The PE Faculty have been busy putting the students though their paces again with a mix of energetic cardio workouts and relaxing yoga. Uplifting music and getting those endorphins flowing are always a good way to have a break from the screen and improve your mood. 

In other news, the Sports Centre also has a new sign! (pictured) and next week some free online exercise classes for Staff are being launched. The Faculty can't wait to have students back on the Sports fields/ courts when they are allowed back to school but in the meantime, try to keep as active as you can. 

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine:        persécuter

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana:  perseguir 

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche:        schikanieren  

Thinking questions:

• The French, English and Spanish all use the same prefix. How can prefixes help us with new vocabulary?
• Consider how languages evolve over time, are we speaking the same English, French, Spanish and German as they did 1000 years ago?
• Language is one means of communication, how else can we communicate with people?

This week’s whole school theme recognises Holocaust Memorial Day that was celebrated on Wednesday this week. It aims to honour the victims and the families of the Holocaust and remind the world of the horrors that took place. The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2021 is “be the light in the darkness” to encourage everyone to reflect on the depths humanity can sink to as well as the ways individuals and communities resisted that darkness to “be the light” before, during and after genocide. Students were encouraged to reflect on what we can learn by remembering the Holocaust and what we can do to “be the light” in our everyday lives. Rapid technological developments, a turbulent political climate, and world events beyond our control can leave us feeling helpless and insignificant. However, this means it is more important than ever that we reflect and take action to spread positivity in any way we can.

Nuffield Research Placements allow amazing opportunities for Year 12 students who are interested in any form of STEM including social, computer and data science, psychology, geography, economics, as well as traditional STEM subjects. 

They provide learning opportunities during the summer, working directly with a professional in a leading company or institution, on a research project.   Due to the pandemic, projects are currently online and for a period of two weeks.  Eligible students are offered an individual placement that matches their interests and a bursary of £200.  Travel expenses will also be reimbursed if on-site visits are permitted under Government and organisational guidelines.     

Find out more and apply online: https://www.stem.org.uk/nuffield-research-placements

SIXTH FORM APPLICATIONS: If you are applying to our Sixth Form and want to hand deliver your application form, there is a red box in main reception. We kindly ask that you wear a mask on entering the building. Deadline is 5th February.

REPORTING ABSENCES: If your child is unwell or unable to attend any of the lessons of remote learning on any particular day, please email absence@sandringham.herts.sch.uk by 9am informing us that they will not be attending lessons, giving a brief reason for their absence.  

REPORTING POSITIVE CASES: If your child needs to self-isolate due to being in contact with someone who tests COVID positive or if a student themselves tests positive please advise the school by sending an email to absence@sandringham.herts.sch.uk. Please title your email - COVID Notification; include the students full name,  tutor group, dates of isolation and if they have had a positive COVID result, the test  date and when symptoms first appeared.

Every week the Mathematics Faculty publish a puzzle for you to try.  For every entry you will receive 1 housepoint, if you answer correctly you will win 2 housepoints and if you are the fastest person to answer the puzzle correctly then you will win 5 housepoints!  To enter, simply scan the QR code and fill out the google form.  Good luck!

If you are an individual member of the Hertfordshire Library Service you are entitled to free access to online newspaper and magazines. These are great for providing information for learning as well as reading for pleasure. With most young people being taught remotely from home, this is an excellent service to make use of. Daily newspapers are available as well as a wide range of magazines, including translation for up to 18 different languages for more articles. There are also subject and themed related magazines such as BBC Good Food. You can access all of the titles here. Happy Reading! 

F1 in the Art block is named after Claude Monet, a famous French painter whose work gave a name to the art movement Impressionism, and whose iconic "Haystacks" series recently sold for a record $110m at auction.

Born on 14 November 1840, Monet was earmarked to go into the family's grocery business. Monet had other ideas however, and with the support of his mother (a singer) he was allowed to pursue his love of the arts. In 1851, Monet entered Le Havre secondary school of the arts and on the beaches of Normandy, his mentor Boudin taught him "en plein air" (outdoor) techniques for painting.  

In 1861, Monet was drafted into the First Regiment of African Light Cavalry in Algeria for a seven-year period of military service but after a year he contracted typhoid and returned home to complete a course at Art School. Disillusioned with the traditional art taught at art schools, in 1862 Monet became a student of Charles Gleyre in Paris and together with several other artists, they shared new approaches to art, painting the effects of light with broken colour and rapid brushstrokes. 

Monet moved to England at the start of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and was inspired by the work of John Constable, who was also a landscape painter. The first Impressionist exhibition was held in 1874 with the primary purpose of freeing Monet and his fellow artists from the constraints of other famous exhibitions. It included groundbreaking artwork of Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, and Paul Cézanne featuring bright, vivid colours and loose, seemingly spontaneous brushwork. After a critic compared one of Monet’s paintings "Impression, Sunrise" (pictured) to an unfinished sketch (or "impression"), the term "Impressionists" caught on to describe the artists who displayed these radically different, new paintings.

Monet was married twice: to Camille Monet (née Doncieux) in 1870 and later the famously jealous Hoschedé. Between the two marriages they had eight children and Monet faced financial ruin at certain points in his life leading to struggles with his mental and physical health. In 1923, Monet underwent cataract surgery on his right eye but refused to have his left eye operated on. As a result, he could see violets and blues through his right eye but not his left. It is also believed that due to the removal of the lens, which filters out ultraviolet wavelengths, Monet began to perceive and paint a spectrum of colour typically unseen by the human eye.

Monet died of lung disease in 1926 at the age of 86 having created a total of 2,500 paintings (this is not including the hundreds he destroyed as he was often his own worst critic.) He has been described as "the driving force behind Impressionism" with his series on Haystacks, the Rouen Cathedral and Water Lillies some of his most famous work. Over 500,000 people each year visit Giverny to walk through the artist’s famous garden and refurbished home.

"To see we must forget the name of the thing we are looking at."

Duke of Edinburgh's Award UPDATE : All Year 11 students who have completed & submitted their Bronze Award will get their badges & certificates upon return to school. We will confirm a date as soon as we know. Information on the Silver Award will be released after half term.

The English Faculty have shared details of a Handwriting Competition open to KS3. The Competition involves copying a poem called 'Parent's Sayings' by Michael Rosen into their best handwriting. The 1st Prize winner will receive a Cross pen engraved with their name. The 2nd, 3rd and Highly Commended winners with be awarded a certificate to commemorate their success. Entries Close – 12 noon Monday 19th April 2021. More details can be found  here or please ask your English teacher if you would like to enter. Good luck! 

Our stunning new Sixth Form outside space is nearly complete and looking forward to welcoming our students back when they are allowed to return. We are sure you will agree it is looking amazing. 

Also as a reminder, the deadline for Sixth Form applications is February 5th. If you missed the presentation, or would like further information, then you can access the Sixth Form Admissions section of our website. This link also includes lots of information on how to apply, subjects offered and general information about Sixth Form life at Sandringham School. https://sandringham.herts.sch.uk/sixth-form-admissions/

The Mathematics Faculty are busy looking at different ways to keep students engaged with the VLC. Padlett has been effective in gathering 32 sets of ideas at the same time and live peer assessment via Google Drive was also popular. They know it is hard to keep motivated at the moment with so much uncertainty so Mrs Dumsday shared a very appropriate quotation (original credit Martijn Van der Spoel) this week. Keep up the hard work everyone! 

"Revision is like making a snow ball. Your snow ball starts off really small but you keep rolling it until it gets bigger and bigger and more and more solid.... keep pushing your snowball of revision, Year 11 and 13!

RSPB Big Birdwatch

Following the article in last week’s Sandprint, this is a reminder that it is the RSPB Big Birdwatch this weekend and we are encouraging you to take part for some time off screen!

To take part, you need to pick one hour between Fri 29th- Sun 31st Jan. Count the birds you see in your garden or from your balcony. 

You can submit your results online at rspb.org.uk/birdwatch from 29th January until 19th February.

We would also love it if you could submit your results on our school form here by 1st Feb: https://forms.gle/VijJ8BDBzRQyU1Ky5

A big congratulations to Toby Y in 8A who raised a fantastic £1,250 for Herts Young Homeless at the end of last year. Toby decided he would like to raise some money for charity over Christmas and took it upon himself to run 5km every day in December. Despite having to pause for 5 days due to enforced isolation, he pounded the streets every day that he could, raising an impressive total for a charity close to his heart. We are so impressed with the resilience and determination that you showed Toby and, at a time when charities are struggling with fundraising, we are sure that Herts Young Homeless will be hugely grateful for your donation. 

Online Safety – A parents guide to in-game chat

With it being likely that your child may be spending more time gaming online during this period of lockdown, we wanted to provide some guidance about in-game chat, something young people are very familiar with, but often parents/carers less so.

CEOP have created a video that in less than 4 minutes explains what in-game chat is, which can be useful opening up conversations with children and young people:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5-ij1jm9K8&feature=youtu.be

If you haven't already completed the parent VLC survey, please could you do so here by Monday 1st February. 

The link will take you to a short Google Form allowing you to offer your perspective and opinion on the current provision being offered to your children through virtual learning platforms. We are also surveying students separately to capture their voices and opinions to ensure that we are responding to their needs and in order to make the provision for them as effective and enjoyable as possible for them. 

Integrated Services for Learning are providing a general enquiries and advice line for parents/carers for matters relating to the EHCP process for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. The contact numbers for St Albans and Dacorum are (01442) 453300 or (01442) 453387. Lines will be open 9 - 5:30 Mon - Thurs and 9 - 4:30 on Fridays.

The Music Faculty is delighted to bring you our first in this series of ‘lockdown concerts’. These short concerts are a celebration of the fantastic work our young musicians are doing at home and a lovely way to spend 20 minutes of your day. Please click here to watch a lovely recital featuring Lily H in Year 12, Atharva K in Year 9, Emily D in Year 10, Samuel M in Year 10 and Sibongi M in Year 10. A huge thank you to this week’s performers and don’t forget to send your videos in to beatone@mysandstorm.org if you would like to be included in the next concert.

It has been another busy week in the Drama Faculty, so much so that they have decided to set up their very own site SanDrama where you can view some of the amazing students' work. There are also updates from the Faculty, weekly quotes and details about House events.

Miss Hardacre writes "We are very much missing the opportunity to see our students perform and share their work, so it is our hope that over the coming weeks, you'll be able to see a wide range of work produced by our fantastic Drama Students." Keep up the great work everyone! 

Tenacity activity pack - market research - please help us!

We are Tenacity, a student run company made up of Year 12 students working under the Young Enterprise scheme. We are dedicated to keeping children entertained and engaged with learning in lockdown with our downloadable Activity Pack. It consists of fun and educational puzzles, cooking recipes and a wide variety of creative activities all made by us! Shortly, you will have access to purchase your very own pack through our website! We are hoping to split the Activity Pack into 3 sections, with the individual sections being available for separate purchase. To help us with our market research, we would like to ask 2 questions in regards to the pricing of our product. We more than appreciate your time spent to complete our short survey and we hope our product is something you would be interested in. Thank you.

Here is the link to our google form: Market Research for Tenacity's Products

In case you are missing seeing the sights of Sandringham School, here is the Sandpit Theatre, I block and D block looking glorious in the sunshine. It is certainly quiet without our lovely students here but we look forward to you seeing the changes being made around the Campus when it is safe for you to return.

P is for… persecute [verb]

Definition: To treat (someone) cruelly or unfairly especially because of race or religious or political beliefs.

Example: The country's leaders relentlessly persecuted those who fought against the regime.

Synonyms: Expel, Harass, Hound

Antonyms: Assist, Protect, Comfort

Etymology: From the Latin word ‘persecut’ meaning followed with hostility. From ‘per’ meaning through and ‘sequi’ meaning follow.

According to Arthur… is an inspirational and heart-warming tale of an old man who re-engages with the outside world and the adventurous life he once led.

Arthur is an odd old man who lives all alone in his attic. He never ventures into the outside world; instead, he spends all of his time with his only friend - the Moon. But now, Arthur needs your help! The clouds have covered the sky and the Moon is nowhere to be seen, and without it, Arthur’s life suddenly feels empty. PaddleBoat Theatre Company invites you to bring your unbounded imagination as together we try to help Arthur find the Moon – with your help, who knows what else he might discover outside his front door…

See this 5 star family show from your very own sofa’s as The SandPit Theatre launches it’s at home season!

Available to entertain the family until the 7th March 2021, this show is available On Demand here: https://thesandpittheatre.ticketco.events/uk/en/e/according_to_arthur

Tickets: £15 (£10 goes towards PaddleBoat Theatre Company, £5 towards fees & The SandPit Theatre)

Your ticket allows you to watch this fantastic show for as many times as you like for 4 days once access has been purchased and you will receive an email with your personal link once booked!

Runtime: 35 mins & Recommended age is 3+

Available to view on these devices: laptop, Phone, Apple TV, androidTV, FireTv & Chromecast