We appreciate that not all students, whose families had provided consent, were in school or eligible to receive the vaccine earlier in the week when the NHS team visited. We have been informed that NHS England will soon offer 12 to 15 year olds the opportunity to get their COVID-19 vaccine out-of-school, such as through vaccination centres.

Parents of children aged 12 to 15 will receive a letter from the NHS with more information on the vaccination programme shortly, including information about how to book an appointment.  We will pass on any further details in the meantime, if we receive them, but have already been informed that there will not be a catch up session on site given the large number of students who were vaccinated earlier in the week.

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!

We would like to thank all families for taking the time to complete the recent curriculum survey – the response rate has been fantastic. We are in the process of analysing all the responses and will be in touch next half term with outcomes and any adaptations we may make following the surveys with you, students and staff.

Applications are now open for Train to Teach with the Alban Federation starting in September 2022. To apply for a School Direct place prospective candidates need to use the new DfE Apply service. We recommend that candidates apply as early as possible in the cycle.

Further information and our prospectus are available via the website:-  

https://albanfederation.com/applications/

There are also financial incentives for ITT courses starting in 2022/23. Full details are available here. Tax-free bursaries of £24,000 are being offered to fee paying trainees in chemistry, computing, mathematics, and physics. £15,000 tax-free bursaries are also being offered to fee paying trainees in design & technology, geography, and languages, including ancient languages, and there is a  £10,000 tax-free bursary for biology fee paying trainees. 

From 1st October, a new labelling legislation came into force with the introduction of Natasha’s Law. The new legislation requires all food pre-packaged for sale to contain clear labelling, outlining the entirety of its ingredients.  Our catering company, Chartwells, fully support the premise of the new legislation; to allow customers to make an informed and safe choice when selecting pre-packaged food. Under Chartwell’s pre-existing system, they provided a full allergen report for every food item they serve. This process has not changed. If your child has any questions at all about our food, please do encourage them to ask a member of the catering team, who have all conducted allergen training and they will be more than willing to help.

What has changed, is that items which have been pre-packaged for sale, such as fruit-pots or sandwiches, now have a clear label listing all the ingredients. Importantly, in addition to the new label guidance, we are still encouraging students with allergies or intolerances to continue engaging with team members around the suitability of specific products. Safety has always been, and will always remain, paramount to the way Chartwell’s operate. This law will not enhance or change their approach to this, but it will provide clear legislative guidance for how Chartwell’s deliver their service.

A huge congratulations to Ellie N and Josephine L in Year 10 who completed a 5km run over the weekend in very muddy conditions to raise money for Cancer Research. They had several buckets of water thrown at them and were hosed with freezing cold water along the way so it was a real endurance test and together with family members, they raised over £1000 for Cancer Research. Well done on raising such a fantastic amount for such a worthwhile cause Ellie and Josephine. We are really proud of you.

If you would like your son/daughter to be featured in the Student Spotlight, please contact melissa.holian@sandringham.herts.sch.uk with some brief details and/or photos.

Well done to Austen who currently lead the House Cup race. Hepworth are not far behind followed by Turing to make up the podium at this point. A great start for Miss Batten in her first term in post!

In other news, 840 of our students have achieved their Extra Curricular Achievement in EPraise for regularly attending a club and 417 students have received their Representing the School Achievement for representing the school in a Sports fixture. Amazing work!

Well done also to 7H for leading the way this term in the House Quiz with a total of 40 points from 6 quizzes so far. Johnson are the strongest house across the year groups and Year 9 have performed the best up this week. 

Thank you to Mr Cracknell for all his hard work co-ordinating House events and Extra Curricular activities (and most importantly for providing fancy bar charts.) And to big thank you to staff and students for embracing the new system. 

You still have until midnight on Sunday 24th October to get free delivery of your Whole School and Sixth Form photographs to Sandringham School. After this, you can still place orders to be delivered to your home, for a cost of around £5. To order the photographs, please go to the following weblink and enter your email address and child's name. These photographs 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 photographs will take place on Monday 1st November. Please note that as per previous years, there will not be sibling photographs, only individual ones. 

This week, we welcomed Carl Atherton, PE Educational Consultant, to the Sandpit for a GCSE Examination day. We welcomed students from other schools such as Marlborough and students enjoyed a day of revision and learning about exam techniques. A huge thank you to the PE Faculty for organising this event which we are sure the students gained a lot from.

We were honoured to welcome the internationally renowned theatre company, Complicite, to The Sandpit Theatre this week. The theatre company decided to take on the challenge of completing the A Level Drama and Theatre devised examination to truly understand the process our A Level students go through in order to create an original piece of theatre. Though they are famed for creating innovative, unique pieces of drama, the challenge of taking on an A Level is quite different to their normal line of work. Our A Level Drama and Theatre students were joined by guests from Beaumont School and Parmiter's School who also had the opportunity to enjoy the two pieces of theatre. At the end, students offered fantastic questions during the Q&A with the company and discovered what it's like to create a Complicite style of theatre. 

"It was a really interesting insight into the way Complicite produce theatre. Both performances were inspirational and gave me a good idea of how I might create my own piece of theatre" - Olivia G 12F 

"They used everyday items to create a vast array of multi-purpose props. I thought it was impressive how they used these props to evoke a wide range of emotions and aid in the storytelling of the piece" - Kieran B 12A

We can't wait to see how our Year 12 students use what they've seen to inspire them on their journey to creating their own pieces of theatre in the new year.

After half term we will have a Book Fair in the LRC from Tuesday 9th November through to Monday 15th November inclusive.

KS3 Classes will be invited to look at the Fair and take part in our competitions (with chocolate prizes to be won!) All students can also access the Book Fair at break and lunchtimes on those days. If your child wishes to purchase a book they must bring cash for payments, please. The books can make excellent Christmas presents and encourages students to look at books and read them.

Keep reading!

We would also like to wish Charles B in Year 10 good luck as he heads to the National Boxing Finals on the 30th October. Charles is with West Ham Boxing Academy and recently won the London Finals in the 66kg category by an almost unanimous 4-1 split. Speaking to Charles this week, he mentioned that he has been boxing since he was around 5 years old and now trains 6 times a week for around an hour and a half each time. If he wins the Nationals next week, he would be chosen to box for England against Wales and the next step after that is European Championships. It takes huge dedication to compete at such a high level whilst also juggling school work, so we are really impressed with all he has achieved so far and wish him every success at the next stages!

 

This week we would like to share this video to celebrate the achievements of two of our former students, Lottie and Chiara. They are currently doing an internship as language assistants in our link school, Palacio de Granda in the north of Spain. Lottie and Chiara have had an excellent start and are already valued members of the school community there. One of their main tasks is to have constant conversations in English (practice “oral expression”), as well as to get involved with students in various bilingual classes and projects (work on language immersion) like dance or music. In turn they become more proficient and expand their knowledge of the Spanish language and culture.

A significant number of our Spanish A Level students spend a year there before starting university. They all come back to tell us how life changing the experience has been for them and in turn inspire the next group of students to take on this challenge. In their own words, this experience gives them the opportunity to not only become fluent in Spanish, but also gain countless life skills by living and working in a foreign country. Lottie and Chiara love working with the children at the school and being able to help them with their English and other skills, as well as working with the staff in a Spanish speaking environment.

We are grateful to Palacio de Granda for providing such an enriching opportunity for our students and are very proud of them for being such great international ambassadors of our school community. You can view their video here. Amazing work Lottie and Chiara.

This week’s whole school theme is Breast Cancer Awareness to align with Breast Cancer Awareness month. Every October, people all over the world show their support for everyone affected by breast cancer. It celebrates the work of charities that are focused on accelerating research and providing vital support for those affected.This year’s focus sees charities committing to showing everyone that no matter who you are, whatever your experience of breast cancer – there is always support available. The students received an excellent assembly from Dr Caroline Creaby which got them to reflect on the impact that breast cancer can have on our lives and the lives of others. It also increased awareness of the importance of self-screening so that any signs of illness are caught early to ensure treatment has the greatest chance of success. We encourage students to ‘wear it pink’ this half term break to show their support for those affected by breast cancer. 

We are looking forward to welcoming you to our first concert in the Sandpit theatre this year. Our Autumn concert will take place on Wednesday 3rd November at 7pm. Tickets are available from the Sandpit Theatre box office. Many of our music ensembles will be performing as well as a sneak preview of an item from our whole school show ‘The Sound of Music’ which we are all busy rehearsing for at the moment. You can buy tickets here www.sandpittheatre.co.uk for what is to be a fantastic night.

Instrumental & Vocal Lessons

A reminder to encourage your child to take responsibility for checking the notice board very carefully for the dates and times of their instrumental or vocal lessons and if necessary making a note of their time or setting a reminder for the morning that their lesson takes place. Times for the next half term have been displayed since the start of this week. Our policy is that we do not change the times of student lessons on the day so the times displayed will be accurate. If you are interested in your child taking up a new instrument or starting singing lessons, please click here to access a letter with all of the details.

A huge congratulations to Jamie B, Margot K, Hayden W and Haydn P who all passed the interim Latin assessment set by the University of Cambridge. The test assesses not only their knowledge of the Latin language but also of Roman civilisation, SPQR so this is a magnificent achievement. Congratulations to them all.

This week we feature two more insights into rehearsals for the Whole School Play, The Sound of Music. Don't forget, you can buy tickets here for this amazing event!

I genuinely enjoy participating in the whole school play and I always look forward to the rehearsals  because I enjoy performing, singing and dancing along with my friends. Also, during my time in rehearsals I met new people and made great friendships with everyone taking part in the show. I am glad that I have this amazing opportunity to take myself out of my comfort zone and develop new unique skills. Azima 

The whole school show is put on every year and is a great thing to be part of. The show has lots of dancing,singing and acting so there is something for everybody to enjoy. We rehearse twice a week and everybody is friendly so rehearsals are really enjoyable. It is also a great opportunity to make friends with people from other year groups, who you might not usually talk to. I now have friends in year 9 and 10 as well as the people in the other year groups who are really nice. Lauren 

As you may have read in the Sandprint last week, the Hussain family had their first walk in memory of their beautiful son Ayaan on Sunday. The walk involved many students and parents from their daughter Sahar’s local primary school, Killigrew School, as well as several staff from Sandringham school. The weather was perfect, and the little walking legends were amazing all completing the 3mile walk without complaint! 

During the walk they took a break where the children and parents took part in Art and craft activities. They all had the chance to create super cute hedgehogs, dream catchers and do some leaf art. The day ended with the sun coming out while they all sat down to enjoy eating pizza, cakes , cookies and pastries - well deserved! Sahar had such an amazing day and couldn’t stop talking about it throughout the rest of the evening.

Their target for this walk was to raise £3,000, and they successfully reached their goal with the total still growing! They now look forward to the next walk on the 24th.Mrs Hussain would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part, donated and shared the details. To donate and learn more about the charities, please click here

This term:

33 members of staff ran a club

1230 extra curricular sessions have been run

840 students have regularly been attending a club

417 students have represented the School

80 fixtures have been played

36 teams playing sports

WOW! A big thank you to all of the students for their dediction to extra curricular activities and an even bigger thank you to our amazing staff who put in so much extra time and effort outside of school hours. We hope you enjoy a well deserved break over half term.

It’s that time of year when we start to think about Christmas and, as Friends of Sandringham School have done every year, we’d like to let you know about a great way of raising money for the school with Christmas Treeasy, a fantastic Covid secure Christmas tree delivery & recycling service. For every tree sold through Sandringham School, to both staff and parents, your relatives, friends and work colleagues, Christmas Treeasy will donate the sum of between £3 and £6 (depending on the size of the tree ordered) to the school.

Christmas Treeasy specialise in only the very best top-grade trees available, the non-drop Nordmann Fir Christmas Tree, which they deliver free of charge direct to your home. For a small additional fee, there is also the option of recycling, where they collect and recycle the trees in the New Year. They even supply tree stands and bags of logs too.

This year, there are ten available dates for delivery. You can order here: www.christmastreeasy.co.uk , adding the name of your school, choosing your preferred delivery date and adding recycling, a stand or logs to your order if you wish. For more information, call 07710 407149 or email enquiries@christmastreeasy.co.uk making sure you mention Sandringham School in all correspondence.

Year 12 Young Enterprise Team, Lucidity, will be holding a cake sale on Friday 5th November at Break and Lunch outside C Block. Please bring along your cash to help support them.

Oaklands are pleased to announce that they will be running in-person Open Events in November! Registration is now open, and students can find out more information and book their place using the link here

Students will be able to meet with teaching staff, see facilities and learn more about college life at Oaklands so do sign up to see what the College has to offer.

1910. Amiens, Northern France. Stephen Wraysford, a young Englishman, arrives in the French city to stay with the Azaire family. He falls in love with unhappily married Isabelle and the two enter a tempestuous love affair. But, with the world on the brink of war, the relationship falters. With his love for Isabelle forever engraved on his heart, Stephen volunteers to fight on the Western Front and enters the unimaginable dark world beneath the trenches of No Man's Land. From award-winning writer Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong is an exceptionally moving and unforgettable portrait of the ruthlessness of war and the indestructibility of love for Years 11 and above.

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine-  Le moment

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche- Der Zeitpunkt

SPANISH- La palabra de la semana- El punto/El momento

Thinking question

 Why do some languages have more words than others? What might that tell us about the culture?

J is for juncture [noun]

Definition: A point of time.  A serious state of affairs. A crisis.

Example: At this juncture, we must decide whether to stay or to walk out. 

Synonyms: Crossroad, Occasion, Moment

Antonyms: Certainty

Etymology: From the Latin ‘iunctura’ meaning a joining, uniting, a joint.

Here at Sandringham we are always encouraging students to aspire to have world class futures. As such, if you are applying to study medicine in 2022 or are thinking about applying in 2023, you may wish to enter a prestigious annual competition held by the Global Clinical Network for a chance to win an award and £500. The title is How Will Doctors Practice Medicine in 2031? and students are encouraged to type 600 words in a Microsoft Word document (arial size 11) by 12th December 2021. You can submit your essay via the portal here and find out more information about the competition here . Competition winners will be announced on 21st December 2021 with a first prize of £500 and runners up prizes of £250 and £150.  Happy writing! 

Monday 2nd November

Y8 Netball V Roundwood Park (A)

Y9 Netball V St. Albans High School (A)

Tuesday 3rd November

Y10 Hockey V Royal Masonic (A)

Wednesday 4th November

Y10B Football V Van Dyke (H)

Thursday 5th November

Y8 Football V Rutlish (H)

Y9 Football V Reach Free (H)

Saturday 7th November

 Y7A and B Rugby District Tournament @ Nicky B

This Thursday, the U14 netball performance squad had their second round fixture in the Sister in Sport national plate. They faced Sir Henry Floyd Grammar school away in Aylesbury. A fantastically strong performance from the whole squad saw the team take the victory 36-1. Sir Henry Floyd commented on what polite and supportive young people our students were and we were extremely proud of how they represented the school whilst performing at their best. Congratulations to Maddie W for being awarded opposition’s player of the match and Cerys M for getting coach’s player of the match. On to the next round!

Well done to the U13A netball team as well for their win against SRA in the district league 12-8. OPM - Cerys M and CP - Daria

On Thursday afternoon, the Y8 football team played Kings Langley in the County Cup. After a shaky first half which saw us concede 3 and go in 3-2 down we had to switch up play to ensure we stood a chance of being in the next round. With a more aggressive and direct route the team found Harry Walker and Harry Murphy for goals to take the victory 4-3. Well done boys.

On Wednesday, the Y7B football team played Nicholas Breakspear in the ESFA National Cup for B teams. At half time the team were in control and 2-0 up, with a 3-1 final scoreline to seal victory and a place in the 3rd round.

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

Year 9 This week, the Year 9 hockey team played in a superb, closely fought game V Dame Alice Owen. In an end to end match, both teams had goal scoring opportunities and were denied by excellent defence. The final score was 0-0 but the players were really united in their effort and in playing as a team and should be very proud of their performance which was almost their first win of the season. Well done!

Year 7 The Year 7 team played Sir John Lawes in an excellent match, winning 6-2. The whole squad improved as the game progressed, working well as a team and thinking about the space. The students had been working on their attacking and defensive short corners which they had worked on in training with Alice in Year 11 and it was great to see them put in to effect in the match. Very well done Year 7!!

Year 8  The Year 8’s also played against Sir John Lawes in another close match with lots of goals and open play in a thrilling 5-5 draw. It was wonderful to see so many students playing and enjoying the game with such confidence going forward in attack and great goal keeping. Their communication and decision making is improving every match along with their team work. A huge thanks go to Logan and Ronan in Year 13 for help with their coaching and umpiring this season.

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!

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

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

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

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

‘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

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