LetterfromtheHeadmistress Dear Old Cornelians
I
can hardly believe that another year has passed so quickly, but as you would expect, there is never a dull moment at Mayfield. (Sometimes, it must be said, I have yearned for dull moments!).
It has been a pleasure to welcome back so many Old Cornelians in various different guises over the course of the past year. Thank you to everyone who has come to share their expertise and to
talk about their life and career paths, to speak at prize-givings and to offer work experience. Current girls and their parents regularly tell me how impressed they are by the experiences and insights Old Cornelians are able to offer on the world of work and their Mayfield perspective. You are far more powerful messages and role models than our shipping in so-called ‘celebrities’ who have climbed Everest or been at the Olympics, as what you say to today’s Mayfield girls resonates and is relevant to them. They see themselves in you. Having said that, I am sure that there are probably Old Cornelians who have done just that and look forward to hearing about them…
It is also a great joy that we are increasingly seeing more and more Old Cornelians returning as mothers - or aunts, or grandmothers of girls in the school. This is a cause of great pleasure because while we want every new girl joining us to have her own unique experience of Mayfield life – and the twenty first century educational experience is inevitably different in so many ways from when you or I were at school - it is important that the enduring values and the expectations of what constitutes a Holy Child education are shared. We want to make this available to as many of you as possible, and mindful of the economic climate we are looking at ways of extending our Bursary provision. If this is of interest to you, be it in contributing or applying, please get in touch with me.
I am excited that in September we have joining us one of our biggest Year 7 for many years. But it is not only in Lower School that we are expanding and refurbishing and I am delighted to be able to share with you news that I know many of you are keen to hear.
On many occasions people have asked me why the boarding house names were changed. As far as I understand, when the houses moved from being vertical to horizontal, then it made sense to give these new horizontal houses different names to avoid confusion. Over the past few years, as boarding, especially in the Middle School, has increased we have had to extend our provision. As you know boarding in Gresham House was opened two years ago and this year we have to extend further the provision in that house to respond to our need for Year 11 beds.
Over the course of the next two to three years we are intending to move back to having two parallel Middle School Houses. With the increased number of beds now available in Gresham, (a space which might just be familiar to those who were in St Michael’s House) we do not yet need to open a completely new house in order to be able to move forward with our boarding strategy. Apparently this is known, in common parlance as ‘asset squeezing’. Given this and the physical location of the two Middle School Houses, it seemed an obvious decision to restore their original names. Thus from September 2018 girls will be living again in St Gabriel’s and St Michael’s. While the names reflect the importance of tradition (and the valuable patronage of the Archangels!) we are committed to ensuring that the girls have all the advantages of a modern 21st century boarding experience, albeit in a classic environment.
Old Cornelians from Gabs and Mix will I hope be pleased. But what about Raph’s? Raph’s as many of you know better than I, has been in a number of different locations, latterly where the Sixth Form Centre now stands. We are aiming for a third parallel house in the fullness of time and we anticipate that the new house will be dedicated to St Raphael.
In the meantime, as I write, we are preparing for our newest intake of Mayfield girls in September, and our outgoing Upper Sixth are eagerly anticipating their A level results and the University places that beckon. Please remember them all in your prayers, and be assured that you are regularly in ours.
Miss Antonia Beary Headmistress
2 The Old Cornelian SUMMER 2016
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