Sport on the rise
Sister Janet replaces Sister Emily Isabel as Sister Superior in 1949. She is kind, gentle and artistic but this does not mean the Sisters are not competitive – on the contrary.
Neither rounders nor netball survives as school sports, in part because there is no outside opposition.
The standard of hockey improves gradually. In 1949 the 1st team is defeated by Roedean’s 2nd team and the school magazine is disparaging about the “uncertain ball control” of the seniors, “especially in stopping the ball and receiving passes”, while the juniors need to “aim at greater ACCURACY and increased SPEED”. The 1st team is promoted, nevertheless, from the 5th to the 4th league, and by 1961 it is in the 1st league and finishes 3rd. For some of the time, the coach is Sister Eileen Mary, who comes with impressive credentials: she had played goalie for Britain before she took her vows. She is best remembered for her billowing black habit (sometimes hitched up) and flapping sandals as she hurtled up and down the field.
The tennis team moves into the 2nd league but is not very successful; in 1961 the team does not win a single match. Girls who play tennis and who are perceived as not having much talent, are often left to fool around on the lower courts, out of view.