E-weekly Issue 234 - 9 June 2023

Welcome

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome back. I hope you had a good half-term. Many congratulations to Mayfield’s Dressage Team, who won the Inter-County Championship at Hickstead over the break - a wonderful achievement!

Tomorrow sees Mayfield’s Cricket team take on the might of the MCC for the third year running. Do come and watch. The fixture will be at Somerhill Schools, due to our building works, with matches at 10.30am and 2.30pm. We wish the girls well.

Drama is thriving at Mayfield, with five of our pupils recently accepted into the National Youth Theatre. Why not come along to our next Drama production, 'The Emperor’s New Clothes and The Gingerbread Man', on Wednesday 21st June? Details below.

Finally, I am looking forward very much to meeting families on Mayfield Day on Saturday 24th June – if you’ve yet to sign up then please do so now – it promises to be a fantastic day and an opportunity to celebrate the girls’ achievements throughout the last year. 
Registration form for Mayfield Day
With very best wishes,

Jonathan Forster

Mayfield’s Dressage Team Win at Hickstead

Mayfield's Dressage Team won the Inter-County Championship at Hickstead over half-term. Mayfield has won this trophy for the last three years - an amazing achievement. Congratulations to this year's team featuring Flo, Cordie and Emilie. Flo also won the novice individual section and Cordie the prelim section. Huge congratulations to all the girls!

Jill Barker, Director of Riding

Welly Walking Club

This week our welly walkers enjoyed the buttercups and sunshine around Mayfield.

Mrs Caroline Gibson, International English teacher

History Project on Peace

This term the Year 9 History students were challenged to create a project on the theme of Peace in the twentieth century. Each group was asked to present their findings in creative ways and to come up with peaceful solutions to historical and political global issues.

The students were able to use the Peace Project to explore issues in different parts of the world. Topics covered included the authoritarian regime in North Korea, Sino-Japanese relations since WW2, and the drug cartels in Mexico.  Alice, Melissa and Maggie produced a fantastic website on the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

Congratulations to everyone involved.

Mr Robert Meek, Teacher of History

Hester joins cast of Les Mis

After a gruelling audition process, Hester in Year 8 has been invited to be a part of the cast for Trinity Youth Theatre's production of Les Miserables. She is one of the younger members of the cast and she is really looking forward to getting started on the project.

Hester will be performing at The Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells from 4th August to 6th August and tickets can be booked through the box office on 01892 678678 or www.trinityyouththeatre.co.uk/lesmis

Well done Hester! The Drama Department is very proud of you, and we wish you every success with the show.

Sally Gerstmeyer, Head of Drama Department

Book your seats now!

Reserve your seats

Write on Art Competition

Write on Art is an annual national writing competition designed to encourage an interest in art history among young people.  To enter, all you have to do is pick one artwork featured on the Art UK website and write about it. What does it say to you? What’s the history behind it? How does it make you feel?

If you would like to enter please contact Dr Weddell, Head of History of Art.  

2023 Summer Concert

You are warmly invited to this year’s Summer Concert. The concert will take place at 19:00 on Tuesday, 27th June in the Concert Hall, and will be followed by drinks and refreshments. This event will showcase instrumental and vocal groups with a variety of wonderful music and is a lovely way to end the school year.

If you would like to attend this concert, please click on the link below to RSVP no later than Friday 16^th June 2023. 

Please click here to RSVP for the Summer Concert

I look forward to seeing many of you there.

Dr Matthew Ward, Director of Music

STEM Hero for June

Sports Update

Cricket
This week saw our U13 A & B Teams take on Brighton College. It was a glorious day with the sun shining bright and our girls capitalised on the opportunity. Both teams came away victorious with stand out performances from Emilia and Amelia with the bat and Kitty and Imogen with the ball. The U13A won by 7 wickets and the U13B by 92 runs. For full reports please see SOCS. 

Mrs Emily Nixon, Teacher of Physical Education

Upcoming Fixtures
Saturday 10/06 – Our annual MCC Fixtures. Mayfield Sport Instagram will be updated throughout the day. 
Monday 12/06 -  The Inter and Junior Athletics team head to K2 for the Regional Athletics B Team Finals
Thursday 15/06 - U15 A & B Cricket vs Sevenoaks
Saturday 17/06 - U15A & U13A Cricket vs Guildford High

Ronan's Reflection

I love candles!

I don’t know why, but there’s just something about them. As a child, every time we went to Mass, I’d beg my parents for 10p to light a candle at the votive stand in our local church. On the rare occasions they’d say yes, I’d touch the wick of my carefully chosen candle to the flame of another on the stand and wait until I was sure it was properly lit, before eyeing up the available spaces on the stand like a general surveying the battlefield. On choosing my spot, I’d wedge the wax candle deep into the holder, supervising it for several minutes to make sure it wasn’t going to fall, or list to the side like some of the other, sloppily placed ones. Then I’d close my eyes tight, make my childish prayer, and rush out of the church to catch up with my family, happy in the knowledge that my prayer would linger on in the chapel for hours, long after I was tucked up in bed…

Maybe that’s part of the reason I love Lourdes so much! Light, and candles, feature heavily in the experience of the Lourdes pilgrim. From the torchlight procession, which takes place every night at 9pm, tens of thousands of pilgrims with their faces illuminated by a lit candle, praying the Rosary together and trying not to set their cheap plastic raincoat on fire, to what seems like acres of candle stands where the faithful can light their candles, and leave their prayers lingering behind them in the holy place of Lourdes. I remember being amazed that there were men whose full-time job it was to look after the candles left lit, burning away, by multitudes of pilgrims; some candles the diameter of your finger, for E2.50, some the size (and weight!) of a full-grown man, costing up to E8 or 900.

Part of the ritual of Lourdes, for me, was walking down to buy candles late at night, when the domain was deserted, standing at the candle stall and counting out the people and intentions I wanted to pray for. I’d walk slowly through the Grotto with my armful of candles, on my way to the candle stands, where I would light each candle with the same precision as when I was a child, strategise on where to position it, and then I’d pray. And as I would hurry out of the domain to rejoin my friends, I’d ping off the text message to loved ones at home: “A candle has been lit and is burning in the Grotto at Lourdes for your intentions.”

The candle, of course, is just a symbol. It’s not a prayer. It can never replace prayer. But the candle, to me, can make my prayer feel more tangible. It was once described to me that, as we are both physical and spiritual beings, the physical element of the candle helps us relate to the spiritual act of prayer. And once we add in the symbolism of the lit candle as a manifestation of God’s love for us, of the divine flame which burns inside each one of us, Christ as the light of the world, and our call to also be the light of the world - suddenly the candle can become a very powerful tool to aid our prayer.

Anyway, all of this is a very roundabout way of letting you know that there is a new votive candle stand in the Chapel. Members of the Mayfield Community are welcome to visit the Chapel at any time (access from the Sixth Form, Cloister, or Reprographics if the front door is locked), light a candle and bring their prayers before the Lord. Candles are free for students and staff. For safety’s sake, we ask you to use the electronic candles during the week, when the Chapel might be empty for periods of time. (Though slightly less satisfying, electronic candles lose none of the symbolism.)

You might want to stop in before an exam, or a match, or an audition.
You might be worried about a friend, or family member, or a particular situation in your life.
You might be thankful for some blessing.
Somebody might have asked you to pray for them.
You might just want to spend a few moments in silence in God’s presence.

If so, pop into the Chapel, and light a candle. And if you light it for someone, tell them the candle is lit. I am sure they’ll appreciate it.

Mass this week: Sunday at 11:30am & Tuesday at 6pm.

God bless.

Ronan Lavery, Chaplain

Library Book Sale

Interested in a Career in Aviation?

 More Info - Flight Crowd Boot Camp

Sister Jean’s Marmalade

Sister Jean’s home-made marmalade is now available from the school shop at £2.50 a pot. Proceeds go to Mary’s Meals Charity. Please bring cash. You will be getting a delicious home-made product and helping a charity at the same time.

If you have any empty jam / marmalade pots, you can bring them to the school shop and we will make sure they go to Sister Jean for future batches of her marmalade.

From the School Shop

Year 11 & 13 – Second Hand
Please make sure you have uniform for Prize Giving / Sports Day which is on Saturday 24th June – including your house polo. If you have any other items you wish to send back to the School Shop for second hand, please note the following:

1. All items must be in good condition, have no holes, rips, broken zips, or stains and not be faded.
2. Please make sure all the items are the current uniform and washed and ironed.
3. We do not take back white shirts, swim caps, hockey socks.
4. You may leave the names on items; we can remove these for you.
5. If you are in doubt, send it all in and what we cannot take for second hand we will recycle for you.

Items taken in will be credited to your school shop account straight away. Please make sure all items you wish to sell are with us by the last day of term.

Name Tapes
If you are leaving us, and you used the naming service, please come to the school shop and collect any surplus name tapes towards the end of term. Thank you.

Next week’s Menu

Menu w/c 12th June