A huge thank you to Ms Button and Ms Owens who co-ordinated the beautiful "Our Quilt" now taking pride of place in our Main Reception. The initiative was a community project where students, teachers, parents and grandparents all got involved during lockdown to make squares and create a physical reminder of how people were feeling and what they were doing during this unusual time. Mrs Owens’ square is based on the clapping for the NHS and key workers on Thursday evenings, Mrs Leto celebrated spring in her design constructed out of felt and Mrs Button based her design on walking her dog. There are lots of rainbows of course and a wide variety of materials and skills used. Thank you again to everyone who contributed and we hope you enjoy looking more closely at the design when you are walking past it.

The Dance Faculty are busy completing routines and finalising plans for the whole school Dance Show, Velocity, taking place on  Thursday 3rd February.

Tickets are selling out fast! Book yours now at the Sandpit Theatre website for what is set to be a fantastic show!

Congratulations to Aatiqa S 8N and Rachel C 7F whose poems ‘Winter’s Night’ and ‘Favourite Chair’ have been chosen to be published in the Young Writers Empowered poetry anthology.  

‘Winter’s Night’, written in free verse, beautifully captures a moment in time on a snowy winter’s evening and intrigues the reader with hints of darkness as we wonder who or what the speaker is running from. ‘Favourite Chair’ is a moving exploration of loss and memory and has a wonderful rhythm and rhyme scheme.  

Young Writers received hundreds of poems from students all over the county and you should both be very proud to have been chosen. Well done! Ms Critchley is also incredibly proud of you and hopes you enjoy seeing your work in print. 

The Fo$S Team would very much like to thank everyone for their generous support of the Christmas Raffle through purchasing Tickets (either directly at the Christmas Fair or online via ParentPay.) Additionally, we would also like to say a big thank you to those who donated the fabulous prizes and our sponsors.

We sold an impressive 1,400 tickets in total, so it was a truly great result, with every penny raised from the Raffle going towards supporting the School and the Students.

Though the School was shut to Students we went ahead with the Grand Draw on Monday 20th December, with the first 4-Prizes drawn by Mr Gray. The balance (as we had a lot of prizes) were drawn by Mr Miller and here are some photos to show the event, including the 1st Prize being dropped off.

We wish you a very Happy New Year and please look out for news of our next exciting event that we will be sharing details of in the near future.

Hepworth continue their domination of the House Cup, however the margins continue to be very close. There have now been over 60,000 total house points given out since the launch, which is incredible. A big thank you to all of our staff for maintaining the motivations of students.

Good news, House Maths is back! After a short hiatus, on the 25th January we will be running the event for students and staff. More information to follow. 

STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics - is celebrated, encouraged and explored at Sandringham with a range of opportunities.

This week we bring you some pictures of the school’s Coding Club. Students have been programming ‘microbit’ units, writing their own games and using block coding. The software we use allows students to switch between block coding and Python so that they can learn the principles of programming as well as build knowledge of a language widely used in industry. 

Thank you to the families who attended the RSHE and Personal Development online information evening on Thursday. The school will continue to update families regarding Personal Development provision and any immediate queries in the meantime can be directed to mark.nicholls@sandringham.herts.sch.uk 

Congratulations to Jessica T in 9N who gained a fantastic Distinction in her Grade 5 piano exam before Christmas. This requires a lot of hard work so well done on such a great result.

We like to a feature a student each week who has excelled in the sporting, music, arts or academic field or gone above and beyond in the community so if you would like to nominate someone or would like your child featured in the Student Spotlight, please contact the admin email address or melissa.holian@sandringham.herts.sch.uk

 

We received the following feedback from one of our parents regarding the new Reading Buddy initiative which Mr Gray mentioned last week. Our staff always go above and beyond, inspiring students with a love of learning so fantastic work Mrs Bulbeck, and we are so pleased to hear that students across the school are enjoying themselves.

I just wanted to send a quick email to say how much my daughter, Lauren, loved reading to her buddy today . She came home from school so excited to tell me all about it ,  how lovely her buddy was and said they had read 37 pages together ( she is very specific). It is a great initiative and she is already looking forward to next Fridays session .

I also work in the Career Department for the university UCL and it really is a wonderful opportunity for the Year 12’s who can use this on their CV’s and for interviews so it is a win win situation!

On Tuesday we had a fantastic turn out for our "Into the Sixth" Evening from existing students and external Year 11 students thinking of applying. Thank you to all of the staff involved in making it such a successful and informative evening. If you missed any of the presentations, would like to watch them again or would like further details of the admissions process, you can do so here. A quick reminder as well of the following dates: 

Sixth Form Open Morning Tours: Mon 24th Jan and Tues 1st Feb.

Sixth Form Application deadline: Fri 4th Feb

Following on from last month's Student Voice, this week we feature Herbie McK, in Year 10, who is keen to tell us the benefits of getting away for a change of scenery. A big thank you to Ms Staples who has been working with these students to write articles within a word limit and make sure that they fit the purpose and suit the readership for which they are intended. We hope you enjoy reading them and are perhaps inspired to try something new/visit somewhere new.

This first half term was the chance for many of us to have a holiday; we went as a family to Southend-on-Sea where it was very sunny.  Southend is a large coastal town in the South-East of England which hosts many attractions for holiday makers such as Southend Pier, the longest pleasure pier in the world; stretching 2,158 metres, or 7,080 feet into the Thames Estuary.

During the holiday, I stayed in two different hotels which were in separate locations, but they were both by the seafront.  One was overlooking the pier and the other was looking over some small boats.  I liked being near the pier the best because whenever it got dark, all the lights would come on and glow in the night’s sky which was fascinating to look at.  At certain times you could even see trains on the pier glow as they move; getting passengers from A to B quickly compared to walking. 

The best bit about the holiday was the Halloween Parade because there were floats with lights and music that went straight past the entrance to the pier; (it was organised the day before Halloween).  I even watched some fireworks which were very entertaining and bought some doughnuts too. Southend is very convenient as it is only a few hours away from London so it is one of the closest places near us that is by the sea.  There will always be something for everyone.

For part of the energy generation task they are completing, the D&T Faculty are looking for 2 adult bicycles. If you are looking to get rid of any, then please contact the admin email address with the title FAO Mr Neville. They would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.

We have the following vacancies available at the moment: 

Teacher of Science

Teacher of English

Teacher of Business and Economics

Teacher of Mathematics

Teacher of PRE and Personal Development

SandPit Theatre Technician

Learning Supervisor

Careers Co-ordinator

Teaching Assistant

Teacher of Girls’ PE

Performance Director

Teacher of Geography

Director of Learning: Drama

Theatre Manager

Assistant Headteacher

Please see our website for more details.

Happy New Year! This week’s whole school theme asks students to reflect on what 2022 will bring and how they will make the most of the fresh start a new year provides. New Year’s Day is the most popular time of the year for people to hit the proverbial “reset button.” However, we all know that New Year’s resolutions are notoriously difficult to keep. The students received an excellent assembly from Mr Gray which gave them practical strategies of how to stay motivated when working towards their goals. The students have had a very disrupted last two years and we hope that 2022 sees them able to move forward with plans that have previously been on hold. We challenge you to set yourself a new year’s resolution and stick to it! 

In the LRC, we like to buy fiction and non-fiction representing all experiences including people who are in wheelchairs and those with autism (Neurodiversity), hearing impairments, and visual impairments. Terms can be searched in our online catalogue: https://uk.accessit.online/snd02/#!dashboard or by going on MySandSTORM > Accessit Learning Resource Centre. The picture above shows our current selection. Learning about those who have different experiences to our own can encourage understanding and empathy so we hope that you enjoy these varied texts. Keep Reading! 

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine- injustifié

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche- mutwillig

SPANISH- La palabra de la semana- sin sentido

Thinking Questions

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

Have you made a new year’s resolution to read more? Not sure what to read? Why not challenge yourself to read five of the Sandringham Reads texts this academic year to achieve the Sandringham Reads Achievement Award on ePraise? A reminder of all of the Sandringham Reads texts is here:

The texts cover a range of genres, both fiction and nonfiction, that have been grouped according to their suitability for each year group - there are some brilliant reads!

The Sandringham Reads Google Classroom (class code: 5ukzdug) continues this academic year. Any students who haven’t already done so should join so that they can share what they have been reading, complete a short Google Form for each book read and receive a reward. If you haven’t already done so, join now and submit reviews of any Sandringham Reads books read over the holidays. 

W is for … wanton [adjective]

Definition: (of a cruel or violent action) deliberate and unprovoked.

Example: It was a display of sheer wanton vandalism.

Synonyms: Arbitrary, Needless, Senseless

Antonyms: Needed, Rational, Reasonable

Etymology: From the Middle English word ‘wantowen’ meaning rebellious or lacking discipline.  Derives from the Old English ‘wan’ meaning badly and ‘togen’ meaning trained.

It has been another busy week of football with our U16 and U18 boys playing in the last 32 and last 16 of the National Cup respectively. The U18s played Samuel Whitbread on Tuesday for a place in the National Quarter Final. It was an incredibly close match that could have gone either way. The first half was goalless with both sides coming close to breaking the deadlock. After the break the Elliot P found some space on the right and cut in to strike on his left foot putting us 1-0 up. It was then an extremely defensive 2nd half with Samuel Whitbread pushing for an equaliser. With minutes left our visitors had one ruled out for offside, before missing an open gaol. It looked as though we had one foot in the next round. With the last kick of the game from a corner the unfortunate happened and we conceded. Deflation was inevitable. Going in to the 1 minutes each way of extra time the boys looked beat and we found it hard to galvanise any form of attack. Samuel Whitbread then scored twice, once through a penalty and once on the counter attack to take victory 3-1. It was so tough to take to be so close to the National Quarter final, but we must take pride in our cup run and success in the competition this year. Well played boys the whole school is proud of you.

The U16’s were away on Thursday afternoon to Carshalton Boys in a tough last 32 match. The team started slowly and very quickly conceded. They seemed to be daunted by the size of the opposition, however once they realised they could match them for quality they were able to start playing more freely. Chances came, but were squandered and as a result with the team throwing everything at the match we conceded again through a late corner to lose 2-0. Again, this is an outstanding achievement for the team to reach this stage of the competition  after the last couple of years and demonstrates the progress this team have made this year.

The U13 girls' football team had an unbelievable game for against Croxley Danes on Saturday just narrowly loosing in the 3rd round of the country cup 8-7. Well done all players but special mention to Roisin C for POM 

The U14 girls football team were drawn Roundwood Park in the 3rd round of the county cup competition, a cold and blinding afternoon of fantastic football saw the team win 7-1 and through to the quarter finals against Parmiters. A great game for the POM - Mimi G and the rest of the team!  

The U13 netball teams have had a great week with district league games, with the A team winning their game against Loreto 19-3, PP and CP - Sophie B and the B team drawing their game 5-5 against Townsend 5-5, PP - Isabelle P and CP - Sasha T.

The U18 netball team had their second round National Plater Sister In Sport competition against a strong, established Beaconsfield team. With some excellent improvements made in the second half the team couldn't quite break down their attack and lost 23-39, PP - Molly C.

On Wednesday our Y9 basketball team played St. George’s in the County League. It was another solid display, albeit a little rusty early on to see us maintain our 100% record and get the win 40-17. Harry G again was excellent, with Oli N and Alfie M making their returns to the team. We go again with Queens and Richard Hale in the next couple of weeks.

Our U15 Girls' Basketball team also put in an absolutely fantastic performance to beat The Ridgeway 51-5 in the County Cup. The game ended with a brilliant 3 points scored by Marelie!

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

Some great performances from so many of our students at the Herts County Clubs Cross Country morning on Sunday for @stalbansathlet. Well done everyone! 

Highlights include:

Georgia T in U13G 1st place

Luke C in U13B 2nd place

Sam M in U15B 6th place

Lily Tse in U17G 4th place

Henry Thompson in U17B 8th place

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

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

Chuckle. In association with The Sandpit Theatre bring you the very best in live standup comedy.

Enjoy some of the biggest names in comedy along with our favourite handpicked artists.

Tonight’s lineup includes Sandringham School alumni Nick Helm (Live at the Apollo, 8 Out of 10 Cats) / Esther Manito (Live at the Apollo) / Ben Norris (Mock the Week, “. unbelievably brilliant” - Jason Manford) / Mark Row (A1: The Long Road to Edinburgh on Amazon Prime)

Please note the lineup maybe subject to change.

Tickets are on sale now for just £16.50 each

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!

It’s back!  Sandringham Dance Faculty bring you the ever-growing Velocity Dance Show.  Sure to be an absolute showstopper of a show it is not one you want to miss.

Tickets (VIP) £10/£7

Other seating - £8/£6