This week we feature a lovely young lady who took time out of her busy schedule to make sure that there were plenty of memorable photographs taken of our Prize Giving assemblies. Daisy G is Year 13 student who loves photography and stepped in last minute to capture the two days of ceremonies. Working with Daisy was an absolute pleasure and she was everything that we hope for our outgoing students to be: polite, smart, quick-thinking, caring and hard-working. Plus she is a fabulous photographer! Thank you so much to Daisy for your help and we wish you every success studying Graphic Design at Hertfordshire University in September. 

On Friday we celebrated the success of our wonderful Year 8 students. The event was virtual last year, so we were  pleased that those who were not isolating could have their first experience of this Prize Giving assembly in person. They have been a lovely year group and Performance Director Ms Richards and Assistant Headteacher Ms Oakes are proud of their ability to rise to the changes and challenges of this academic year. Links to a recording of the awards and to the programme will be shared shortly. But in the meantime...Congratulations to Year 8!

Pictured above are Headteacher's Runner's Up: Soroya E, Vivian C, Max McL, Saharsh L and Winners: Natalie E and Ben L.

Our second Prize Giving assembly today celebrated the success of our fabulous Year 10 students. Despite a disruptive start to their GCSEs, this year group have shown great maturity and resilience and supported each other brilliantly. Over half the year were missing due to isolation today but we will get your certificates to you at the start of next year. We hope that when they return in September, things are more back to normal, but Performance Director, Mr Boak and Assistant Head Mr Allday know that whatever challenges this year face, they will show the strength of character that they have shown across the past four years. Links to a recording of the awards and to the programme will be shared shortly. But in the meantime...Congratulations to Year 10! 

Pictured above are Headteacher's Runner's Up: Sophie V, Grace P, Daniel B, Alfie G and Winners: Keerthana A and Jack P

If you would like to join a lively network of young people and support UK-German Connection in the development of new opportunities for young people then applications are now open for a UK-German Youth Council.

Young people from both countries aged 14-25 can join this consultation forum to develop new ideas and help co-design UK-German programmes and activities. They welcome applications from young people from all backgrounds and with a range of experiences and interests. German language skills are not a requirement. 

The deadline is Tuesday 24th August and you can find our more here

Over the last eleven days, six groups of Gold DofE students have completed their Gold assessed expedition in the Lake District. This requires students to spend a minimum of eight hours per day for four days journeying through wild country. The consensus from students is that it is the hardest thing they have ever done! The expedition requires excellent navigation, fitness, teamwork, campcraft and mental toughness, as well as the determination to complete the other four sections of the Gold Award.

The first three groups set off from the Glenridding area and with poor weather forecast and possible thunder storms, the decision was made for one group use an alternative lower level route rather than head over the Dodds to Threlkeld which is high and exposed, while the other two groups were on their planned route, starting further south and finishing in Glenridding. The weather remained unpredictable over the next three days with students walking in a mixture of cloud and sunshine, testing their navigation and teamwork as they hiked with blisters, sore ankles, sore knees and a range of highs and lows for each individual. The third day tested the boys' navigation skills as they walked in low cloud with visibility down to 20m at times as they climbed up from Buttermere to Windy Gap and down Aaron Slack but they learned a great deal walking in different conditions. The girls group were very well organised and had excellent teamwork and maintained their morale as they progressed through the expedition while the challenge and long days galvanised the third group.

The groups walked over to the Borrowdale Valley, and Buttermere and finished in the Langdale Valley where the groups met after the expedition for an evening meal and debrief at Elterwater Hostel. On the Friday, the first three groups of students took the train home and, in the afternoon, another three groups arrived at Windermere ready to set off on their expeditions the next morning. Their route began in the Langdale Valley, finishing in the Glenridding area.

The weather remained mixed on the first two days of their expedition but cleared enough for some spectacular views which aided navigation and lifted morale. Their day one was a challenging day but the groups all did extremely well, particularly given their practice had also been in the local area, rather than Brecon Beacons. On day two, a group took a path parallel to their planned route which led to a greater challenge and longer day for them. However, their teamwork and determination enabled them to get through the day and they arrived exhausted but with great relief at their campsite in Buttermere. The other two groups also had challenging routes over Dale Head and some bog hopping over Bleaberry Fell.

The staff were very impressed and proud of the teamwork and leadership shown by every student throughout the expedition as they supported team members and dealt with difficult terrain, navigation and weather. Their assessment included navigation, camp craft and completing an aim for their expedition.

The students have worked extremely hard preparing for their expedition and have been an absolute pleasure to work with throughout their training and expeditions. They have also been dedicated to completing various other sections of their Gold D of E and should complete the award in the coming months.

All staff who have been involved with the Award at Sandringham are incredibly proud of their achievements and look forward to seeing them complete their award. Finally, I would like to give a huge thank you to the staff who supported the expedition. Mrs Hay, Ms Headland, Miss Baikie, Mr Swann, Mrs Gibson and Mr Tattersall

The teams were: Leah P, Lily M, Daisy S, Josephine K, Nelly Ri, Hattie P

George B, Sam W, Dillon V, Therani R, Glynn H, Oscar J

Hana B, Ruby K, Sophie W, Ben A, Nabrissa B, Ryaan H, Omar P

Jessie B, Astrid K, Esha P, Isabella S, Florie G, Yukta C, Isabella Du P

Zac M, Alex S, Justus B, Raffi R, Archie H, Kallum C, Tyler H

Logan H, Jay Jay G, Gina P, Kai B, Daisy B, Chris K, Sam L

Year 8 have had a great week making games in their D&T lessons. Sophia excellently combined her creative talents to create this amazing Percy Jackson inspired game. Great work Year 8. We are sure you will have lots of fun playing with them over the summer. 

Last weekend saw the final expedition for the Silver cohort as they travelled to the Peak District for their 3 day adventure. For some of our intrepid explorers, it had only been 3 weeks since their last expedition but for others it was 20 months since they last hoisted a rucksack onto their backs. After a smooth journey up, the 7 groups set off from various points between Baslow and Hassop. The first part of their day took many of them through the beautiful grounds of Chatsworth House before proceeding through the village of Rowsley and then into Barn Farm. Although the weather in the day was fine (and quite warm) the rain set in after dinner which made for a damp evening. However that was the worst of it and the remainder of the expedition was dry.

Day 2 saw groups completing a loop through Alport, Middleton, Long Dale, Grafton Dale and Elton back to Barn Farm (they had packed up their tents and carried them). The day was beautiful and the dry valley of Long Dale was like something from Middle Earth. In fact many groups stopped to have an second breakfast/brunch/early lunch in the peaceful surroundings- it was very quiet with only cows and sheep (and the odd butterfly) for company. Day 3  meant an early start to make sure they were finished in time for the football. Groups walked along the Limestone Way through the picturesque village of Bonsall and along to the finish point at Middleton Top. The expedition was highly successful and it was a pleasure to spend time with this lovely group of young people.  Many thanks to Mr Allday, Miss Semple, Miss Whorrod and Mrs Ellis for their time and enthusiasm in supporting these students.

And a special thanks to Mrs Cuneen for co-ordinating it all! 

We were delighted to celebrate the talent and achievements of Sarah Gidden, who this week finished her first solo exhibition entitled “Under The Blue” at The Nude Tin Can Gallery in Hatfield Road, St Albans. Our Visual Arts team attended Sarah’s private view at the gallery on Friday along with many admirers of her work. We have also encouraged our students to visit the exhibition to inspire their own practice and learn more about Sarah’s work beyond her teaching within the Visual Arts faculty at Sandringham. Sarah is a registered tutor for UAL and in addition to her own work in the studio also enjoys running these sessions and completing artist in residency projects. Sarah is always delighted to share her enthusiasm for oil painting and is always keen to share tips and guidance with students so if this is an area of interest, please do encourage your child to pop down and see us in the Visual Arts faculty.

Sarah’s exhibition featured a series of large oil paintings of swimmers underwater. The show was truly immersive, surrounding the viewer with the blues and aqua marine colours of pool water. The refractions and reflections of light and movement of water created a slightly abstract feel to the water while the impressive detail on the portraits along with the realistic ripples and bubbles paid homage to Sarah’s love of realism. These paintings took Sarah three years to complete along with a series of smaller abstract paintings which were very popular with her audience. It was truly wonderful to see Sarah’s hard work and determination result in this achievement and we hope it inspires all of our Visual art students to aim high and dream big with their own artistic ambitions.

A huge thank you to every member of staff that helped make Sports Day such a success yesterday, it was so good to see the smiles on faces and so many students active after this past year. A big thank you to Mr Bloomfield for taking all of the photos and to Mrs Walker for keeping our social media channels up to date throughout the day.

Well done to Mr Lacey and Fawcett house who took the Sports Day Cup for this year and more points towards the House Cup. The results from Sports Day were as follows and individual results can be found here

Fawcett: 727, Johnson 726, Newton 698, Turing 690, Elgar 676, Hepworth 580, Shakespeare 547, Austen 471

Johnson still remain at the top but it is still all to play for with House Day on Tuesday. 

We were so pleased that Sports Day could take place on Wednesday, albeit with smaller numbers than usual due to isolation rules. Well done to everyone who took part! You can see all of the update on the @SandringhamSch1 and @SandringhamPE pages on Twitter. Fawcett were the ultimate winners but well done to all of those who took part and we hope that those who couldn't participate enjoyed cheering on their fellow housemates. More details are also featured under House News. 

It was lovely to see one of our Year 9 students featured in the newspaper this week.  Jack B in 9E was featured with his brother Joseph outside their beach hut in Bournemouth ahead of the England final. Despite the result, the boys enjoyed the game and it was nice to see their smiling faces enjoying a weekend celebrating in the sun after a busy few weeks at school.

Our second Prize Giving assembly on Thursday celebrated the success of our awesome Year 9 students. They have been a credit to the school this year and Performance Director Ms Semple and Assistant Headteacher Ms Pitsillis hope that the resilience they have formed as a result of lockdown changes helps them as they progress onto the start of their GCSEs in Year 10. Links to a recording of the awards and to the programme will be shared shortly. But in the meantime...congratulations to Year 9. 

Pictured above are Headteacher's Runners Up: Helena D, Edith H, Oliver B, Elliot B and Winners: Lauren P and Bryn J.

Herts County Council are waiting a decision from Government on offering a vaccination programme for young people aged 12-17. In the meantime, they are running a survey to gather feedback from young people and parents and carers which they hope will help them to better understand your views and plan effectively should the government decide to go ahead.   

The survey link is now live: https://surveys.hertfordshire.gov.uk/s/PEC871/

Thanks in advance for any time spent completing the survey.

It was fantastic to celebrate the successes of fabulous Year 7 students in our first Prize Giving assembly on Thursday. They have been amazing students in what has been a disruptive first year of Secondary School and Performance Director Ms Davies and Assistant Head Mr Kemp are both so proud of them all. The ceremony may have been in a different format, and missing quite a few students, but it was a great celebration nonetheless and it was lovely to see the excited faces of winners. Links to a recording of the awards and to the programme will be shared shortly. But in the meantime....well done Year 7 

Pictured above are the Runners Up for the Headteacher's Award: Flavia P, Emily N, Jacob E, Taylor P and Winners of the Headteacher's Award: Annabelle N and Rhys H

For the final theme week of the year, we asked students to reflect on how they would use the summer holidays to rest and catch up on some much needed time with family and friends. The continued uncertainty around travel means that many of us have not yet confirmed our summer plans but we encouraged students to think of ways to use the break to do things they have been unable to in recent months. The summer holidays are a really important break to allow students to reflect and reset for the next academic year. We hope you all have a safe, restful and sunny break - we will see you back with a new year of theme weeks in September. Happy holidays!!

It is unfortunate that we have had to postpone the Bronze Qualifying expedition due to take place this weekend.  We are in the process of arranging an alternative date and this should be communicated to students and families by the end of term. Meanwhile the Bronze participants in both years 9 & 10 can be getting on with their other activities over the summer break. Make sure you register it all on eDofE. You can email either cuneena@mysandstorm or dofe@sandringham.herts,sch if you need any further guidance.

Well done to Lily D in Year 9 who received her medal and certificate as Runner Up for the World Class Schools Symposium Talk Off Competition. Students from multiple schools across the country entered and judges were hugely impressed with Lily's bold talk on feminism and the issues she feels that young women still face today. Well done Lily- here she is at our Year 9 Awards on Thursday collecting her prize. 

A huge congratulations to Bryce Breen competing at his last English Schools @SchoolAthletics championships with a vault of 4m60 to win the silver medal.  We’re all very proud of you #ESAA2021

This year has been a turbulent year for sport. Back in September it looked as though there may be hope for some autumn and winter fixtures, however with COVID still looming plans were very quickly ruined. We have been able to keep some consistency with extra curricular training for some sports and the Summer term was hopeful with Athletics rounders, tennis and cricket returning. The sport this term has been a welcome distraction from the reality of the pandemic and it has been so good to see so many students enjoying their sport again. Hopefully we can make further progress in September with plans in place for most sports to return to ‘normal’. Thank you from the PE department for all those that have thrown themselves into after school clubs and fixtures, we genuinely love working with you and look forward to next year. Have a great Summer and stay active!

Last week saw Mr Cracknell take the Senior boys tennis team to the National finals at the Tennis Centre in Nottingham. We stayed in University accommodation and knew our task was a big one. With the 16 very best tennis schools from the UK in attendance, including some very prestigious and selective schools we had to perform well. Our first round match in the last 16 was against Claire’s Court School who work alongside Bisham Abbey and the Delgado and Lee Tennis Academy. We won singles 2,3 and 4 with Chris Smith, Alex Smith and Ryan O’Sullivan battling hard against a strong team. Andre Raath’s 1st match went to a 3rd set tie break, which he lost, meaning we needed one of the two doubles matches to take victory. Our 3,4 doubles team of Ivan Raath and Alex Smith unfortunately lost, however a superb doubles display from Chris and Andre sealed our fate and we earned a National Quarter final place against Reeds.

Reeds are arguably the most successful tennis school in the country with 43 National Titles since 2003, so we knew we had a challenge. The task was made slightly harder with the return of a player who the week before had played both the Mens singles at Wimbledon and in the Boys competition. Andre, Chris and Ryan lost their singles with Alex playing superbly to grab a win. Ryan and Ivan then took the doubles, however Andre and Chris played an entertaining yet unsuccessful match. It was possibly the hardest draw we could have had and to come one match victory away from a shoot out was a great achievement. We now knew th best we could do is achieve 5th place.

Thank you to all of those who took part in the Charity Run! We have now raised over £1,100 for FareShare and results from the day are below. You can still donate here if you would like to do so.

WINNERS:

Staff: Male 1st: Mr Williams 2nd: Mr O'Connor 3rd: Mr Chopra Female 1st: Mrs Holian 2nd: Miss Wills 3rd: Mrs Finlay

Year 7: Boys: 1st Otis L-J 2nd Robin D 3rd Jamie K Girls: 1st: Cerys M, 2nd: Annabelle N, 3rd: Olivia T

Year 8:  Boys 1st: Arhan B 2nd: Harrison H = 3rd: Max H Joe F Year 8 Girls 1st: Soraya E 2nd: Nia V 3rd: Jessica R

Year 9: Boys 1st: Jack H 2nd: Charlie B 3rd: Calum K Year 9 Girls 1st: Alice S 2nd: Marelie R 3rd: Lauren P

Year 10: Boys 1st: Henry D 2nd: Ben C 3rd: Oscar S Year 10 Girls 1st: Charli K 2nd: Grace M 3rd: Emily D

Year 12: Boys 1st: George B 2nd: Oliver S =3rd: Conor L Adi G

On Friday we then played Altrincham Grammar School. Andre, Alex and Ryan won their singles quite comfortably, however Chris had to retire with a shoulder injury, meaning we still needed one of the two doubles wins. Alex and Ryan made quick work of theirs winning 6-0, 6-1 to book our 5/6th play off match with Coopers for the Saturday morning.

A match V Coopers is always an opportunity for drama. Ryan was up first for the 4th seed and took the win in two sets. Alex then grabbed the 3rd seed match in two sets, followed by a heated match with Chris at 2. Andre was unable to complete his and retired early on in the first, which put us in the same situation needing just one of the two doubles for the victory and 5th place. Ryan and Alex were up first against a young but very strong doubles pair. Unfortunately it didn’t go in our favour meaning a very fatigued and injured pair of Andre and Chris had to step up and find something. They did just that, winning in two sets, not without giving us a scare. This gave the team 5th place and an amazing achievement. We came so close to breaking into the top4 schools in the country which no other team has done in a number of years. A great week of tennis and a superb achievement for the boys. Well done.

The new 25th Anniversary show catapults Riverdance into the 21st century and will completely immerse you in the extraordinary and elemental power of its music and dance. 25 years ago, 7 minutes changed the face of Irish dancing forever. The Eurovision interval act performance gave millions of people a new and exciting glimpse of the future of Irish dance. Now 25 years later, composer Bill Whelan has re-recorded his mesmerising soundtrack while producer Moya Doherty and director John McColgan have completely reimagined the ground-breaking show with innovative and spectacular lighting, projection, stage, and costume designs.

Tickets £13.50/£10

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet is a passionate and contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic story of love and conflict is set in the not-too-distant future in the ‘Verona Institute’. Here ‘difficult’ young people are mysteriously confined by a society that seeks to divide and crush their youthful spirit. Our two young lovers must follow their hearts as they risk everything to be together.

Tickets £13.50/£10

We are open!  We look forward to welcoming you back through our doors and remember we are a socially distant venue so seats will disappear very quickly so do not miss out and get your tickets now!

Following Government guidelines, you must wear a face covering while attending The SandPit Theatre unless you are exempt as stated in these guidelines.  If you do not wear a mask you will be refused entry and your ticket will be forfeited. Our café will be open during these screenings for drinks and snacks but please note we will only be accepting card payments.  Alcohol is available for sale 30 minutes before the shows begin.  The box office is open from 11.30am – 3.30pm Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can call us on 01727 799565 or visit www.sandpittheatre.co.uk

We now sell and accept Theatre Tokens!  You can use these tokens to purchase tickets for any of our shows or buy them as gifts to be used at over 260 venues nationwide and in the West End all while supporting theatres including us!