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News > School News > The December Roedean Round Up!

The December Roedean Round Up!

A round up of news and achievements from Roedean this month.
29 Nov 2021
Written by Harriet de Bene
School News

Remembrance

Lest We Forget! The School held two very poignant services to mark Remembrance Day, and also marked the two-minute silence at 11:00 in the Front Quad. Here are some extracts from our services, which were designed to give students some context to Remembrance Day:

Silence is a fitting commemoration for those who died in war. For those who had endured four years of fighting, the first two-minutes must have echoed the moment when, a year before, the noise of battle had ended across Europe. Silence is a special thing. It makes us stop. It gives us time to think. It is not always easy to be left alone with our own thoughts. You may not be sure what to think about. That’s okay. You might like to spend the time thinking about what your life would have been like if you had been alive during a World War, or simply being thankful that you have not had to endure the horrors that others did, or even wondering how you would respond if the call came for you to take up arms against an enemy. Even if you think of nothing, the fact that you stop and stand and are silent means that you help to keep alive the memory of those who fought and died, and by remembering the worst of our human past you can help, in some small way, to build a better future. Marta (Yr12)

 

5 Golds in the Senior Maths Challenge!

Year 12 and 13 mathematicians recently participated in the UKMT Senior Mathematical Challenge, which requires students to use logic, mathematical strategies, and skills, to solve a variety of problems. The results are now in, and our students have done us incredibly proud. Five students achieved Gold certificates, fifteen more achieved Silver, and thirteen achieved Bronze. The top scorer was Kristina from Year 13, with a near-perfect performance! All our Gold certificate winners – Kristina, Alyssa, Gulang, Grace, and Betty – have earned places in follow-on rounds, congratulations to everyone who took part!

 

The Beat Goes On Samba Workshops

All of Year 8 took part in Samba workshops in their tutor-groups on Tuesday – each group had just 50 minutes to learn the new skill of both playing the percussion instruments and mastering the Samba rhythms, and the progress they made was outstanding. It was lovely that we were able to welcome about thirty Year 6 pupils from St Mark’s Primary to take part in the workshop too – they loved the experience and picked it up brilliantly. At the end of the day, each of the groups showcased their newly-learnt skills to their peers, and the result was excellent. Congratulations to everyone involved, and thank you in particular to Ollie from Beat Goes On, who led all of the sessions so well and with boundless enthusiasm!

 

Ceramics Masterclass with Alice Mara

Just before half-term, we were delighted to welcome Alice Mara to Roedean, to run a ceramics masterclass with our hugely talented Year 7 and Year 8 Art Scholars. The groups made small clay beach huts, using a slabbed clay and precise mitre-edged cutting method. Alice also gave a lunchtime lecture on the career of her late father, Tim Mara, an esteemed printmaker and former Head of Print at the Royal College of Art. From a young age, Alice was an integral part of her father's work and she appears in many of his prints – his artistic process was clearly a huge influence on her work. Well done to all of the Art Scholars – they did brilliantly, and had a great time doing it!

 

Life Drawing with Jake Spicer

Last Saturday, fifteen Year 11, 12, and 13 Art Students attended a wonderful one-day drawing workshop with life-drawing expert Jake Spicer – he runs the well-established Draw Atelier in Brighton and is the author of 10 books on the subject. The students were guided through a sequence of short poses, and, working directly from the model, they learnt a range of drawing techniques and ways of seeing. In the afternoon, work focused on longer more sustained poses. The quality of the work produced at the end of the day was exceptional and will support our students with their GCSE and A Level coursework.

 

Headmaster’s Lecture - In conversation with OR Tanya Streeter

It was Roedean's great pleasure to welcome this term Tanya Streeter (Dailey, No. 3, 1986-91), albeit virtually from Texas, to Roedean, as the speaker in the third of our Headmaster's Lecture series. Wearing her badge-festooned school blazer and House 3 tie, she spoke brilliantly about being the reigning world record-holding free-diver, and also about her passion for reducing plastics in the world's oceans. Tanya spoke in a most engaging way, completely off the cuff, and her talk was interspersed with reminiscences about her time at Roedean, which clearly had a strong impact on her. The Q&A session included some very insightful questions for Tanya, concerning her experiences of diving, as well as her environmental work. In everything that she said, there were two things in particular which resonated with many of those listening: the first was Tanya's encouragement for everyone to 'redefine their limits', by which she meant that we should all try to push beyond what we think our limits are in order to discover where they really are; secondly, she referred a number of times to having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, self-belief and self-doubt, and how we should allow ourselves to listen more often to the angel, rather than being pulled down by the devil.  It was an excellent lecture, and we are very lucky to have heard from Tanya – thank you! (Photo Credit: Lawrence Curtis) 

 

St Mark's Reading Buddies

Our St Mark's Reading Buddies are enjoying working with the pupils at our local primary, supporting their reading and building their confidence. Well done to everyone involved!

 

 

Sport 

Our sports teams are enjoying great successes at the moment, particularly the U14B Hockey team, which has remained undefeated this season, our U13A footballers, and the U12A and U15A Netball teams, who have made it through to Round 3 of the National Cup and Plate – well done!

 

An Evening with Annie Leibovitz

On Monday 29th November, parents, students, and staff, both old and new, joined together in Keswick Hall to watch a livestream from The Barbican of Annie Leibovitz in conversation about her new book, Wonderland. This book is the first time she has bought together all her fashion photography. Her career has spanned decades, and covers a range of photographic styles, including reportage, studio, and music photography. She has a long-standing relationship with Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone magazines, and her images have graced their covers on numerous occasions. This is the first time she has really brought together all her work on fashion, and we are therefore really excited that we have a signed copy of her book on its way to Roedean. We hope the students will be able to pop in and use it to support their studies in Fashion, Photography, and Art, and a lovely evening was had by all.

 

Print Exhibition

The Art department welcomed students, staff, parents, and trustees to a wonderful display of the girls' print work, including etchings, screen-prints, linocuts, and digital print. The exhibition featured work from students from Years 11, 12, and 13, who are studying a range of courses, including GCSE Art and A Levels in Art, Textiles, and Photography. Some of the work by our A Level Fast Track students was in response to The Royal Academy's attRAct challenge. The exhibition was an excellent celebration of all their hard work over the last term, and it showcased the exceptional standard of work that they produce.

 

 


News from the Houses

House 1

The last half term in House 1 has been spent preparing for Christmas and they even had a party a monthearly so everyone could celebrate together before going home to their families. House 1 also enjoyed watching their fellow members perform in the All Together Now event so much so that most went back to watch for a second night!

House 2 

House 2 celebrated Diwali by colouring in Rangoli patters before enjoying some traditonal Indian snacks made by a parent. The girls in got into the Christmas mood by decorating the House, making gingerbread houses and the House 2 choir sang 'Stille Nacht' in the ODR in German! The House came together beautifully this Christmas, displaying so much talent and a real sense of House 2 spirit.

House 3

House 3 feel like they are the House which does not stop partying! They had a jam-packed term celebrating Day of the Dead, Diwali, bonfire night, thanksgiving and Christmas! Congratulations to House 3 for being runners-up for the best overall House in the Christmas decoration competition with their Narnia theme.

House 4

The girls in House 4 spent their term with events including clubercise, pamper nights, a Halloween party, Diwali acitvities as well as baking for Children in Need and Christmas cookies. Throughout the term the girls have shown their strong characters, versatility and determination.

Keswick

Despite the term being filled with UCAS forms and university interviews, Keswick House still managed toa win the prize for the best Christmas cheer. Keswick House also produced a wonderful nativity for Senior Team to watch from the magnificent hall. 

Lawrence

Lawrence ladies enjoyed the Sixth Form Snow Ball and had a fabulous time dancing. In Novemeber, Roedean launced a bake-off competition for charity. Lawrence House used their mascot, the Polar Bear, to inspire their fantastic cake which included a rainbow inside. No wonder they won the best decortation and wow factor prize.

 

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