E-weekly Issue 260 - 15 March 2024

Welcome

This week has been truly special as we welcomed five exchange students from Oak Knoll, our sister school in New Jersey, USA, along with their teacher, Rebecca Mull. It's heartening to strengthen bonds with fellow Holy Child Schools, and these two weeks at Mayfield offer their students (as well as ours of course) a rich tapestry of experiences beyond the norm.

Mayfield has been alive with the excitement of the Dance Show this week. Witnessing our girls rally around each other, sharing laughter and applause, has been nothing short of uplifting. I’m really looking forward to tonight’s finale, where our talented performers will undoubtedly impress once again.

Today marks the launch of the Cornelian project, sponsored by the Cornelian Society to nurture student creativity and foster skill development through project work. With 'peace' as this year's theme, I encourage our students to explore their artistic expression in whichever form speaks to them - be it through words, movement, or visual art.

As we approach the final week of the spring term, we look forward to an assembly themed around rewards, house drama, and the bittersweet celebration of muck-up day for our Year 13 leavers. It's a time of both reflection, celebration, and looking ahead to new horizons.

Warmest wishes,
Deborah Bligh

Welcome to our Exchange Students from Oak Knoll

This week we welcomed five students from Oak Knoll to Mayfield, along with Rebecca Mull, who is a teacher at the New Jersey School. Here's Rebecca's story of their first week in the Mayfield community: "We, the six visitors from Oak Knoll, your sister school in New Jersey, U.S.A. are extremely grateful for the very warm welcome we have received from the entire Mayfield community! We have not even been here for an entire week, but it has already been a deeply enriching experience. On Sunday morning, we were in awe at attending Mass in a medieval building which also serves as Cornelia Connelly’s final resting place. After a delicious lunch, we toured the village which, to us, is the quintessential, quaint English village. In subsequent days, we have been kept busy by participating in all aspects of the life of the school, learning so much about the fascinating history of the place and, most importantly, forming friendships with your lovely students, teachers, and staff. In the days ahead, we are looking forward to two day trips to London and also an excursion to Hastings."

ESU Debating at Mayfield

On Monday 11^th March, Mayfield hosted the South East Regional Finals of the historic English-Speaking Union debating competition. With five other prestigious schools vying for top slot – all of whom have won two rounds to get this far – the competition was fierce. Only one school would advance to the national finals from this heat of extremely talented and experienced debaters. Our girls took to the task with gusto, and fastidiously prepared to oppose the motion: 'This House Would Create a Compulsory National DNA Database'. First Speaker Esme came out on attack with some cutting rebuttal and outlined our line of argument beautifully. Next was Cosima, whose speech was eloquent and utterly empirical.  But it didn't stop there. The barrage continued with Lucy as summation speaker, who, with her signature passion, demonstrated her mastery of the style with a well-placed quip that had the audience erupting with laughter. Suffice to say, if she had a mic it would most certainly have been dropped.

Unfortunately for Mayfield, the decision did not go our way on this night. Despite having received comments from fellow debating coaches that Mayfield looked like winners, the judges unfortunately saw things differently. Nevertheless, it was a triumph of a debate for our side and the culmination of lots of work and success to date. An extra large 'thank you' goes to our Head Girl, Lizzie who chaired and time-kept, as well as stepping up to deliver the MC address. The Mayfield Debating Society was done proud that night!

Mr Paul Ferguson, Head of Politics

Year 11 Ball

On Friday 8^th March, we welcomed the boys from Tonbridge school to join our Year 11s in a night of celebration before they prepare to enter their GCSEs. They arrived via a red carpet, moving through the courtyard for nibbles and to collect memories in a photobooth, before heading to a disco by our very own DJ Mendes! Thank you to everyone who made this evening possible. I know the girls really enjoyed themselves and it was wonderful to see them all having fun.

Lynette Le Riche, Head of Year 11

Psychology Talk 

On Monday the Psychology Department were very excited to welcome Professor Christine Simmonds-Moore from the University of West Georgia, USA as a guest speaker (over Zoom).

Professor Simmonds- Moore is a British psychologist and parapsychologist whose research interests include the clinical approaches to exceptional experiences, including Extra Sensory Perception (telepathy). Her lecture emphasised the need for rigorous control in the scientific methods that she uses in her experiments. This included a demonstration of our powers of ESP on cat images using an interactive mentimetre via the technology of smartphones. The rate of correct answers suggested a high level of telepathy amongst our Psychology students! This is until we were made aware of biases in the study.

Students commented that, “it was a great way of hearing about topics outside of the Psychology A Level syllabus” and “it was really interesting seeing a published psychologist talk about her own research in an objective way.”

Charmaine Noyes, Head of Psychology

Thriving Minds Conference

Twelve Year 10 girls attended the Thriving Minds Senior Stretch Conference in London this week to experience a day of university style lectures and be inspired. They seemed to particularly enjoy the first talk on ‘The Secret of Happiness’, which somewhat appropriately for us, demonstrated that a happy nun is a long-lived nun. They were talked through how they might approach a tricky Oxbridge question in the form of ‘Does a Snail Have Consciousness?’, which took them deep into the nature of consciousness and raised questions about humanity itself and the experience of patients in long term vegetative states.

Major Alexander Fogassy, a fighter pilot in the US air force currently finishing his PHD at Oxford, provided an extremely inspiring insight into his experiences realising his dreams and how he coped when things did not quite go to plan. The final talk examined social physics and the impact of big data, which was quite frankly frightening in places! The day finished with a debate about whether or not AI is a positive force for good. We will be meeting up later this week to discuss the day, having had an opportunity to digest all the ideas we encountered.

Kasia Kilvington, Director of Scholars

Year 7 Yoga Sessions

As part of the health and well-being programme this term in Life Skills, all Year 7 students have taken part in a yoga session during their tutor time. The session was aimed at improving their mental and physical health, by practising some gentle stretches as well as more challenging poses, with some breathing exercises too. They also learnt to work together by doing some partner yoga poses, which proved to be quite a challenge (and a laugh) for some! It was a welcome start to the day, taking time to slow down in their very busy schedule. Regular yoga sessions are available for all years to attend during lunchtime on Tuesdays. For more information, please contact Mme Richard.

Boarders Go Bellringing

On Saturday 9^th March some of the Year 10 boarders had the opportunity to try bellringing. On arrival at St Dunstan’s Church we climbed up a spiral staircase to the ringing chamber. Members of the band of bell ringers from the church were on hand to give an explanation about the British tradition of change ringing, and how the hanging of the bells differs in England from other countries. After a trip up a second spiral staircase to see the inner workings of the clock (and a peep-hole down to the church) the girls had the opportunity to have a go at ringing the bells themselves, with some discovering a talent they did not know they had previously!

Boarders’ Trip to Hastings

The previous weekend saw the boarders in Leeds House and St Gabriel's House go on a cultural adventure to the seaside down of Hastings. It was windy, and raining, but this did not spoil the day and added to the overall cultural experience!

The girls took a trip on the funicular railway that transported them up the west cliff and were immediately in awe of the view from the top over Hasting's Old Town. They then visited Smugglers Adventure, an underground network of ancient caves and caverns. These are filled with secret tunnels that were once used by the smugglers of Hastings. This experience is fully underground and was extremely cold and dark; however, this was complemented by atmospheric lighting and lots of life-sized sculptures to bring the experience to life!

After our tour of the tunnels, we went down to the seafront. Whilst some of the girls relished in purchasing some of the finest fish and chips (or in most cases, chicken nuggets and chips) from the local chippie, the other girls were let loose in the arcade, where we have never seen so much determination to beat the top score, gain the most tickets and win the most prizes from the 2p machines!

A great afternoon out was certainly had by all.

Sports News

Swimming Gala
Monday saw our final gala of the season taking place at Benenden. Swim squad captain Zoe and senior squad member Abigail finished their Mayfield swimming careers in style by winning their races. Zoe has been an outstanding Captain for the squad, yelling encouraging and motivating messages from the poolside, helping with team sheets, and keeping morale high. We will miss both girls next year. The whole team swam brilliantly, and we are pleased to say that both age groups came out as the winners of their respective categories!

Inter-House Football
Lower School
Lower school battled all the elements this week for their Inter-House tournament. Despite the weather, the girls put on a good show, demonstrating clear improvement over last year. Congrats to winners Assisi! Full results below:
1^st – Assisi, 2^nd – Avila, 3^rd – Bakhita and Stein (joint on points)

Year 9
Year 9 appeared to thoroughly enjoy their Inter-House Football this year. Not only was it a close encounter, but there were plenty of goals scored throughout the event! Once again, the girls demonstrated everything they had been working on and put on a great display! Below are the results from the Year 9 event:
1^st – Avila, 2^nd – Assisi, 3^rd – Stein, 4^th – Bakhita

Years 10 and 11
After the original event was cancelled due to the weather, the re-arranged competition proved to be very entertaining, with some brilliant football skills on display. Results are below:
1^st – Avila, 2^nd – Assisi, 3^rd – Bakhita, 4^th – Stein

Years 12 and 13
Sixth Form turned up in their numbers for Inter-House Football this year. The number of participants was the highest of any event this year and it was lovely to see girls who had never played before enjoy themselves and put in a really good shift - a great send-off for our Year 13s. Below are the results:
1^st – Assisi, 2^nd – Avila, 3^rd – Stein, 4^th – Bakhita

Mr Walser would like to thank all the girls who have committed to,  and shown interest in, football this year – long may the growth continue!

U15A Football vs Forest School
The team's run in the Sisters n Sport Plate came to an end this week with their match against Forest School. The girls played brilliantly and Mr Walser has been thrilled to see so much progress made by the entire squad over this season. After a strong first-half performance, conceding only one goal, sadly the second half ended 6-0. The girls must be commended for their efforts all season. 

U13A Lady Taverners Indoor Cricket
Thursday saw the U13 cricket team attempt to make Mayfield history by reaching the regional round of the Lady Taverners indoor tournament. The girls fell just short but put in a brilliant performance. Check SOCS for a full report and break down of each game.

Netball vs Ardingly
On Saturday 10 teams played against Ardingly, from U18A to U14C. Always a tough fixture, the girls did themselves proud, enduring the physical challenge and rising to the occasion. We have lots to take forward to this weekend's triangular. For full reports see SOCS.

Upcoming Fixtures and Events
Saturday 16^th March - Triangular with Worth and Seaford College
Monday 18^th March - U18A Football vs Buckswood School

Bakhita Charity Day – Tuesday 18^th March

For Bakhita House’s Charity Day, we are raising money for Maggie’s by remembering the journey Bakhita herself made when she was only a child.

Saint Josephine Bakhita was born in the village of Olgossa in the Darfur region of Sudan. In 1877 she was kidnapped by Arab slaves and forced to walk over 600 miles to a slave market in El Obeid.

Help us raise money for Maggie’s by emptying your piggy banks, looking under sofas and the backs of drawers and collecting any loose change you find. Place your coins on each of the footprints that are placed around the map detailing her journey. There will be a map in Becket reception for Years 9-11, in the Sixth Form centre for Years 12-13, in Lower School for Years 7-8, and in the staff room.

Any contributions you can make would be greatly appreciated.

Mrs Fiona Morris, Head of Bakhita House

'Write on Art' Competition

Can You Help?

Next term, there'll be four girls joining Mayfield School from Thailand for six weeks of boarding, education and cultural enrichment. This programme will be highly beneficial for them and for our current girls. We have an exeat weekend on the May bank holiday weekend, meaning that the school (including boarding houses) will be closed from 18:00 on Friday 3^rd May until 18:00 on Monday 6^th May. We're looking for families of current Mayfield pupils to accommodate the Thai girls over that weekend. If you're able and willing to act as guardians for either two Year 7 girls or two Year 9 girls on this weekend, please email leedshouse@mayfieldgirls.org for more details.

Mass at Mayfield

Mass times this week are as follows:

Sunday 17^th March at 5pm.
Tuesday 19^th March at 6pm.
Wednesday 20^th March at 1:45pm.

As always, everyone is welcome.

Spring Concert – Fully Booked!

We are looking forward to welcoming those who have booked to attend the Spring Concert on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, we are now at full capacity and there are no more seats available. A recording will be available to view after the concert has taken place.

Mayfield Festival of Music and Arts 2024

The biennial Mayfield Festival of Music and the Arts is being held from 26 April to 12 May and the Box Office is already open. As usual, the Festival boasts an eclectic mix of musical genres and art forms (although classical music is, as always, at the forefront of the offering) and with more than 20 events to choose from the Festival probably contains something for everyone.

Moreover, Mayfield School will play a significant part in the proceedings. Not only will the School play host to the Tunbridge Wells International Music Competition from Wednesday 1 May to Sunday 5 May (inclusive), but four concerts, a play and a history lecture will take place at venues within the School (including a performance in the Chapel by the internationally renowned baroque violinist, Rachel Podger) and students at the School will be performing in two of the concerts.

In addition to the concert featuring Rachel Podger, other highlights of the Festival include an opening night adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth that played to rave reviews at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe (and which also features an Old Cornelian amongst the cast), the London Community Gospel Choir, performances of the complete Brandenburg Concertos over two nights, a performance of Schumann’s Dichterliebe by Helen Charlston and Sholto Kynoch (who performed together in the School Concert Hall in early 2023), a recital by the world-famous pianist Imogen Cooper, and a concert performance of Puccini’s Messa di Gloria and Elgar’s Cello Concerto that will feature Mayfield School's Schola Cantorum.

All but one of the events are free to attend for students at Mayfield (the exception is Gin and Phonic, which is over-18s only). Bookings can be made using the booking methods described below and selecting a ‘25 and under’ ticket (except for Macbeth, where the specific ‘Mayfield Girls’ option should be selected). 

Full details of all events are available on the Mayfield Festival website at www.mayfieldfestival.co.uk and tickets can be purchased either online at www.ticketsource.co.uk/mayfieldfestival, by telephone on 0333 666 3366 (quoting Mayfield Festival) or in person at Sew Inspired, High Street, Mayfield. A special offer discount applies such that if you buy tickets for five separate events or more in a single purchase transaction, you get 10% off the price.

Library News

A big thank you to all the girls and staff who took the time to dress up on Friday and celebrate World Book Day here at Mayfield. The £1 donations for dressing up totalled £87, which is brilliant and will be sent to the charity BookTrust.

With the Easter break fast approaching please remember that you can borrow books from the library. Especially useful are the audio and e-books available to borrow via the school portal > school library links> wheelers, making reading on the go and on long journeys really easy!

Writing Competition
If you want to try your hand at creating stories, poetry or song lyrics for others to read, then please consider entering the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition. Posters are up around school, and more details can be found below.

HBWC – The Branford Boase Award and The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition

Book Recommendations

Have a peaceful Easter holiday.

Ms Jan Blagden, Librarian

From the School Shop

Sports Headband Available
At the request of the PE Department, we are now carrying Mayfield Headbands for PE. Please see picture below – these are £7.50 each and come in two sizes. Please come to the school shop if you want one and remember to have the bill payer’s permission to put it on your bill.

Competitive House Hoodies
The House Hoodies are now back in stock. We carry the following sizes. 11-12, XS, S, M, L, XL. If you would like one, pop into the shop to try one on, or if you know your size, email me and we can put one aside for you to collect. They are £28 each - please have the bill payer’s permission to place this on your school shop account if you are purchasing one.

From the Friends

Year 11
End of term catch-up at The House Cafe, Mayfield, on Thursday 21^st March from 11:45 to 1:00.

Next Week's Menu

Menu w/c 18^th March