31 January 2025 – Issue 4
HEAD’S REVIEW
A Big Carrot
Head’s Introduction
On Tuesday this week, both students and staff enjoyed a variety of activities to celebrate Lunar New Year. I am grateful to Kaitlin, one of our Heads of School, for organising these; thank you also to those Sixth Formers who ran the activities, which included Chinese calligraphy with ink and brushes, Mah Jong, origami, and paper decorations. It was lovely to see so many students and staff getting involved. There are some lovely reflections in this review on how important the Lunar New Year celebrations are to those from a range of countries in South-East Asia. A section of this week’s Chapel services was dedicated to marking Holocaust Memorial Day, which was this week. Ms Benton-Stace read a quotation from the famous diarist, Anne Frank, whose poignant memories reflect the experience of many of those persecuted in World War II. A number of Sixth Form students have also shared their thoughts in this review about the importance of marking this day each year. I am delighted that our Year 13s are continuing to receive excellent offers for a whole range of universities and courses. After a long wait, the Cambridge offers came out yesterday, and our congratulations go to Flora, Julia, and Carrie, who are now holding offers to study Veterinary Medicine, Computer Science, and Architecture respectively. Earlier this month, Mairi also received an offer to read Medicine at Oxford, and there have been a good number of excellent offers in STEAM subjects this week, highlighting the fact that Roedean students continue to buck the trend in pursuing subjects in these fields in large numbers. Congratulations to our Year 13s! Our annual Roedean Academy programme was launched this week. 15 Roedean students hosted 75 like-minded Year 10 students from six local state schools, all of whom have high aspirations and are keen to be challenged intellectually. The first session included discussing a range of social dilemmas in groups, as well as a tour of the School. I look forward to hearing the students’ reactions following the exciting modules over the next few weeks. Good luck to Sorcha, Saffron, Bella, Greta, Georgia, and Andrea, who travel to Roedean South Africa for their three-week exchange this weekend – I have no doubt it will be a wonderful experience. Good luck also to Charlie and Ellen, who are performing in the Finals of Sussex Superstars on Saturday. I wish you all a restful weekend.
It's Full STEAM Ahead for Roedean's University Hopefuls! Lunar New Year – A Celebration of Unity and Tradition
U13C Triumph vs Brighton Girls