E-weekly Issue 222 - 24 February 2023

Welcome back!

We hope you all had an enjoyable break at half term. Our ski trip in the holiday proved to be a great success, with nearly 50 girls heading out to the Italian Dolomites where they enjoyed a week of glorious sunshine (as well as good snow). Our Equestrians were busy too, with the girls crowned East Sussex dressage team champions at Golden Cross, followed by further team success for our Intermediate team in the Combined Training and Show Jumping events at Felbridge.  Many congratulations to all the girls and staff involved.

This week saw our Upper Sixth begin their mock examinations and we wish them well with this important preparation for their A levels.  Ash Wednesday this week marked the beginning of Lent and we observed a Family Fast Day. Ronan, our Lay Chaplain, reflects further on this in his article below.

Looking ahead, next week sees us celebrate World Book Day with a visit from Carnegie Award winning author, Anthony McGowan, and our annual book day character parade (on Friday). We look forward to seeing the usual array of creative and colourful outfits.

Finally, a reminder to parents that the popular Friends' Quiz and Curry Evening will be taking place on Saturday 4^th March at school.  Details are provided below with a link to register.  Everyone is welcome and we look forward to another enjoyable evening.

Last chance to book

There is just over a week until The Friends of Mayfield's Quiz & Curry night. Bookings close on Tuesday, so don't miss out on this great evening.  Book using the link below:

Curry quiz night tickets

Half Term Ski Trip

During half term Mrs Fletcher and five members of staff took 48 Mayfield girls from Years 7-11 to Italy for the first ski trip since 2020! The school returned to Folgaria in the Dolomites and had a fantastically sunny week of skiing.

Muddy Stilettos Review of Mayfield

Muddy Stilettos, one of the UK's leading digital lifestyle platforms, visited the School recently to undertake a review. Their verdict? "This is no bubble-wrapped all-girls haven, it’s a genuinely forward-thinking institution as proud of its academic excellence as it is for equipping girls with the skills, confidence and relationships they need to succeed in whatever they do next."

Read review in full

Measuring the Speed of Light!

A-Level Physics students in Year 12 are currently studying waves, and as a part of this topic we have been determining the speed of light by microwaving chocolate!

 Microwave ovens use stationary waves (which occur when two waves are travelling with the same amplitude, frequency and speed but in different directions) in order to heat food. Due to the nature of these waves, areas of constructive and destructive interference are created within the oven, meaning that by removing the rotating platform, some areas of the microwaved chocolate were more melted than others.

We used this feature of microwave ovens to produce our results, measuring the distance between the two lighter (more melted) parts on the bar of microwaved chocolate. This gives the value of half the wavelength of light. Our observed value was 0.07m, making the wavelength 0.14m.

By checking the microwave oven's settings, we found these microwaves were emitted at a frequency of 2450MHz. Using this value and the wave equation (wave speed = frequency x wavelength), we calculated that the speed of light was 3.43 x 108 ms-1. The actual value of the speed of light is 3.00x108 ms-1, so it is interesting to see how close we can get to the actual speed of light using typical everyday objects!

Megan, Year 12

Sports Update

Inter House Football
Mayfield’s inaugural Inter House Football Tournament took place on Wednesday, with House Teams from Lower School and Middle School competing for honours (the Sixth Form competition takes place next week). We were extremely pleased to see over 80 girls take part in the 9-a-side matches. The standard across both tournaments was incredibly high but most importantly, all the girls that took part had smiles on their faces and seemed to have a good time. Results will be collated, verified and released in due course once the Sixth Form have completed their fixtures. Well done girls!

The U13A team took part in an Indoor Hockey tournament at Kent College Pembury this week. They played brilliantly, making excellent progress throughout the day. Awards for 'Players of the Tournament' went to Lola and Erin. 

Full match report

Upcoming Fixtures & Events

Saturday 25^th February
U18A&B, U16B and U15A v Kent College Pembury
U15B and U14A internal fixture

Monday 27^th Feb
U16A&B v Burgess Hill 

Wednesday 1^st March
SISNA, U13 and U12

Friday 3rd March
Staff vs Parents Netball Match

Friday 24th March
Primary School Netball Festival
 

Music Concerts – Save the Date

• Thursday 2nd March: Teatime Concert, 16.45 - Gresham
• Thursday 23rd March: Schola concert, 19.00 - Chapel
• Tuesday 28th March: Spring Music Concert, 19.00 - Concert Hall, followed by refreshments

Careers Information Evening -Tuesday 7^th March 

Please remind your daughter to sign up for three career talks at Mayfield's Careers Information Evening on Tuesday 7th March. The form will be available on SOCS by the middle of next week. We are still looking for a few more speakers for the evening. We would particularly welcome a vet and an architect to speak to the girls. If you can help, please contact Mary Saunders, Head of Careers: msaunders@mayfieldgirls.org.

Farming Life

Year 12 girls continue to enjoy their visits to the farm and the longer days have certainly enhanced their experience. This week we learnt about the importance of recycling nutrients back in to the soil using the slurry waste from the farmyard. Farmer Guy explained about the importance of respecting the environment by ensuring that the slurry does not pollute waterways. Maintaining healthy animals was also discussed as the girls helped with the worming treatment for the young calves and learnt that this adds to the cost of farming as the animals need to be treated every four to six weeks and meticulous records kept.

The highlight of the visit was watching the miracle of birth as four piglets arrived whilst the girls were there! This little girl is a cross between a Saddleback and an Oxford Sandy. Interesting pig fact: the gestation period of pigs is 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days.

Mrs Rachel Davies, Deputy Head of Sixth Form

Ronan's Reflection

Lent is off to a wonderful start here in Mayfield. Ash Wednesday saw two beautiful and reverent school Masses, presided over by Fr Irvin Morastil OMI. The ash is a reminder of our humanity, our humility, and our fragility.

The fasting and abstinence on Wednesday continued in the dining room, with another Family Fast Day - a limited, but hearty, menu. Family Fast Days - we have three each year - call students and staff alike to think of those less fortunate than themselves, the hungry, those who worry about where their next meal is coming from. The limited menu saves the catering department money, clearly, which they then donate to the school charity. This year they have rounded up their donations and are giving a whopping £1000 per Fast Day to the children of the Sandra Jones Centre (SJC) in Zimbabwe!

(On a personal note, when I first began bringing volunteers to the SJC, we were asked to bring a packed lunch with us each day. They were embarrassed by the food they ate - sadza (a type of corn porridge) and a sauce made of tomatoes and onions, if they were lucky. The Centre could afford nothing more. After moving to the Hotel Rio and beginning to farm vegetables and chickens, the girls used to be proud as punch to sit with their guests, and share a meal with them!)

A massive thank you to the hardworking catering department, for their creativity, their incredible food, and for their generosity to the girls of the Sandra Jones Centre in Zimbabwe. Thank you so much!

On Thursday, the Year 12 students met a delegation from Kairos Community Trust, in London. Kairos is a rehab and recovery centre for homeless people with addictions to alcohol or narcotics. The purpose of their visit was not to speak about drugs or alcoholism, but to share their experiences of community, of faith, of resilience, generosity and connections. They spoke eloquently of their recoveries, and of what gives them life today. The girls were clearly very touched by the speakers’ honesty and courage, as evidenced by some of these comments:

Thank you to Mossie, Gillian, Dominic, James, Jason and Grace. We’ll see you again soon, please God!

And for this week’s reflection, we offer the Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Mr Ronan Lavery, Chaplain

The Wellbeing Hub

News from the Friends

Half-term Drama!

Over half-term, the Wateryard Group, which is based in Mayfield, performed Female Transport in Mayfield's Concert Hall. The play featured Mayfield members of staff, Justin and Sam Santo, and was directed by Helen Halliday, Mayfield's former Head of Drama. The play followed the voyage of six women convicts, transported as punishment to Australia in 1807. Congratulations to all involved.