Head’s IntroductionAmidst the bright sunshine on one day and torrential rain on the next, the written public examinations have begun this week, at GCSE and A-level, and I am delighted to hear that they have gone well. The girls’ hard work and thorough preparation have given them the secure knowledge to tackle them with confidence. 28 exams out of a total of over 150 have been completed, but next week will be a very busy one, and some of the girls in 6.1 will be in the enviable position of having finished all of their exams before the half-term break. Next week will also be a full week of internal school exams for the younger year-groups. I wish everyone the best of luck.

Next week will be the last full week in school for the girls in 6.2, and I am looking forward to sharing their celebrations on Friday 22nd. The day will begin with a champagne breakfast, at which the ORA President will present each girl with a badge, as a symbolic token to represent their on-going connection with the school even after they have left. The Leavers’ Chapel is led by the girls in 6.2, and is followed by their last hand-shaking. In the evening, we will all enjoy the Leavers’ Ball, held in The Grand in Brighton - it will be a wonderful event.

As ever, this week has been packed full of trips and sporting competitions, and I am very pleased that the girls are continuing to throw themselves into a wide range of activities at this busy time. I wish everyone a great final week before the half-term holiday.

HEVER FEVER!Yesterday, the whole of U3 boarded a coach bound for Hever Castle. Despite advance notice of cold, wet weather, we were in high spirits as rumours of the Water Maze and gift shop rippled back through the bus. On arrival, we first had a tour of the castle itself, which had been the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. We saw some beautiful original 15th and 16th century woodwork, as well as hearing some salacious gossip about the various infidelities and machinations of the Tudors! After the

castle, we had a packed lunch and played some games in a cosy cabin as the rain really set in. By 1pm, it was really raining hard, so we felt there was only one sensible choice: play in the water maze! The bedraggled girls said of the day that it had been “historical and hysterical” and “wet, but worth it”. All were in agreement that it had been tremendous fun, but that a warm bath was definitely top of the evening’s priorities!

Helen Boobis

JJ Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Awards

15th May 2015 - Issue 22

Francesca in the NYT

Francesca Amewudah-Rivers (6.2) has been cast in the headline National Youth Theatre production for their 2015 season. It is a new play, based on the recent ‘Operation Trojan Horse’ account that was in the news about radicalisation in schools. It will directed by Nadia Latif, who is known for edgy contemporary drama. The play deals with themes such as sexism and racism, and challenges Western ideologies. The script has yet to be finished, and the location has not been confirmed, but it will certainly be in central London, and perhaps in a school which was affected by radicalisation.

The performance dates are 14th-29th August. Francesca is obviously delighted with this news, and we are very proud of her achievement – this might be the start of her road to stardom!

Defining Beauty in Greek ArtThe day after the most exciting election night in recent history, we had the good luck to be in London for the day. We made a decision to go to the British Museum via Westminster, and so we walked along Whitehall and peered through the gates of Downing Street; it was a first time view for all the girls there. The atmosphere was

electric and, despite being too early to catch a glimpse of David Cameron, it felt as though we were part of an historic day. This feeling was enhanced by seeing all the preparations along Whitehall for the 70th anniversary VE Day procession later that afternoon.

Heading on to the British Museum, we visited the ‘Defining Beauty’ exhibition, followed by a lecture from the exhibition’s curator, Ian Jenkyns. The combination of seeing the sculptures beautifully set out and lit, being able to walk round them and compare them with one another, and then hearing about them in greater detail from the curator, made for an excellent revision session of the Greek Sculpture and Architecture module in the upcoming AS examinations. Learning about a beautiful bronze full-size statue, found in the Adriatic in the 1990s, and hearing of the fate of a 1920s’ copy of the Greek original which ended up hidden in a European museum having been an inspiration to Hitler, was fascinating. I urge you all to visit this beautiful exhibition running at the British Museum until early July.

Science Department NewsThe department have been involved in a number of the Royal Society of Chemistry Competitions this year. At Upper Sixth level, Aanya Hirdaramani and Kathy Tang were awarded Silver, with Onton Chan, Stephanie Chan, and Hindy Lai gaining Bronze in the fiendishly difficult Chemistry Olympiad. Two teams of Lower Sixth chemists travelled to the University of Sussex for the Schools’ Analyst Competition, where they had a day of practical chemistry, and, towards the end of this term, all the AS Chemists will be taking on the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge. Last Wednesday, a Lower Five group – July Liang,

Alya Mohamed Fauzi, Victoria Nathan-Maister, and Loretta Sargeant – attended Kingston University for a Chemistry practical Challenge, where they were placed sixth.

The highlight of the year so far has been in the Top of the Bench Competition, an annual national event for two Upper Fours, a Lower Five, and an Upper Five. Sharon Law, Emily Townsend, Melissa Dyson, and Berniya Hamie guided us to the National Final at Loughborough University by beating thirty-six other schools from Sussex and Surrey. In the final, competing against thirty-two schools from

all over Britain (and one from Belgium), they finished in a most creditable 10th place, our best performance since 1998.

On Friday 5th June, we are hosting a Primary Schools’ Science Day for Year Five pupils. The theme of the day is Colour. The day will finish with a lecture demonstration by Hal Sosabowski in the Theatre from 4.00pm to 5.00pm. If you have any contacts with local primary schools and know of any who would be interested in bringing a small group, please contact me.

Andrew England

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U4 in Derbyshire The Y8 Derbyshire trip was a huge success last week. 22 girls and 5 staff endured the wind and rain to make a magical visit to the historic towns of Buxton, Eyam, and Bakewell. This report is a compilation of what the girls wrote about the trip:

On Tuesday we went to Derbyshire. It was really fun. We went on hikes, petted goats outside our bedroom window, got lost in Bakewell, and lost Clara in a puddle. We loved it, even though we got rained on every day!

On the fi rst day, we woke up bright and early, and excited with our huge jammed-packed suitcases! The coach journey was six hours long, but we got through it with singing, a stop at the service station, and lots and lots of food. When we arrived, we completed an orienteering course to run off the eff ects of the coach journey, and then spent some time in our rooms unpacking. We quickly realised there was no signal or Wi-Fi at all!! After dinner, we then went on a 5-mile hike which was the highlight of the trip. There was a small river and we all waded in in our wellies – it was so much fun until Clara fell in face-fi rst!! We all then went straight to bed.

First of all on day two was cake-decorating, which was yummy, even though most of us ate the wafer daisies before they were put on the cakes! Secondly, we completed an English workshop, where we read three extracts from diff erent books. The books were about the historic plague that started in Eyam, a village we were visiting that day. After reading the extracts our task was to create a poem about the suff ering that the village people witnessed. Here are three examples, written by Grace, Clara, and Katrina:

I wish it was me, not her

I wish it was me who lies on the bed

I wish it was me who had the illness

I wish it was me who was dead,

I wish it was her, not me

I wish it was her sitting here, watching me

I wish it was her who could breathe

I wish it was her who was living.

Ring around the roses

Can’t breathe through our noses

Hear our cries

Watch us die

We all fall down.

Where I lay is where I sleep

I am the sacrifi ce of the disease

In the darkness is full of need

For the forgotten is how you live

Tis the sorrow tick upon the hour

There will be no white light until my soul devoured

For the pain you deserved to see is the indignant that must lead

Daylight is near but my strength is never there

Sympathetic people in my life will just be

A nightmare

For the things that is forbidden is how I am living

I am the loved one that is weeping

But don’t worry ‘cause the angels are peeping

After that, we headed out and climbed a mountain to get to a cave where a hermit lived. We then went to a shopping centre in Buxton, and, after a short walk, we came to an ordinary looking fountain that supplied the most delicious water, Buxton water! After dinner was games night where we played bingo and jenga – a fun night was had by all.

We woke up bright and early on Thursday morning, expecting a lovely sunny, warm day, but we were met with rain, rain, rain, and more rain. We headed off to the church of Eyam, all wrapped up in our gloves, scarves, and wellies. It was very interesting, and we visited a small ice-cream shop afterwards where we all had the most delicious homemade ice-cream. Later on, we visited the town of Bakewell, where we spent time interviewing local people about the area and tourism. At the end of the day, we were all shattered, but, back at the hostel, Mrs Robins managed to get us back out to play an incredibly fun game of rounders. It was a great and everyone enjoyed it, but the grass was so slippery that when Pippa dived for the best catch she fell fl at on her face.

We had an amazing time in Derbyshire and have made memories that will not easily be forgotten. We made new friendships and strengthened ones we already had. Congratulations to team Trids for winning rounders on day three. We would like to thank Mrs Robins, Mrs Williams, Miss Holliday, and Miss Triddon for coming with us and making this trip so fantastic.

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Aegon Tennis: Roedean vs St Bede’sDespite the cold, wet weather, the girls were ready to play. Paula Rodriguez-Valbao had a tough first match and her opponent was strong and powerful. Paula played some lovely shots, enabling her to equalise on games. Unfortunately, St Bede’s managed to push ahead, winning the set 6-3.

Yelena and Ami Finnegan and Hana Al-Arari all worked extremely hard in their singles matches, but unfortunately, in the tough conditions, were unable to hold out against St Bede’s.

During the doubles matches, Yelena and Paula worked extremely well together, calling for the ball and ensuring they knew where the other was on the court. Hana and Ami put up a fantastic fight and worked their opponents around the court.

Many other Roedean girls showed great enthusiasm and also turned up to play matches against St Bede’s. It was lovely to see so many girls filling up the courts.

U14 Mayfield Tennis TournamentOn Saturday, Anna Kachmazova, Maria Perez Tabarnero, Amber Pennington, and Renesha Srichawla competed in the Mayfield U14 Doubles tennis tournament in Eastbourne. Teams were entered by Mayfield, Woldingham, Kent College, Walthamstow Hall, and Lingfield.

All four girls played extremely well, and had other schools questioning who they were throughout the day. Amber and Renesha won 4 out of their 6 matches, which placed them 3rd in their pool, narrowly missing out on a place in the semi-final by 1 point. Anna and Maria stormed through their matches, winning 5-0 in five matches and 4-1 in one. They then went on to win the semi-final, meeting Mayfield As in the grand final. The final started out close, with Roedean and Mayfield 1-1 after some exciting rallies. Mayfield was the more consistent team in the end, winning 4-1. All four girls should be proud of their efforts, as this is only the second time they have played together.

Beach Volleyball vs Burgess HillOn Thursday, Roedean met Burgess Hill at Yellowave for the second time this term. 10 Roedean girls from U5, 6.1, and 6.2, competed in two teams, and, after easy wins previously, the girls’ were keen to challenge themselves, having only 4 players on the court at once. They quickly took to playing in the new formation and we again had convincing wins from both teams in 6 out of the 7 matches. Special mention goes to Catherine and Anna who had strong serves that were hard for Burgess Hill to break. Congratulations to all girls, who are now looking forward to a triangular tournament in the coming weeks.

Netball wins for the Fnnegans at HurstLast Sunday, a tournament was hosted at Hurst in aid of a netball coaching outreach trip to African netball associations. Local teams were competing against teams from Essex, Oxfordshire, and Berkshire – the netball was of a very high standard, with several teams present having recently qualified for the national clubs’ final. Freya Finnegan played for the Mid-Sussex team that won the U14 tournament. Making it a family affair, Amalia and Yelena Finnegan were both in the CD Phoenix team that won the U12 tournament.

A great start to the Athletics seasonAmber Anning has had a great start to her athletics season: she is presently ranked number one on the UK for 100m (12.4 secs), 300m (40.32 secs), and Triple Jump (10.98 metres). She is also second for 200m (25.18 secs), 5th for Long Jump (5.30 metres) and 19th for High Jump (1.55 metres). Clearly, she has huge potential as a multi-eventer – maybe she’ll be the new Jessica Ennis-Hill!

Last week, at the ESAA Milk Cup at K2, Amber leapt 11.68 metres in the Triple Jump. This would have been a UK U15 Girls’ record, however disappointingly the competition is not recognised by England Athletics. Nevertheless, Amber now knows what she can achieve this season! We wish her all the best.

Sussex Schools’ Track and Field CupOn Tuesday, a team of twenty-five girls from U3 to L5 attended the Sussex Schools’ Track and Field Cup, where they competed against other schools from East and West Sussex. The Junior Girls’ team placed 4th in East Sussex, while the older girls performed excellently well, despite not having a full team, and came 2nd in East Sussex! Special mention should go to the following:

J■ Amber Anning won the 200m, as well as Triple Jump, where she achieved a distance of 11.68m – the points that Amber gained from these events mean she has achieved a Platinum Badge for the Track & Field Schools’ Cup.

J■ India Terras performed exceptionally well in the 200m and the Junior relay team, and her times for these events earned her a Golf Award

J■ Pippa Wilmott took 1st place in East Sussex for Shot Putt, and also was a member of the Junior relay team, earning her a Gold Award.

All girls put in a real team effort to ensure they placed in the top 5 of East Sussex, and should be congratulated for their camaraderie and enthusiasm. We now need to wait to see if the Inter Girls’ team have qualified for the Regional round which will be held in June!

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