E-weekly Issue 253 - 19 January 2024

Welcome

This week has seen birthday celebrations, feast days, trips to Tate Britain and Stratford, debating, and sports fixtures for our Netball, Football, Cross Country and Swimming teams! Read all about it below.

Next week, we are delighted to welcome Alicia Drummond back to Mayfield. Alicia, founder of Teen Tips and the Wellbeing Hub, is an expert on children's wellbeing and will be coming to talk to parents about how you can help your children to have healthy friendships, on Wednesday evening, from 6.30pm. Please RSVP if you'd like to attend - we'd love to see you!

We are also keen to speak to any parents who would be willing to share their career stories with our girls at our Careers Information evening on Thursday 29^th February. This event is a great opportunity for our students in Years 9 -13 to learn about different career paths and gain insights from experts in their field. If you can help, please contact Mary Saunders, Head of Careers, on msaunders@mayfieldgirls.org

Have a lovely weekend.

With very best wishes,
Jonathan Forster

Cornelia's Birthday Celebrations

On Monday, we celebrated the birthday of our foundress, Cornelia Connelly, with a beautiful mass, a whole school quiz, a celebratory lunch and, of course, cake! Both dining rooms were adorned with blue and white balloons, creating a festive atmosphere. At lunchtime, a tasty menu was on offer,  featuring roast thyme chicken breast with a pancetta, leek, and cream sauce, accompanied by buttered new potatoes, broccoli, and peas. The vegetarian option, Spaghetti Puttanesca, provided a flavourful alternative. For dessert, we indulged in lemon and raspberry layer pots, a combination of lemon posset, raspberry mousse, crunchy biscuit shards, and freeze-dried raspberries! As a special treat, cans of fizzy drinks were available to complete the birthday celebrations. The day was filled with joy and camaraderie.

Building on the spirit of celebration, we're excited to announce an upcoming event in response to parental feedback – an informative evening for parents and guardians about the life and works of Cornelia Connelly. Our History of Art teacher, Jo Weddle, will deliver a talk on the beautiful chapel and artwork within the school. Following the presentation, parents will have the opportunity to socialize over drinks and nibbles. We are currently in the process of scheduling a date for this event, and invites will be sent out soon.

Cornelian Quote of the Week

“Do not fail to be faithful to your word”
- Cornelia Connelly

This links with our Cornelian principle of Integrity. Here we will remind our community of the importance of being an honest person with strong moral values. Making sure our actions match our words and being ever mindful of others.

Deborah Bligh, Senior Deputy Head

Come to our talk on Healthy Friendships

Please RSVP if you would like to attend

History of Art Trip to Tate Britain 

On a chilly and frosty Tuesday, Year 12 and 13 History of Art students travelled to London, with Dr Weddell and Mr Davis, to study at first hand many of the artworks covered in the classroom. First we walked to Trafalgar Square to see the full scale of Nelson’s Column, covered in Paper 1, national identities. We continued along Whitehall to Lutyens’ Cenotaph to appreciate its subtle proportions, then to Parliament Square to Ivor Roberts-Jones’ sculpture of Winston Churchill, both studied for Paper 1, War. The statue of suffragist Millicent Fawcett by Gillian Wearing in the same square also appropriately faces Parliament squarely. Next, on to Westminster Gardens for Rodin’s Burgher of Calais, and finally Tate Britain, to examine in detail many of the stunning Pre-Raphaelite artworks studied for Paper 2. We also saw the ‘Women in Revolt!’ survey show of British feminist art from 1970-90, connecting to Paper 1 study of gender identities and Fawcett’s statue. This was a wide-ranging day and students responded brilliantly, being a pleasure to take on the trip. Special thanks to Mr Davis who gave up his free time to accompany the group. 

Dr Joanna Weddell, Head of History of Art

The Addams Family - 2 Weeks to Go!

Rehearsals are in full swing, with just 2 weeks left until our production of The Addams Family School Edition at Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells!

Performances on Thursday 1^st Feb & Friday 2^nd February at 7.30pm. Tickets £14, £12 concessions.

Book tickets

Year 12 Geography Trip to Stratford

The Year 12 Geographers braved Arctic temperatures in their A Level 'Changing Places' investigation of Stratford, East London on Wednesday. Data was collected in the Old Town, New Town and the regenerated and rebranded East Village (pictured). The girls collected a range of qualitative and quantitative data in all three areas and will use digital mapping technologies to analyse their findings.

Steve Gough, Geography Department

Stein Feast Day

On Tuesday, Stein House celebrated our first ever Feast Day. We began the day in our comfy clothes (and occasional animal onesie!) and joined together in the chapel for a Liturgy. Ronan talked to us about St. Edith Stein and her complicated faith journey, focussing on three pivotal moments in her life and using her own words – voiced by Lucy R - to help everyone understand more about her remarkable life and what we can learn from her.

At breaktime, we came together for flapjacks and hot chocolate, and then treated the rest of the school to some of our homemade bakes and a very popular sweet sale at lunchtime.

Emily Woodfield, Teacher of Science & Head of Stein

Debaters Triumph at Ardingly

Mayfield's debating team attended Ardingly College for the second heat of the English Speaking Union's debating competition. Our Year 13 debaters were Esme, Cosima, Lucy and Elizabeth. Showing themselves impressively knowledgeable on the motion ('This House would abolish the House of Lords'), the opposition seemed unable to challenge Mayfield's strongly defended points in any meaningful way, resulting in a strong Mayfield win. Our team ranked first amongst our competitors on points (ahead of Ardingly, Lancing, Brighton College, and Hurstpierpoint). In addition to this, Cosima scored highest of the debaters with nearly perfect scores.

Paul Ferguson, Head of Politics

Sports News

A busy week in the PE Department this week. Results can be found below and match reports are on SOCS.  

Saturday Netball Sessions
The Netball term got off to a great start, with many girls attending pre-season training on a brisk yet sunny Saturday morning. Exciting times ahead!

Monday Football
The U15s lost to Lingfield in the first round of the Sisters N Sport competition on Monday, but there were plenty of positives to take away and work on.  

Winning Tuesdays
The U14s made a very convincing start to their Netball season on Tuesday with two victories. The U14As triumphed 18-12 and the U14Bs 15-12 against Burgess Hill.

Wednesday Netball
A win and a defeat for our U13 Netball team on Wednesday, with our U13As going down 6-16, but our U13Bs came out victorious with a tense 11-9 victory over Sevenoaks Prep.

Thursday Netball and Swimming Gala
The U15s Netball season got underway on Thursday with matches against Burgess Hill. Our U15As went down 11-25, but U15Bs won 21-5.

We also took 14 girls to Roedean for a Swimming Gala and they did not disappoint. We finished 1st overall with some really impressive performances. 

Friday Cross Country and Saturday Netball
Today, our U13A cross country runners are competing at Great Walstead. Check out the match report on SOCS to see how they got on! 

Saturday afternoon sees our first weekend block of the netball season as we face Eastbourne College. Check out SOCS and the Mayfield Sport Instagram page to find out timings and locations. 

Wishing everyone a restful weekend. 

Mr Jordan Walser, PE Teacher

Psychology Social Change Poster Competition

Year 12 Psychology students have been learning the processes of social change and the ways a minority must behave to make people listen and adapt their own behaviours. Students used their knowledge to create posters to either encourage others to behave in greener ways, eat pizza at every meal, or to convince people that the world is indeed flat! Congratulations to Chloe for producing the poster which included the most detailed use of psychological theory as judged by Tilly, our Psychology Ambassador. Mr Warren judged Kseniia's poster to be the most eye-catching and creatively designed. Although a popular poster choice, we are yet to be convinced to eat pizza every day and the world remains a globe!

Charmaine Noyes, Head of Psychology

Prefects’ Dinner

It was wonderful to attend the Prefects’ Dinner this week. Rachel M hosted a fantastic murder mystery party.... All were in high spirits, determined to uncover the murderer and furious that only one got it right in the end! Fantastic fun and an exceptional set of young leaders.

Deborah Bligh, Senior Deputy Head

The Week in Gabs

Last Saturday, Gabs’ boarders learnt some new yoga poses and had a go at practising some partner poses too. It was followed by some Romanian dancing, taught by Mrs Motoc and her daughter, who demonstrated some circle dance steps traditional of weddings in Romania. It was great fun seeing the girls taking part and most importantly having fun. During the week the girls enjoyed spending time making their own pancakes with some yummy fillings!

Welly Walk

On Stein Day, the welly walkers were out enjoying the sun and ice!

Flo Appointed to British Eventing’s National Youth Forum

Congratulations to Flo, who was this week appointed to British Eventing’s inaugural National Youth Forum. Flo will be working with British Eventing to assist in shaping the future of eventing in Great Britain.

The National Youth Forum members will be encouraged to identify and implement ideas and initiatives alongside likeminded members. They will be given the opportunity to ensure both their own, and the voice of the youth membership, is heard by the national governing body for the sport and key stakeholders.

Empty Chocolate Tubs Wanted!

Do you have any unwanted (empty!) chocolate tubs lying around at home? We are looking for tubs that we can up-cycle for a Year 9 project. If you have any empty tubs of roses, heroes, celebrations, quality street etc please hand them in at reception - thank you. 

Milena Wolmarans, Senior Science Technician

Ronan’s Reflection

Today is Day 2 of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This week traditionally runs from the 18^th to the 25^th January. It began in 1908 as the ‘Octave of Christian Unity’, and is marked by the majority of major Christian churches throughout the world. By annually observing the WPCU, Christians move toward the fulfilment of Jesus' prayer at the Last Supper "that they all may be one."  (cf. John 17:21)

The theme chosen for the 2024 week of prayer for Christian unity is ‘You shall love the Lord your God… and your neighbour as yourself’ (Lk 10:27). It focuses on the parable of the Good Samaritan, and the reflections for this year are provided by an ecumenical group drawn from churches from Burkina Faso. The call from this team is simple: “Go and do the same.”

Perhaps this week, we might take some time to reflect on our shared humanity, our collective divinity, and pray for peace, harmony and understanding in our world. There are some wonderful resources for each day available here, prepared by the Burkina Faso ecumenical community.

Together, let us pray:

O gracious Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that we all may be one as you are one. In your community of complete unity, we have our beginning and our end. To you we pray, asking for the gift of visible unity among all who believe in your Christ.

As we commemorate this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we are reminded by your Word that all human beings are our neighbours and that we are to love them like ourselves and in the same way we love you. Help us to overcome the barriers and divisions we have nurtured against your will.

Grant to us, O Lord, a new Spirit of love and solidarity, that we may proclaim your good news to all of creation. We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirt are one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

You are most welcome to join us for any of our Masses this week:

• Sunday at 11.30am (organised this week by Leeds House)
• Tuesday at 6.00pm
• Wednesday at 1.45pm

Mr Ronan Lavery, Lay Chaplain

News From the Friends

Year 8
Coffee - Friday 9th February, at The Sussex Gardener in Mark Cross, TN6 3PJ.
Please do join us after drop off, anytime from 9am.