson and Dr Barrand.

Sophia said, ‘Best birthday present ever – what a great way to celebrate my 18th!’; Molly said, ‘I was so nervous before, but then when it started it was amazing!’, and Jemima added, ‘I won’t forget this in a hurry, and I love that the School is supporting such important charities.’ As part of the abseil, the School donationed £1500 to Raystede, a local charity protecting animals from neglect and abuse, and one of our School charities.

We had two teams competing in the Brighton and Hove Athletics Championships this summer. The Inters, made up for four Year 10s, and one Year 11, and the Juniors, made up of one Year 9 and five Year 8s, who competed up a year. The girls had a brilliant day in both track and field events, with lots of new PBs made. Pearl and Elodie both won their races, and a big well done goes to Ruby, who won all 4 events she participated in! Both relay teams also secured first place. As a result, the Inters won their age group overall, the Juniors came overall 3rd, and Roedean won the Relay Cup, and Jumps Cup.