E-weekly Issue 281 - 15 November 2024

Welcome

This week began with a moment of deep reflection as we came together to honour those who gave their lives for our freedom. The whole school gathered for a moving service, culminating in the two-minute silence at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, marking the end of hostilities in World War One. On Remembrance Sunday, I was proud to join a number of our student representatives in laying a wreath on behalf of the School at the village Remembrance Service.

Later in the week, we welcomed our Catholic Schools Inspection team for their visit on Wednesday and Thursday. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our staff, students, and parents for their incredible support throughout this process. Our girls shone brightly just as they do everyday. The inspectors were particularly impressed by how closely the views expressed in the parental survey and during Thursday’s breakfast meeting with parents aligned with what they observed during their visit. Their experience over the two days echoed the overwhelmingly positive sentiment within our community. We look forward to receiving the final report and gradings within the next ten days, which will, of course, be shared with you all.

Looking ahead, I want to highlight a couple of wonderful events next week. On Tuesday evening, we will hold our annual St Cecilia’s Day Concert, in celebration of the patron saint of music. This promises to be a truly joyous occasion, and I hope you can join us. Then, on Friday evening, our Charity Fashion Show, organised by Lydia in Year 13, will take place. Proceeds from this event will support Hospice in the Weald, an incredibly worthy cause. Please do come along and show your support for the girls and their hard work.

Book your seats

Warm regards,

Mrs Deborah Bligh, Headmistress

In the News This Week...

Anti-Bullying Week - 'Choose Respect'

This week our 13 Anti-Bullying Ambassadors have been busy raising awareness on the effects of bullying behaviour and promoting this year's theme of ‘Choose Respect’.  

This was achieved by some of the girls delivering assemblies ‘in house’ to Years 9 and 10, with another group visiting Sacred Heart Primary School to deliver an assembly to their Year 5 pupils.  

Alicia in Year 12 said, “I thought today was so insightful and I feel like although we were teaching them, we also learnt a lot from the Year 5’s too. I found it inspiring that the children felt comfortable and were confident enough to engage and ask us some quick tricky questions looking for advice and we were able to support them. It was amazing to see them reflecting and that they felt comfortable enough to share their experiences with us.” 

Mrs Gabriel, Deputy Head of Sacred Heart Primary School, said "The girls did such a wonderful job of leading the assembly and our children really enjoyed it! They answered a couple of tricky questions so thoughtfully and intelligently.”  

On Tuesday, the school community also participated in the nationwide 'Odd Socks Day' which is designed to be a fun yet thought provoking event, showing how we are all unique individuals and providing a visual representation that it is ‘ok to be different’. It was a brilliant opportunity for everyone to express themselves through their odd sock choices! 

Today, we marked the end of Anti-Bullying Week with 'Feel Good Friday'. The girls have been working closely with the Catering department by designing a cupcake topper centred around Anti-Bullying Week. They were also out in force by lightening the mood of the lunch queues by playing some fantastic tunes and giving students our motivational stickers.  

Miss Sophie Auer, Deputy Head of Middle School

A Level Drama Theatre Trip

On Tuesday evening, the A Level Drama students travelled to London's Barbican Theatre to see an adaptation of Hanif Kureishi's novel 'The Buddha of Suburbia'. This inspiring co-production between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Wise Children, was directed by the ground-breaking Emma Rice and was a real feast for anyone who likes theatre to be colourful and flamboyant.

The running time of 150 minutes sped by quickly and the girls left the theatre feeling inspired and ready to write their evaluative essays!

Ms Victoria Nash, Director of Drama and Media

More Equestrian Success!

East Sussex County Show Jumping

On the back of our amazing time at Addington, the riding squad won two team titles and an individual East Sussex County show jumping title at Felbridge on Sunday. The girls have qualified for Hickstead at the beginning of May half term. 

Novice team - Issie, Belle, Anya and Isla.

Intermediate team - Emilia, Fleur, Issie and Anya (pictured above).

1.10 individual - Hope, who also qualified for the Hickstead Elite 1.10 final at the end of June (pictured above).

We also had a number of riders qualify for the RPL Individual championships at Hickstead in August - Iona, Olivia, Anya, Emilia and Issie.

Well done girls!

As ever, thanks also go to the supporting crew - it is far more stressful watching the girls compete!

Jill Barker, Director of Riding 

Flo Selected for Howden Way Rider Academy
Riding Ambassador Flo has, for the second year running, been selected on to the highly prestigious British Eventing/The Howden Way Talent Academy 2025. This comes after her hugely successful season, especially at both the Junior Championships and representing GB in Ireland in September. 

"The Howden Way Talent Rider Academy supports riders, competing within the British Eventing framework, with top class training and education as they transition through the age groups and into senior competition. The purpose, working collaboratively with British Eventing, is to nurture and develop the next generation of talent enabling them to reach their full potential."

Congratulations Flo!

OC Delivers Art Workshop for Scholars 

Boarders Mark Remembrance Day with Handmade Poppies

On Saturday Leeds House spent the afternoon learning about Remembrance Day and the importance of poppies in honouring the sacrifice of those who have died in war. Having been led through a moving presentation by Mrs Misiewicz, we read a range of war poetry from the very well-known 'For the Fallen' by Laurence Binyon, to 'High Flight' by John Gillespie Magee Jr and 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' by Wilfred Owen.  

We then spent the afternoon making poppies to mark the occasion, using paper, paint and glue, along with a dash of creativity to create beautiful poppy pins that were personal and unique to each individual girl. 

Mrs Lucinda Misiewicz and Mrs Emily Woodfield

Scholars Enjoy Energising Workshop

Last Tuesday Sarah Huntley, a performance psychologist who works with a range of elite equestrians ran an 'Energise You' workshop with all the scholars, with the aim of helping them to learn how to maintain energy reserves and build resilience.

They were challenged to pick one particular area from among: sleep, switching off, hydration, nutrition, self-care and phone use to focus on improving in a specific way.  Sleep and phone use proved to be the most popular areas girls wanted to work on and  a week later, 27 girls reported having already implemented their positive change with tangible results. Here is just some of their feedback:

"I feel a lot more energised and willing to work harder when I drink more water." - Aurelie, Year 7
"It leaves more time to read my book in bed." - Eva, Year 10
"I have been having fewer headaches." - Alexa, Year 12
"I feel more in control and less panicked about tests coming up." - Lucie, Year 10
"I surely have more energy in the day and I feel less sleepy during lessons so I can concentrate better." - Charlotte, Year 13
"I no longer feel as tired and I feel as though I can finish more tasks within a day." Greta, Year 13

Perhaps the best response:

"I feel happier." - Katherine, Year 9

We hope that the scholars will cascade the 'Energise You' tips throughout the school, so that everyone can feel a bit happier, more rested and in control. The key take away message was the importance of balance in our lives. The girls have already suggested other areas that they would like more workshops on - managing stress and building confidence - which we can build into the ongoing scholars' programme. 

Mrs Kasia Kilvington, Director of Scholars

News from Psychology Club

Are you an owl or a lark? Psychology Club members, supported by our Psychology Ambassadors Julia and Georgie, have been exploring this question and investigating whether there is an age difference in our sleep patterns. If you are a lark you like to go to bed early and you are also an early rising known as a 'morning person'. As an owl you stay up late at night but enjoy a lie-in. Our students asked participants of different ages to complete a questionnaire of their sleep habits. We found a significant difference between adults and teenagers with adults more likely to be larks and teenagers to be owls. This might explain why your daughter might struggle to get up in time for school! If you fancy finding out what your score would be, please have a go at the questionnaire yourself!

Owl or Lark? Questionnaire
Julia and Georgie also led a session on dreaming, with lively discussion about dream content and sleep disturbances. The importance of sleep and dreaming was made clear and everyone agreed that we need to make sleep a priority (but don't watch scary movies beforehand)!

Miss Noyes Head of Psychology

Boarders Enjoy Village Fireworks

Last Saturday, the boarders enjoyed an evening out supporting the local Mayfield  village fireworks - the skies were clear and the fireworks bright! This was followed by sparklers outside their boarding house, and hot chocolate back indoors.

This Week's Culinary Skills Creation

This week Culinary Skills girls made delicious lamb or chicken koftas with flatbreads and tzatziki! 

Mrs Sue Smeaton, Head of Food and Nutrition

St Cecilia's Day Concert - Tuesday 19^th November

Wear Blue - Wednesday 20^th November

Book your place for Alicia Drummond Talk

'Dogs of Mayfield' 2025 Calendar

Chaplaincy News

On one hand, this past week has been a wonderful opportunity to see our school community showcasing the very best of what Mayfield does. It was empowering to see just how talented, wonderful and proud of their school this whole community is. It was humbling to receive so much support, encouragement warmth and friendship from staff and students alike.

On the other hand, I'm really glad this week is over...!

Now we can begin to look forward to Advent, the Feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday of the year, lights, cold nights, Christmas carols, Live Crib, too much chocolate, and a whole lot of joy and laughter. Now we can begin to get excited for Christmas (that ship has sailed for Mrs Lavery, in fairness), and the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We do hope you can join us for the Taize prayer service next Saturday evening at 7:30pm, and we warmly invite you to come to Mass in the school chapel this Sunday at 11:30am, and on Tuesday evening at 6pm.

Tonight at 7 o'clock, Fr Patrick Fitzgerald-Lombard is leading a workshop on the new translation of the Lectionary, which comes into effect this Advent. It takes place in the Sixth Form lecture room, and will last about 90 minutes. All are welcome.

Next Week's Daily Prayers

Daily Prayers 18-22 Nov

A quick reminder - on Saturday 30^th November, students and families are invited to join us in the school chapel at 7:30pm for a Taize prayer service. In partnership with the churches in Mayfield, our girls will be offering a prayerful and reflective service based on the music of Taize. The girls are working hard with Mrs Le Riche on their own arrangements of some of the most popular Taize hymns, which are sounding amazing already. It will be a moment of calm before the storm of Christmas preparations!

Mass on Sunday is at 11:30am, and on Tuesday at 6pm in the school chapel. All are welcome to attend.

Mr Ronan Lavery, Lay Chaplain

Sports News

Hockey
The U15B team played Bede's on Wednesday and despite the score at half time being 4-0, when we had the ball in the opposition's 25 we looked dangerous. Mayfield came out fighting in the second half, and despite the pressure showed great courage, culminating in a fantastic goal from Imo which meant Mayfield won the second half 1-0.

Last Saturday we played a block fixture against Roedean. Despite the ‘outcomes’ not going Mayfield’s way, that cannot be said for the ‘process’ of the games and the score lines are certainly not a reflection of the games. Mayfield look dangerous when in possession of the ball, and the opportunities to score are increasing. It is now a matter of converting the play in the attacking D into goals, and aiming for the score lines to reflect the quality of hockey that is being played. All teams have shown a great improvement in their structure, ball pace and game sense. The girls have shown true perseverance in training and have shown not only improvements individually, but also as team units.  

For the full match reports for this block, please visit SOCS.  

1st - 2-0 loss, MVP Maggie
2nd - 2-2 draw (goals from Maia and Martha)  
U15A - 3-0 loss, MVP Erin  
U15B - 1-0 loss, MVP Eve and Issy
U14A - 2-0 loss, MVP Gigi and Flo 
U14B 9-0 loss  

Cross Country
On Wednesday our Junior team travelled to Tonbridge for the South East regional round they had qualified for in the English Schools Cross Country competition. This was a fast and almost flat course which is quite different from many of the cross country races the team have run so far. All the girls had to push themselves hard and maintain a high intensity throughout the race. Emily in Year 8 maintained her position near to the front of the race and managed to finish in 19^th - having finished last year in 34^th place, this was a fantastic improvement. Isla and Katya finished in the middle of the field of runners, with Isobel, Renee and Katherine spread out further down the finishers. All girls were amazed by the speed of the race and proved that their stamina has very much improved this term against some strong runners.  

Swimming
Last Wednesday, the intermediate and junior swimming teams went to Walthamstow Hall for a gala. We had a lot of close races and a lot of cheering from supporters on the side. Overall, it was a loss for Mayfield but only by a fine margin with the inters' result being 70 - 73 and the juniors' being a 67-81 defeat. This meant the overall result was 137-154 to Wally Hall. Well done, Mayfield!

On Monday evening the swim team had a gala at Sevenoaks School. Despite missing some swimmers, the team fought their hardest and pushed through. A huge well done to Kitty in Year 10 who won the 50m Freestyle for inters.

Inter-House Football 
We had the next instalment of our Inter-House Football this week as Year 9 and Year 10 both competed in an A + B tournament in their PE lessons. With over 130 girls taking part across both events, it was incredibly successful and fun was had by all. Next week sees the culmination of Inter-House Football for the year, with the Year 11s and Sixth Form taking part in their PE lessons on Wednesday.

"On Tuesday we saw the Year 9 Inter house football at Mayfield. Assisi A started very well by winning their first two games. In the Bs, Stein won overall closely followed by Bakhita. The players of the A tournament were Adrianna and Brianna in Assisi As. Everyone played very well and in the end the day was great." - Amelia, Year 9

"The inter-house football was really positive and everyone showed great team spirit! Both A and B teams played three matches against each house, and everyone played with enthusiasm. Overall, it was a successful day!" - Lizzie, Year 10

Upcoming Fixtures  
Saturday 16^th November - Hockey
2nd v Cranbrook - Away 
U15A v Cranbrook - Home  
U15B v Sutton Valence - Away 
U14B v Sevenoaks and Sutton Valence - Away

Photo of the Week

Many thanks to Paul, one of our fabulous minibus drivers, for sharing this photo of his minibus complete with Christmas decorations and music as he drives girls to and from school! The ever-popular 'All I Want For Christmas' by Mariah Carey was played over the speakers, among other song choices.

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

Library News

This week the library has supported our wellbeing team with book displays in both libraries curated by the pupil librarians on the theme of bullying. This has tied in with the Anti-bullying Alliance’s awareness week ‘Choose Respect’. Did you pick up an Odd Socks bookmark, available on the library display?

In the main library, the Book of the Week chosen by Olivia is one of Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries, 'And Then There Were None'.

In lower school, the Book of the Week has been chosen by Leonie and is one of our new purchases, 'Skandar and the Unicorn Thief'.

The Wellbeing Hub - What's On This Week