E-weekly Issue 276 - 27 September 2024

Welcome

This week, we said goodbye to two truly remarkable women, Sr. Jean and Sr. Maria, who will be leaving us this weekend to join their community in Harrogate. There are really no words to do justice to the incredible service they have given Mayfield School. Today we celebrated this service with a Mass of thanksgiving in our School Chapel where we had the chance to express our respect, our gratitude, and our deep love and admiration — alongside many Old Girls, former staff, and members of our school and wider village community. Our promise to the Sisters is that we will always strive to ensure the legacy of the Holy Child remains lived and realised here at Mayfield.

It has been a busy and industrious week in school. On Thursday, we welcomed Headteachers and senior staff from several feeder schools to share with them our new Wellbeing Centre and most importantly our vision for how we will use it to support all Mayfield Girls. As Mr. Sinclair, Headmaster at Somerhill, remarked, “It was wonderful to see the amazing new Wellbeing Centre. Mayfield is making serious strides in modern and innovative education.” Our visiting Headteachers were also impressed with the quality of our peer mentorship program — so much so that we’ve agreed to send older students to work with prep school children across many of our feeder schools, focusing on friendship, support, and personal development, just as they do here. This is a wonderful opportunity for our impressive young women.

Finally, I am pleased to share that Mrs. Hawkins, my current PA, has taken on the role of Registrar, serving as a key point of contact for new families. In her place, I would like to introduce my new EA, Luciana Frangella-Cramp (please see the story below).

Have a restful weekend.

Warmest wishes,

Mrs Deborah Bligh, Headmistress

In the News This Week...

Dates for your Diary from The Friends...

Year 11
Parents' Christmas 'do' on Friday 13^th December. The deadline for signing up is today! (27^th Sep). Please contact Giselle to book your place.

Year 10
Parents' drinks in Tunbridge Wells on Thursday 10^th October, location TBC.

News from the Sixth Form

Greta Attends Two Presentation Evenings!
On Wednesday 18^th September, Greta was invited to attend the Moore Kingston Smith head office presentation and networking evening, in recognition of her outstanding work during their virtual work experience programme over the Summer. Greta said: "Moore Kingston Smith offered a unique opportunity via the Springpod platform to welcome 'Women in Accounting'. Their ethos is to 'create a positive impact with lasting success for our people and our clients'. During the work experience, we were provided with real-life scenarios involving financial challenges that helped me to apply my soft skills in practice and to develop my communication and problem-solving skills further."

Following this, on Friday 20^th September Greta attended an award gala hosted by the John Locke Institute, after an essay that she submitted was shortlisted for a prize. Greta reflected on her achievement: "The John Locke Institute encourages young people to participate in their yearly Global Essay Writing Competition which provides opportunities to master independent thinking, strong reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive writing techniques. This competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions; I chose to participate in the Economics subject category where I answered the question 'What is the optimal global population?' My participation not only gave the opportunity for my work to be assessed by experts from leading Universities, including Oxford and Princeton, but also helped me to build the knowledge and refined skills of argumentation. Over 35,000 essays were received this year and I was very fortunate to be shortlisted and invited to attend the Award Ceremony and Gala Dinner."

Congratulations Greta!

Oxbridge Assembly
On Wednesday and Friday this week Elsie Linley from St John's College Cambridge spoke to our Year 10, 11 and 12 students about the Oxbridge application process, and university applications more generally. The girls were asked to email Elsie questions in advance so she could answer them in her presentation. The girls were given information on the college system as well as supervisions and what to expect at interviews.

Year 12 Coastal Geography Fieldwork

On Tuesday, our Year 12 Geographers went data logging along the Sussex coast. The girls measured the gradient along a number of transects across Newhaven beach and collected sediment data to test a number of hypotheses. Further fieldwork in Seaford involved flood risk mapping and questionnaire surveys to ascertain flood risk perception. The day also enabled the girls to appraise a wide range of coastal management strategies.

Mr Steve Gough, Teacher of Geography

A Level History Trip to London

Year 10 Art Students Explore Hastings

On Thursday 19^th September, 39 Year 10 students visited Hastings as part of their GCSE Art and Design Course. The purpose of the visit was to take photographs for their Hastings photography and Photoshop project. The students visited The Blue Reef Aquarium, The Old Town and the fishing boat area. A plethora of photographs were taken, ranging from various sea creatures including a very friendly octopus, reptiles, fish stalls, boats, shop fronts, architecture, and graffiti to close up details of the pattern and texture of fishing nets and rusty surfaces. The sun shone and a very productive day was had by all.

Evidence of the students' creativity will be seen at the end of their GCSE course in the annual Art Exhibition.

Alison Sivyour, Teacher of Art

Request for Games Donations

With the phone ban implemented this year, the prefect team would like to include more card and board games in the common rooms around school. Please bring any unwanted games (e.g. monopoly, uno cards) into school and an area will be designated in the sixth form centre for them to be held and collected from. Thank you!

Angela, Head Girl

Biology Week Photo Competition

To celebrate Biology Week 2024 - 7^th to 11^th October - we are running a Wildlife Photography competition which is open to all staff, students and parents. The submitted photograph can be of any aspect of wildlife you choose. The photographs will be on display in the Biology corridor throughout Biology Week and the winners will be announced in the e-weekly on Friday 11^th October.

Mrs Rachel Davies, Teacher of Biology

Mayfield Fashion Show - Donations Requested

Geography Competition - 'Guess the Place'

This is a new weekly Geography house competition run by Darcy C (Year 13), the Geography Ambassador. The first person to email her with the correct answer will get a house point!

Clues:

• It's not in Europe
• It's a set location for Game of Thrones

Justice and Peace 'Sleep Out' Fundraiser

The Justice and Peace Group have decided this year to take part in another 'sleep out' at Mayfield, to raise money for the Cardinal Hume Centre - a charity aiming to tackle homelessness and poverty. The sleep out will be on Friday 8th November; any money you can donate towards this cause would be gratefully received.

Donate here

Welly Walking with Luna

Another week, another fantastic Welly Walking activity! In particular, Coco, Mckinley and Elsie enjoyed having a run around with Luna in the school fields.

Boarding Update

As our boarders continue to settle in to life in our school community the boarding staff are enjoying arranging a whole host of activities to keep them busy and ensure they have an enriching experience here with us. A trip to the South of England Show for our Leeds and Gabs' girls last weekend was well received, they even managed to dodge the rain that has fallen almost all week. For some of our students, this was their first trip out with school and they had the opportunity to experience all the delights of an agricultural show. There was show jumping to watch as well as cross-country riding, animals to look at, a wide variety of stalls with food and products to buy. Some of our girls found the ice-cream and bakery stalls which they could enjoy on a warm autumn afternoon.

The girls in Leeds and Gabs spent the evening watching the annual carnival process through the high street with an opportunity to go on the fairground rides on Friday evening. St Michael's and Dunstan's visited the carnival on Saturday afternoon and evening and, with a little more freedom than our younger boarders, enjoyed some time with their friends outside of the Mayfield gates! 

The St Michael's girls are enjoying a quieter house this year as they are the sole year group in their house. This gives us the opportunity to have prayer by candle light during the week in our beautiful Chapel and spend some time on some creative activities, this week decorating some lovely bowls and mugs for them to use in the house.

We now look forward to our annual trip to London as a whole boarding community next Saturday. The houses will travel together and then disperse for various visits to art galleries, shops and delicious places to eat before returning to school together in time for dinner.  

Mrs Pippa Whitby, Director of Boarding

Photo of the Week

Many thanks to Mr Doy for his photo of the fireworks at the Mayfield village carnival last Saturday!

We would love to receive submissions for future 'photo of the week' stories. Please send your chosen photos to jtompsett@mayfieldgirls.org.

Fundraising for Tunbridge Wells Hospital 

Tim Schooley, our Director of Estate, has been asked to design a Wellbeing Garden for the Intensive Care Unit at Tunbridge Wells Hospital. His design includes a ceramics installation, featuring the work of our students!

The Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells hospital trust are holding a fundraising abseil event on Saturday 19^th October to raise money for this project, which should be an amazing outdoor space for the hospital. Tim will be taking part in the 100ft abseiling event alongside his sons, and hopes that you are able to support his fundraising efforts for the hospital.

Donate here
 

This Week in Food & Nutrition

The Year 10 students have been busy starting the year working on their pastry skills, and this week have created stunning apple pies. 

The Year 12 Culinary Skills girls started their course this week. It was "bread week" and they achieved some great Focaccia art and some super scrummy fluffy bread. I'm looking forward to seeing what else they'll cook up this year! 

MESSy News

This week in MESSy we were discussing the deer rutting season that is starting around now. Amelie in Year 13 writes about the increased danger of hitting deer on roads at this time of year:

It is imperative that you remain aware on the roads; especially now rutting season is upon us. Rutting season is a recurrent period of reproduction amongst deer. It can start as early as September and continue on throughout the winter months. Due to this, deer are more likely to run across roads at any given time throughout the day. However, due to shorter daylight hours it is very important to be aware of the possibility deer may cross the road with little to no warning, and at high speeds. To avoid distress to both the driver and deer and to minimise the likelihood of collisions, you could install a deer whistle. Deer whistles emit a frequency that only deer can hear, humans cannot hear it. It alerts the deer of your presence, which often prevents them from crossing the road. Also remember, where there is one deer there are likely to be many, so stay alert and reduce your speed to ensure that if any more deer cross the road, the chances of a collision can be reduced.

More information

MESSy is the Mayfield Environment and Sustainability Society and it meets every Wednesday A1 in room 15. For more information contact Chloe in Year 13 (MESSy ambassador) or Mr Adams.

Chaplaincy News

Today we shine a spotlight on our Parish Priest, Fr Patrick Fitzgerald-Lombard, OCarm. The ‘OCarm’ after his name highlights the fact that he is a friar of the Carmelite Order. Fr Patrick describes the Carmelite charism (unique spirituality) as “a journey of transformation.  It is the life- long commitment to follow God’s call to us with prayer as the centre of our lives.”

Fr Patrick has lived this commitment for just over fifty years, having reached his Golden Jubilee of consecrated religious life on 7^th September this year. Before becoming a Carmelite, Fr Patrick qualified and practised as a civil engineer, and his logical and methodical way of approaching challenges continues to influence him positively. He studied philosophy and theology at the Gregorian University in Rome, where his specialisation was in biblical spirituality.

As a friar, Fr Patrick has taught, ministered in parishes and retreat centres, been involved in administration, and he continues to enjoy finding ways to make the scriptures accessible and relevant. As a parish priest, Fr Patrick is generous with his time and his gifts, celebrating Mass every Tuesday evening in the school chapel, and making himself as available as physically possible to support the spiritual life of the school. He often finds himself called upon (sometimes at quite short notice!) to say Sunday Mass in the school, celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation with our students, and prepare families who wish to get married, or have the next generation of Mayfield girls baptised in the school chapel.

As a friend of the SHCJ (whom we celebrated today in our Mass of Thanksgiving), Fr Patrick is well-connected. His aunt, Sister Nesta (possibly known to some of our older readers as Sr Mary Lorenzo!) was a Sister of the Society until her death in 2006, while another aunt, Helen, was a Sister until her death in 1953.

We in the Mayfield School Community are incredibly lucky to have the support of Fr Patrick, who continues to live out his vocation with humility and dedication. We keep him in our prayers - particularly this Tuesday 1^st October, the feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux.

Parents' Prayer and Support Group
A reminder that we are running a prayer and support group for all Mayfield parents, guardians and grandparents. 

Meeting every Thursday afternoon from 5:15pm- 5:50pm in St Raphael’s Wellbeing Centre, we spend a short time in prayer, reflection and bible study, before having a cuppa and an informal chat about anything and everything - school related or otherwise! We pray together, laugh together, and support each other, as we journey with our girls through their Mayfield careers.

No experience is needed, and you don’t have to actively participate in the prayer/study either. You are very welcome to simply sit in silent reflection and companionship. All are welcome, we hope you are able to join us.

Next Week's Daily Prayers

Next Week's Daily Prayers

Mass Times
Mass on Sunday is at 11:30am, and on Tuesday evening (the Feast of St Thérèse, a longstanding inspiration to Fr Patrick) at 6pm. Both Masses will be celebrated by Fr Patrick, and all members of the Mayfield family are welcome to join us.

Mr Ronan Lavery, Lay Chaplain

Sports News

Fitness Challenge Launch
Since Emily Craig’s visit on Wednesday 18^th September, where we celebrated the opening of St Raphael's Wellbeing Centre and launched our fitness challenge, 'The Road to LA,' aligned with National Fitness Day—an annual campaign by Ukactive highlighting the importance of physical activity across the UK - we’ve been inspired to keep moving.

This week, we’ve launched our Olympic challenge to all year groups and staff, aiming to collectively cover the 8,892 km distance by Saturday 30^th November. Prizes will be awarded for individual efforts and overall House contributions. All distances must be verified by using the link to the form below, so we can track everyone’s progress. Good luck!

Upload your evidence here

U14 Tier 2 Tournament
Monday saw our U14 girls travel to Bede’s for a tournament. A spirited performance against Roedean finished in a 2-0 defeat with our opponents just slightly more clinical than we were. The second game against Worth was another good performance but unfortunately, we also lost by 2 goals to 0. However, there were plenty of positives to take away and it was a good experience for the girls.

U13A Hockey Success!
On Wednesday, our U13A team attended the same tournament that our 14s did on Monday and had a great afternoon. The girls got through the group and ended up reaching the plate final! The game finished 0-0 and went to penalty shuttles. After a couple of brilliant saves from Ana in goal, we were able to win 2-0 and win the plate.

Lower school block v St Andrew’s
Wednesday also saw us put out three teams against strong St Andrew’s teams. Our U13B team faced St Andrew’s A team and sadly went down 10-0, and there was a 5-0 and a 6-0 defeat for the Bs and Cs respectively. The girls' heads didn’t drop at any point, which is credit to them and they have learnt a lot from their games. 

U15A v Burgess Hill Girls
The U15A team hosted Burgess Hill after a good week of preparation. The girls played brilliantly; unfortunately, Burgess Hill scored late to take the win 1-0. Special mentions to Erin, Darcey and Emma for their fantastic performances. 

For match reports from all of the above matches, please head to SOCS.

This Weekend's Fixtures
1^st XI v Ashford School - 10:00am start at Mayfield
U15A v Ashford School - 10:00am start at Mayfield
U14A v Ashford School - 11:15 start at Mayfield

Library News

It’s always fun to enter competitions, and publishers often have giveaway prize draws when promoting a new author or latest book. Last week a parcel of books arrived for the library as Mayfield was the lucky winner of a book bundle by popular mystery/thriller author Sophie McKenzie. The bundle included her new release 'Storm of Lies'.

National Poetry Day - Thursday 3^rd October
The theme for this year’s 30th anniversary of National Poetry Day, is ‘Counting’.

More information about how this is being celebrated
Research shows how important reading and reciting poetry can be for mental health wellbeing and brain health. 

Discover more

At Mayfield, we will be celebrating with our own Eisteddfod competition.

Ms Jan Blagden, Librarian

From the School Shop

School Shop Closure
Please note next week the school shop will only be OPEN on Monday 30^th September and Friday 4^th October. We will be shut on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Senior Squad Hoodies
E-mails have been sent out to Year 11, 12 and 13 girls who are participating in Senior Sports inviting them to order a Senior Squad Hoodie. Please note the cost is £36 and we only order these once a year. There are samples in the school shop to try on for size. The hoodie is in red with a second lining in the interior of the hood in white. Your daughters Surname is printed on the back with Senior Squad printed on the sleeve and the Mayfield crest on the front. Please note these are NOT compulsory, but this is the only opportunity to order one as we need to buy in bulk and all hoodies are personalised, so we cannot hold extra in stock. We will place the order over half term, so girls have until the 18^th October to come in and order one.

Any students who already have one but need to replace theirs, please also email by the 18^th October with the size you require or come and try one on in the shop. Any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Pyjama Bottoms
We have the tartan Mayfield Pyjama bottoms back in stock – we have them in pink and green. We also have a Mayfield T-Shirt to go with them in Ombre Print. The pyjama bottoms are £20 and the tops £12.50 – please remember to have the bill payer’s permission if you are buying.

The striped pyjama bottoms are on back order and should be in after half term.

Sister Jean's Marmalade
As we wish Sister Jean and Sister Maria a safe journey to their new home in Yorkshire – a timely reminder that we have the last of her batches of jam in the school shop and sadly once these are sold there is no more.  They cost £2.50 – cash only please. All proceeds are donated to Mary’s Meals. Thank you to both the Sisters for all you have done for the school, you will be greatly missed.

Lost Property
Please see below the lost property. A lot of these items we have had since the start of term. Anything unclaimed will now be sent to charity or disposed of. Some items pictured may have been claimed.

Mrs Susan Bowles, School Shop Manager

The Wellbeing Hub - What's On This Week