E-weekly Issue 267 - 24 May 2024

Welcome

As we reach the half-term break, I am filled with pride and admiration for the effort, focus and resilience our girls and young women have demonstrated during their examinations. I am confident these qualities will carry them through the next half of term. We have so much to look forward to, including time for celebration and the wonderful enrichment opportunities that await in the coming weeks. 

I hope you all enjoy a sunny bank holiday and a relaxing half-term break.

Warm regards,

Deborah Bligh, Headmistress

In the News This Week...

Year 7 Recycling Project

Silver DofE Practice Expedition

Food & Nutrition Creations

LAMDA Exam Success!

Boarders Have Par-fect Time at Mini Golf

Sports News

Cultural Day at Mayfield

News From the Library

From the Geography Department

From the School Shop

Silent Auction Items Needed

The Wellbeing Hub - What's On This Week

Calling all Year 11 Parents...

Year 7 Recycling Project

Year 7 have been learning about plastic recycling in Life Skills this term. They were tasked with coming up with ideas to use some of the five million tonnes of plastic waste that we generate each year in the UK. The judges were really impressed with the girls' ideas and presentations.

Best Product Idea:
The Frizz Fixers: Isla, Christina, Emily, Ede
Best Presentation:
Plastic Doggy Bag: McKinley, Aurelie, Janie
Best Teamwork:
Snack Sations: Amelie, Renee, Janie

Mrs Rachel Davies, Teacher of Biology and STEM Coordinator

Silver DofE Practice Expedition

All sixteen of our participants excelled themselves last weekend on their Silver DofE practice weekend in the South Downs. Walking for nearly 50km over three days, they worked really well as a team to navigate accurately along their planned routes as well as carry all their clothes, food, cooking equipment, sleeping kit and tents to name just a few of the things required to be self-sufficient. The girls ate well with well thought out meals and the traditional pudding of s’mores, which went down well with everyone!

Memorable moments of the weekend included the girls v staff rounders matches and frisbee competitions at the campsites, the beautiful views of The South Downs, making up ghost stories, munching on s’mores and much better weather than was forecasted.

The Silver DofE girls are now very much looking forward to their assessed expedition in the Surrey Hills in a few weeks’ time.

As always, a huge thank you to all the staff who came along to help over the three days.

Mrs Saunders, Head of Careers/DofE Manager

Food & Nutrition Creations

I am pleased to announce the results of the Inter-House Cooking Competition!

Drum roll please... 

4th - Assisi, who cooked peasant style potato and chicken and souffle pancakes.
3rd - Avila, who cooked the Avila bowl with cheesecake and berry compote.
2nd - Bhakita, who cooked bacon and chicken risotto and berry muffins (the berry muffins were probably the best homemade ones I've ever tried!).
1st - Stein, who cooked creamy chicken with rice and berry crumble. The judge was particularly impressed with Aurelie and awarded her "Star Chef"!

Meanwhile, Year 9 students have been looking at nutrition for teenagers this half term and created their own (very colourful) salads to be served with a homemade burger (beef or bean), and completed their meal with a tangy lemon cheesecake. 

Finally, this week in Culinary Skills we invited the very cheerful Chetan, one of our school chefs, to teach the girls how to make a perfect chocolate fondant, a dish that is feared by many chefs as it can be tricky to get the perfect runny centre, and some spring rolls - focussing on fine vegetable preparation and shaping. Thank you Chet, we all learnt a lot in this session. 

Mrs Sue Smeaton, Head of Food and Nutrition

In the Spring term, 50 girls across the school completed their LAMDA examinations. These exams range from acting, public speaking and speaking of verse and prose, and were the culmination of a year's worth of work for most. For some girls, it was their first exam, completing their Grades 2 - 5, while the older girls progressed to their Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals. 

We are thrilled to announce the Mayfield 2024 LAMDA results: 85% of girls received a Distinction, the highest mark awarded, and 15% received a Merit, the second highest. Many girls received marks higher than 90/100, with one silver medallist receiving 97/100. The examiners were extremely impressed by the girls' breadth of repertoire, from Shakespeare to gritty contemporary female playwrights such as Morgan Lloyd Malcolm. We are extremely proud of all our girls, many of whom have a bright future ahead in the performing arts!

LAMDA is a brilliant way to further your passion for drama and/or public speaking. You can take solo lessons, or work with a friend as a duologue, developing skills in vocal technique, confidence building and exploring different roles. The higher grades also provide UCAS points. If you are interested in taking LAMDA lessons, please contact Miss Allen (rallen@mayfieldgirls.org).

Mrs Junemann, LAMDA Teacher

Boarders Have a Par-fect Time at Mini Golf!

The boarders from Leeds House visited Heaven Farm last weekend for a round of crazy golf. Despite predictions of storms and rain the sun shone brightly and the girls had a lovely time in the warm sunshine. There was definitely an air of competition between the teams, but all was forgiven in the end and the afternoon was closed with a fabulous trip to the ice-cream parlour where there were more than 25 delicious flavours to choose from!

Mrs Gaelle McGovern, Head of Religious Studies

Sports News

As we approach half-term, we want to extend a big congratulations to all the girls for their outstanding sporting achievements this term. It has been wonderful to see them compete in numerous athletic meets, with many reaching their personal bests and season bests. We’ve also enjoyed significant successes in cricket and had a great time with both internal and external tennis matches. We look forward to more exciting matches after the break.

Tennis - U15A v Uckfield
A fantastic win for the mighty U15A tennis team, beating Uckfield by four games to two. The girls faced some tough competition - and a special mention to Lily for giving their number one player (who plays at national level) a good game of tennis. Well done to Emma, Kitty, and Eliza, who all won their respective games, allowing us to take the overall win. Onto the next match!

Diamond League Athletics
Emily in Year 7 had another great 1500m race last Saturday at the final Sussex Independent Schools Diamond League event. She not only achieved a personal best time of 5:32mins but also won the Bronze medal overall for her age group (which is up to Year 9 age).  This is a great accomplishment for Emily and we look forward to hearing of her racing endeavours for Tonbridge Athletics Club during the summer months.

Cricket
The U15A team played away this week at Worth. The sun was shining for us; sadly we didn't secure the win, but it was great to see the girls play some good cricket. Well done to all those that played! Please see the full match report on SOCS.

Upcoming Fixtures
Monday 3^rd June - Tennis U15A v Hurstpierpoint college
Monday 4^th June - Tennis U15A v Bede's
Wednesday 5^th June - Cricket U13A v Great Walstead 
Thursday 6^th June - Cricket U15A v Bede's
Saturday 8^th June - Cricket U15A & U13A v Cranbrook 
Saturday 8^th June - Tennis tournament v Lingfield & Rodean

We'd like to wish the girls a well-deserved break over half-term and hope they enjoy some sunshine and look forward to getting back into some sporting action after half-term.

Cultural Day at Mayfield

Cultural Day is officially happening on Friday 21^st June, the day before Mayfield Day. 

Everyone is invited to wear their national costumes on the day, so if you are a boarder and going back home for the half-term, don't forget to bring them back with you after the break! 

Also, there will be food stalls on the day filled with national dishes from different countries, so if you are willing to participate in the activity, representing your culture and organising a food stall, please fill in the form below and we will contact you later for further details. 

Cultural Day Form

Nicole and Kseniia, Year 12

News From the Library

The pupil librarians in both libraries have been busy designing bookmarks to promote 'Empathy Day' which is on Thursday 6^th June.

They have gathered fiction titles that encourage the reader to connect with characters and situations that may be different from their own life, in order to understand more fully what another person's challenges and dilemmas may be.

Empathy Day is a nationwide awareness day for schools and families supported by resource packs, activities and a new read for empathy book list created each year.

More information

Please feel free to visit either library from Monday 3^rd June and choose your next great read, and a new bookmark (while stocks last!).

Have a lovely half term.

Ms J Blagden, Librarian 

From the Geography Department

There are lots of Geographical competitions that have been launched recently that we would encourage the girls to enter. You don't have to be studying Geography to enter! If you do enter any of these, please contact me so that we can celebrate your entries in school.

Royal Geographical Society Young Geographer of the Year
We had the overall winner for the Y12/13 category last year so it would be great to see some of the girls following in her footsteps. They encourage us to hold a school competition first if there's expected to be a lot of entries so please tell me if you plan to enter. Open to all years.

Royal Geographical Society/Financial Times School Essay Competition
Open to Sixth Form students.

Geographical Association Physical Geography Student Photo Competition
Perfect for those who like to get out and take photos. This year's theme is 'The Power of Physical Geography'.

Geographical Association Model Making Competition
For Years 7-9 (and primary age). 

Mayfield Climate Action Schools Competition
Local environment group. Last year one of our sixth form students won the cash prize.

University of Warwick Global Sustainability Competition
For Year 11 and 12 students; the deadline is at the end of this month.

Young Darwin Scholarship
This isn't a competition, it's a scheme run by the Field Studies Council for students aged 16-25. Great for those who are interested in Ecology and the environment with an interest in field studies.

Mr Christopher Adams, Head of Geography

From the School Shop

We hope that you have a restful half term holiday and look forward to seeing you all back in June.

Year 11 & 13 – Uniform

Once you are on study leave and have a reduced need for certain parts of your uniform, if you wish to send this back to the school shop for second hand, please do the following:

1. Please make sure you have uniform for prize giving / sports day which is on Saturday 22^nd June – including your house polo.
2. Make sure all the items are washed and ironed. 
3. Please make sure they are the current uniform. 
4. There was a change of house polos at the end of last Academic Year, therefore we won't be able to credit any old house polo tops.  
5. We do not take back things like white shirts, swim caps, hockey socks etc.
6. All items must be in good condition, have no holes, rips, broken zips, or stains and not be faded.
7. You may leave the names on them; we can remove these for you.
8. If you are in doubt, send it all in and if we cannot take the item as second hand, we will recycle it for you.
9. Items taken in (and not sent for recycling) will be credited to your school shop account straight away. Therefore please make sure all items you wish to sell are with us by the last day of term. After 5^thJuly, any items received by girls who are leaving will be considered a donation as your account will be shut. For those in Year 11 going into Year 12, if we receive items after term has ended, we will credit you on the next available bill run.
10. We respectfully ask to remind you that there is no official agreement to take back second hand and the credit we give you is final and non-negotiable. If we deem an item too old or in too poor condition to sell, we will just dispose of it responsibly.
11. For Year 11 - please remember to keep your sport bag and any sport kit you know you will need for next year. If you are unsure of your sport choice yet, please keep all your sport kit and then bring items you will not need to me in the Autumn term once you have chosen your sport.

House Polos
A reminder that for the start of the Autumn Term 2024, all students regardless of their year group must have the new house polos as the grace period (one academic year) for using the old house polos is over. For clarity, in September 2024 your daughter's house polo should have one of the following names on it: STEIN, BAKHITA, ASSISI or AVILA. Please send your daughter to the school shop to get a new house polo or order it over the summer holidays (please give me the size you want) in time for returning in September. Sizes are ladies 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20.

Lost Property
Below are items that have been handed in to the school shop.  All items not claimed on return after half term will be disposed of.

Sister Jean's Marmalade
We raised another £45 this half of term for Mary’s Meals – thank you to all who bought Sister Jean’s marmalade. We have re-stocked our shelves and you can purchase a jar (or more!) from the school shop. The cost is £2.50 and we only accept cash for this. If you have any empty jars and lids  (particularly the Bonne Maman jars) please send them in and we will get them to Sister Jean for you.
 

Mrs Susan Bowles, School Shop Manager

Silent Auction Items Needed

A silent auction is being held to raise money for the Antonia Beary Bursary Fund. The auction will be held online; more details will follow soon. 

If you have any items you wish to donate, please contact Narelle Morson (nmorson@mayfieldgirls.org) or Georgina Fletcher (gfletcher@mayfieldgirls.org).

The Wellbeing Hub - What's On This Week