HEADS INTRODUCTION

The first half term of the academic

year has been excep�onally busy. I

am delighted that we have been

able to get a number of new ini�a-

�ves off the ground this year.

The new Community Ac�on Pro-

gramme for 6.1 girls sees all our

sixth form making a difference in

the local community and broaden-

ing their own understanding of chal-

lenges people face across the area.

It is the start of pu%ng Community

Service at the heart of the school.

We have also started our Triple H

programme (Head, Heart and

Hands) for U3, L4 and U4 to ensure

that thinking skills, community ser-

vice and prac�cal skills are embed-

ded within the curriculum. We know

that the girls love the sessions in

subjects as diverse as sign language,

cookery, philosophy and photog-

raphy.

The third new ini�a�ve is our new

Co-educa�onal Enrichment Pro-

gramme. We are invi�ng organisa-

�ons from the local area to provide

addi�onal ac�vi�es to Roedean girls

and girls and boys from others

schools. It means that we have been

able to add lacrosse, Go-Cart con-

struc�on, song wri�ng, football, hip

hop and theatre workshops to our

provision. We look forward to

watching all these new ini�a�ves

develop in the future.

A key event this half term was our

Founders’ Day Service. The school

represented itself so well and gave

those visitors who had arrived to

commemorate loved ones a sense

of the importance and value Roede-

an places on its former girls and

staff and their family and friends. It

was sad to pay tribute to our former

Headmaster, John Hunt, but won-

derful to have his two sons in school

to see how well the school is going.

Our Open Day and Brighthelm

events were wonderful occasions

this year and our busiest ever. We

welcomed over two hundred and

fi:y families to Roedean. We are

delighted that the news about

Roedean is spreading and gener-

a�ng interest. It simply is a wonder-

ful place to grow, to learn and a fan-

tas�c community to be part of.

I hope you enjoy reading a li;le of

what is happening back at school.

Please do get in touch if there are

any ini�a�ves you would like to get

involved in or hear more about.

As always, we hope to see you back

at school for an event, tour or reun-

ion soon. Please see the OR events

calendar in the accompanying QUAD

for full details.

Best wishes,

Oliver Blond

EXCITING START

The first week of a new academic year

is always an exci�ng �me, old faces

return with smiles and confidence as

friendships are reunited, and new faces

emerge with mild trepida�on yet an

overwhelming sense of adventure for

what the Roedean journey might pre-

sent.

For staff, the new school year is equally

an exci�ng and anxious �me, but per-

haps more so this year as we waited to

see if the changes that had been put in

place would work and create a be;er

environment for the girls. I am delight-

ed to report that seeing the girls in

their now smarter uniform, mee�ng

tutors, and all going to Chapel together

looked fantas�c and provided the

structure and purpose to the start of

day that we wanted. This, coupled with

the buzz of the teas in the Houses at

the end of school, wrapped up a su-

perb, meaningful first day back.

We will be con�nuing to review the

provision for the girls in all areas of

their lives at school, be they academic,

pastoral, or co-curricular. We also look

forward to welcoming you to some of

the many events in and around the

school over the coming year. Helen

Semple, Deputy Head, Pastoral

MASTER TEACHERS’

OPEN CLASSROOMS

This year, we launched the role of Mas-

ter Teacher to a;ract the best teachers

to Roedean and to provide opportuni-

�es for the teachers already here.

The Master Teacher role is all about

providing inspira�on and innova�on. It

involves taking a specific area of re-

sponsibility, leading in-school training

sessions, sharing good prac�ce and

undertaking research in school and

through Sussex University. We hope to

share more about them in the future.

Our Master Teachers recently opened

their classrooms to the rest of the

school. The variety, energy and passion

for their subjects is inspiring. There

was a buzz around the school of en-

couragement, enthusiasm and sharing

ideas.

ACADEMIC SIXTH FORM BRIGHTHELM

SCHOLARS

We are delighted to welcome ten stu-

dents from the local area to join Roede-

an as our Sixth Form Brighthelm Schol-

ars.

SIXTH FORM LECTURES

The weekly lecture programme for the

Sixth Form has started with a diverse

range of talks this half term. Three

talks covering literature, forgiveness

and Romanian orphanages and how

although they are not in the news like

they used to be, there is s�ll a need for

charitable support. The most recent

was given by Shaun A;wood, who

made millions on the stockmarket but

became bewitched by popularity, drugs

and too much money, ending up im-

prisoned and ruined. His salutary mes-

sage about drug use was very clear.

The Lecture Series will run throughout

the year—if you or someone you know

would be interested in giving a talk,

please do get in touch with the school.

ACADEMIC

OUR MP AT ROEDEAN

Mr Simon Kirby, our local MP, took the �me to come to Roedean on Friday 3rd Oc-

tober. He was very humble, telling the audience that he’s “not much of a role mod-

el” although his story is obviously one of “hard work and determina�on”; he was a

council house boy from Has�ngs with the mindset of “if you want some-thing done,

you’ve got to do it yourself”.

Although Mr Kirby seemed to be all for the idea of more women in Parliament, he

did seem to be quite taken aback by the hard-hi%ng ques�ons being fired at him

from the sea of young women. True to Roedeanian tradi�on, the girls did not hold

back when ques�oning our MP about issues such as drug abuse, tax cuts, homeless-

ness, building on the Sussex Downs, how to get more people to vote, and “why

Conserva�ves?”. However (a:er catching his breath), Mr Kirby delivered factual,

considered and logical answers to sa�sfy the bloodthirsty Sixth Form Poli�cs stu-

dents. The turnout was fantas�c, with girls from all year groups and all subjects

listening to the Lecture. We are grateful to Simon Kirby for taking the �me to speak

to us, and also to Mr Chu;er and Mr Thompson for making this possible; it was a

fantas�c opportunity for all the girls to get their teeth into the wider world and

poli�cs. Marisa Abela, 6.2

Weekly boarding is the best experience

I have ever had. I am always busy and

there is never a dull moment. It is so

great to spend my school nights with

my friends, we can help each other

with homework and talk about things

that are going on. I have been weekly

boarding for a year and I love it. I live

in London and every Friday evening a

member of staff escorts us from Bright-

on sta�on to London Victoria. There is

an escort from Victoria to Brighton on

Sundays too, and I always arrive with

enough �me to relax with my friends

for a while and then go to bed.

One of the best things about weekly

boarding is that I am completely school

-based on school nights. This is great as

I don’t have to worry about ge%ng to

and from school each day and remem-

bering my books and sports kit. Then I

can come home and spend a great

weekend with my family a:er a busy

week at school.

The boarding houses have just finished

a huge refurbishment and everywhere

in the houses is incredibly comfortable,

stylish and modern. All the rooms look

stunning and have plenty of space for

everything. The house staff are always

there if I need someone to talk to, and

every single one of them is really kind

and helpful.

I have made so many good friends

since star�ng weekly boarding. We

have fun every day, even if it’s just be-

ing in each other’s rooms, talking about

our favourite shops or si%ng in the

common room watching a film, we al-

ways enjoy ourselves. I can’t put into

words how much I love it. Julia Hinton

EVENING ACTIVITIES -

WRITING TO ORS

A group of H4 boarders spent their

evening with old fashioned pen and

ink wri�ng to some of the Old Roede-

anians who would have walked the

corridors of their House in the 40s,

50s and 60s.

They wrote about what they like

about Roedean and about boarding

and asked our former students what

it was like for them at Roedean and

what they liked best (and what

pranks they got up to!). The girls

were fascinated to see pictures from

these decades and hear about the

visits from the Queen Mother and

Princess Margaret. They were par�c-

ularly taken by the changes of hair-

styles that happened over the years.

BOARDING AT ROEDEAN

RACE FOR LIFE

We are delighted that through dona-

�ons, the sale of T-shirts, wrist bands,

and refreshments the grand total

raised for Cancer Research last year

was £1937.65, which is outstanding!

I smile when I think of how many stu-

dents, staff, parents and families came

together on a lovely sunny day – what a

day to remember!

Thank you all for your support of the

event. Jane Chandler

SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP -

CITY ACADEMY WHITEHAWK

For the past term, a group of Upper 4

girls have been helping a class of Year

1s learn to read in neighbouring prima-

ry school, City Academy Whitehawk.

We have each been assigned a buddy

with whom we read a few books each

week and record their progress. This is

a really great opportunity both for us

and the children at the school to get to

know each other, improve our mentor-

ing skills, and get involved in the com-

munity. We have been given guidelines

to help to teach our buddies, and some

of us enjoy adding our own crazy ac-

�ons and dance moves. It has been

really nice to remember what it is like

to be a beginner at reading and this has

helped us remember not to give up

when finding things hard. It is also

great to see them improve a li;le bit

each week. Briana and Lucy

KIDS COMPANY

Following a visit from Camila Bat-

mangehlidjh, the founder of Kids Com-

pany, on Saturday 11th October, two

minibuses arrived full of 10-12 year olds

at Roedean. These were children who

have rarely travelled beyond the limits

of the estate they live on and for whom

a trip to the seaside is an unknown lux-

ury.

Seventeen children and their helpers

were met by Roedean staff and over 20

girls from across the school and were

quickly engaged in a range of ac�vi�es

from trampolining to launching �ssue-

paper hot-air balloons and rockets that

they had made. The boys and girls

loved every minute of their short visit

to Roedean and many of them said they

didn’t want to leave.

Kids Company, provide prac�cal, emo-

�onal and educa�onal support to vul-

nerable children and young people.

They reach 36,000 children across Lon-

don and Bristol, including the most de-

prived and at risk whose parents are

unable to care for them due to their

own prac�cal and emo�onal challeng-

es.

www.kidsco.org.uk

BEYOND THE GATES

The four Houses produced a quartet

of highly entertaining and unique

pieces, involving almost all girls either

on or off stage. There were two Snow

Whites, a mentally ill clown and a

mysterious criminal, all carrying the

main stories in an evening themed as

Tales of The Unexpected. The judges,

from Reigate Grammar School, St

Paul’s Girls and The Na�onal Youth

Theatre had a memorable evening,

they gave all the Houses excellent

and bespoke feedback, eventually

awarding the coveted Becky Clarke

Cup to House 4. All the Houses

should be rightly proud of their

efforts : amid the fizz and chaos of

the evening it is worth remembering

that the journey was a significant

one. Jay Green

HOUSE PLAYS

House Drama stormed The Theatre,

equal parts high energy and uns�n�ng

commitment to the cause.

THE WINTER PRODUCTION

This is our major produc�on this term

and we are absolutely delighted to be

the first school in the world to be

granted the rights to Kneehigh’s fabu-

lous Tristan & Yseult, currently running

on Broadway.

Featuring girls from Years 9-13, as well

as boys from the Brighton area, the

produc�on runs for 3 nights, from 8–

10 December at The Roedean Theatre.

Tickets are £5 with all proceeds going

to the Royal Marsden Cancer Unit and

are available on 01273 667510 or �ck-

ets@roedean.co.uk Follow us on

Twi;er @roedeantheatre

MUSIC AND DRAMA EVENTS ARE OPEN

TO OLD ROEDEANIANS TO ATTEND.

FULL DETAILS CAN BE FOUND IN THE

OR CALENDAR IN THE QUAD.

EXTRA CURRICULAR

Eulogy for John Hunt—given by Jonathan Hunt at Founders Day

2014

“The poem I am about to read was wri;en by Prunella Stack and some back-

ground to her, and her link with Roedean, is relevant. Prunella’s mother found-

ed the League of Health and Beauty around the end of the 1st World War which

was the forerunner of all the fitness movements since then, par�cularly for

women. She was a leading light in a number of areas, and was head of the

League in the 1930s, when she was known as Britain’s ‘Perfect Girl’. She came

each year to Roedean to talk to the Sixth Form about the League bringing one

of her demonstrators with her. She herself was a superb example of fitness and

beauty, as well as fun. Her son, Iain Douglas Hamilton and her granddaughter

Saba Douglas Hamilton are wildlife experts in Kenya specialising in ele-

phants). My parents remained great friends with her (and Iain) throughout my

father’s life. Jonathan Hunt

THE JOURNEY

By Prunella Stack

Where are you going? To a place I’ve heard of

Far away?

A life�me’s journey

How will you find it? I’ll recognise

As untouched shore With a brimming sea.

How will you get there?

My sails are trimmed

My stores are ready I wait for the �de.

Will you be met?

Ah! that’s the ques�on.

Stars will lead me

To find the answer.