E-weekly Issue 171

Message from Mrs Green

This week, the girls all started their activities and we have had several trips out including a Geography trip to the coast and an English trip to the Globe. It was also lovely to welcome parents from Years 9 and 12 for their Information Evening. 

We are continuing to ensure that we are keeping our whole community safe, so it is important that the girls and staff do their lateral flow tests twice a week.  Sadly, the guidance has not been as clear this term for schools but, in addition to the NHS guidance available on the website, we have access to a schools’ helpline which has confirmed the following action in the event of a girl testing positive in school:

If we do have a positive case in school, we will only contact you if your daughter travelled on the same minibus as the girl or staff in question, or if she is in the same boarding house. You will then need to come and collect your daughter and book a NHS PCR test.  We will organise the testing for full boarders. Your daughter will be able to return to school straightaway if the PCR result is negative.  If her PCR result is positive then she will be given a return to school date by the NHS. It is the same process if someone tests positive in your daughter’s household. 

As you may be aware, the UK government has announced this week that Covid-19 vaccinations will be offered in schools to all 12-15 year olds from as early as next week and before 15^th November. These will be administered by health professionals. Once we have received further information - including dates and the parental consent forms - we will write to you with the details.

To support you and your teenage daughters, we would like to offer parents the opportunity to attend a variety of free virtual workshops.  Next week there will be two available. On Tuesday, Mrs Stone has organised a webinar from Elevate for Year 9 to 13 parents on how to support your children with study skills. For a copy of this letter, please click here . A further workshop is being organised by the Girls’ School Association on ‘Youth Gaming and Gambling’ and will be held on 22^nd  September, please click here if you would like to attend.

Many thanks for your continued support.

Mrs Niamh Green, Acting Headmistress

Reminder from the Head of Middle School

This is a reminder for parents on the importance of checking that external sports clubs are affiliated with the National Governing Body before enrolling their children. Safeguarding information (such as names and contact details of the Club Welfare Officer, and links to safeguarding policies) should be displayed clearly on any website.

Thank you.

Mrs Jodi Stone, Head of Middle School

Meet the New Head Girls

We are delighted to introduce you to our new Head Girl, Year 13 Tatum, and our new Lower School Head Girl, Year 8 Cordelia, and would like to congratulate them on their appointment to these posts following a rigorous selection process.

Tatum said: “Being appointed to the role of Head Girl is first and foremost an enormous honour, and it affords me the opportunity to give back to a school that I truly love. I can honestly say that Mayfield has provided a solid foundation for my entry into adulthood, and I hope that by the end of my tenure, I will have fulfilled my duties in the spirit and diligence embodied in the Cornelian Principles.”

Cordelia added: “While I am Lower School Head Girl I hope to inspire others to use the amazing opportunities Mayfield provides to become the best version of themselves.”

Michaelmas Fair - Save the Date

We are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Mayfield Michaelmas Fair on Wednesday 29th September from 10.30.

We have some amazing stalls - ladies clothing and accessories, jewellery, men's jumpers, painted furniture, block printing kits, vegan dog biscuits, kitchenware, and gin! Hopefully an opportunity for some early Christmas present shopping.

We are looking for volunteers to help on stalls and would really appreciate it if you could spend an hour of your day helping us. Please sign up by clicking the following links Cake & Produce Stall  Raffle Ticket Stall  Cloisters Cafe  

We are also looking for contributions to our cake and produce stalls – please click here for information. 

Finally, we have posters and flyers available and we are looking for locations on roads to put up boards.  Please Contact Me if you are able to help.

Thank you!

Sarah Bland, The Friends

Notice for Year 11 Parents
Tor Spark and I are your Year 11 reps for the year and will be organising various social events.

We are holding a coffee morning on Friday 24th September at 09.30 at the Pink Cabbage, Mayfield High Street. Please could you let Tor Spark know whether you are able to attend on torspark100@yahoo.co.uk

Many thanks!

Laura Scriven 

Music Performance Masterclass with Rosalind Ventris

On the afternoon of Tuesday 14th September, the School was privileged to welcome Rosalind Ventris to give a performance, talk and masterclass to our Music Scholars and Gifted and Talented musicians. Rosalind is a professional violist, Artistic Director of the Cowbridge Music Festival, and has recently been appointed Director of Performance and Performance Studies at the Music Faculty of the University of Oxford.

The afternoon began with Rosalind performing two solo viola pieces by women composers, of whose music she is a particular champion, and the girls were spellbound by her warm tone and passionate communication of the music. After this, Rosalind gave a talk about her career in music and her interests, including some handy tips for returning to regular practice and performance after the pandemic, and how to deal with nerves as a musician. Then three students received a masterclass in musical interpretation from Rosalind: Year 12 Mia (clarinet), Year 13 Emily (violin) and Year 13 Helena (piano).

Rosalind's enthusiasm and musicianship helped the girls make swift and telling changes to their performance and the afternoon was a fantastic way to begin the new year in Music.

Dr Matthew Ward, Director of Music

International English Dinner

Last Friday, our international students who are following the International English course came together across the year groups for some bonding activities. After 'finding someone who...' and playing Chinese Whispers in House teams, they had a traditional British meal of pie and mash followed by Eton Mess. They also completed a quiz to learn more about British history and culture.  

It was lovely to be able to have all the girls together in the same room and to welcome our new international students to Mayfield this year. 

Mrs Kasia Kilvington, Head of International English, and Gifted and Talented Coordinator

Year 12 Teambuilding Activities

We are delighted to welcome a new cohort of students to the Sixth Form – our Mayfield Year 11s and a number of new students who have joined us from other schools.

At the weekend, they all participated in a teambuilding session at Bowles Outdoor Centre where we discovered some have hidden talents as they took part in archery, climbing, ‘the leap of faith’ and high ropes!

It was lovely to see the girls encouraging each other - there was certainly a lot of screaming and giggling! 

Mrs Rachel Davies, Deputy Head of Sixth Form
 

Year 7 Trip to Bowles Outdoor Centre

Last Saturday, all the girls in Year 7 came together to enjoy teambuilding activities at Bowles Outdoor Centre. The activities tested their lateral thinking skills and gave them all an opportunity to forge new friendships.

Many thanks to Mrs Baker, Miss Starr and Mr Whittle for accompanying the girls and ensuring that a fun afternoon was had by all.

Mr Daniel Smith, Deputy Head of Lower School

LAMDA Results

At the end of the Summer Term, 43 pupils took practical LAMDA examinations ranging from grades two to seven. An external examiner assessed the work, which took place over three days within school.

Despite the challenges of last year, including having lessons online, the results were fantastic! 76% of the pupils achieved a Distinction and 24% a high Merit. Well done to all the girls involved - your resilience, talent and hard work has paid off. Thank you to Miss Ainsworth for your continued support and to our excellent LAMDA teachers, Mrs Watkiss and Mrs Junemann.

Sally Gerstmeyer, Head of Drama
 

Fencing Success for Lucia

Many congratulations to Year 10 Lucia who successfully competed at the British National Fencing Championships in Nottingham last weekend. Lucia overcame her nerves and finished in 7th place in the Junior Nationals and in 8th place in the Cadet Nationals. Well done Lucia!

Lucia currently trains at her fencing club in Sevenoaks every Wednesday and Thursday, with strength and conditioning sessions on Tuesday and Friday.

Mrs Jodi Stone, Head of Middle School

PE Department News

Reminder re Sport Scholars' Trip to Lords Cricket Ground
Please could all parents/guardians of sport scholars remember to let hnicoll@mayfieldgirls.org know if their daughters would like to join the tour of Lords Cricket Ground on 24th September.
Thank you!

Mayfield Joins Tonbridge Netball League (TNL)
Miss Auer is delighted to announce that Mayfield has entered a senior team in the Tonbridge Netball League, which will run on Tuesday evenings. Matches are for players in Year 11 and the Sixth Form, and will begin on 28^th September 2021.  The games are slightly later running one week at 19.15 and the next at 20.30.

This will be a fantastic experience for our senior teams, and will give them exposure to adult competition ahead of the upcoming Netball season.

Please contact Miss Auer on sauer@mayfieldgirls.org  if you would like to find out more.

PE Staff Rescue the Wildcats
Mrs Fletcher and Miss Jones regularly play in the Netball League at Knowle Academy on a Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, their team (Wildcats) did not have enough players last week and so Miss Auer, Mrs Nixon and Miss Starr came to the rescue. Despite never having stepped foot on a netball court together, Team Wildcats/Mayfield came out victorious with a 21-4 win!

Hockey results
The U18B Hockey team travelled to Christ’s Hospital on Saturday 11^th September for their first match of the season. The girls were slightly apprehensive about returning to the pitch, however they found their stride after a shaky start. At half-time the score remained 0-0, which was mainly due to some outstanding saves being made by Goalkeeper Year 11 Rachel S.

Following a ‘magical team talk’ from Mrs Nixon in half time, the girls came out fighting and were quickly awarded a short corner, and a straight strike from Year 11 Maria U put Mayfield ahead 1-0.  It wasn’t long before Mayfield was on the attack again, and Year 12 Lucia W was able to get a quick shot on target, making the final score 2-0.

Christ’s Hospital awarded Year 12 Lucia and Year 11 Rachel as their ‘players of the match’. Well done to the whole team who were excellently captained by Year 13 Lola G.

News from the slopes!
The Mayfield Ski Team had its first competitive race of the year on Sunday 12^th September in Chatham.

‘Well done’ to Year 12 Darcy who came 9th overall and 6th in the Under 16s. Her U16 age group category was very competitive with two GBR racers competing so this was a great achievement. She had a brilliant first run and was placed 4^th, however luck wasn’t on her side in the second run as she was put off by the girl in front of her falling. If she had been in the Under 19 category she would have come 3rd with her time.

Year 9s Siena and Julie, and Year 7 Imogen were all racing in the Under 14 category. Siena came 17^th, Julie came 21st and Imogen came 30^th out of 43 competitors in this age group. They all did really well, enjoyed the experience, and are keen to do more racing over the winter season.

This was an impressive performance from the girls, especially considering how limited skiing has been over the past 18 months, and that a couple of the girls hadn’t skied for two years! They should all be very proud!

We are hoping to increase the Ski Team and offer some training dates. These will be emailed out nearer the time and all are welcome to apply (although spaces may be limited).

The PE Department

News from the School Shop

Welcome back to the Autumn Term and, to those of you are joining us for the first time, welcome to Mayfield!

We are always open to ideas in the School Shop so if there is something you would like us to stock, please email me with your ideas and comments on sbowles@mayfieldgirls.org

Lost Property/Named Clothing
Please remember to check your emails regularly as if you have an item of named lost property in the School Shop, I will email you to let you know that you can come and collect it.

Christmas Ted Competition
I am pleased to announce that will be running the Christmas Ted Competition as usual. The prize for the winning idea is a £10 voucher for a shop of your choice and a box of chocolates. More details on how to enter will follow in the next E-weekly.

Lost Jewellery
Please see the pictures below of jewellery in the Lost Property. If you think anything is yours, please come and collect it. We will sell any unclaimed items for charity.

Handmade Cards
We are now stocking a large selection of handmade greetings cards for all occasions including birthdays, get well soon cards, anniversary, thank you, sympathy and blank cards for your own messages. They are all individually made and come with an envelope. The cards cost £1.50 and can be put on your School account.

Alarm Clocks
We are also now stocking battery-powered alarm clocks.

Mrs Susan Bowles, School Shop Manager

Menu

Reminders

Car Park
You will have noticed a new one-way system in the Car Park.  To ensure that traffic flows freely and for safety, please do not wait for your daughter in the line of traffic but park in a space and wait for her there.
Thank you.

Absences
If your daughter is going to be absent from lessons, please email absence@mayfieldgirls.org

Contacting Staff
If you need to contact a member of staff, please do so by email. If you do not have the member of staff’s email address, School emails follow this format: first initial and surname@mayfieldgirls.org  e.g abunce@mayfieldgirls.org
Please do not come into School unless by appointment.
Thank you for your understanding.