E-weekly Issue 156

World Book Day

This year we had a very different celebration for Word Book Day, but despite the remote nature of our celebrations, the girls in Lower School created some great costumes, and some fantastic Teams backgrounds!

The results are as follows:
Winner for the best overall tutor group participation: 8LAL (Mrs Lawson)
1^st place for Year 7: Ashley as Daisy from ‘The Great Gatsby’
Runner up for Year 7: Maggie as Robin Hood from ‘Robin Hood’
1^st place for Year 8: Jess as The Wall from ‘Harry Potter’
Runner up for Year 8: Ilaria as Ariana Dumbledore from ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Fantastic Beasts’
Highly Commended: Anna, Alexa and Ioanna

The day started with a book quiz led by Ms Doy and we later enjoyed a virtual parade during lunch time. Many thanks to our judges, Miss Beary and Miss Staunton, who awarded the prizes which will be handed out when we are back in School on Monday.

The English Department has also held its annual short story competition in which Year 7 and 8 pupils submitted 500-word stories, and those in Years 9 and 10 submitted 750-word stories. There was no set theme this year to allow for maximum creativity. The winners in Years 7 and 8 are as follows:

Year 7
1^st Elsie for ‘The End of the Day’
2^nd Louise for ‘The Erebus’
3^rd Selina for ‘The Angel of the House’

Year 8
1^st Onnae for ‘The Brown Apple’
2^nd Daisy for ‘Toast’
3^rd Jessica for ‘The Ocean Beckons’

The Year 9 and 10 winners will be announced later on this term.

The English Department has greatly enjoyed reading all the stories. The imaginative range of topics and styles included comic space exploration, gritty realism and everything in between! Well done all!
Mrs Claire Baker and Miss Joanna Staunton
 

International Women’s Day 2021: #ChooseToChallenge

As you may be aware, next Monday 8^th March is International Women’s Day, and we are delighted to announce that we have two wonderful and inspirational speakers joining us virtually for Assembly on Monday morning.

International Women's Day has been held on 8th March since 1911 to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, as well as calling for gender parity. This year the theme is ‘Choose to Challenge’. 

Our fabulous speakers next week will be OC Giovanna Forte (Forte Medical), and Martha Silcott (Fab Little Bag), who will both be talking about their companies and the challenges that they have faced bringing new products to market. They will also be telling the girls who their ‘STEM Heroes’ are, and asking the girls to share their own.

We are very much looking forward to sharing their inspiring stories with you next week.

Mrs Rachel Davies, Deputy Head of Sixth Form, Teacher of Biology and STEM Co-ordinator

A Level Politics Students ‘Learn with the Lords Online’ 

On Friday 26th February, Year 12 and 13 Politics students took part in a live video session with Lord Triesman. The session was part of the ‘Learn with the Lords Online’ programme, arranged by the Parliament Education and Engagement team.

The girls asked questions on topics including constitutional reform, the role of the House of Lords, anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, and the performance of Keir Starmer as Labour leader. As well as answering their questions, Lord Triesman shared entertaining anecdotes about his time working for Tony Blair and as Chairman of the Football Association. It was an extremely enjoyable and informative session!

Ms Catherine Bryan, Head of Politics

Model United Nations

Last weekend, eight girls from Years 9 to 12 attended a virtual Model United Nations (MUN) Conference hosted by Magdalen College School, Oxford, along with students from 24 other schools. Our girls represented the Indonesian delegation, and debated issues ranging from child warfare and neo-slavery, to the global pandemic response and the economic impact of coronavirus.

The girls were also given an enlightening insight into international law during the opening ceremony speech by Professor Dapo Akande from the Blavatnik School of Government and Co-Director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict. He has acted as an adviser on international law issues to United Nations bodies, the African Union Commission, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). 

MUN first-timer, Year 9 Katie, was thrilled to have her resolution selected for debate on the Environment and Health Committee; Year 12 Jemima was commended for her contribution to the Politics Committee; and Year 10 Erica for her contribution to the Human Rights Committee. Well done all!

Erica said: “Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to take part in this conference, I had loads of fun!”

This was seconded by Year 10 Lizzie who added: “MUN was really amazing, with very interesting debates - I learned a lot.”

We are so pleased to have been able to run MUN throughout lockdown, and to have had the opportunity to participate in high-quality debate with schools like Magdalen College and Winchester.

A special ‘thank you’ is due to Year 13 Liv, our MUN Ambassador, for running club sessions and preparing the girls for the conference.

Mrs Kasia Kilvington, G&T Coordinator and MUN Adviser
 

Mayfield’s Drama Scholars Perform Online

During lockdown 2021, the Drama Scholars, Mr Smith, and Mrs Gerstmeyer have been working together on monologues and scenes (chosen by the Scholars themselves), to produce performances that communicate successfully online. These include re-staging an extract of Chekhov's ‘Three Sisters’ and turning it into a zoom call!

We would like to invite you to sit back and enjoy this wonderfully eclectic mix of modern and classics scenes, performed by Mayfield's Drama Scholars, here.
Thank you.

Mrs Sally Gerstmeyer, Head of Drama

News from the Chaplaincy

This Sunday’s Gospel: John 2:13-25
Gospel Reflection:

God is not a commodity. The unconditional love of Jesus Christ is not to priced up, and offered for sale. The Passion, death and Resurrection - for us - of the Son of the Living God, is not to be profited from. This, I believe, is the purpose of today’s Gospel reading, where Jesus loses His temper and drives the vendors and money changers out of the Temple.

The Good News - that God loves each one of us so much that He gave up His Son for our sins - is a message for all, not just for those who can afford to hear it. And our faithful observance is not a toll to be paid, so that God will bless us with riches, and success, and happiness and power. But that is the insidious message of the ‘Prosperity Gospels’, preying on vulnerable people around the world, and promising that if you give enough money to their ‘Church’, God will bless you with untold wealth. This is not to be confused with Christianity.

We will see the true Christian message in a few weeks, as we listen to the words of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, “Do this in memory of me”, as we watch the Son of God humble himself as he gets down on his hands and knees to wash the filth from his friends’ feet, as he is whipped, tortured, humiliated and murdered out of jealousy of the rich and powerful, and as he conquers death, all for the love of you and I…

We cannot place a value on this message, and we cannot monetise access to the Good News. The love of God is offered freely to all, and acceptance - allowing ourselves to be loved - costs nothing.

Opportunities to join the School in prayer during this Lenten season:

Rosary:
Every weekday afternoon, at 13:45, we gather at the foot of Cornelia Connelly’s tomb, to pray the Rosary. The prayer is live-streamed each day on Teams, and usually takes no more than 15 minutes. Please join us if you can. If you have any prayers or intentions you’d like to pray for, please email our chaplain Ronan, at rlavery@mayfieldgirls.org. (You do not have to be specific with your intentions.) Here’s the link: DAILY ROSARY

Adoration & Quiet Prayer:
Straight after Rosary each day, between 14:00 and 14:30, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed in the Chapel. Join pupils, staff, family and generations of OC’s for a time of quiet prayer - a beautiful and powerful Lenten observance. The meeting will be the same as the Rosary meeting on Teams, but here’s the link again: DAILY ROSARY

Planned Lenten Talks:
This season, Lenten Talks will begin on Tuesday 9^th March. Guest speakers will give short presentations on aspects of the charism of Mother Cornelia Connelly, and her continued impact on us as individuals, as a School, and as a Christian community. Talks will take place in the School Chapel at 18:00 precisely each Tuesday evening, followed immediately by a brief, intimate celebration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Here is the LINK to join the Talk.

Mr Ronan Lavery, Lay Chaplain

Mrs Fletcher runs 100km for 'Place2Be'

Teaching PE from a computer has been a challenge, and the ups and downs of the past year have been difficult for us all. Many people have had to re-focus their plans, hobbies and interests, and I decided to take up running. The change from having such an active outdoor lifestyle in School meant that I found the transition to online teaching indoors difficult during the winter months.

Therefore, as one final push, I decided to embark on a challenge to raise money for charity, and to put my yards on the pavements and roads to good use. I signed up to run 100km in February, and, as luck would have it, February is the shortest month of the year! On 25^th February, I managed to complete the 100km and raised almost £1000 for ‘Place2Be’, a charity dedicated to helping young people with their mental health by providing free counselling and support. There were days when it was hard, especially during the week of snow, but mostly it just felt good to be doing something that ultimately I knew would benefit young people.

To some people 100km seems like an impossibility, to more seasoned runners than me, it is a walk in the park. However, the distance is irrelevant, it is about having faith in yourself and giving something a go that you never thought you would be able to do. I only ever ran before to improve my stamina for sport, and the shorter the distance the better! I would have never believed that I would actively choose to run, so all I would say is you never know until you try!

We are very much looking forward to welcoming everyone back to Mayfield for face-to-face (albeit socially-distanced) outdoor sports next week. Please remember to come to School dressed in your PE kit on the days you have PE lessons. Our focus will be on playing games and training with our friends again, and having lots of fun!

Mrs Georgina Fletcher, Director of Sport

Mayfield SPARK Camps 2021

We are very much looking forward to welcoming children from Reception to Year 8 back to Mayfield for a fun-filled SPARK holiday Camp this Summer. Check out our Facebook page for further updates: https://www.facebook.com/MayfieldSPARKCamps

Mrs Lynette Le Riche, SPARK Camp Co-ordinator

Sixth Form Jail Break Challenge

During lockdown, the Sixth Form Tutor groups competed over four weeks to see who could cover the most miles cycling, rowing, running, walking and riding. 6DHW were the Year 13s to ‘escape’ the furthest, totalling 893 km, and 6JAM were the overall Year 12 winners, ‘escaping’ by 469.4 km. The best individual performances went to Olivia H with 197.2 km and Manon who covered 152 km. Well done to everyone who took part to cover a total of 1,905.27 km!

Mrs Rachel Davies, Deputy Head of Sixth Form, Teacher of Biology and STEM Co-ordinator

Mayfield Census 2021

The National Census 2021 is taking place on Sunday 21st March. The Census is a survey of all the households in England and Wales that takes place every 10 years. The information collected in the Census is used to help make decisions about how vital services such as education, transport, and healthcare are planned and funded. Businesses and charities can also use census information to help inform their work.

The Maths Department is organising a number of activities around this so look out for the Mayfield School Census 2021. We will be asking the girls to devise questions, and hope that all students and staff will be able to participate.

Mrs Sally Howie, Teacher of Maths

Baking for Great Ormond Street

Over Half Term, Phoebe and I decided that we wanted to do an activity which didn’t involve our screens. We have always enjoyed baking and wanted to do something for our little community. We came up with a plan to make four different bakes so that people could order cakes and help raise money for charity at the same time.

We thought it was a good idea to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital as Covid-19 has had a big effect on hospitals in London. We spent the majority of Half Term baking and were surprised at how many people wanted our lemon drizzle cake!

We have managed to raise £180 so far and we continue to raise more over the weekends. We plan to start baking again in the Easter holidays.  

Year 11 Phoebe and Year 9 Megan
 

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