E-weekly Issue 227 - 31 March 2023

Thanks and good luck to Mrs Green!

This week we had the opportunity to bid a fond farewell to our wonderful Senior Deputy Mrs Green. We thank her for the invaluable contribution she has made to the life of Mayfield in her five years at the School. We wish her happiness and success in her new role.

Wishing everyone in the Mayfield Community a Happy Easter! 

Inter-House Drama

The last day of the Spring term saw our annual Inter-House Drama competition. This year the Houses were asked to create a 15-minute film based on '150 years of Mayfield.' The Judge was Ms Helen Halliday, a creative with over 40 years’ experience in performing arts, including acting, writing, music, teaching and directing. 

Congratulations to all of those involved and who quite evidently had worked hard at the challenge. Special congratulations to all the winners; prizes included Ioanna for lead actress, Mabel for best supporting actress, best costume went to Glennie, best lighting and sound effects to Astor, best programme went to Bronte and finally best overall film was also won by Bronte this year!

Sally Gerstmeyer, Head of Drama Department
 

Spring Concert

On Tuesday, the music department held their Annual Spring Concert. It may have been drizzling outside, but it was a lively and varied concert at Mayfield.

The Year 7 Choir started the evening with ‘Colours of the Wind’, followed by an impressive rendition of ‘The Rhythm of Life’, which had plenty of life and delightful counter-melodies with the girls singing in two part harmonies.

We were then treated to ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ from the Junior Flute Ensemble, led by Mrs Crowley.

A highlight of the evening for myself was listening to Yueshi and Christina perform ‘Ah! Perdona, al primo affetto’ from ‘La Clemenza di Tito’ by Mozart. The girls’ voices balanced beautifully with each other and it was an emotional performance. I’m sure the audience would agree that it was a special moment and the girls should be very proud of themselves.

The Jazz Collective and Senior Flute Duet also made an appearance before the concert was closed by the Orchestra performing the Mazurka from ‘Swan Lake’.

Thank you to all who supported our concert and we look forward to inviting you to our future events:
Thursday 4^th May – Music Scholars’ Concert & Tuesday 27^th June – Summer Concert

Mrs Le Riche, Teacher of Music 

'Top Girls'

On Friday 24 March, Evie and Phoebe, Year 13 Drama A Level students, performed an extract from Caryl Churchill's play, Top Girls. It premiered in 1982 and is now a classic of modern theatre. Set during a period of British politics dominated by the newly elected Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, Churchill's play prompts us to question our notions of women's success and solidarity. A timeless examination of women's choices and restrictions regarding career and family. In the extract performed, Marlene (Phoebe) visits her sister Joyce (Evie) after a six-year estranged period. Marlene left home to pursue a career, whilst Joyce remained and raised Angie, Marlene's daughter. The students used Katie Mitchell's directorial process in order to achieve a natural and ‘gritty' standard of acting. Well done to both students for their excellent work. A big thank you to all those involved in creating the set and Ms Clark for her technical skills.

Sally Gerstmeyer, Head of Drama Department

Scholars' Dinner

On Monday, we hosted the annual Scholars’ Dinner, which brought together Scholars in all year groups and their parents for an evening of presentations and performances, followed by supper.  Our special guest speaker was Mrs Jacqueline Cook, Of Counsel and Senior Knowledge Development Lawyer, who presented, ‘From notebooks to the cloud - being a woman in the law pre and post-millennium’. It was really interesting to hear her experiences and how law can be applied to different specialist interest areas. Jacqueline talked, for example, about Tammy Samuel, a Partner at Stephenson Harwood, who played rugby for England and Emma Millington, Head of Lexis PSL, who used to be a ballet dancer. Prior to the dinner, she also ran a Scholars’ debate on the relevance of traditional polite forms of address in 2023. The vote ran in favour of Alexa, Rebecca and Onnae, who argued that these should be abandoned in favour of something ‘woke’ but this was no discredit to Cosima, Esme and Rachel arguing against. Later, there were music and drama performances from Clare in Year 12 on the French Horn, along with monologues by Ioanna in Year 10 from The Tempest and Katie in Year 11 from Girls Like That by Evan Placey, showcasing some of Mayfield’s best talent. Some of the Scholars who led workshops at the Mayfield Festival of Ideas also shared their experiences, while Lucie and Lettie in Year 8 shared their thoughts from the other side of the classroom.  

Mrs Kasia Kilvington, Gifted and Talented Coordinator

Chemistry Olympiad

Congratulations to Upper Sixth pupil Mia for achieving the top Gold Award in this year's Chemistry Olympiad, putting her in the top 9% of the country's best and brightest Chemists.  The Olympiad is designed to challenge and inspire and is a unique opportunity for students to push themselves further and excel in the field of Chemistry. Budding Chemists develop lateral and critical problem-solving skills, learn to think more creatively and get a chance to test their knowledge in new, real-world situations. 

Mr David Turner, Teacher of Chemistry

Sports Update

Inter-House Netball 
The final week of term saw the PE department run four Inter-House Netball competitions. This event always sees high participation, nevertheless, we believe that 2023 saw the girls hit a new record with over 224 pupils representing their House.  All the games were played in great spirit, and we were incredibly proud to see so many girls with varying levels of Netball experience taking part. 

Individual Year Group Results: 

Lower School 
1^st Curie (4 pts); 2^nd Bronte (3pts); 3^rd Astor(2 pts); 4^th Glennie (1pt) 

Year 9 
1^st Glennie (4pts); 2^nd Bronte (3pts); 3^rd Astor (2pts); 4^th Curie (1pt)

Year 10 & 11
1^st Bronte (4pts); 2^nd Glennie (3 pts); 3^rd Astor (2pts); 4^th Curie (1)

Sixth Form
1^st Bronte (4pts); 2^nd Astor(3pts); 3^rd Glennie(2pts); 4^th Curie(1 pt)

Overall
1^st Bronte; 2^nd Glennie; 3^rd Astor; 4^th Curie

Netball Triangular
Last Saturday we took part in a Triangular fixture with Worth and Seaford, involving the U14s, U15s, U16s and Seniors. It was brilliant to see so many girls out playing in the final fixtures of the term. Miss Auer and Miss Jones, along with the rest of the PE department, are incredibly proud of how the girls have performed throughout this Netball Season. Well done Ladies. 
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Dance Show 

This year's Dance show was another triumph! Over 80 girls performed a variety of dances, including Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical and Ballroom. It was lovely to see so many girls taking part, particularly in the curriculum dances, where for many, dance is out of their comfort zone. Our Scholars, Invitational, Middle School and Lower School Dance clubs were brilliant, showcasing the talent throughout the School and this was balanced with a lovely mix of ballet - fun and classical, duets and solos. The PE Department would also like to thank all those involved in the choreography, staging, lighting and sound, and we wish all our dance leavers the best of luck in their future endeavours. 

Poetry Please 150

I am keen to hear from budding poets across the whole Mayfield Community with offerings for a grand edition of Poetry Please 150, to be released at the end of June.

I have received a number of poems so far, around the idea of Mayfield. I really would love to manage to reach 150 entries so please get creative - no matter how short - and send me your gems.

Entries are welcome from anyone. Let’s make this a truly community wide collection celebrating Mayfield and its glorious 150 years of tradition and innovation.

Lucinda Misiewicz, Teacher of English

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