Head's Review - 15 May 2026 - Issue 4 by Roedean School

HEAD’S REVIEW

Head’s Introduction

Roedean has wholeheartedly embraced Mental Health Awareness Week! There have been activities every day in which our students and staff have been able to prioritise and focus on their wellbeing. These include spending more time outside in nature, mindfulness activities, making pebble art on the beach as part of Wild Fridays, Staff Yoga, a workshop with an external speaker, and, as this year’s theme is Take Action, we asked members of the Roedean community to make pledges about how they will proactively take action to support and look after their mental health this week. I am grateful to Miss Orrells for overseeing this week’s activities, and I am pleased that the community has engaged so well with them.

Congratulations to all those who took part in the charity SkyWalk on Tuesday. Twenty-three Year 9s took on the exhilarating challenge of stepping out onto the top of the pod of the i360, to raise money for their year-group charity, Raystede. From a height of 138 metres above the ground, they were able to look down on the city and out to sea. The girls loved it, and this endeavour has added valuable funds to their total raised over the course of the year, which is now well over £5000!

It was a pleasure to welcome prospective families to Roedean on Saturday, and the day was a great success. The families were toured around the School, visiting departments and finding out about the wide range of activities which our girls enjoy every day, as well as getting a brief insight into how wonderful it is to be educated in our remarkable location. In the presentations, which focused on the girls being empowered, encouraged, and engaged, our newlyappointed Head Girls, Charlie and Nathania, led a Q&A session with younger students, and everyone enjoyed a high-energy extract from last term’s show, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I have also visited Eaton House School and Marlborough House Vinehall School this week, and we have hosted the Head from Somerhill School at Roedean, forging even stronger links between our schools.

On display on Open Day was Roedean’s F24 electric car. The club has seen the girls hard at work fine-tuning its design and efficiency, ahead of a race at the Goodwood motor circuit on 24 May. I am delighted that the club has also recently been awarded sponsorship by the Henry Royce Foundation, which is an impressive accolade - good luck for next weekend!

SkyWalk on the i360£5246 Raised

Henry Royce Sponsorship for the Roedean F24 Car

Wild Friday and Saturday Sailing

Unsung heroes in the spotlight

Each week, many wonderful things happen at Roedean, about which many in the school are perhaps unaware; this section of the weekly review is dedicated to ‘unsung heroes’, in order to draw our attention to these people and remind us that our community is special.

Miss Griffiths for a fascinating Academic Lecture on ‘Could you be manipulated? Most hackers don't need code - they need an acting class and a phone’ (Ms Ibanez Barcelo)

Parents' Guild Social

The Parents' Guild hosted a social at School this week - there was a lovely atmosphere at their flower arranging workshop, and the results of their work are amazing!

Dr Barrand

Charlie on the Big Screen at the Royal Albert Hall!

Straight after Open Day, Charlie in Year 12 set off up to London to perform in the Royal Albert Hall: 'On Monday 4 May, I sang at the Royal Albert Hall as a part of the worship team my church's Leadership Conference. I had a pretty major week beforehand, playing a solo in the fringe concert, but even though I was recovering from a hectic

weekend, I was very excited and full of energy to perform on the same stage as Jaqueline du Pre, Shirley Bassey, and Beyonce! I had an amazing time and to my surprise, I did not feel nervous. I am so grateful for this opportunity to show my faith in a form that I love, music, and I cannot wait for what the future has in store!'

Amara and Ottie (Yr9) for being proactive in organising a collection of revision notes from students sitting exams, so that they can be re-used by others at a later date (Dr Barrand)

Charlie (Yr12), and Jemima and Hannah (Yr10) for a lovely performance of Oceans by Hillsong Worship in Chapel (Dr Barrand)

Year 9 Charity SkyWalk on the i360 - £5246

Twenty-three Year 9 and four members of staff undertook the SkyWalk this week, to raise valuable funds for their year-group charity, Raystede.

Everyone was incredibly positive, some facing and overcoming their fears, and we all had a brilliant time. We were lucky that the weather was glorious, and it was fantastic to be able to watch the sun slowly setting, while taking in the very different perspective of the city and the sea from 138 metres above

Congratulations to everyone involved, and thank you to Miss Joslyn, Miss Keeble, and Dr Barrand, and to all the parents who came to support the event. The year-group have raised £5246 for Raystede so far, which will make such a difference to this local charity - if you would like to donate, please use this link »

Mr Wilson

Wakehurst Trip

Roedean is situated within the South Downs National Park, which provides us with a unique opportunity to immerse ourselves in the natural world. In Biology, we aim to embed ecology and plant studies as an important part of the curriculum, including understanding the ethical and economic importance of Biology in a changing world. As we are lucky to be situated so close to the most biodiverse place on the planet (the Millenium Seed Bank) this year, we ran two trips to Wakehurst Botanical Gardens for Year 12 and Year 7.

The Year 7s looked at plant reproduction and the various strategies plants have evolved to produce and disperse seeds. It also included a walk around the gardens and an exciting visit to the Wakehurst laboratory, where our students had the opportunity to use microscopes to investigate plant reproductive structures. Here is what two of our Year 7s had to say about their trip:

'I enjoyed the part of the walk where we sprayed leaves with water and learned that evergreen plants have waxy leaves, and that some of them have a drip-tip to prevent water staying on the leaf.' - Arianna

'We learnt about lots of plants, but my favourite was the horse-chestnut, because when the flowers aren’t pollinated they are yellow, and when they have been pollinated, they turn pink. Bees can’t see pink, so they aren’t attracted to the pink flowers, but they can see yellow.' - Bella

The focus of the Year 12 visit was to learn about the important work of the seed bank in ex situ conservation, alongside completing fieldwork to investigate biodiversity. The scientific research carried out at Wakehurst could help develop plants that are more resilient to the challenges of climate change, protect species from extinction, identify new medicines, and even discover plants most suitable for growing food in space.

By linking classroom learning with realworld scientific research, these trips helped inspire curiosity and deepen our students' understanding of the vital role plants play in our future. We are grateful to Wakehurst for providing such engaging and memorable experiences for our students.

Mrs Andrew

Henry Royce Sponsorship for the Roedean F24 Car

At the start of the year, a group of Year 11 and Sixth Form girls took the Roedean F24 car to Dunsfold aerodrome (the Top Gear test track), where we raced against fifty other teams, some of which were university-supported teams.

Before race day, the girls had worked hard to replace the electric motor, and improve the brakes and tyres. It was a wet and windy September day, but the car, and the team, performed brilliantly. The car finished the race, an improvement over its last outing, and it was a far better performance than many which didn’t.

This year, the car is entered for an event at Goodwood on 24 May. Over the course of the year, the team has worked to improve the aerodynamics: that nosecone doesn’t exactly cut through the air!

We recently test drove the car around the hard courts in order to give the girls experience of how it handles. It looks and feels faster already, and the next step is to improve the air flow across the wheels and through the rear triangle.

We are delighted that we have recently heard that the Henry Royce Foundation (of Rolls-Royce fame) have agreed to sponsor our car to the tune of £500, which will most certainly enable us to make further improvements for next year. Well done to everyone who has been involved, and onwards and upwards!

Mr Hawthorne

Mental Health Awareness Week

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, the girls have been encouraged to take part in Wellbeing Bingo, a series of challenges that allow them to look after their wellbeing by taking action to prioritise balance.

It has been wonderful to see so many girls actively engaging with these activities, particularly since we have end of year examinations next week.

Thank you to one of our amazing Year 9 Art Scholars, who designed the postcard that these challenges were printed on.

Fantastic Design Trip to Berlin

Our recent trip to Berlin was a brilliant way to kick off the summer, immersing ourselves in the city’s rich tapestry of art, design, and history. We began with a vibrant walking tour, winding through Berlin’s modern architecture and historical heart.

The Berlin street art, alongside the Urban Art Museum, was truly inspiring, as we discovered vibrant murals and creative graffiti that transform Berlin’s streets into a dynamic open-air gallery.

Visit highlights included the iconic Reichstag, redesigned by Norman Foster, and the Jewish Museum, designed by Daniel Libeskind. Its innovative architecture, with angular forms and

voids, mirrors the fractured history of the Jewish experience in Germany. As we wandered the zigzagging corridors and powerful spaces, each exhibit told a story of both loss and resilience.

We also enjoyed the contemporary works in Berlin’s Museum of Modern Art, and had a blast at the Spy Museum, unlocking hidden intrigue behind the Cold War. Thank you to everyone who joined us – your enthusiasm made this adventure truly unforgettable!

Ms Orrells

Mrs Quirk

Golds in the Junior Maths Challenge

The Junior Maths Challenge results are in! This competition required students in Years 7 and 8 to test their logical thinking and solve difficult mathematical problems under timed conditions.

Special congratulations go to Thea in Year 8 and Izzy in Year 7, who were both awarded Gold! With a score of 90, Thea has also earned an invitation to the Kangaroo follow-on round.

Eight students received a Silver award: well done to Amanda, Siri, Scarlett, and Veera (Yr7), and Deema, Ayase, Tabitha, and Eve (Yr8). A further six achieved Bronze. Congratulations to everyone who took part.

Mrs Hopper

Mr Halsey's House of

Games Competition

Keeping the theme of popular UK quiz shows alive, this year was time for our very own House of Games, and what a brilliantly bonkers battle it was! With quick thinking, clever clues, and a few very imaginative answers, all four Houses threw themselves into the competition. A huge well done to House 2 for winning.

Mrs Finn

Our New Prefect Team Leads Chapel

Charlie: We are your new Heads of school. Our goals this year is to be a friendly face you can approach in the corridors, to support you through all aspects of school life, and to try to figure out this whole ‘prefect’ role. My name is Charlie, and you will probably find me in the Music department, studying for my Chemistry A Level, or screaming at the top of my lungs for House 2 in any event, so, if you ever want any advice or just a catch up, I will always be here to help.

Nathania: Hello everyone, my name is Nathania, and both Charlie and I are here to keep it real. I think both of us have experienced last-minute homework panic and exam-season stress ourselves. But one thing we won’t be panicking about is the Roedown Instagram. Please make sure to follow and keep your eyes peeled for upcoming posts and stories! You can catch me in Keswick playing UNO with my friends or working with microscopes in Biology, but you are always welcome to stop me for a chat. We’ll always be here to listen, value your ideas, and, occasionally, remind you to wear your blazers.

Charlie: We are lucky enough to have a whole Head of School team supporting us, and to give you a chance to get to know them better, we are going to hand over to the different sections for them to tell you more about their plans for the next academic year.

Nathania: The year ahead brings big opportunities, big ambitions, and, yes, a few butterflies too. Thank you for your trust. We’re ready to make this year a successful one.

Lennie: For those of you who haven't met me as a peer listener or trying to organise House Shout, my name is Lennie and I am thrilled to be your Head of School Team: Pastoral this year. Pastoral is the space that allows each of you to thrive in and out of the classroom, and I am overwhelmingly proud to introduce our team.

Ellie our Lower School Prefect hopes to integrate pastoral and herself into your daily lives. She's excited to be your biggest supporter at every achievement, from performances to matches. Ellie is a bubble of fun and of valuable wisdom,

and she is looking forward to organising the time capsule next year.

Next we have Lilli, our Upper School Prefect, who knows the weight of balancing academic stress and social life. She understands the importance of individual support, and hopes for you to build your own goals and be able to communicate what makes you feel supported. Lilli intends to make sure you know and have access to the pastoral care you need.

Valerie, our Sixth Form Prefect, is aiming to guide new Year 12s through a buddy system built on similar aspirations and interests. As a direct peer, she knows how overwhelming and opportunistic Year 12 can be, and she hopes that this partnership will bring them lots of support and helpful advice.

For the past two terms, I have been delighted to work with each of them as peer listeners and I am eager to be taking on the Big Sister programme. Our team will be focusing on student integration and your journey at Roedean. We hope our efforts will allow you to feel empowered, so eventually you may lead and leave Roedean as your most confident selves. We are very excited to talk to you all and that, by this time next year, you will relate our faces to feeling safe and supported.

Farwa: Good morning everyone! My name is Farwa, and I am your Head of Academic & Enrichment Prefect this year. Alongside my incredibly talented team, we’re so excited to help every part of your school life.

Our two amazing Academic Prefects, Rhea and Athena, are hoping to make academics feel more exciting, from supporting exam confidence to launching a brand-new research programme for those in the younger years.

Our passionate Co-Curricular and Events Prefect, Megs, will be bringing back the long-awaited Roedean’s Got Talent, so if you’ve secretly been waiting for your main-character moment, this is your sign to start preparing now.

And finally, our energetic Sports Prefect, Katie, hopes to bring back the Tonbridge sports socials this year, and introduce more beginner-friendly clubs, so everyone feels welcome to try something new.

And there is so much more we all want to do. But, by the end of this year, we don’t just want people leaving with grades or achievements, even though that is great: we want people leaving with stories. So whether your thing is academics, sport, performing, creating, or discovering something completely new, we hope we can give you that opportunity.

Melissa: Good morning everyone, My name is Melissa, and I am your new Head of School Community Prefect. I’m so grateful to be standing here today alongside my amazing team. I am joined by three incredible Prefects.

Millie, our innovative Boarding Prefect, will focus on making boarding life vibrant, supportive, and full of spirit. She’ll be bringing new socials, themed evenings, and fun activities into boarding life, to make every House feel like a true home away from home. We’ll also soon be gathering your ideas for House competitions tailored to what you enjoy, while helping bring boarders and day girls closer together and making the whole school feel more united.

Xena, our committed Diversity & Inclusion Prefect, aims to promote a welcoming school environment where you can feel confident being who you are. One of the things that makes our School so special is our diverse cultural backgrounds, and this year, we hope to open even more opportunities and ways for you to share your culture as we are eager to celebrate together what matters to you.

Elspeth, our compassionate Charity Prefect, hopes to encourage more creative and meaningful fundraising across and beyond the School, whether that is charity stalls with handmade crafts, community events, charitable quizzes, or completely new ideas that you want to bring to life. She wants charity work to feel fun, collaborative, and something everyone wants to take part in.

More than anything, we want this year to feel connected and inclusive for everyone. While grades are important, School is also where you make friends, express yourselves, and grow by learning to appreciate one another. That is what we are here for, to strengthen this community and this sisterhood, and to create a place where everyone truly feels they belong and is free to thrive.

Wild Friday and Saturday Sailing

The Year 8 Wild Friday sailors have just finished their rotation with ten students achieving the RYA Youth Stage 1 - congratulations!

The Year 7's Wild Friday sailors enjoyed going afloat for their first session last week in perfect conditions for a first sail.

The Saturday Sailors have also been practising points of sail and working together on racing starts.

Miss Carr

U15B's Narrow Defeat to Ardingly with 9 Balls Remaining

The U15B Cricket team hosted Ardingly College in a first like-for-like fixture between the schools in this age group, which shows the progress girls cricket is making in Sussex.

Ardingly won the toss and put Roedean in to bat, with Martha and Ying opening for the home side. Martha started well and raced to 13, with 3 boundaries on the leg side before being run-out. Ying was bowled a decent delivery and went early, which brought Janelle and Bea to the crease. The ship steadied and we were looking

U15 Tennis vs Ardingly College

Three of our Year 10 doubles pairs travelled to Ardingly College this week to play in some friendly Tennis matches. The girls performed extremely well throughout the afternoon, with Avril and Serena wining their opening match 6-2, before taking their final match all the way to a tie-break!

The standard of Tennis was exceptionally high, and all the girls adapted brilliantly as the matches went on, with several closely contested sets and some excellent rallies. Honor also competed in singles matches, and finished strongly with a 6-4 victory in her final game. This was a great experience for the U15s, and it was lovely to watch the highquality Tennis played against a challenging opposition.

good for a target towards 120. Bea remained not out at the end with 18 runs, and Grace made a cameo appearance at the end on 8 not out.

Into the field Roedean went and early wickets were needed to get off to a good start. Luciana obliged with a very accurate delivery to dismiss their opener. Flo came into the attack at first change and took another wicket as Ardingly were two down for not many. In strode their number 4 batter who picked up and dispatched anything on her legs as she raced to 29 runs to propel her

side into ascendency. Joy however had other plans as she came into the attack and bowled her through the gate to give Roedean a sliver of hope. Ardingly needed 6 runs off the final two overs, which they finished off swiftly to win the match by 5 wickets.

Batter of the Match - Bea

Bowler xof the Match - Ying

U13E Cricket vs Hurst

The U13E team played a great Cricket match against Hurstpierpoint College on Wednesday.

The girls batted first, and had some excellent hits, scoring several 4s! They showed excellent progression from their first week of Cricket, scoring a respectable 263 in their second match of the season. During Roedean's turn to field, they faced all the elements, from sun, wind, rain, and even hail!

Although their fielding was cut short, in the three Hurst batting pairs faced, Farhana got another wicket from them, and the girls improved their fielding so much from their first match.

The game was called as a draw due to the adverse weather conditions. Despite this, the team should be so proud of how far they have come in such short time.

Mr Campleman

Miss Webster

U13A Power-Hit their Way to their First Win of the Season

The U13A Cricket team hosted Brighton Girls in their first match of the season at a sunny Roedean. We won the toss and put Brighton Girls into bat. Maisie and Chloe opened the bowling - Chloe took two early wickets alongside tight bowling by Maisie. Izzy and Charlotte carried on with disciplined bowling and kept their bowling tight. Lottie bowled brilliantly to take two wickets later on and, combined with the excellent fielding by the entire team, restricted Brighton Girls to 287.

Maisie and Tilly opened the batting and put on 14 runs between them, Roedean were off to a good start. Brighton's 2nd change bowlers bowled accurately and kept the Roedean batters stuck at the crease with dots. Flo and Izzy came in as the third pair and batted very well, scoring freely and propelling our score back on track. This was followed

The final pair of Charlotte and Lottie stepped to the crease to attempt to chase down 24 runs required to win the match. 7 came off the first over with tight bowling by Brighton Girls. 6 runs off the 2nd last over meant that Roedean required 11 runs off the last over. First ball, Lottie powered a 6, second ball 4 runs, third ball 4 runs, Roedean won the match and the team celebrated ecstatically on the side.

Well done to both teams for a thrilling match and a game that went down to the final over.

Batter of the Match - Lottie, ending on 28 runs off the bat

Bowler of the Match - Chloe, ending with figures of 2-2-12

We welcome contributions from all parts of the Roedean community. If you have something you would like featured in the Head’s Weekly Review, please email: aws@roedean.co.uk

Congratulations to this week's sporting stars: