The theme for this week is equality in sport. Like all aspects of society, sport is fighting to remove all forms of discrimination which reduce opportunities for minorities. However, the competitive and occasionally segregated nature of sport can mean that discrimination is able to persist in ways that it does not in other aspects of life. The students received a fantastic assembly from Mr Cracknell which got them to reflect on how sport can be adapted to ensure equality, without compromising the competitive nature of sport. Students were encouraged to analyse how the sport that they watch and participate in can be made more equal for different genders, religions, races and disabilities. We hope that all students find a sport of physical activity that they enjoy and feel included in both at Sandringham and in the sporting world. 

This week we are hugely proud to mention Ollie P, who has been selected to represent Great Britain in the World Powerlifting Championships in Lithuania. What a fantastic achievement Ollie. We are really proud of you! 

If you would like your child to be featured in the Student Spotlight, or would like to nominate someone, please contact melissa.holian@sandringham.herts.sch.uk with any details and/or photographs. It can be anything from sporting achievements to the Arts, something in the Community to STEM work or anything in between. We would love to hear from you.

EASYFUNDRAISING is a great way of raising funds for our school without it costing you a penny. Once you’ve signed up to support Sandringham School on the easyfundraising  site (which takes 30 seconds) you can raise free donations for us every time you shop online with over 6,000 retailers including  ebay, Asos, Just Eat, Groupon and Apple store.  Simply search for the retailer by visiting the easyfundraising website; https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk or by using the easyfundraising app. The retailer will then pay a donation to Sandringham School on your behalf when you checkout - your shop will cost exactly the same! This is a great way of raising money for our school and couldn’t be easier. We currently only have 86 supporters – with a school population of over 1500 we have the opportunity have so many more supporters who in turn will raise more money for Sandringham.

AMAZON SMILE is another way to raise money for our school. Simply search for amazon.smile.co.uk within your amazon account and choose your charity; Sandringham Parent Teacher Association St Albans.  (Choose carefully as there are several Sandringham School charities) Start your shopping at smile.amazon.co.uk, or with AmazonSmile activated in the app, and they will donate 0.5% of the eligible purchase amount — at no extra cost.

Thank you very much for your support.

BEEE Creative are offering a FREE workshop with Anji Archer where you will learn collage techniques using recycled materials to make your own characters. Suitable for 11 - 16 year olds, this takes place on Saturday 23 October 10am- 1pm and takes place over Zoom. Booking in advance is essential using the following link here Full details are on the flyer above. 

A reminder that you can view and order the Whole School and Sixth Form photographs via the following weblink by entering your email address and child's name. These are taken every two years and there are various mounts or different frames so we hope you can find an option that suits you.

The Year 8-11 individual photographs will take place on Monday 1st November.

On Thursday, two teams of six Year 8 students took part in the Faraday Challenge, an all-day engineering competition provided by the Institute of Engineering & Technology.

Our students competed against teams from Verulam School and Ridgeway Academy, and the task was to design and build a system for helping patients in a children's hospital more comfortable during their stay.

The winning group (pictured above) gained a very high score, points being awarded for planning, development, use of a budget, product engineering, a presentation and teamwork.The members of the winning team were Rhys Holgado (Project Manager), Becca Lord, Ridhi Roy, Henry Tse, Haniyah Yaqub and Beth Yang.

Close runners up were Franky Drew, Ariella Fisher, Jodie Hancock, Hywel Jenkins, Isaac Newbigging and Emily Newton (also pictured below)

Huge thanks to the families that have already undertaken our curriculum survey mentioned in my letter this week. This is a really important part of our evaluation of the quality of education we provide for your child/children. The survey outcomes, alongside those from student and staff surveys will play a role in shaping our provision going forward.  It takes a very short time to complete and you can access it via the link here.  I would be grateful if you could complete it by next week.

This Wednesday, our first session of British Sign Language club took place in H1, run by Emma and Maddie in Year 13. The club encourages deaf awareness as well going through the basics of BSL and playing lots of sign language games. This is a valuable and fun life skill that will enable you to communicate with the deaf community. You can still sign up on SOCS if you are interested and email any questions you have to Emma (15afarie@mysandstorm.org) or Maddie (15byem@mysandstorm.org). They hope to see you there!

On Monday we were fortunate enough to have a World Champion speaking to us in the Sandpit. Derek Redmond the 1991 4x400m World champion came in to talk to a group of staff and students about his career and the desire to succeed. It was an engaging and inspiring lecture which highlighted the importance of overcoming challenges. We have  retired Badminton player Gail Emms joining us after half term on Monday, 18th October from 5-6pm. 

You will need to register on the link provided above under Sandringham School or speak to Mr Cracknell to secure a FREE place. We hope you enjoy this fantastic opportunity.

Details of the provisions from Hertfordshire County Council for Free School Meals over the half term will be sent to all families who are currently eligible early next week. The vouchers from Eden Red will then be sent via email before half term.

Please save the date for the Fo$S Christmas fair on Saturday 4th December from 11-3pm at Sandringham School.

There will be lots of stalls, games and food/drinks and it is a great chance to meet with others and support fundraising for the school. 

Well done to Austen for again leading the House points. This week it is all still to play for with the House PRE competition from Mr Lacey and the Weekly Quiz on Equality. We look forward to updating you with the totals as we go into half term next week! 

This is your last week to support Sandringham with the Morrisons tokens. We have received 401 tokens so far, thank you again to all of our collectors. We did have the very aspirational target of 5000 tokens, however, 465 tokens would ensure that we get a lovely border of wild flowers for our student garden.

Remember: every £10 spent in store = 1 token. Make sure to click the donate button on the app!

A huge congratulations to Emily W in Year 9 who took part in two gruelling rounds of netball trials to be offered a place in the Hertfordshire U15 Netball Academy this week. What makes this an even greater achievement is that she played up a year in order to take part with a majority of the team selected from Year 10 . She is looking forward to putting her new skills learnt into representing  Sandringham Netball performance squad. A huge well done Emily! Amazing work! 

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!

Last week, students in Years 12 and 13 took part in the Mathematical Olympiad for Girls run by the UK Mathematics Trust.  The aim of the UK Mathematics Trust is to advance the education of young people in mathematics. The Mathematical Olympiad presents 5 challenging questions which require full written solutions, aimed at students across the UK. It is open to all female students in years 12 and 13.  This was a fantastic opportunity which offers students the chance to develop their mathematical problem-solving skills. It encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems.  The problems on the Mathematical Olympiad are challenging and designed to make students think and are not suitable for all students.

Students that perform well are awarded certificates of distinction or merit, with the best performing students being invited to participate in the first round of the British Mathematical Olympiad. Best of luck to all those that took part- we look forward to hearing the results!

Over the last few weeks, a group of Year 12 students have been meeting to look at the upcoming climate conference in Glasgow (COP26), to think through raising awareness about the summit and the urgency of the climate crisis. They will be leading activities after half term when COP26 starts in Glasgow. We were very pleased to be invited to take part in a climate change event in St Albans, which involved a team of walkers who are on their way to the Glasgow event, walking the length of the country to raise awareness of all of the issues involved. There were participants from organisations like St Albans District Council, Friends of the Earth and Sustainable St Albans, as well as members of the public. Our students led the panel discussions and Sophia was also a member of the main discussion panel. They were extremely impressive in leading adults and framing discussions. We look forward to planning more activities for the school community in coming weeks.

Last weekend saw our final expedition for this season with our Year 11 Silver participants travelling to the South Downs on Friday afternoon for a 2 ½ day practice expedition. We also had a small group of Year 12 students who travelled down on Friday morning to complete a full 3 day Qualifying expedition. The South Downs is one of my favourite expedition areas as it combines pretty rural footpaths with spectacular views from the top of the Downs with glimpses of the sea to the south.

One of the big issues of expeditioning at this time of year is the shorter daylight hours, and on both days some groups faced the challenge of not only navigating in the dark but also pitching tents, cooking and washing up by torchlight. We were really impressed with the resilience shown by these participants who just got on with it without any complaining. It helped that they had so recently completed their Bronze Qualifying expedition just 4 weeks before and so they were in the expedition “zone”. The weather is so important on expedition and although it was chilly at night and in the morning, it was mostly dry and, at time, even warm and sunny. Another challenge faced by groups when they were out early in the morning were the autumnal mists which hung around especially on Sunday and really only begun to lift as groups were finishing in the early afternoon. Usually on day 3, the finish point is visible from 2 kilometres away- this time it was barely visible until groups were right on top of it.

It has been a busy 12 months since we restarted expeditions with 3 Bronze expeditions, 3 Silver expeditions and 2 Gold expeditions, including an extended trip to the Lakes to allow multiple groups to complete their Qualifying venture. A massive thanks goes out to all staff who have given up their free time to facilitate these trips. A special mention to Miss Borman, Mr Allday, Miss Semple and Mrs Ellis who are instrumental in helping to organise the logistics and lead the trips.

Expeditions start again in the Spring and in the meanwhile, students in Years 10-13 should focus on completing their volunteering, physical and skill sections and uploading their assessor reports.

Year 13 attended The Knit and Stitch Show last week and had a fantastic time. Freya H and Ruby K have written the review below and provided some beautiful photos of the displays. Thank you so much to Freya and Ruby for writing about your experience and to the Arts Faculty for organising such a wonderful event.

The Knit and Stitch Show was an insightful experience as by engaging in discussions with artists we developed an  understanding of creative processes; encouraging us to consider new techniques. The large variety of artists and stools welcomed the opportunity to discover new methods influencing the ideas of our own projects. It was both an enjoyable and informative experience. It was a great opportunity for us to see both textiles work first hand, and the artists who produced it. By talking to them and asking questions, we were able to learn the range of techniques implemented by different artists, which we hope to use in our future projects. 

Please see above for details of pop up vaccination centres in the local area. We hope that you find the information useful.

As the nights close in, remember we have a scary collection of spooky fiction for students to borrow! Pictured above are a few titles to try this winter. Keep reading!

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine- Le dilemme

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche- Das Dilemma

SPANISH- La palabra de la semana- El dilema

Thinking Questions

• Language is an important part of culture and heritage. What can learning a language teach us about a culture or the heritage of a country?

Winner of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2007 and The Women’s Prize for Fiction’s ‘Winner of Winners,’ ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ is a heartbreaking, exquisitely written literary masterpiece.

Ugwu, a boy from a poor village, works as a houseboy for a university professor. Olanna, a young woman, has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos to live with her charismatic new lover, the professor. And Richard, a shy English writer, is in thrall to Olanna’s enigmatic twin sister. As the horrific Biafran War engulfs them, they are thrown together and pulled apart in ways they had never imagined.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s masterpiece is a novel about Africa in a wider sense: about the end of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, class and race – and about the ways in which love can complicate all of these things. As such it’s most suitable for our older students in Year 11 and above.

D is for dilemma [noun]

Definition: A situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives.

Example: Angelina Jolie has revealed a dramatic cancer dilemma. 

Synonyms: Problem, Puzzle, Quandary

Antonyms: Advantage, Benefit

Etymology: From the Greek ‘dilemma’. From ‘di’ meaning two and ‘lemma’

An excellent afternoon of Cross Country took place on Wednesday. It was the first round of the English Schools Cross Country Cup, hosted at Dame Alice Owens School in Potters Bar. We were one of only two schools to have a full compliment of teams in attendance in this County round of the National Competition. It was great to see so many of our students who have been training hard since before lockdown having the opportunity to compete at such a high level of XC.

Both the Junior Boys and Girls got the afternoon off to a flying start with some superb displays and a win in both races. Georgia Tongue took it for the girls with Luke Carlin leading the way for the boys. We also had a number of students finishing highly and reaching the top 10 to give us equal scores of 35 for our top 4 finishers. Both the Junior Boys and Girls have qualified for the Regional Finals on Saturday 13th November, in addition to the Senior Boy team.

The last week has seen the first hockey matches of the season for Year 7, 8 and 9. Each of the teams played very well, gaining great experience against tough opposition and should be very proud of themselves. The Year 8’s played against Royal Masonic, a very strong opposition who thoroughly tested the team. The teamwork and determination of all of the girls was superb and despite the defeat, they enjoyed playing and improved within the space of 1 game.

An enthusiastic Year 7 team had their first match against Dame Alice Owens. They soon adapted to the quicker surface of the Astro to play some good hockey gaining valuable experience. The Year 9 team played some excellent hockey and were narrowly defeated by Royal Masonic who converted a well-executed short corner. Resolute in defence, Sandringham moved the ball around well to create several attacking opportunities.

Well done to everyone involved and thanks to the PE Faculty for taking these great photos

Well done to the U18 Girls Football team for beating Beaumont 4-2 in the first round of the ESFA. PP - Millie F & CP - Nicole F

It has been another busy week of football fixtures with the County Cup and ESFA National Cup dominating our diary. On Monday the 1st XI were playing in the 1st round of the County Cup V Reach Free. A very strong start from the boys got them ahead early on. We played some exceptional football to see run away with the game 6-0 and into the 2nd round V Hemel or Reach Free. The Y11 team were at home to Cedars school in the ESFA 2nd round on Tuesday. It was an excellent start for the team with Joe W putting us 1-0 up early on, followed by an Ashton L goal to double the lead. With a 2 goal advantage it should have been comfortable, however Cedars fired back quickly twice to see the match level at half time. As the game wore on it got tense. With 5 minutes to play a through ball evaded Cedars defence to see Will J round the keeper and slot home to take us through.

On Wednesday our 1st XI girls team were playing Beaumont in the ESFA National Cup. It is always a tough match when we play the local derby, but for the second time this year we bettered our local rivals and won the match 4-2 with Nicole F starring. Thursday saw both the Y7s and Y9s in action and on their travels in the National Cup. The Y9s were away to Sir Henry Flloyd. It was most definitely a game of two halves with us going 4-0 down from a very blustery first half. In the second half a more direct route saw Uzus grab a hat trick and Anton a double and Tommy E one for himself to take the win 6-4. The 7s had a slightly more simple route to the next round with a 7-0 win away to Linslade Middle School.

Saturday 16th October

Y7A-C/ 8A-B Football V Berkhamsted

Monday 18th October

Y8 Netball V Samuel Ryder

Wednesday 20th October

Y7B Football Nicholas Breakspear

Y9 Hockey V Dame Alice Owens (A)

Senior Netball V Beaumont (A)

Thursday 21st October

Y9 Football V Kings Langley (a)

Y7/8 Hockey V Sir John Lawes (H)

Y9 Netball V Sir Henry Flloyd (A)

The junior and inter girls participated in the county swimming championships qualifying rounds last Friday night in Watford, competing in a freestyle and medley relay, with some excellent individual times among the teams. Well done to Alisha A, Layla J, Ariella F, Laura D, Emily N, Lauren P, Lauren D, Zoe H, Martha D and Beckie C.

Well done to the U16 table tennis squad for coming second and qualifying for the next round. The boys squad came third, missing out on qualification by 1 game overall, the finest of margins. Some excellent table tennis on display from both teams

On Saturday the U14 & U16 netball performance squads attended their most important fixture of the academic year so far, the county tournament that starts the road to national finals. The U14 squad had a very challenging group and lost early fixtures to Berkhamsted, STAHS and Presdales 13-4, 15-4 and 10-8 respectfully. However they picked themselves up brilliantly and won their last two fixtures 18-4 and 9-8 against St Edmunds and Chauncy meaning they finished 4th in their group. I am incredibly proud of how hard this squad has worked over the past 6 months to prepare for this tournament and although they did not progress to the next round, this is the start of the journey and I know they will only improve further from here. Players’ player for the tournament went to Niamh F and coach’s player went to Mia O’H.

The U16 squad started strong with a confident win against STAHS 15-5, raising the belief that they were worthy competitors at this level of competition. Continuing their success and winning the next two games against Dame Alice Owen and Haileybury 18-2 and 15-5 respectfully the team was ready to take on the team that we knew would be our hardest opponent. Facing a strong and successful Broxbourne side in the group stage was always going to indicate how far this team could go, seeing as this school regularly compete at and win the national competition. The team put in a phenomenal performance with every individual player attacking and defending with sheer determination and ended with a 12-8 win. To say we were proud does not do this feat justice. Confidently playing St Edmunds and winning 23-1 in the final game, they finished top of the group. Going through as winners of the group we were drawn against the runners up of group 2, playing Presdales in the semi-final. After a solid 13-9 win, we were through to the FINAL of the county competition. A Sandringham team have never achieved this before and we knew, whatever the result, we were going to the regional round! Playing Broxbourne again in the final, there was a lot of pressure to repeat the performance from the group stages, however, after a long day of netball the team started to show fatigue and narrowly lost 12-11. Huge congratulations to the whole squad for such a fantastic achievement – the hard work starts now to get to national finals! Players’ player of the tournament goes to Maddie B and Coach’s player of the tournament goes to Margot K.

Congratulations as well to the U12 netball team for winning their first ever match for the school 31-3 over SRA. OPM - Katie J & CPM - Ella C-L

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 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

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

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 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

‘Old McDonald and the Three Pigs Plus…’ weaves the well-known story of the Three Pigs with the easy to learn rhyme Old McDonald Had A Farm.  Featuring a 5m wide book with 2m pop ups, bright colourful pages, and lots of silly animal props.

The Three Pigs are fed up with singing “Eee aye eee aye oh!” every day and bravely decide to move away from Old McDonald’s farm.  Join the kind farmer and all their animal friends in helping the little pigs build homes of their own, but beware, the big bad Wolf is on the prowl.  Can you help save the day and stop the wolf blowing all the pigs hard work away?

A colourful and fun interactive show, full of props, pop ups and audience participation!  The children help identify farm produce, sing, and take part as the animals on the farm. Tickets £7/£5  or Family ticket (4) £20

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

Sandringham School's Music Faculty presents their first concert of the year.

The Autumn Concert will be an evening filled with musical delights and will feature highlights from show choir, junior choir, jazz band and their regular instrumental clubs.

Tickets £5/£3

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

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!