Mayfield Outreach

Actions Not Words

At Mayfield, we endeavour to live by our motto of ‘Actions Not Words’ in all areas of school life and in all interactions with others. Our primary focus is to provide an excellent education based on the seven Cornelian Principles laid out by Cornelia Connelly when she founded the School, and to prepare students for the world beyond Mayfield. Through our involvement with the wider community, we are able to demonstrate our commitment to the Cornelian Principles that are key to our ethos and the educational experience we provide - Joy, Compassion, Integrity, Generosity, Gratitude, Respect and Courage.

Community and Sport

As we are located in the heart of Mayfield Village, it is important to us that we are very much part of the local community. We are fortunate to have been in a position to develop wonderful sports facilities that we strive to make as widely available as possible. A number of local primary schools use our swimming pool on a regular basis, including Mayfield C of E Primary School, Five Ashes C of E Primary School, Punnets Town Community Primary School, and Sacred Heart School in Wadhurst. 

We also host a number of annual events for local schools, including a High 5 Netball tournament, a Kwik Cricket tournament, a Tennis Doubles tournament and the Mayfield Aquathlon.

Teaching links

We seek to widen access to educational resources by sharing experiences and expertise with other schools. We are involved in a number of initiatives including Oxbridge interview practice sessions with students from The Skinners School, Weald of Kent Grammar School, Sackville School, and Maria Fidelis School; and we host an annual week-long exchange with Maria Fidelis School with whom we undertake peer observation and share good practice.

We host STEM Days and Maths Challenge Days for local primary school children. STEM Days have included coding, examining owl pellets, making rockets and copper plating. In previous years we have welcomed local primary schools to Mayfield to celebrate International Women's Day and they have taken part in hands on workshops with engineers, vets, surveyors and doctors.

We are heavily involved in the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP), which is supported by the Department for Education and managed by Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI), an independent educational charity. The AMSP organises many local teacher networks around the country. The networks focus on sharing good practice, professional development, and promoting developments in teaching and learning. At Mayfield, we coordinate the local network group and invite teachers (and sometimes students), from local state and independent schools to our meetings. These meetings give teachers time to share different approaches to teaching Mathematics and an opportunity to discuss the current issues.

We also host STEAM Days for local primary school children where pupils have the opportunity to learn from a variety of OC speakers who are eminent in their fields, or to take part in a range of fun and educational workshops including making bug hotels and acid rain testing.

Music and the Arts

We appoint an Artist in Residence, not only to support arts graduates in developing their own work, but to provide inspiration to our students and promote creativity in the wider community. It has been a popular venture. We also host the Agenda Poetry Festival, the Mayfield Festival, the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition, and organise Live Crib each year.

Chaplaincy

Our historic Chapel and facilities are regularly used for Catholic primary school retreats and away-days, and for meetings of the local Catholic School Consortium which comprises Sacred Heart, St Mary’s Crowborough, St Philip’s and St Wilfrid’s, and Mayfield.

Both Sunday and weekday mass (during term time) are open to the community, and the Chapel is available for fundraising events. We have also hosted Eucharistic Minister Preparation Days and the Deanery Priests’ Meeting.

Actions Not Words Community Service

This programme involves Mayfield girls volunteering at a number of local primary schools, nursery schools and care homes. We also host lunches and afternoon tea groups for older people, and undertake charity fundraising throughout the year - this year's chosen charity is the Sandra Jones Centre. In recent years, we have supported Young Minds, Papyrus, Plastic Oceans, the Jesuit Refuge Service, Cafod, the Medaille Trust, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Kids Company, Walking with the Wounded, Pink Day, Shelter Box, Comic Relief, Sport Relief, Opportunities for Children, Save the Children, Marie Curie, Smile Train, Action on Hearing Loss, Royal British Legion, Children in Need, the Ebola Crisis, Cafod’s Phillipine and Nepal Crises, Rwanda Aid, Book Aid, Malala Foundation, and the Cardinal Hume Centre Care for Carers.

If you are interested to see more of what we do in support of our local schools and community, further details on the projects we undertake can be found at www.schoolstogether.org.