E-weekly Issue 221 - 10 February 2023

Message from Miss Beary

I am, as you know, always one who encourages girls to fill their time in school by doing things and more importantly doing things collaboratively.  We have had such a long period of enforced segregation of year groups that it is both exciting and a little daunting for the girls to be able return to working together; some skills are a little rusty. Today I had a visit from a group of Year 12 girls keen to re-establish opportunities for senior girls to spend time with the younger girls in Lower School, building on their current input into the Life Skills programme. Student Council raised similar requests that we find more time for Sixth Formers to share their experiences of GCSE; not least strategies that work for revision, and coping with the inevitable stress of examinations.  Structures have been put in place, and we will continue to build on these collaborative opportunities, which benefit everyone involved. It gives me great pleasure to see the girls seeking to work collaboratively and support each other again, and just as importantly, not just talking about it but taking steps to make things happen.

I am eagerly anticipating the Inter-House Drama which is a perfect way for girls from different year groups to work together. This is very much in the Cornelian tradition. Those of you who have been in the Gresham Lecture Room for talks will have seen the mural on the far wall. This was originally produced as the backdrop to a house play (title long forgotten) and was changed regularly, depending on the production.  I suppose it stopped being regularly changed when these productions moved to a different location. Today the girls are videoing their performances as technology provides new challenges and perspectives.  

Happy half term to everyone! I think the next week is welcome and timely for teachers and girls, as it has been a long and busy term. We are all ready for a break, so I am particularly grateful to the staff giving up their time to accompany the School ski trip.  Wherever you are, I hope you are able to enjoy a rest and for those of you venturing onto the ski slopes or elsewhere: happy travels, and safe returns.

Dance Show 2023 – Save the Date

Friends' Quiz & Curry Night

Please find below the flyer for our next very popular and exciting event to be held in School on Saturday March 4, 2023. You can book tickets as of today using the ticket tailor link below. 

Curry quiz night tickets

Primary Team Maths Challenge

This week we were very pleased to host our Mayfield School Primary Team Maths Challenge, for school children that enjoy Mathematics. We had teams consisting of four Year 5 pupils from The Mead School, Sacred Heart, Cumnor House, The Granville School, St Ronan’s, Rose Hill, Skipper’s Hill, Wadhurst Primary, Somerhill, Vinehall and Marlborough House. 

After working on some starter questions as a warm-up, fuelled by a Mayfield cookie and squash, the Challenge started with the Group round, where all the teams worked together to answer questions. The subsequent Logic round turned out to be a big favourite with lots of success all round. After the Speed round came the Big Relay, which involved pupils and their teachers working in pairs to solve problems and running back and forth with the answers. Our mathematicians left happy and fulfilled, after a short presentation of prizes by Miss Beary. The winners were an all-girls' team from The Granville School. We received very positive feedback from the schools involved, who were particularly impressed with our Year 12 helpers and are all keen to participate next year.

Here are some of the comments:
“Super questions and challenges at just the right level for the children”
“Very impressed with the polite Year 12s helping out“
“The Mayfield staff were so welcoming and friendly and we were very much made to feel welcome and at home”
“Our pupils loved the whole experience, and fun was most definitely had by all!“

Ms  Andrianna Demetriou, Head of Mathematics

EPQ trip to the University of Sussex

On Wednesday, 25 Sixth Form girls who are undertaking an EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) visited the University of Sussex. The girls enjoyed tours and talks by current students on university life, courses, the library and study skills. They were able to ask questions about anything university-related while also learning the value of the skills they are developing for their EPQs. They learnt a lot about independence and how to manage their time (from doing their washing to managing their work load!).  The EPQ cohort did Mayfield proud.

“I found the EPQ trip very insightful as I learnt a lot about life in university and picked up some helpful advice on how to enhance my study habits. I appreciated the tour of the campus and the presentation by the students as it gave me a better understanding of potential areas of study and course alternatives." Year 12 EPQ Student

Geography Fieldwork in Mayfield

Year 11 Geographers who were unable to participate in last summer’s fieldwork were out in Mayfield on Thursday. They were learning about the importance of risk assessment and ethics in Human Geography fieldwork, before carrying out environmental quality surveys and questionnaires in the centre of the village. The girls will be spending some time next half term analysing data from their Ipswich surveys in preparation for this summer’s exams.

A Classics Performance!

This week the Year 8 Latin pupils performed three short plays for Lower School. The Cruel Schoolmaster, The Rhetor and The Sacrifice were superb and the girls did brilliantly to perform the plays in Latin! A big well done to all the girls involved.

Miss Annabel Keoghane, Teacher of Classics

Year 12 Physics

Year 12 Physics students are studying stationary waves at the moment, which can be seen in everyday life such as in string and wooded instruments, explaining why frequencies that make middle 'C' on a guitar sound different from middle 'C' on a piano.

First, we learnt about the Principle of Superposition by modelling wave behaviour through animated graphs in Python. We then studied the relationship between the fundamental frequency of stationary waves on a string and the length of the string by varying the length of string and the frequency of a signal generator until the string resonated at its fundamental frequency - where a wave interferes with its own reflection when they are in phase. We saw that doubling the fundamental frequency causes the string to resonate in its second harmonic. In music, the quality of a sound, due to second and higher harmonics is called its timbre.

So, the next time you are playing a musical instrument or in chemistry learning about electrons or even walking around, think about waves because they can explain what is going on!

Elizabeth, Lower Sixth

Inter-House Swimming

It has been a busy week in the pool with Inter-House swimming taking place on Monday during A2 - a huge number of girls took part from across the School. It was amazing to see all the races filled by every House and there was much amusement in the final woggle races. The results were as follows:

Junior:
1st Glennie 42
2nd Astor 35
3rd Curie 33
4th Bronte 29

Senior:
1st Glennie 40
2nd Bronte 28
3rd Astor 25
4th Curie 18

This was followed on Tuesday with a Junior Gala at home against Vinehall where our enthusiastic Year 7 and 8 swimmers were victorious against a strong Vinehall squad. There were particularly good races swum and won by Amelia, Savannah, Emilia, Kitty and Erin and the girls enjoyed some free swimming with their opponents to finish off the evening.

Year 11 Ball

Last Friday the girls from Year 11 were joined by their peers from Tonbridge School for their long awaited James Bond - Casino Royale themed Ball. They entered via the red carpet to enjoy dancing, photoshoots, mocktails and tasty food. To go along with the theme the guests were dressed in ballgowns and black-tie and even had a chance to try their luck at blackjack and roulette. It was rewarding to see everyone relaxing and having fun. A huge thanks to the Ball Committee for coming up with all the ideas (special mention to Katie for designing the ticket and Maddie T for arranging the playlist) and the tutors for their help in making it all run smoothly.

Ms Eva Garcia Claramonte

Boarding Trip to Harry Potter World

Last weekend the much-anticipated trip to Warner Brothers Studios in Hertfordshire took place and girls from all boarding houses enjoyed made their way round the various Harry Potter sets. The girls saw some amazing costumes, went on the Hogwarts Express and even had a go at trying to get through Platform 9 ¾.  They learnt how the live animals on set were trained and the various magical creatures were created. It was a fantastic day out!

Mrs Pippa Whitby, St Gabriel's Housemistress

Vision boarding in Gabs

Last Saturday, the Year 9 and 10 girls from Gabs took part enthusiastically in a 'vision board' activity in the afternoon. They made a collage of images and words representing their dreams and goals for the future. It was a lovely mindful activity, which was also very relaxing. They all brought back their inspiration board to their boarding house – we hope it inspires them to take action and manifest their dreams!  

Ms Corinne Richard, Teacher of French and Spanish, Teacher of Yoga

STEM Hero

Cecilia Payne was an amazing and determined woman who followed her dream to become an astronomer, having initially studied Botany at Cambridge. She shocked the world of astronomy with her discovery that stars are made of hydrogen and helium. She was a very clever woman who was not ashamed to admit she did not understand something. 

Mrs Rachel Davies, STEM Coordinator

Sports Update

Netball Results

Block Fixture vs Roedean

U18A
Won 33 - 4
Players’ Player: Freya
Coaches’ Player: Tilly and Evie

U18B
Won 32 - 13
Players’ Player: Lucia
Coaches’ Player: Grace

U16A
Won 17 - 11
Players’ Player: Maddie  
Coaches’ Player: Hannah 

U16B
Won 21 - 13
Players’ Player: Darcey
Coaches’ Player: Charlotte 

U15A
Lost  16 - 23
Players’ Player: Mia
Coaches’ Player: Sammie

U15B
Won 14 - 10
Players’ Player: Rachel
Coaches’ Player: Lily

U15C
Won 34 - 27
Players’ Player: Kamile
Coaches’ Player: Cara

U15D
Lost 13 - 24
Players’ Player: Alexa
Coaches’ Player: Tamsin

U14A
Won 13 - 16
Players’ Player: Isabel and Hope
Coaches’ Player: Maria

U14B
Lost 9 - 34
Players’ Player: Erin and Eleanor
Coaches’ Player: Cordelia

U14C
Lost 13 - 18
Players’ Player: Tessa
Coaches’ Player: Camilla

U14D
Lost 6 - 9
Players’ Player: Zara
Coaches’ Player: Ariel

U15A vs Bedes
Won 22 - 16
Players’ Player: Jess and Mia
Coaches’ Player: Ines

U15B vs Bedes
Won 24 - 11
Players’ Player: Iris
Coaches’ Player: Sophia

Full match reports on SOCS

Mrs Emily Nixon, Teacher of Physical Education

MESSy

This half term in MESSy we have been focussing mainly on sustainability in architecture, including schools and homes. We have started making our MESSy notice board that will go up after half term in Main School. This will remind people of small ways they can be sustainable in different aspects of their home. For example, turning off the tap when brushing your teeth in order to save water and using a food recycling bin to dispose of food waste in a more environmentally friendly way. 

We have also been walking around the outside of the School using the infra-red camera from Physics to see and record where the School buildings are losing the majority of their heat. 

In upcoming sessions, we are going to problem solve to find solutions to prevent as much heat as possible from being lost. However, already we have noticed that a lot of heat is being lost to windows and doors being left open unnecessarily, so please remember to shut them if you have opened them! 

Lastly, a reminder that MESSy meets every Monday A1 in Room 15 and is open to all year groups. Please come along if you can and together, we can help the School become a more sustainable place. Hopefully, next half term we will be focusing on taking measures to prevent heat loss and planning a fun, sustainability focused Charity Day!

Amelia, Upper Sixth

Ronan's Reflection

“We were created for a fulfilment that can only be found in love. We cannot be indifferent to suffering.” (Fratelli Tutti, p68)

On Saturday 11th February, we celebrate the 31st Annual World Day of the Sick. Established by Pope St John Paul II in 1992, the day falls on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and calls our attention to how sick pilgrims are treated in Lourdes every day. There, the sick are not tolerated but celebrated; never marginalised, but embraced. Priority is given to the sick. The architecture of the whole town is wheelchair and stretcher friendly - a remarkable feat, given that Lourdes sits high up in the Pyrenees mountains. Sick pilgrims are ushered to the front of every Mass and celebration in Lourdes. Able-bodied people give up their time, money and energy to come away to care for them, people rush to help complete strangers with any little task, people put the needs of others before their own every minute of the day. I remember, as a brancardier (male helper) in Lourdes many years ago, a friend of mine in misguided enthusiasm as he tried to get a better view of a procession, encroached on the path of a wheelchair user. An old male brancardier, chest draped with medals, placed a gentle hand on my friend’s chest, and remonstrated, “First the sick, my friend; always first, the sick.”

This attitude is what makes Lourdes such a wonderful place. The proud and mighty are made humble, and the marginalised and forgotten are exalted, pushed to the front.

This weekend, let us all make an effort to humble ourselves, and do something selfless. Let’s reach out to the sick, the suffering and the marginalised, and put their needs first. What a wonderful way to make real the Kingdom of God here on earth! In fact, as Lent is just around the corner, this would make a fantastic Lenten commitment…

For anybody who is travelling this half-term, please see the prayer below. We pray that everybody has a happy, restful and safe break, and we’ll see you in a few days time!

A Traveller’s Prayer:

Lord, be our guide and our protector on the journey we are about to take.
Watch over us. Protect us from accidents. Keep us free from harm to body and soul.
Lord, support us with Your grace when we are tired.
Help us be patient in any trouble which may come our way.
Keep us always mindful of Your presence and love. Amen.

Mr Ronan Lavery, Chaplain

Maths Fun

Last week, Year 8 put their creativity hats on in their Maths lessons, working on distance-time graphs with a story, which they presented to the class. 

We had mystery, horror, an animation, and lots of drama, followed by gripping Kahoot quizzes where the knowledge of their peers was tested.

Lavinia Motoc, Teacher of Mathematics

Learning Some 19th Century Accomplishments

During a library lesson this week, Year 10 girls, embarking upon the study of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, tried their hand at typical 19th century feminine skills.

Read more

Ms Jan Blagden, Librarian 

Welly Walkers

This week the Welly Walkers ventured into the great outdoors, enjoying the sunshine, mud and donkeys!

'Think Pickle (Mr Doy's dog) could do with some wellies!

Mrs Caroline Gibson

The Wellbeing Hub

News from The Friends

We are planning a walk through the Sussex hills to alleviate some of the stresses at the moment, and have put aside Friday 3 March to walk from Emma’s house just outside Wadhurst. We will leave at 9am and can then collapse post-walk with coffee and cake. Drop Emma or Helen an email (below) and we’ll send on address details closer to the time. 

emmathered@me.com or charlie.helen@btinternet.com