Wherever possible, we encourage students to walk or cycle to School. If you need to drive your son/daughter, we kindly ask that you follow the above advice from Herts County Council to ensure not only the safety of students but also that you are being respectful of residents in area.

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!

Yesterday, it was National Teaching Assistant Day and we want to say a big thank you to our wonderful Teaching Assistant Team who work so hard in supporting the students here at Sandringham School. Mr Astley, Ms Demetriou, Ms Earl, Ms Higgins, and Ms Jamieson, Ms Staples, Ms Demetriou, Ms Wright, Ms Nuamh, Ms Patel, Ms Pearson, Ms Spiewak, Ms Taylor, and Ms Ward are led by Mrs Hawkins and all go above and beyond in making sure that students have the academic and emotional support that they need. We appreciate all they do and are sure that students, teachers and parents do too.

The Sound of Music tickets went on sale on Monday and lots have already been snapped up. We expect high demand so be sure to head to our website to book your seats here

Shortly, our Year 11 students will be going on work experience gaining vital insight into possible career paths and learning important life skills. Raffi Roberts, in Year 13, also recently spent time visiting projects on the M25 and learning about the roles played by various disciplines including the commercial and road space teams.

Raffi got in touch with Jackson after attending a Virtual Work Experience event in June where ten of Jackson's STEM Ambassadors gave presentations. The programme was organised by Speakers for Schools, a charity that aims to give young people access to industry-leading companies and support networks. Having been accepted on the placement, Raffi spent his week shadowing Industrial Placement Engineer, Monica Chandran, and Regional Engineer, Prince Sithole.

Raffi said of the experience: "The week as a whole has been really enjoyable, providing me with a great insight into the industry and helping me gain plenty of knowledge that will benefit my future studies and career. I particularly enjoyed being able to visit different projects, giving me a brilliant experience and allowing me to learn about engineering while on site."

Mrs Casby is running 60 miles to help raise money for Cancer Research UK, a cause close to her heart. She has chosen to do this by running 2 miles a day, every day in September. If you would like more details you can contact her here. Good luck Mrs Casby! 

"This is a challenge for me! I don’t particularly enjoy running, I want to stop as soon as I start, I’m incredibly slow and with a young family, carving out that time to run every day isn’t easy. But we’ve come a long way in our treatment for cancer and although there’s a long way to go, this non-runner is proud of the small bit I’m contributing to this important cause.”

Five Creative Writing club students who entered the Young Writers Unsolved competition (Franky D, Ariella F, Emilia H, Aatiqa S and Beth Y) have had their stories selected for publication and have received a certificate for excellence in writing. The brief was to write a crime story mini saga in no more than a hundred words - a difficult task! Students worked hard creating tension, suspense and intrigue, and ensuring they made every word count. Young Writers received in excess of 6,500 entries and have chosen 244 stories to be published in Unsolved – Crime Scene Stories. We are thrilled all five Sandringham students who submitted have been chosen from such a large number of entries. Well done!  

We are aware that several of our students in Year 9 and 10 are studying additional languages out of school as native speakers and may be interested in sitting a GCSE later in this academic year. Although the exact timeline and nature of next summer’s exams have yet to be confirmed, we would be grateful if initial expressions of interest could be emailed to fleur.baikie@sandringham.herts.sch.uk stating the student name, tutor group and the language they are studying which they wish to be examined in. A return by Friday 1st October  would be appreciated. Once we have all the requests, we will work with families to see if we can accommodate the requests. Thank you.

For those new to the school, we recently renamed all of our classrooms after inspirational figures whom we believe represent the character traits that we encourage our students to also aspire to: Aspiration, Confidence, Initiative, Integrity, Tolerance and Resilience. Our SLT team, led by Daisy B have worked hard to create beautiful boards for each room and we encourage students to think about how they too can emulate these qualities.

D11 is named after Tim Peake, an Army Air Corps Officer who is most well known for being one of 6 British astronauts to have visited the ISS. He was born on 7th April 1972 in Chichester and by the age of 13, he was flying regularly with the airforce section of the combined cadet force. Aged 18, he left to attend the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and went on to gain a bachelor’s degree in Flight dynamics and Evaluation from the University of Portsmouth and become a captain in the Army Air Corps after 7 years of service.

Peake's other achievements include becoming a helicopter pilot who helped complete trials on Apache helicopters and once aboard the ISS, he became the first British astronaut to complete a spacewalk there, the first man to complete a marathon in space and he also helped complete many scientific experiments. The picture above is from 2016 when Sandringham students spoke to Tim Peake in space!

We believe that he shows the character trait of Aspiration. ‘Don’t let anybody tell you, you can’t do anything.’

A huge thank you to all of our wonderful students who volunteered as tour guides for the Open Evening. In particular we would like to mention Aiden J (Year 11) Alisha and Aarya (Year 8) Ethan Kropf (Year 10 pictured) and George D (Year 12) who received the following glowing feedback from visiting parents.

"We just wanted to drop you a note to say how absolutely impressed we were by not only your amazing school but also the two guides that were fonts of knowledge, chatty, helpful, very smart and above all kind. Aiden and Alisha  were amazing. Please pass our thanks on to them."

"I just wanted to thank you for such a great open evening, the school was very well received by my daughter who will hopefully be joining you next year. Can I please mention our guides, Aarya from Year 8 was amazing. And we had George D from Year 12 who was so friendly and knowledgeable about the school, his enthusiasm shone through. I just wanted to let you know how impressed I was and that you should be very proud of these students as they seem to me… a credit to your school."

"A big thank you to Mr Reynolds and Ethan who were brilliant with my boys on Open Evening. Usually they are not fans of Science but the enthusiasm from the teachers and guides made them excited to hopefully come here and learn more. They loved all of the activities on the night and as parents, we were hugely impressed with the friendliness of staff and how fantastic the school looked as whole."

If you would like your son/daughter featured in the Student Spotlight, please email any details or photographs to 

melissa.holian@sandringham.herts.sch.uk

Last weekend saw over 120 students in Year 11 completing their final expedition in their Bronze Award. Unlike their practice back in May this was a full expedition spanning two days with an overnight camp. As a consequence of this, instead of carrying small daysacks they were full loaded with expedition rucksacks carrying everything they needed for their two days. This was their first challenge- to make sure they could fit everything in but also lift the bags up! They were lucky with the weather- almost perfect walking conditions; warm and dry but not too hot . The length of time between their practice and qualifying expedition (this was originally supposed to happen in July) meant that some groups took longer than others to fine tune their navigation skills which led to some temporary misplacements but by the time groups had gone through checkpoint one they were back in the expedition zone. Unlike in previous expeditions, all the group camped at the same campsite- Felden Lodge- although they approached and left in different directions. All the groups had arrived by 8.30pm which meant some came in after dark which led to the challenges of pitching tents and cooking dinner by torchlight. After a quiet night (they were all exhausted) an early start meant the first groups were away before 8am and so day two began. There was a marked improvement in navigational skills – perhaps the incentive of getting home was a motivation.  We had 26 groups successfully complete their expedition which is a massive achievement. The students were a credit to the Award and to the school. Their next steps are to finish their other sections and upload their evidence which will happen over the next few weeks. The Silver Award has been launched with Year 11 this week and their first expedition is in 3 weeks to the South Downs.

Our first music rehearsals have been going very well indeed and it has been fantastic to see so many of our new Year 7s remembering their musical instruments and joining in our ensembles. We do know that there are many Year 8 students who missed out on this last year so we would really love to welcome more Year 8s into our groups:

Concert Band – Tuesdays after school for woodwind and brass players

Sinfonia – Thursdays after school for string players and all orchestral instruments

String ensemble – Wednesday lunchtimes for all string players

Guitar ensemble – for guitarists that read notation or tab

Arts Awards

Congratulations to the following Year 10 students who have achieved their Bronze Level Arts Award: Bea K, Amy R, Abigail V, Aaron A, Nico C, Tom B, James O, Lauren D, Roslin M, Freya B, Oscar I, Beckie C, Amy C

And to the following Year 11 students who have been awarded their silver level: Samantha S, Emily R, Keerthana A

Please see the below message from Ms LePoint in the MFL Team

Bonjour!

I am Isabelle, French native from Lille and Teaching Assistant here at Sandringham. I would love to share my passion for France with our Year 7, 8 and 9 over lunch break. We will discuss food, art, fashion, history, music, cultural traditions and much more.

Our sessions will be on Mondays at 1.25pm for 30 minutes in C4, both informal yet educational. I look forward to seeing you.

Ms Lepoint

This week’s whole school theme recognises the role that Claudette Colvin played in the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. When she was 15, she refused to move to the back of the bus and give up her seat to a white person — nine months before Rosa Parks did the very same thing. Colvin was the first to really challenge the law despite only being a teenager and receiving limited support from the leaders of the civil rights movement. The students received an excellent assembly from Mr Nicholls that got them to celebrate Claudette’s bravery and resilience in the face of discrimination. It also encouraged them to remember that sometimes influential figures in history can be forgotten if they don’t fit what society at the time deems to be acceptable. 

If you speak another language (other than English) at home or you know how to introduce yourself in a foreign language please submit a short video for our European Day of Languages celebration. Please record yourself, or get someone to record you saying the following phrase in your other language: “Hello! My name is … and I speak …,…,….” For example I would say "Bonjour! Je m’appelle Mademoiselle Baikie et je parle français, anglais, allemand et espagnol."

Take your time when speaking and make sure you speak really clearly. Please submit all videos to baikief@mysandstorm.org by Wednesday 22nd September. Thank you! 

If you are interested in becoming a teacher and would like to find out more, please come along to the Alban Federation Open Morning on Saturday 9 th October 2021 here at Sandringham School. More details are on the picture above or you can email afgtpenquiries@Sandringham.Herts.sch.uk. 

It is always lovely to hear feedback from parents and members of the community so we thought we would share the  email below sent in by member of the public. If you have anything you would like to share with us you can do so to admin@sandringham.herts.sch.uk

"I just wanted to write and let you know that myself and my friend were walking in Chipperfield this morning and we met a really lovely group of girls who were doing their Bronze D of E. We stopped and chatted to them and they were all so polite and really lovely, we pointed them in the right direction and they were so grateful. Teenagers often get a bad press these days, but these girls were lovely, a real credit to the school!" 

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine- sagace

GERMAN: Die Wort der Woche- scharfsinnig/ klug

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana- sagaz

Thinking Questions

• There are roughly 6,500 languages spoken in the world – why do we have so many? How have they developed over time?

Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'La Sombra del Viento' by Julian Carax.

But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from La Sombra del Viento, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind. Suitable for Year 9 and above, this is a page-turning exploration of obsession in literature and love, and the places that obsession can lead.

S is for sagacious [adjective]

Definition: Having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgement; wise or shrewd.

Example: They were sagacious enough to avoid any outright confrontation.

Synonyms: Astute, Clear sighted, Discerning

Antonyms: Careless, Foolish, Ignorant

Etymology: From the Latin root ‘saga’ meaning wise.

We are a World Class School because of our students. Not only do they embody the characteristics expected of the World Class Schools’ Quality Mark, but they set the direction for change at Sandringham. By taking advantage of the unique opportunities and experiences promoted by the WCSQM, our students have been able to work alongside students from many other schools; they have taken part in speech and essay competitions where they have showcased their perspective, helping to shape and define perceptions of what can and should be achieved by young people.

At Sandringham, we believe that ‘everybody can be somebody’. This works in complete harmony with what it means to be ‘World Class’: everybody should be the best version of themselves, celebrate the strengths of others, and work together to make a positive difference in their local and wider communities. In this sense, ‘World Class’ has become the ingrained standard at Sandringham, and our students and staff strive to develop this, such that ‘World Class’ is continually adapting as a fluid and mutually understood way of living in our Sandringham community.

If you would like to read more from our World Class Team, you can do so here

It has been another busy week in PE and sport continues to ramp up. This week saw the return of netball and football, as well as more rugby. The Senior rugby team were in action in the first round of the Natwest Vase at home to Roundwood Park. With the current Covid ruling stating that no Y11s can play up until January we knew that the team would be reduced in numbers. It was a great start to the campaign on a lovely afternoon at school. The team scored early on and piled on the pressure to take a 14-0 lead in to the half. As the second half started we knew that Roundwood would come out firing and scored an unconverted try to take it to 14-5. The next 10 minutes of the match were pivotal and it was clear the next try would swing the match. Luckily for us, the boys rallied and it was us who got over the line, before Elliot D converted. Another converted try at the death took the score to 28-5 for a resounding victory and a place in the second round. Well played boys.

On the Netball court we had two games at Berkhamsted school, including our U14 team and U16s. Berkhamsted have dominated the netball scene in recent years and have taken National titles on a number of occasions so we knew this would be an early test for all of the hard work that Miss Wills has been putting in with the girls. The team’s performances were excellent and really demonstrated the progress made. Without a number of key players both teams lost 20-12, which gives us positives to look at for the upcoming County Tournaments.

We also played against a strong Samuel Ryder side in the first round of Sisters in Sport National Cup. We lost the match 30-24, winning 3 out of 4 quarters, with the last being our strongest and giving hope for future games. Samuel Ryder’s strong defence was the difference between us and saw them put a stop to some good attacking play. Molly C was the stand out performer in Goal Attack.

We again took to the Cross Country league at Townsend school with a large group of runners as we continue to prepare for the Cup matches later in the term. The highlights of the races were:

Luke C 1st Georgia T 1st, Lily T 2nd , Annabelle N 3rd , Dan B 2nd

Also Will A reversed last week’s result with Toby P who were both pushing the top runners for the Y7s in the Y8 race. Well done to all of our competitors and good luck next week at Nicholas Breakspear

For more news, fixtures, team sheets and results don’t forget to follow us @SandringhamPE on Twitter and at www.sandringhamsport.co.uk

Good to see the 1st and 2nd XI football teams back in action v ⁦St Albans School. Both the 1st XI and 2nd XI were up at Woollams playing fields to take on St. Albans School in our now annual pre-season friendly and opening game. The 2nds ran out 4-0 winners with goals from Kobe I, Cameron C and Mattie H. The 1sts also took the victory with a 3-1 win over our hosts to seal a fabulous afternoon of Senior boys sport seeing close to 60 boys represent the school, including a number of new additions and Y11s stepping up to this level on the football pitch.

Saturday 18th September

 Y7-10 Football V Sir John Lawes

Monday 20th September

Y11 Girls Football V St. Mary Magdalene (H)

Y8B Etonbury (H)

Tuesday 21st September

Y10A/B Netball STAHS (H)

Wednesday 22nd September

Y10 Netball V St. Georges (H)

Thursday 23rd September

Y9 Girls Football V Simon Balle (A)

Y11 Netball V Herts and Essex (H)

Saturday 25th September

Y7A/B V Aldenham (H),  Y8A/B V Aldenham (A)

Y9 V Aldenham (H), Y10 V Aldenham (A)

Senior V Aldenham (A)

Marking the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death, the greatest exhibition ever held of his works took place in Rome. Exhibition on Screen was granted exclusive access to this once-in-a-lifetime show. With over two hundred masterpieces, including paintings and drawings – over a hundred of which have been brought together for the first time – this major exhibition celebrates the life and work of Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino.

More than just a painter, Raphael was one of the most extraordinary artists of the Renaissance but is often misunderstood or mythologised. On the basis of this extraordinary exhibition in Rome, this film allows Raphael, for the first time, to be truly revealed. Tickets £7/5

Welcome to our 20th anniversary year as we celebrate The SandPit Theatre turning 20 years old this December! We can’t wait to see you back through our doors and we have some exciting shows and films coming up for you this season!

All the latest performances are on our website, www.sandpittheatre.co.uk, and you can keep up to date with what’s going on by giving us a follow either on Instagram & Twitter or give us a like on Facebook, just search for The SandPit Theatre

The box office is open from 11.30am – 3.30pm Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Alternatively, you can call us on 01727 799565 or visit www.sandpittheatre.co.uk

Grab your wands, don your house robes, and apparate yourselves to the box office! A very magical improv show awaits... The smash hit Spontaneous Potter is an entirely improvised Harry Potter comedy play, based on an audience suggestion of a fanfiction title. Hilarity ensues as an entirely new Potter adventure is magically improvised on the spot - with live musical accompaniment! Running Time: 60 minutes

Tickets: 2:30pm -  £12 / £10 or 7:30pm -  £16 / £14

The inspirational story, based on the memoir of Maria Augusta Trapp, follows an ebullient postulate who serves as governess to the seven children of the imperious Captain von Trapp, bringing music and joy to the household. But as the forces of Nazism take hold of Austria, Maria and the entire von Trapp family must make a moral decision. This amateur whole school production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. 

www.concordtheatricals.co.uk Tickets £10 & £7

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!

Following Government guidelines, you must wear a face covering while attending The SandPit Theatre and must present a valid NHS COVID Pass or proof of a Negative Lateral Flow Test if aged over 18, unless you are exempt as stated in these guidelines. If you do not wear a mask or do not have a valid NHS Covid Pass/Lateral Flow Test result, you will be refused entry and your ticket will be forfeited.  Our Bar will be open during these performances 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 V&A presents Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser, an exclusive private view of the ‘hugely enjoyable and thought-provoking exhibition’ (★★★★★The Guardian) at the V&A in London, filmed especially for the big screen.

Take a guided tour ‘down the rabbit hole’ with the V&A Curator Kate Bailey and presenter Andi Oliver as the documentary explores how Alice has become an enduring icon, influencing successive generations and inspiring creativity in fashion, film, photography and on the stage. Tickets: £16 / £13