E-weekly Issue 233 - 26 May 2023

Welcome

Dear Families,

The half term break has arrived!  It is a wonderful opportunity for us all to reconnect, relax together and re-focus on the final few weeks of the school year.

Examination candidates have already had their first experience of putting their knowledge and expertise to the test. I have seen quite a few girls looking relieved that the process is underway and that they have coped well. It is quite straightforward really: if you are well taught and well prepared, you will do as well as you possibly can. There are lots of fun activities to look forward to as the exam season ends, so let's all enjoy the sunshine and re-group, refreshed and raring to go! Enjoy your time together.

With very best wishes,
Jonathan

Mayfield Day 2023 - Don't miss out!

You are warmly invited to celebrate Mayfield Day with us on Saturday 24th June. If you haven't already confirmed your attendance then please do so by completing the form below:

Registration form for Mayfield Day

Dance Show 2023 Recording

For those who weren’t able to watch the Dance Show 2023 in person, here is the recording:

Watch Dance Show 2023

Trip to the Tower!

On Wednesday, Year 12 History students travelled to the Tower of London to take part in a ‘Wars of the Roses’ workshop. During a guided tour the students used a selection of primary sources to assess the importance of the Tower of London during the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III, with a particular focus on the Princes in the Tower.  The students also had a chance to speak with some of the resident Beefeaters about their role at the Tower since their creation as personal body guards to Henry VII in 1485. The sun shone and everyone enjoyed the trip.

Robert Meek, Teacher of History

Sports Update

Mayfield’s Annual Doubles Tennis Tournament
Last weekend, Mayfield hosted their annual Tennis Tournament, welcoming Bedes, Cranbrook and Lingfield to participate in an U13 and U15 Doubles Round Robin. It was a lovely afternoon, and great to watch the girls in action. Well done to Bedes who took the gold in both categories. We look forward to welcoming them back next year.

Miss Imogen Jones, Teacher of PE 

Athletics
Over the past two weeks Mayfield’s athletes have been busy competing in both Track and Field at The Sussex Diamond League and The English Schools Athletics competitions. The momentum is  building, and the girls must be congratulated for their efforts and performances in both training and competition.  It has been fantastic to see that they are proving to themselves that they can do it, with many Personal Bests (PBs) being set.

As a result of the hard work the athletes have put into training, Mayfield's newly formed Junior Athletic Team came 2nd at the English Schools County round and the Inter Athletics team came 4th; meaning both teams have qualified for the English Schools Regional Round being held on Monday 12th June at K2 in Crawley.

Well done Team Athletics, we are so proud of you.

Miss Sophie Auer, Teacher of Physical Education

Cricket
Saturday saw a tough fixture block with Seaford College. It was great to see our girls compete with conviction across the year groups. Seaford came away with the wins, but the department was really proud of how our girls played and contested the games. A special mention to Jess and Lizzie who both scored 50 not out in our U18A team and to Lucie for scoring 31 in the U15B Team.

For individual match reports please see SOCS.

Success for Jess

Congratulations to Year 8, Jess on her recent Dance success! Jess took part in the Hotshot Dance Finals and performed outstandingly well, taking 1^st place in the Junior Acro Solo and Junior Jazz Solo categories, and placing 2^nd in the Junior Ballet Solo and Junior Lyrical Solo categories. She also won the Judges Choice Award, Choreography Challenge and was 3rd Overall Highest Score.

Matilda raises £500 for Cancer Research

We are so proud of Year 12 Matilda, who recently completed the 10k Race for Life in support of Cancer Research UK. Congratulations to Matilda and her friend Cerys who raised £500 towards this worthy cause.

Year 12 explore criminal justice

On Monday,  Catherine Fallon addressed Year 12, drawing on her experience as a graduate in Philosophy and International Development and Social Policy, and her work with prisoners in Pentonville remand prison, and running a safe House for victims of modern-day slavery.  She discussed the two questions below:

1. What is justice?
2. Who do you want to be your neighbour?

Year 12 Florence said: 
"The talk about criminal justice was inspiring and informative. Not only were we educated on the horrifying injustice within the system, we learnt about Catherine’s personal experience with her clients and the motivation behind supporting people who have faced this injustice. We also discovered from a career perspective that the degree you choose doesn’t always lead to the job you expect, in a thrilling way."  

We are very grateful that Catherine gave up the day to come and share her experience with us and allow us to hear from the experience of those she works with.

Mrs Gaelle McGovern, Head of Religious Studies

Gabs' Girls Make Mocktails

Year 10 Gabs' girls rounded off a busy and enjoyable weekend of activities in the sunshine with a mocktails lesson on Sunday afternoon, led by Miss Taylor. The girls created some delicious, colourful and refreshing drinks.

Mrs Helen Lavery, St Gabriel's Assistant Housemistress

Introducing our New Guitar Ensemble

Our new guitar ensemble have been busy practising for the Summer Music Concert, which takes place on Tuesday 27^th June 2023 – everyone is welcome.

If anyone is interested in joining the ensemble, or learning to play the guitar, please contact Rebecca Allen (rallen@mayfieldgirls.org)

Year 10 Yoga

As part of the Health and Wellbeing programme this term, all Year 10 students are taking part in a yoga session during their form time. This time, it was Mrs Nixon's form taking part. This session aims to improve mental and physical health by practising some gentle stretches as well as more challenging poses with some breathing exercises too. The girls also learnt to work together by doing some partner yoga poses, with some of them proving to be quite a challenge (and a laugh)! It was a welcome start to the day, taking time to slow down in what is a very busy time. Regular yoga sessions are available for all Year 9 and 10 to attend during A1 on Mondays.

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

Amazing Culinary Skills

This week our Culinary Skills students were busy making Summer Fruit Tarts with sweet shortcrust pastry, creme patisserie, topped with fruit. Beautifully presented!

Mrs Sue Smeaton, Head of Food and Nutrition

Mayfield Day Cake Competition

Calling all Budding Geographers

There are a number of competitions coming up, focused on climate change and sustainability - full details have been sent to the girls on email.

Royal Geographical Society’s Young Geographer of the Year
This year’s competition is entitled ‘A Blueprint for the Future’ and gives opportunities to show innovation in a number of areas, such as sustainability, biodiversity, resources, and population growth.Competition details 

Mayfield Climate Action Schools Competition
This competition is run by Mayfield village's new sustainability committee, who have launched a schools competition with a £100 prize for schools in Mayfield and the surrounding area.Details here

Royal Geographical Society and Financial Times School Essay Competition
This year’s essay competition (for sixth form students as of September 2023) asks ‘What risks are associated with climate change and what should we be doing about it?’More details

Mr Christopher Adams, Head of Geography

From the Friends

We celebrated another successful year of the Friends and Year Reps with a delicious supper and drinks at our departing Chair’s house. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered and attended events this year. We enjoyed fabulous stalls at our Michaelmas Fair, energetic dancing for Burns Night and delicious curry at the Quiz. We would especially like to thank our Chair, Susie Pepper, who has kept us all enthusiastic and laughing throughout the year. She will be thoroughly missed by us all. If you are interested in joining our team please email Susie at: susiepepper10@gmail.com.

Year 7
Drinks in the Middle House in Mayfield from 7.30pm on Thursday 15th June