E-weekly Issue 271 - 28 June 2024

Welcome

Mayfield Day was both a wonderful celebration of our academic year and a beautiful tribute to Antonia Beary and the SHCJ. It was fantastic to see so many families present, capturing the wonderful sense of community that defines Mayfield.

There has been no slowing down as we head to the end of the term. We have enjoyed Inter-House cricket tournaments, Shakespeare Off by Heart competitions, a Mathematics Sixth Form conference with visiting schools and a beautiful summer concert.

This week, we bid a fond farewell (but come back soon) to our Year 13 students with a special Mass, dinner and ball. We are deeply grateful to the parents of Year 13 for entrusting us with their daughters’ education. I cannot fully put into words how proud we are of these exceptional young women, who are poised to make a positive impact on the world.

Looking ahead, next week promises to be full of enrichment, new learning opportunities, and plenty of fun.

Warm regards,

Deborah Bligh, Headmistress

Video: Mayfield - A Year in Pictures

In the News This Week...

Goodbye Year 13 Leavers!

Year 7 Olympics Day

Mayfield Hosts A Level Maths Conference

Year 9 & 10 Trip - 'Lysistrata'

Boarders Enjoy Strawberry Picking

Year 11 Boarders Visit Thorpe Park

Year 8 Girls Visit Worth Abbey

Mayfield's Summer Concert

Shakespeare Off By Heart Competition

Equestrian Centre Welcomes Prep Schools

Culinary Skills Success

Lower School Inter-House Debating Final

Sports News

Year 12 Students Take On Three Peaks Challenge

Year 8 Create Buffets in Food & Nutrition

News From the Library

The Wellbeing Hub - What's On This Week

Next Week's Menu

A Date for Year 7 Parents

Tuesday 2^nd July - end of year celebration at ‘La Bodega’ @ The Townhouse from 18:30.

Goodbye Year 13 Leavers!

On Monday we said our final goodbyes to the Year 13 Leavers. Mass and dinner in school with parents was followed by drinks and dancing at One Warwick Park. It was a great send-off for a brilliant year group. Thanks to Father Raymond for a beautiful mass; Mr von Halasz for his excellent speech and to the catering team for a wonderful supper. Thanks also to the Sixth Form tutors and other staff who braved One Warwick Park and helped the girls enjoy their final party. Congratulations to the Year 13 girls themselves whose energy, enthusiasm and enjoyment was infectious - good luck in your next steps, and stay in touch! 

Mr John Doy, Head of Sixth Form

Year 7 Olympics Day

Year 7 took part in Olympics Day on Wednesday, spending the morning learning all about the Greek and modern Olympics. They then undertook a series of tasks in their country groups, designing a team mascot, a ‘walk out’ poster and their own sporting event! All of the teams then spent the afternoon competing in their games. Well done to Team Mongolia and Team Niger for getting the winning prizes! Also a shout out to Sally, McKinley and Elaine for winning the ‘joy’ and ‘integrity’ awards. A lovely day was had by all.

Miss Imogen Jones, PE Teacher

Mayfield Hosts A Level Maths Conference

On Wednesday we were delighted to welcome students from Beacon Academy, The Judd School, and BHASVIC to our annual A Level Mathematics Conference. The focus this year was on developing problem solving skills which will be very useful at university and in the world of work.

The day started with an icebreaking pairs game to encourage interaction between students from different schools and an introductory talk on why problem-solving skills are so important and how they can be used when applying to university. Students then participated in a variety of workshops. Understanding forces and motion was the focus of the Mechanics workshop, where students carried out experiments to calculate the effect of air resistance. In the Statistics workshop, they looked at the probability of winning Britain’s Got Talent and why airlines always overbook their flights. A workshop on university admissions tests gave an insight into how they could help your transition into the next stage of education. A competitive problem solving relay allowed students to work collaboratively and develop resilience. Workshops for visiting teachers were also a feature of the day.

To round off the day we were very fortunate to welcome Ben Sparks, mathematician and musician based at the University of Bath, as our keynote speaker. He gave an interactive talk on Magical Maths where he stunned students with his ability to memorise a whole textbook in minutes and work out the cube of any two-digit number in seconds! He then revealed the ‘trick’ behind the Maths, and we looked at the algebraic proof behind the magic. A very enjoyable day was had by all and Ben Sparks' talk provoked lively discussions in subsequent A Level maths lessons.

Ms Andrianna Demetriou, Maths Teacher

Year 9 & 10 Trip - 'Lysistrata'

Last Friday, a group of Year 9 and 10 girls travelled to London to see King’s College London’s production of ‘Lysistrata’. It was a fascinating experience that included an insight into how Victorian students may have designed the performance, followed by a shortened version of the play itself. Performed in the original language, it was intriguing to see the university students' interpretation of this classic comedy. 

Boarders Enjoy Strawberry Picking

On Sunday, boarders in Year 7-10 enjoyed strawberry picking at Maynards Farm. They came back with masses of strawberries which they then turned into milkshakes, ice-creams, sorbets and muffins. 

Year 11 Boarders Visit Thorpe Park

Last Thursday, the girls in St Michael’s boarding house had an excellent trip to Thorpe Park. This was the last time they could be together before they left for the summer, and was a great way to celebrate finishing their GCSEs!

Year 8 Girls Visit Worth Abbey

Yesterday, 11 girls from Year 8 travelled to Worth Abbey to take part in the annual diocesan Good Shepherd celebration. They were wonderful representatives of our school, and did the Mayfield community proud! Here’s what they had to say about the day:

"Yesterday, we travelled to Worth Abbey to be part of a diverse group of schools enjoying the Good Shepherd celebration. There was a school praying in sign language, and another danced a prayer. 77 schools attended and each showed what the Our Father meant to them. We came together as a community to pray with Bishop Richard. We really enjoyed this experience and loved sharing our Our Father design." - Anon

"I really enjoyed my time at Worth Abbey, it was an amazing trip and I loved meeting everyone and watching people laughing and dancing and singing in prayer." - Tabs

"I'm very glad I went to the mass, as it was very inspiring, and it was a wonderful and fun experience." - Amenze

"Overall this was an amazing experience and I’m so glad I could attend." - Rose

Chaplaincy News
Our final Mass of the school year is this Saturday evening at 5pm. All are welcome. There will be no Tuesday evening Mass, as Fr Patrick is on holiday.

Mr Ronan Lavery, Chaplain

Mayfield's Summer Concert

Our Summer Concert took place on Tuesday 25^th June, and it was a very special event, crowning a year of great music with style.

The Year 7 Choir opened the concert with two beautifully-sung items, the second of which included several confident solos and duets which showcased the great individual talents of our youngest performers. This was followed by the first of our guitar ensembles, a suite of traditional Latin-American dances by Joyce (Year 13) and Audrey (Year 10), combining acoustic and electric guitars to exquisite effect. They were followed by our Junior Flute Ensemble, with Year 13 Annabel stepping in to help in the absence of one of the members. The group played two classic songs from ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’, although sadly no green wigs were in evidence! A new group, MayPops, then made their debut performance: Izzi (Year 9) and Khloe (Year 10) showing their command of vocal harmony in an engaging performance of ‘Thank you for the Music’.

More popular songs followed, with the guitar trio of Joyce, Audrey and Hebe (Year 10) giving a pair of Beatles songs, and then the sensational Pinky (Year 12) heading up the Session Band with electrifying performances of Coldplay, Amy Winehouse and Steven Sanchez. The Senior Flute Duo saw Annabel (Year 13) return to the stage alongside her musical partner of several years, Katie (Year 12), to give performances of two Disney songs. Before the Orchestra, Schola Cantorum sang Mozart’s ‘Laudate Dominum’ with typical poise and beauty. The Orchestra played two items: the first saw Joyce take up the viola rather than the guitar and step into the limelight as the melancholic hero Harold in the ‘March of the Pilgrims’ from Hector Berlioz’s strange ‘Harold in Italy’. The concert was then brought to a rousing close with the ever-popular Radetzky March by Johann Strauss the Elder.

This was the final concert for some of our Year 13 leavers, and Annabel, Clare, Esme, Harriet and Joyce took to the stage to reflect on their experience of music at Mayfield and to thank their many music teachers over the years. We will miss them all, and hope that they will return for future reunions and continue to share their joyful and inspiring musicianship at university and through life. Thank you to all the musicians who took part in the concert, and all the concerts throughout the year, both students and members of staff, as well as to families and supportive friends who have attended concerts across 2023-24. We look forward to more music next year!

Particular thanks are due to Dr Ward, Mrs Le Riche, Miss Allen, and all the music tutors for all they have done this year: Mrs Baranauskiene, Mr Benians, Mr Buser, Mrs Crowley, Mrs Greenfield, Mr Hards, Mr Sharp, Mr Horne, Ms Maslin, Ms Priddle, Mrs Pye, Mrs Schlenther, Mrs Selby and Mr Simpson.

From the Year 13 Leavers:

Clare (Music Prefect): "It’s such a joy to make music at Mayfield! I’m really grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had here, which have helped me to grow as a person and become a confident musician."

Esme: "Something really special about the Music Department is the connection to others, making friends for life. Through music we make friends with girls in all years, and that’s something that happens in Music more than elsewhere."

Harriet: "Music has given me so many opportunities to do so much, and I’m so grateful. It’s such a community of people, and we’re always together. Music has made me such a confident person: to learn new music, to keep working at pieces, to gain the courage to perform, to stick at things when they’re really tricky. We can take that into our next walk of life. We’re so grateful for all the memories."

Joyce: "Music at Mayfield: wow! I thought music was such a mechanical means to an end, but here I’ve had a completely different experience. I’ve learned how to express myself in music, to pick up and learn songs I actually like, and generally it’s been so great."

Annabel: "Thank you to all the music teachers who’ve taught us – it’s been incredible!"

Shakespeare Off By Heart Competition

Congratulations to all the Year 9 and 10 pupils who took part in our Shakespeare Off By Heart competition on Thursday. Our judges were impressed by the girls' understanding of their characters and creative staging of their scenes. Truly remarkable performances - well done everyone! 

Best Group - Year 9
Matilda as Paris, Hester as Friar Lawrence and Inaya as Paris.
Romeo and Juliet (Act 4, scene 1)

Best Group - Year 10
Alice as the Doctor, Anna as the Gentlewoman and Cece as Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth (Act 5, scene 1)

Best Duologue - Year 9
Betsy as Emilia and Liza as Othello
Othello (Act 5, scene 2)

Best Duologue - Year 10
Hope as Lady Capulet and Lucia as Juliet
Romeo and Juliet (Act 3, scene 5)

Best Comic Performance
Emma as Beatrice
Much Ado About Nothing (Act 3, scene 2)

Best Dramatic Performance
Katie
Macbeth

Best Overall Performance
Michelle as Lance
Two Gentleman of Verona (Act 2, scene 3)

Mrs Jane Leslie, Teacher of English

Equestrian Centre Welcomes Prep Schools

On Tuesday, Mayfield's Equestrian centre welcomed visitors from 5 local prep schools to compete in our pony club event. The sun shone and the ponies all arrived with much anticipation in the air as it was the first time we have run this event since 2020!

The course was set up to allow all abilities and experiences to jump, starting at 40cm and going up to 70cm. The standard was very high and it was pure joy to watch all the competitors doing something they clearly loved, representing their schools. It was a closely fought competition with Sevenoaks Prep School and Skippers Hill joint winners! All the schools should be very proud of their riders and thank you to Sacred Heart Wadhurst, Atelier 21 and Somerhill.

Not wanting to be left behind, the afternoon ended with Mayfield's very first Hobby Horse race, with the schools going head to head in a mini show jumping course! Lots of fun was had by all and Skippers Hill were victorious. It was great to see everyone giving it their very best efforts and to have two new ponies (hobby horses) welcomed to our stables!

Huge thanks to Jill Barker and her wonderful team down in the stables for putting on such a fantastic and well organised event.

Mrs Georgina Fletcher, Director of Partnerships and Outreach

Culinary Skills Success

For our final Culinary Skills session of the year, we made Danish pastries with homemade dough and a selection of tasty fillings. Both girls achieved a Distinction for their "Mayfield Certificate of Culinary Skills", a verdict I'm sure you'll agree with after seeing their amazing creations. 

Lower School Inter-House Debating Final

We've seen excellent debating this year with our Inter-House competition, and today's showdown between Ávila and Stein was no exception. The motion - "This House believes that it would be better to travel back in time than into the future" - was introduced 10 minutes before the showdown, in a style known as "scratch debate." With little time to prepare, this style pushes debaters to develop and rely on rhetorical flair and the skills the debaters have been practising with Mrs Parrett. The Lower School did not disappoint. With Janie (Stein) and Isla (Ávila) opening up for their respective Houses, the scene was set with a high bar. Izzy (Ávila) and Nicole (Stein) added depth and fantastic rebuttal as second speakers. It was neck and neck at this point. But following a round of rather philosophical questions, ably handled by all debaters, it came down to the summation speeches. Janie delivered a convincing summation, quite literally "Dropping the Mic" in a brilliant touch of flair. However, it was the impressive delivery of Isla (who went on to win Debater of the Day), with her lovely combination of passion and logic that pushed Ávila over the edge to claim the final debating competition of the year.

Given the motion, I think we can all conclude if we were to go back in time, we'd change nothing about this debate. And if we were to travel in the future, we would simply hope to see more debates of this calibre next year. A resounding Hip-Hip-Hooray for all debaters is very much in order.

Sports News

Despite the term coming to an end, life in PE has certainly not slowed down. It was a week full of Inter-House fun, including Athletics, Cricket and Tennis.

Inter-House Athletics
What a fantastic day watching our athletes in action. It was a pleasure to see so many friends and family there to witness how hard the girls have trained to compete in their events. A shout out must go to Mr Doy for giving us a spectacular finale in the squadron relay. Despite the Assisi comeback, it was not enough to affect the overall placings which were:

1^st place – Avila
2^nd – Assisi
3^rd – Stein & Bakhita

Well done to all those girls who took part. It certainly takes a lot of courage, and we were so proud of everyone’s efforts. Finally, we must mention our record breakers; Isla (Year 7) who broke records in the 800m & 75m Hurdles and Deborah (Year 9) who broke the Long Jump record.

Many thanks to Sophie (Year 13) for taking the photos of the athletics on Mayfield Day.

Inter-House Cricket
Much time was spent getting through the Inter-House cricket competitions this week, where we saw 80+ girls compete for their respective houses with some fantastic Cricket played! The winners for each tournament were:

Lower School – Avila
Middle School - Stein

Inter-House Tennis
A great way to conclude our tennis season, where we saw lots of different combinations and girls take part. As we know, anything can happen in the world of sport and Inter-House Tennis certainly gave us some exciting results! The winners were as follows:

Year 7 & 8: Assisi
Year 9: Assisi
Year 10: TBD
Year 12: Stein

Eastbourne Tennis Trip
The girls went to watch some of the pros in action on Monday at the Eastbourne Rothesay Tournament. They enjoyed spending their afternoon walking around the courts, getting inspired and even snapping some selfies!

It has been a glorious week of sport, thank you to all the PE staff for allowing the events to run so smoothly, and most importantly the girls for bringing such enthusiasm and cheer.

Year 12 Students Take On Three Peaks Challenge

We are Phoebe, Edie, Becca, Hannah and Maddie and we are all students in Year 12 at Mayfield. 

We have collectively decided to lace up our walking boots and climb the three peaks in July, to raise money for charity. We will start with Ben Nevis, the tallest peak at 1,345m (4,413 ft), followed by Scafell Pike at 978 m (3,209 ft) and finally, Snowdon at 1,085m (3,560ft). All money raised will be going to Chestnut Tree House Sussex, a children’s charity providing hospice care and community support for children and young people with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions. We would be incredibly grateful for any donations you could make to support Chestnut Tree House and the work that they do. Thank you so much for your support! 

Donate Here

Year 8 Create Buffets in Food & Nutrition

We have remained busy in Food & Nutrition for our final week of lessons (despite the increasing heat!). 

Year 8 have been involved in a "collaboration" task. They worked in small groups to plan and make a selection of finger foods to share. Their buffets could include sausage rolls, mini pizza, mini quiches, samosas, sweet or savour scones and tray bakes. They all worked well together to complete their dishes on time and get tidied up! 

A final challenge for Year 8 involved using their knife skills to make an apple swan. There were a wide variety of outcomes, but Charlotte was definitely able to display her swan with pride! 

News From the Library

Please could you all remember to return library books by the end of the term, sooner if possible. It would be a great help to me and Ms Kotesovska as we complete the re-organisation of the Main School fiction collection. A big thank you in advance.

Ms Jan Blagden, Librarian

The Wellbeing Hub - What's On This Week

Next Week's Menu

Menu w/c 1^st July