E-weekly Issue 249 - 1 December 2023

Online Booking Now Open!

Book ticketsNOTE: Please use the code 'mayfield24' to book

Welcome

Today we held our latest Open Morning, welcoming over 30 families to Mayfield. It was great to hear the positive feedback from so many families about their tour guides, who were our pupils! They are fantastic ambassadors for the School and we are very proud of them.

I'm delighted to announce tickets for our next whole school production, The Addams Family School Edition, are now on sale. It will take place in the Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, on 1^st & 2^nd Feb 2024. Tickets are available exclusively to parents and guardians until 31^st December, when they will go on general sale. Book your tickets here and make sure you use the code 'mayfield24' to access the early bird bookings. Do come along and support the girls - it will, I'm sure, be a hugely entertaining evening.

With very best wishes,

Jonathan

Cornelian Quote of the Week

The Cookie Project

On Monday, Year 7 participated in their first cross-curricular day, The Cookie Project. Girls were divided into four teams and were tasked with designing, marketing and producing a cookie. To get them focused on the task ahead, the first activity was a cookie tasting session. Teams had to consider the appearance, taste, texture and market appeal of six different cookies. This was followed by a planning session where roles were decided, cookie ingredients agreed and the logo was designed. The groups then divided between the bakers, who were tasked with producing the best possible cookie, the designers, who were responsible for the packaging and a promotional photograph, and the marketers who were in charge of writing a script for the advert and preparing the final presentation. Communication between different parts of the teams was essential and in true Apprentice style this didn’t always go to plan!

In the afternoon, the teams came back together to film their advert and practise for the final presentation. Then it was time to present their product to the judges. Mrs Bunce, Mrs Baker and Tilly (Year 12) made up the judging panel and were very impressed with the quality of the girls' work and how much they had achieved in a short space of time. The girls were judged on their presentation, cookie, advert, promotional photograph, packaging and team cohesiveness. The overall winning team was The Cookie Connoisseurs.

21^st Century Parenting

Year 9 had an enjoyable day on Thursday at their 21^st Century Parenting Cross-Curricular Day. The girls began the day listening to a fascinating talk from Martha Gabriel. Martha is an OC and a practising midwife. She spoke to the girls about her experience working and training as a midwife in the NHS. Martha told us about the highlights of her career so far, including how many babies she has caught and how rewarding it is to support mothers from pregnancy through to birth and beyond.  

Over the course of the day, the girls participated in a range of workshops, from learning how to put together a weekly meal plan, to learning about different parenting styles and even looking at how animals parent in the wild! They finished the day with a fun role-play activity, followed by some quiet reflection in the Chapel with Ronan. 

Mrs Laura Parrett, Second in English 

Year 12 Day of Recollection

Year 12 spent Monday at Ashburnham Place for their Day of Recollection, focusing on the Cornelian Principle of Respect. They took part in a variety of activities to think about respect for themselves, each other and nature. The students (and tutor team!) enthusiastically threw themselves in to Gospel singing and Ceilidh dancing. Mrs McGovern led reflections on respect, and in the afternoon, we cut willow branches to make beautiful holly wreaths.

Mrs Rachel Davies, Deputy Head of Sixth Form

Live Crib

Lower School decorations

Lower school girls have decorated Christmas baubles in their house colours. Alongside their names, each girl's bauble is dated with the year they joined Mayfield and these will be used every Christmas and returned to the girls at the end of their Mayfield journey.

Glass and Ceramics Club

The Year 9 girls have been thoroughly enjoying their time at the Glass and Ceramics club! They've been immersing themselves in learning new and exciting skills, such as the intricate art of glass fusing, and exploring the creative possibilities of incorporating ceramics and glass together.

Emily Taylor, Ceramics

Hub Re-Opening

Wednesday saw the re-opening of The Hub – Mayfield School’s café - amid much excitement! The Hub is a student-led initiative, staffed by volunteers during A1, Monday to Friday.

Psychology Brain Hat Competition

The Year 13 Psychology students have continued their exploration into the brain by annotating and constructing their own 'brain hats'. Our visiting neuroscientist Dr Guy Sutton judged Annabel's hat to be the most detailed, focussing not only on the outer cortex but also the deeper regions of the brain. Students were also invited to take photographs of themselves or their friends doing something 'clever' when wearing the hats. Imogen's photograph was declared the winner and is a great promotion of girls in STEM subjects. Many thanks to the staff who also agreed to model the brain hats!

Charmaine Noyes, Head of Psychology

Sixth Form Academic Mentors  

Would your daughter benefit from a sixth form academic mentor?  

This year the prefect team is launching a scheme where sixth form volunteers are paired with pupils lower down the school to help them in a particular subject. This could support them with anything from developing their Spanish grammar to improving their Maths skills, and everything in between! 

I have a team of students in both Year 13 and Year 12 who are eager to help wherever possible. Please email Mrs Stone (jstone@mayfieldgirls.org) if you are interested in signing your daughter up to receive mentoring.  

Pupils would have the opportunity to ask their mentor to help them with specific topics or skills and the content of the sessions would be designed accordingly. Sessions would normally take place once a week and would be aimed at building girls’ confidence and skills in their chosen subjects.  

Cosima, Academic Prefect, Year 13 

Sports News

Badminton
Our GCSE Badminton players (Amelia D, Brooke B and Elaine G) attended the East Sussex Junior Badminton workshop on Sunday, with Olympians Nick Ponting and Julie Bradbury running a coaching session. The girls came away with a lot of new skills they are ready to put into practice! 

U13A and B v Burgess Hill Girls
U13A gave their best performance to date, displaying good discipline and structure in their press. This meant they had the opposition under pressure throughout the whole match.  A special mention to Izzy T and Gigi who created many chances in attack that Brianna, Amelia M and the U13A Captain Flo Y were able to capitalise on, and to Anya, Emilia and Saskia who were able to keep a clean sheet in defence. The final result was a 3-0 win for Mayfield. A real team performance!

The U13B girls got off to a great start, spreading the ball wide and creating chances in front of goal. Millie J and Lulu worked hard, however they were denied by the post on more than one occasion and found themselves 1-0 down at half time.  Nevertheless, they fought back and a special mention must go to Ari DG for scoring her first ever goal for Mayfield, making the final score 1-1.

Coaches’ player: Bea V  
Players’ Player: Ari DG

For full match reports please see SOCS.

Swimming
The Swimming team had great fun on Monday evening hosting our first home gala of the year against Burgess Hill. They finished on a high with a win in the Junior and Senior categories leading to an overall Mayfield win!

Bluewater Shopping Trip

Last weekend 70 of our boarders from Years 7-13 visited Bluewater Shopping Centre for an afternoon of relaxation and retail therapy. The girls had a fantastic time Christmas shopping, grabbing a coffee or a bite to eat with their friends, or simply admiring the Christmas decorations. A great afternoon out was had by all. 

Festivities in St Dunstan's

On Thursday evening the Dunstan’s girls enjoyed some festive fun as they were tasked with putting up the house Christmas tree, accompanied by mince pies and hot chocolate. Progress was hampered slightly when a couple of them diverted from the activity and decided to turn Polina into a Christmas tree, but they got back on track and produced a fabulous result for everyone to enjoy upon arrival to the common room. Next on the list of festive activities is our house Christmas dinner on Saturday evening!

Miss Jessica Tompsett, Assistant Housemistress

Ronan's Reflection

Christmas isn’t just for children. Though I believe children are the lens through which we should endeavour to view it. I put the Christmas tree up in the chaplaincy last week (that’s a lie- I got Rachel to do it for me!), and when Lily and Molly came over after school, they were stopped in their tracks. I could hear them catch their breath, feel their excitement as they began to vibrate with anticipation for the season to come. (They then proceeded to destroy the tree with tinsel, but their joy was infectious!) I began to get excited for Christmas.

We put an Advent calendar up on one of the display boards in the school. Beginning today, we tear off a flap of coloured paper, to reveal a part of the Christmas story each day. I’ve typed, proofread, printed, cut out and stapled each piece to the board, at which point, the words meant virtually nothing to me. Until my daughters and I tore off the first flap, and Lily painstakingly read out the first part of the story: “The angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.” She read with reverence and wonder, and the words suddenly came alive for me. I too, was filled with wonder. I look forward to continuing this journey with her.

They have been struggling to come up with things to ask Santa for, in that all-important letter. They want one, little, thing each. As we talked about other things they might want, they pooh poohed all our suggestions, until Molly turned to me and said “Daddy, what do you want for Christmas? I can ask Santa for you.” Simple, selfless and innocent.

As we enter the season of Advent, a time of fasting, a time of preparation, let’s try to see Christmas through the eyes of our children once again, and let us pray, ‘Oh Lord, let Advent begin again in us.’

David A. Redding, from 'If I Could Pray Again' (1965)

Adult Advent Announcement
O Lord,
Let Advent begin again
In us,
Not merely in commercials;
For that first Christmas was not
Simply for children,
But for the
Wise and the strong.
It was
Crowded around that cradle,
With kings kneeling.
Speak to us
Who seek an adult seat this year.
Help us to realize,
As we fill stockings,
Christmas is mainly
For the old folks —
Bent backs
And tired eyes
Need relief and light
A little more.
No wonder
It was grown-ups
Who were the first
To notice
Such a star.

Mass this weekend is on Saturday evening at 5pm. All are welcome. Mass is also on Tuesday evening at 6pm.

Mr Ronan Lavery, Lay Chaplain

Molly Joins Welly Walking Club!

Mrs Davies' dog Molly enjoyed her welly walk this week, but next week she should probably wear wellies!

Caroline Turner

Library News

Both libraries are looking festive, a big thank you to the Pupil Librarians for all their hard work in making the decorations and choosing seasonal titles for the displays. Please come and have a browse and select something to curl up with over the holidays.

If you are travelling overseas and need every inch of your suitcase for clothes, worry not! You can access our extensive online library of audio and e-books via the school portal>school library links>wheelers. The Wheelers collection is on e-platform and just requires an app for your device, which is available on the home page.

Jan Blagden, Librarian

Christmas Maths Competitions

The Maths department is running two Christmas competitions for all staff and students. See the posters for details.

Competition 1

Competition 2

The competitions close on Tuesday 12th December. All answers to Mrs Howie (via your maths teachers is fine). There will be Christmassy prizes. Good Luck!

Sally Howie, Deputy Head of Mathematics

From the School Shop

Lost Property
Please see below items currently in lost property - if you think an item is yours, please collect from the school shop.

Billing
In order to get bills out to you in a timely fashion as we approach the Christmas break, all school shop bills that you will receive will only include purchases and returns from 1^st September to 30^th November 2023. Any items purchased by your daughters / wards in December 2023 will appear on your next bill at the end of the Spring Term 2024.

All purchases are made on trust by your daughter and it is assumed that you have given your daughter clear instructions or guidelines for placing items on your account. You can request a summary of purchases from the Shop at any time by emailing: sbowles@mayfieldgirls.org

Sister Jean's Marmalade
Sister’s Jean’s homemade marmalade has been re-stocked and is ready to go. All proceeds go to Mary’s Meals. Why not wrap some up in a hamper for Christmas? They are £2.50 each – cash only please. If you have any empty jars to donate, please bring them into the school shop and we will ensure they get to Sister Jean. 

Next Week's Menu

Menu w/c 4th Dec