E-weekly Issue 285 - 13 December 2024

Welcome

This week, we were delighted to host the Mayfield Festival of Ideas for the third time. Our brilliant scholars from Years 9-13 led workshops for our Lower School students on a wide array of topics, including the impact of music, conspiracy theories, effective speaking, endangered languages, nostalgia, dreams, déjà vu, and Greek mythology. It was inspiring to witness the lively interactions between year groups and the power of peer-to-peer learning in action—a celebration of curiosity and creativity across our school community.

Another highlight of the week was the Year 7 -9 drama evening. I was genuinely blown away by the both the girls' talent and flawless execution of their performances.

A heartfelt thank you to the parents who joined us for the first of our parent forum events. These forums provide a wonderful opportunity to share feedback on our new communication systems for parents and to collaborate on the development of the new Friends Committee format. At Mayfield, we deeply value the sense of connection with our families, and we are so grateful for your thoughtful contributions.

This week we said goodbye to Anita Gunn who has taught dance to numerous Mayfield girls over a period of 34 years.  We greatly appreciate all she has given to the school and know that we will continue to see her at school events in support of her dancers. Further information will be sent out regarding Ballet lessons next term on Monday.

Looking ahead, we are excited to usher in the Live Crib season, starting this Sunday and running through to Wednesday (with Tuesday’s performance reserved for Old Cornelians). This cherished Mayfield tradition is always a highlight of our calendar, and we warmly invite you to come along to experience the magic.

Best wishes,

Deborah Bligh, Headmistress

In the News This Week...

Live Crib 2024

Festival of Ideas 2024

'What makes festive music festive?' and 'What can you learn about Poland from Polish movie posters?' are just two of the questions that girls in Lower School have been exploring this week. The scholars have been celebrating their interests and passions through a series of informative, inspiring and interactive workshops covering topics incorporating psychology, music, history, geography, science and even crime solving. The girls have also been trying to break the code to find out 'Who killed Mrs Kilvington?' from an assortment of Mayfield staff suspects...

The girls played tambourines, did experiments, matched cards, drew posters, played Kahoot, undertook wordsearches, and a whole host of other activities during the varied programme of events. Today the Festival finished with a debate on whether AI will be the end of us, with girls identifying one moral value they would like programmed into any future AGI, along with their reasons why. Ms Blagden also treated them to a Mayfield Jolabokaflod, inspired by the Nordic tradition of exchanging books on Christmas Eve, ensuring that each girl had a surprise book to take home and enjoy over the holidays. We hope the girls love their books and look forward to hearing their feedback on the Festival, so we can continue to improve it year after year.

Mrs Kasia Kilvington, Director of Scholars

Year 7-9 Girls Give a Dazzling Performance

On Tuesday night we were treated to a selection of performances during the Drama Scholars and LAMDA Performers' Evening. It was wonderful to see so many friends and family members attending the showcase, hosted by Meryl in Year 7 and Isabella in Year 9. The girls performed a mix of monologues and duologues from a rich and diverse selection of plays, ranging from classical texts such as Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler' to contemporary favourites. The future of Mayfield Drama is undoubtedly very bright!

Ms Victoria Nash, Director of Drama and Media

Bebras Challenge Success!

This year, our Year 7 to Year 11 Computer Science students participated in the Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge, a prestigious international competition designed to test computational thinking and problem-solving skills. The challenge encourages students to tackle puzzles that require logic, creativity, and perseverance—essential skills in Computer Science.

We are thrilled to announce that a group of our students achieved the coveted Gold award, placing them in the top 10% of participants nationwide! Congratulations to the following students on this outstanding achievement:

Year 7
Katherine

Year 8
Helena, Janie, Hei

Year 9
Katherine, Birdie, Izzy, Cecilia, Gigi, Emma, Jenny, Flo, Emilia

Year 11
Sofia, Kendra

Their hard work and dedication have truly paid off, and I couldn’t be prouder of their success. Well done to all our participants for rising to the challenge and showcasing their computational talents!

Mr Stevie Partington - Director of IT

Rainbows Bereavement Support Group

Rainbows is a national and well-respected charity, which offers a programme of support for young people navigating grief of all kinds, such as death, divorce, incarceration, abandonment and many others, through facilitated peer groups within their communities. These groups provide a safe environment that encourages communication while identifying, navigating and discussing difficult feelings that accompany loss. Our trained staff host small, informal sessions in St Raph’s kitchen on Friday mornings during tutor time, for the duration of the 10–12-week programme.

Confidentiality, which is at the heart of all Rainbows Programmes, is always kept, unless a young person is at risk, in which case the school’s safeguarding procedures are followed. 

Rainbows supports self-esteem, trust, confidence and resilience, whilst promoting positive emotional/mental development and healthy relationships. If you feel your daughter might benefit from attending the Rainbows group, please feel free to contact me, Helen Lavery at hlavery@mayfieldgirls.org  or Lynette le Riche at lleriche@mayfieldgirls.org. The new programme will start after Christmas.

‘100% of headteachers agreed that the Rainbows programme is a valuable resource for supporting vulnerable children in school.’ 

‘96% of parents and carers would recommend the programme to others.’ 

‘79% of children agreed that they felt more confident and less worried about their problems after attending a Rainbows Programme.’ 

Please do not hesitate to contact us via email if you have any questions regarding this.

Year 11 Tutors Visit St Michael's House

On Tuesday morning the Year 11 tutors enjoyed a tour of St Michael's Boarding House to see where their tutees live. They were lucky enough to be given some delicious mille feuille made by Ivana, complete with gold leaf on top!

Mrs Pippa Whitby, St Michael's Housemistress

Chemistry 'Mystery Element' Competition

After a hotly contested element No.7, the winner from all of the correct entries was Ava D who received the chocolate and medal prize! The last one, special festive edition, is attached below. Good luck to all.

This Week's Culinary Skills Creation

This week Year 12 Culinary Skills girls made a festive sausage wreath using homemade puff pastry and cranberry sauce. Fantastic results achieved by all!

Mrs Sue Smeaton, Head of Food & Nutrition

Maths Christmas Competition

The Maths department is running a Christmas Dingbats Competition for all staff and students. 

Please send in your entries to Mrs Howie, or via your Maths teacher if you prefer. The competitions close at 9am on Monday 16^th December, and there will be Christmassy prizes on offer. Good luck!

Christmas Dingbats

Mayfield Christmas Card For Sale

We are delighted to announce the official 2024 Mayfield Christmas card is now on sale! Featuring a nativity scene created by Iulia in Year 13, packs of five cards are available from Andrea on reception at a cost of £5 per pack. Cash only please.

'The Sound of Music' Bookings Now Open! 

Chaplaincy News

Advent Appeal
As the chaplaincy common room begins to fill up with bags of food and warm clothes, we are hoping that next week will bring an influx of Advent Appeal items. We are asking you to help us with non-perishable food, feminine hygiene products and warm clothes. Thank you to everybody who has already donated for your incredible generosity.

Thank you also to Di Clarke, to Izzy, Alice & Georgie, and to Valentina, Lucy, Alice, Lucia, Flo, Ines & Liberty from Year 9, as they managed to put together 180 bags of sweets, destined for food banks in Tunbridge Wells, Eastbourne and Crowborough.

This Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, is known as 'Gaudete Sunday'. 'Gaudete' means 'rejoice' in Latin. This is when we light the pink candle on the Advent wreath. The colour pink is used to represent anticipation in the church, so this weekend we are called to 'look forward joyfully' to the end of term Christmas Day. And we remember our call to be a people of joy as we read this Sunday's second reading, from the letter of St Paul to the Philippians:

Philippians 4:4-7
Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Mass this Sunday is at 11:30, during which we will welcome baby Frederick Burns into the Catholic Church through the Sacrament of Baptism. There is no Mass on Tuesday evening due to Live Crib.

Next Week's Daily Prayers

Daily Prayers 16-19 Dec
Mr Ronan Lavery, Lay Chaplain

Sports News

U15A Football Team Triumph Over Lingfield
The U15A football team finished our fixtures for the calendar year in style as they won 5-2 against Lingfield. A full match report is available on SOCS; a special shout-out must go to Brianna who scored all five goals!

Athletics Vests Needed!
Calling all Athletes from 2024 season, to check if they have a school Athletics vest at home or in their boarding house. We are currently missing a fair few. Please return them to the PE department as soon as possible!

U18 Netball Team Soar at Campaign Kick-Off
The U18 Netball team played Boost Netball Club on Monday night, kicking off their 2024/2025 campaign with a huge 29-9 win. A massive well done to all the girls who came along, what a great way to move forward into the Netball term!

Christmas Events at Mayfield

Midnight Mass
Midnight Mass will be held in the Mayfield School chapel on Christmas Eve; carols start at 8:30pm leading into Mass at 9pm. All are welcome.

CAFOD Christmas Coffee Morning

Photo of the Week

Many thanks to Mrs Bowles for sending in this photo of the Mayfield village post box and its festive topper. 

We would love to receive submissions for future 'photo of the week' stories, taken both in Mayfield and the surrounding area. Please send your chosen photos to jtompsett@mayfieldgirls.org.

Library News

The Mayfield Festival of Ideas has been running in Lower School this week featuring a broad spectrum of fascinating topics. The Friday carousel of activities included an Icelandic Jolabokaflod-inspired session in the library. This is the tradition of book-giving on Christmas Eve. The girls in Year 7 and 8 all received a wrapped library book to read over the holiday. We watched travel videos of Iceland and took part in a Christmas Quiz (no screens - brains only!).

Looking forward to next term, Thursday 6^th March is World Book Day, so start thinking about which book character you would like to come to school dressed as. This is open to all students and staff with a £1 donation which will raise money for BookTrust 

BookTrust: Getting children reading | BookTrust

Don't forget the Wheelers e-platform for our school online library of audio and ebooks. It can be accessed via the pupil portal >school library links>wheelers.

From all of the library team we wish you Peace and Joy this festive season.

Ms Jan Blagden, Librarian

From the School Shop

Billing at the End of Term
Please note that in order to get bills out to you in a timely fashion as we approach the Christmas break, all school shop bills that you will receive will only include purchases and returns from 1^st September to 30^th November 2024. Any items purchased by your daughters / wards in December 2024 will appear on your next available bill.

All purchases are made on trust by your daughter and it is assumed that you have given your daughter clear instructions or guidelines for placing items on your account. You can request a summary of purchases from the Shop at any time by emailing: sbowles@mayfieldgirls.org (taken from the Uniform Booklet – P18)

Mrs Susan Bowles, School Shop Manager

The Wellbeing Hub - What's On This Week