Well done to Oliver P in Year 11 who recently competed in the British Bench Press Championships and put in a fantastic performance to win gold in the U18 category and bronze in the U23 category. He also achieved a new U16 record in the bench press with a weight of 130kg in the heavyweight category. His next step is to compete in the Powerlifting championships where he will compete across bench press, deadlift and squat to get the highest total. Amazing work Oliver- we are so proud of you!

Mr A Cracknell

Many thanks to Mr Allday for the fantastic Internet Safety Information evening last half term. If you missed the event or would like to watch it again you can do so here

Mr M Allday

On Tuesday evening, 26 students from Years 10-13 performed in our annual senior recital evening. Music which ranged from Debussy and Mozart, to Nina Simone and Andrew Lloyd Webber was performed and the evening was a real celebration of hard work, dedication and superb musicianship. Congratulations to everyone who took part and a huge thank you to all of the Music Faculty for your hard work in this wonderful showcase of Sandringham's talent.

Mrs E Beaton

Improving sustainability continues to be a key aim across the school and we have been working on some key priorities against each aspect of our strategy since September. Over the next few weeks, we will highlight two strands each week to explain the initiatives that we are working on. Do get in touch if you are interested in any of the developments or have any suggestions or contact which may help us in our drive to improve sustainability! 

Buildings

There has been a major project to improve our lighting across school, with investment in LED lights in all buildings. This project is nearing completion and will certainly cut down on energy consumption from lighting on such a large site. Boiler improvements have been made, with the swimming pool boilers all replaced and we are always looking to improve this aspect across the school. We are currently in discussion with two solar panel manufacturers to look at installing panels on all flat roofs and are making good progress in these discussions. Our electronic screens are also being looked at to see if we can install a power cut out function, as they currently stay on if they are left on. 

Travel

With such a large student population and staff body, our travel to site has a major impact on our carbon footprint, and on the local air quality and quality of environment. We have updated our Travel Plan to assess our current status and to put actions in place to try and encourage sustainable journeys to school. This plan can be viewed on our website and is being shared with other schools in the area as a model to work from. We are keen to install some electric car charge points and are in discussion with two companies to gain proposals, with the aim of installing them by July 2022, we will see if we can manage this! And we are keen to look at bringing in some bike maintenance/ clinic sessions for students to encourage them to cycle to school more, this is a project to look at for the summer term.

Mrs K Mouncey

FOSS will be hosting a Music Quiz in school on Friday 18th March at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £12pp including a fish & chip dinner (alternatives available). Teams can be up to 8 people (must be over 18) and you can enter as team or individually.

Tickets can be purchased in the following ways:

1. Online at  Sandpit Theatre (subject to a booking fee of 75p per ticket for first 6 transactions)
2. Paying by card at the Box office over phone or in person (subject to a £1 per transaction booking fee irrespective of number of tickets bought)
3. Paying in cash at Box office (no booking fees charged)

Please note: When buying tickets online each row is a table of 8. This has no reference to where you will be sitting in the hall.

Mrs L Earley

This week’s whole school theme recognises International Women’s Day. International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women's achievements or rally for women's equality. Marked annually on March 8th, International Women's Day (IWD) is one of the most important days of the year to: celebrate women's achievements; raise awareness about women's equality; and lobby for accelerated gender parity. The campaign theme for International Women's Day 2022 is #BreakTheBias. Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead. Knowing that bias exists isn't enough. Action is needed to level the playing field. The students received an excellent assembly from Performance Director of Year 9, Ms Richards which encouraged them to reflect on how they can break the bias that impacts the women in their lives. We hope you enjoy International Women’s Day when it comes! Miss K Wills

Well done to Hepworth and Miss Wills who keep their lead at the half way stage of the House Cup, however there is much to play for with most House Points being awarded through our larger House events in the last few months of the school year.

On Tuesday 70+ keen Y7 students were involved in an Interhouse Indoor Athletics Competition, which saw Shakespeare triumph.  A big thank you to the Year 7 tutors for supporting the logistics of this event and to PE for running it.

Mr A Cracknell

On Wednesday, the National Youth Theatre auditions gave students the opportunity to have a 3-hour workshop led by an industry professional. Students were then given the chance to audition for a place in the National Youth Theatre summer programme. Upon being selected, students will have insight into upcoming training and auditions for industry work. They will find out their results in a few months.

Miss J Arif

We are pleased to let you know that from Monday 28th February, the free school meal allowance will increase from £2.50 per pupil per day to £3.00 per pupil per day. By increasing the daily allowance by 50p we hope that this will enable those on the FSM allowance to purchase an item at break, or give them more flexibility at lunch time.

All students in receipt of FSM will still also be able to purchase the meal deal which offers the best value for money.

 

Mrs L Turner

One of the most important aspects of education in the Sixth Form is careers advice and guidance as we seek to empower students to make the best decision for them, and to help them prepare fully to reach their goals. Year 12 are now starting a key unit in the personal development lessons which will explore a wide variety of possible options in depth and pose questions to ask about their own ambitions for the future. ELD on 2nd March will also offer a chance to look at options and hear from visitors in a range of HE and employment settings. We hope that all students will be able to make significant progress in their knowledge and ideas for their future.

This focus follows some important activities which have already been undertaken. Many students were able to take part in work experience before half term (see below), and there has been some really impressive super-curricular and enrichment work completed during ELD3 and the work experience week. These activities are already putting students in a great position ready to apply for degree courses and apprenticeships next year.

Year 12 Work Experience (7th - 11th Feb 22)

Many Year 12 students were able to secure work experience placements before half term and the reports completed by students highlight some fantastic learning and insights into a wide range of jobs. Placements include; online medical school, shadowing an MP, Metropolitan Police, Imperial College Physics dept, screenwriting, GOSH charity. Designing components for robots at Ocado, assisting at a school in Spain, asset management and creating silicon models for films. Some quotes from student experiences are included below:

“It was an awesome week of work experience. I had an amazing time and just wish it was longer and hopefully I will be able to do it again. I got lots of positive feedback from employees and I really helped the company move forward with the problems I was being asked to solve.”

“It has opened my eyes to just how much is out there and I definitely think I would like to explore different strands of jobs that can stem from computer science.”

“My lab partner was very talented and explained the science behind things very clearly and it brought great satisfaction to me to see how the theory we learn in school was applied in the workplace.”

“I learnt about how bidding for contracts between different company’s works. I looked at a proposal from one company and then the plan from Vivarail about how they will meet the requirements and learnt about time scales, factoring in costs etc.”

“The commute to South Kensington for 5 days is very tiring!!”

Mrs K Mouncey

British Science Week takes place 14th-18th March and our theme this year is reducing the school's carbon footprint.In tutor time during that week, students will be entering their carbon-saving activities as part of a house competition to save the greatest mass of carbon dioxide emissions!

Activities include...

• Meat-free Monday
• Non-uniform day on the Wednesday (students and staff please wear a pre-loved item of clothing)
• Guest speaker Phil Porter from University of Hertfordshire
• Tree maintenance and biodiversity survey of the site
• Electricity generation by exercise biking
• Walk or cycle to school instead of driving, on the Wednesday
• Carbon-neutral catering on the Wednesday
• Sixth form clothes exchange fayre
• House quiz
• Chemistry Show in the Sandpit Theatre, 6pm on Tuesday 15th March
• Lunchtime extracurricular activities
• Climate Change summit

There will also be a Chemistry show will be in the Sandpit Theatre at 6pm, Tuesday 15 March.You can buy tickets here and sign up for activities using SOCS. 

A huge thank you to Mr Tattersal and the team for all their hard work arranging these activities.

Mr D Tattersall

Last week one of our Year 12 students, Lily K, spent a week at Colegio Internacional Europa in Seville doing her work experience placement. This was an amazing opportunity for Lily as well as the students and teachers at the school. We have a long-standing relationship with Colegio Europa through having done many Spanish exchanges and working with them for their World Class School Quality Mark accreditation. This experience is testament to the excellent working relationship we have forged together with Colegio Europa, which has enriched the lives of students and the wider school community over the years. We thank Colegio Europa for having welcomed Lily so warmly, and well done Lily for being such an excellent ambassador for our school.

For the Year 12 work experience week I had the incredible opportunity to spend some time at Colegio Internacional Europa Sevilla. My initial visit as part of an exchange programme in 2019 ignited my passion for Spanish and I was delighted to spend more time with the students and teachers there. Through the World Class Schools programme, Sandringham has close links with Colegio Europa and they agreed to let me spend a week with them, undertaking a variety of tasks, including helping the older year groups with English speaking exam preparations and practising language skills with primary school students. It was fascinating being immersed in Spanish culture for a week and it allowed me to have a unique insight into daily working Spanish life. 

Ms C Unsain

School Learning Fund 2021/22

Many thanks to all Parent/Carers who have kindly made a contribution to our School Learning Fund.  Should you wish to gift aid this donation please complete the form via this link https://forms.gle/2vA5dzNscYSM4CqR6

Mrs R Ellis

Students can come and support our Year 11’s and Year 13’s in their Dance mock assessments over two performance evenings in March. This is a great chance to support fellow students and also get inspiration if you are thinking of choosing Dance as an Option or are currently studying Dance.

The A Level evening is on Thursday 3rd March at 5pm in the Dance studio

GCSE/BTEC is on Tuesday 8th March in the Sandpit 

Miss A Davies

A huge congratulations to Skye G and Rose O from 7J who recently won medals at the Welwyn and Hatfield Dance Festival. Skye won a silver medal for her Hungarian dance, the first time she had ever performed it. Rose won a gold medal and the Junior National Solo cup for her Russian dance and is now looking forward to dancing in the All England Finals. Both dances involved a lot of fast turns and footwork in traditional leather boots so well done to the girls for such a fantastic effort. Skye and Rose have both done really well to get back into the swing of performing after such a long break whilst festivals were on holds so we are really proud of them.

We love to celebrate our students successes so if you would like your child featured in the student spotlight, please contact Melissa.holian@sandringham.herts.sch.uk with a few brief details and/or photographs. 

 

 

Completed Awards

Usually at this time of year preparations are well underway for our annual Presentation evening where we recognise the achievements of our participants who have completed their Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards. We were unable to hold the celebration last year because of COVID restrictions and unfortunately the decision was made to cancel this year’s celebration before the recent lifting of restrictions was announced. We are extremely proud of our participants who have completed their Awards over the course of the last two years. We also recognise the resilience and initiative they have demonstrated by completing activities during periods of lockdown and restrictions. We are delighted that just under 200 participants have successfully completed an Award over the course of the last two years. We would like to take this opportunity to say a MASSIVE WELL DONE on your achievements. Those who are still awaiting certificates and badges will receive these this term. As always, we have a number of participants who are nearly there and we encourage those participants to keep going in order to finish off their Award before the end of the academic year.

Mrs A Cuneen

On Thursday, our annual Year 9 into 10 options evening took place with students learning more about the process and excellent talks from DoLS on their relevant subjects. A huge thank you to Dr Creaby, Ms Richards, Mr Heaton and all of the staff involved in the process. A reminder of the following dates if you have a child in Year 9:

Tuesday 1st March: Year 9 Virtual Parent Teacher Consultation 4.30pm – 7.30pm

Friday 4th March: Final deadline for return of the options form online.

End of June: Year 9 options confirmed

Whilst students were off timetable for the INSET days, staff from school across the AAT (including Sandringham, Verulam, The Ridgeway and Wheatfields enjoyed a fantastic two day Conference held at Sandringham School. The theme was "Make it Connect," looking at the Great Teaching and Learning picture. Staff took part in various workshops and listened to motivating speeches from Adrian Bethune, Musharraf Asghar and Professor Rob Coe. What a lovely way to develop our professional learning across our schools.

Bronze Year 10

We will be starting expedition training this half term in preparation for the practice and qualifying expeditions which take place in the summer term. Participants have been reminded this week about working towards their volunteering, physical and skill sections. We would like to remind participants that the main means of communication about their Bronze Award is via Google classroom and it is important to check this regularly. Further information about the expeditions will be sent home later this term but please note the following dates. Participants are required to complete both expeditions

Practice expedition: Sunday 15th May-Monday 16th May 2022

Qualifying expedition: Friday 10th June-Saturday 11th June 2022

Silver Year 11

Please note a change of date for the Qualifying expedition- this is due to the change of the end date for GCSE exams.

Thursday 7th-Saturday 9th July 2022- Peak District

Further information will be sent out early next term.

Should you have any questions or queries , please email dofe@sandringham.herts.sch.uk

Mrs A Cuneen

The Yoto Carnegie Greenaway Awards longlists for 2022 were announced last week with 33 books selected in total (18 for the Yoto Carnegie Medal and 15 for the Yoto Kate Greenaway Medal.) These include themes of community and connection, shared humanity and friendship all explored in the titles. Pictured are some of the books on the list, available in the LRC

 

 

 

Ms J Kirby

Next week we will be introducing our Whole School Read. Look out for details in next week's Sandprint.

This week's school read is His Dark Materials. a trilogy of fantasy novels consisting of Northern Lights (1995), The Subtle Knife (1997), and The Amber Spyglass (2000). It follows the coming of age of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, aged 12 when we first meet them, as they wander through a series of parallel universes. They are strong characters and in their quest for understanding and justice, they challenge the established order, come up against authority, discover who they are as individuals but also, importantly, what it means to be human.

The stories can be read on different levels: you can enjoy them as incredibly exciting adventures through multiple parallel worlds - there is intrigue, warfare, double-crossing and a huge mystery to be solved. But it can also be read as an allegory for political corruption, the power of authority to suppress challenge, and the dangers of organised religion. Readers can take what they want from it!

As the main protagonists are teenagers, His Dark Materials is generally considered to be ‘young adult fiction’ but its themes are challenging, complex and thought-provoking, including physics, philosophy and theology. The trilogy has also been considered highly controversial too.  - why not read to share in Lyra and Will’s experiences as they move from ; childhood and innocence to maturity and knowledge. Find out more here: http://www.philip-pullman.com/hdm

Ms K Bulbeck

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine- Le zenith

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche- Der Zenit

SPANISH- La palabra de la semana- El cenit

Thinking Questions

• Here all three translations are similar to an extent. Can you think of some recently learnt vocabulary for your studies that is similar to the English? How do we end up with cognates in languages?

Miss F Baikie

On Thursday 3rd Match, it is World Book Day and every student will receive a £1 book voucher to be used in participating bookshops by the end of March. Either you can knock £1 off the price of any book, or you can “buy” one of the special World Book Day books that are priced at £1 ( so a free book with your voucher)

Above are some of the books suitable for secondary school students, and more news on this will follow next week. Happy reading!

Ms J Kirby

Z is for zenith [noun]

Definition: The time at which something is most powerful or successful.

Example: In 1977, punk was at its zenith.

Synonyms: Climax, Culmination, Pinnacle

Antonyms: Base, Bottom, Nadir

Etymology: Based on the Arabic word ‘samt’ meaning path over the head.

Our U14 football team had a fantastic win 2-1 win against Parmiters in the quarter final of the county cup at the end of last half term. A great performance from all in a close game! OP - Rosie A, PP&CP - Rebecca S

Mr A Cracknell

Mr A Cracknell

At the end of last term, the U12A Netball team had another fantastic match beating Loreto 18-10 in the District Cup Semi-final! OPM - Katie J & CPM - Olivia S

The U13B netball team also had a close game against Roundwood, winning 6-5! CP - Tillie and OP - Sasha

And finally, well done to the Year 11 girls on another good performance versus St. Albans High School on Thursday. It was a great effort from the team missing a key player. The team eventually came up short against a good opposition, but were excellent in the first half. Well played girls.

Well done to the Y7 boys and girls who were involved in their first athletics of the season. They competed at the Sportshall Athletics at Hatfield University and all enjoyed their first outing. Some excellent individual performances led to a top 5 finish for both teams. Well done.

Mr A Cracknell

Wednesday saw our U13 Rugby team take part in the Emerging Schools Rugby Tournament. The format of the competition is 4 group stage nights, with the winner of each group going on to a Finals night. Our group on the day included some strong Rugby schools - Dame Alice Owens, Queens, Beaumont and Chauncy.

Our first game was against Chauncy, and we started with an early try and never looked back, winning 35-0. Our next game was against Beaumont, a competitive game where both teams scored an early try. Some fantastic tackling from Taylor Pane and our strong running game saw us emerge as winners 20-5. The boys were in good spirits, played 2 won 2. Next up was Queens, a relatively inexperienced team. Having made some changes, the squad still kept the intensity up, scoring 4 tries in a victory.

Finally, we came up against Alice Owens. This game would ultimately decide the winner as they had been victorious in their group stage games. It was a tense game, nerves were impacting our boys. After some ill discipline at the breakdown, the boys composed themselves and reverted back to what we do best – strong running with the ball in hand. We scored 2 tries to win the game and win the Group stage overall. We now move to finals night where we will come up against the other winners from the rest of the Group Stages.

A special mention for this group of players – Mr Chopra and Mr Clarke emphasised the importance of defence at this tournament, citing it would be the difference between success and failure. The boys, to their credit, took that message on board and delivered. Playing 4 games, an hour of Rugby combined, we conceded one try. A fantastic display of defensive Rugby, all credit to the boys for taking the message on board.

Mr A Cracknell

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

Miss A Carter-Downing

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

Miss A Carter-Downing

It's back! The ever-popular Sandringham FO$S Pop Quiz Night is an event not to be missed!

There will be a bar available with wine, beer, prosecco, soft drinks, and all tickets include Fish and Chip supper with more options available on ticket purchase.

Teams must be no larger than 8.  Each row is a table of 8.  This has no allocation to where you will be sitting in the hall.

This event is for OVER 18’s ONLY

Tickets £12 + booking fee

Miss A Carter-Downing

IT’S TERRY!

“…Unstable and deliciously unexpected” The Guardian

It’s Terry is a brand new knock about show Introduced by the world famous character performer ‘Richie Raganoo’ - who by his own omission, says Terry Alderton is the “weakest character he does. But his most successful!”

It’s Terry has narrative, it’s a throw it up and see where it lands kind of show. So those that Know, Know, and those who don’t…will!

Tickets - £17

Miss A Carter-Downing

An evening filled with loud noises, flashing lights and lots of mess!  Hold onto your hats and come and enjoy this explosive showcase of science.

Miss A Carter-Downing

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!

Miss A Carter-Downing