As we head into half term, we have several students whom we would like to highlight for their impressive work in the Community and in Sport.

Firstly, we feature three of our Year 8 students received a lovely email about for their help in the Community. 

I thought it would be nice to let you know that Annabelle N (8F), Jamie B and Charlie L (both 8E) all did a fantastic job helping out at May Fair at their old junior school, Bernards Heath, on Saturday. Annabelle provided musical entertainment by singing in two acts: fronting a kids band and singing solo with keyboard accompaniment. Jamie and Charlie took on entrance ticket duty for an hour and feedback was they were so responsible they could have done it unsupervised. They were all very generous for taking the time to help out, as well as it being a lovely opportunity to meet up with their old friends, some of whom they have not seen since the end of Year 6 (in the middle of Covid!)

How lovely to hear of our students giving up their time and being such great ambassadors for the school. Well done Annabelle, Jamie and Charlie.

This week’s whole school theme celebrates the Platinum Jubilee. Her Majesty The Queen will become the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee after 70 years of service. When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries as well as Head of the Commonwealth. Elizabeth has reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union. The students received an excellent assembly about the Queen’s life and how we can celebrate her historic reign in the next few weeks. Enjoy the celebrations and have a lovely half term!

The Year 12 students undertook their Gold practice expedition in the Brecon Beacons last week. The weather was clear and windy as they set off on day 1 while on their day 3, the cloud was down and perfect for honing their navigation skills and team work – typical mountain weather. Their route took them from Llandeusant to the Dan Yr Ogof Showcaves, over to the Storey Arms and finally up and over the classic ridge of Corn Du, Pen Y Fan and Cribyn. The groups really enjoyed their expedition as their route took in the spectacular views. Students were superb and completed their expedition in high spirits having learned a lot about walking in wild country, how changeable mountain weather in the UK is and the necessity of carrying everything on the kit list. Their camp craft and team work were excellent with students maintaining their morale throughout. They are thoroughly prepared and looking forward to their assessed expedition in the Lake District. The students are also working hard on the other sections of their Gold Award.

Thank you to the staff who were on the trip and to staff covering lessons back at school.

We would like to inform parent/carers of Year 9 students who have been allocated a place on our forthcoming trip to PGL that the balance is now available on ParentPay.  Following the delay in allocating places we have extended the deadline from our original launch letter to the 3rd June 2022.  Please assist the finance department in making your prompt payment but should you have any questions please contact trips@sandringham.herts.sch.uk

Bounce are offering a free six week course for parents on Raising Resilience. This involves six online sessions (fully funded by HCC) starting on the 13th June. It will help parents support children to grow and develop with the resilience they need to not only face the setbacks that inevitably will come, but also be able to thrive in life.  Children can learn to deal with uncertainty, and develop the skills and strategies to bounce forward. You can find out more and sign up here

We are expanding our Teaching / Learning Assistant teams and looking for great people to support our teachers within the classroom in our Sandringham, Verulam and Ridgeway schools. Working with our secondary students on a 1-2-1 basis, you will support them during their lessons to achieve their full potential.

If you think you, or someone you know, would be a great asset to our schools then please visit and share our Vacancies page found here: albanacademiestrust.org.uk/vacancies/

Our teaching assistant roles work school term time only, presenting an attractive option for work - life balance. We can be flexible and offer a range of working hours within our school days from 6 hours up to a total of 37 hours per week, depending upon the school. Details of how to register for our sessions to learn more can be found via the link above.

Closing date for applications is Monday 13th June 2022

On Thursday 12th May, a team of Year 12 students attended the Young Enterprise Area Finals at the University of Hertfordshire Fielder Centre, competing against 13 other schools. The students had to prepare a display stand, attend an interview, and give a presentation about their Young Enterprise Journey to a large audience.  They performed extremely well, giving a confident and entertaining presentation and answering challenging questions from the judges, which resulted in them winning the Sustainability Award. Well done to the whole team, who have worked hard all year, with the support of Ms Clark and their business advisor, Clare Latimer to create a business and develop skills such as problem solving, negotiation, leadership and teamwork.  

In our Student Spotlight this week, we also feature another amazing example of students going out of their comfort zone. Emily G recently played in the Army Cadets U16 football team, despite never playing football before and was put in goal. Her team won the Regionals and also went to Liverpool for the Nationals where unfortunately their winning streak ended. She was also in the Army Cadet athletics team she tried shot put for the first time and came away with a bronze medal having never competed in that event before. Well done to Lewis G as well who played in the Army Cadets football team U18 regionals to which they won and ended up coming 2nd in the Nationals in Liverpool! 

Amazing work from both of these students displaying many of our Sandringham Character traits! 

Well done to Marelie R who won the Laing Trophy for Herts County Cup team Player of the Year for Performance and Commitment to the team at the Yearly Herts Tennis awards evening. Here is what was said about her: ‘Every year the Laing Award is presented to a deserving player and I am delighted to say that Marelie have been chosen to receive this award for being a great team player and for loyalty and commitment to Herts Tennis. Congratulations also to her for winning all of her matches at the County Cup event. The County management committee would like to pass on their congratulations on achieving this award.’ 

Amazing work Marelie- we know how much hard work it takes to reach these high levels in Sport so we are really proud of your achievements.

If you would like to nominate someone for the Student Spotlight or see your child featured , please contact us with any details and or photographs to melissa.holian@sandringham.herts.sch.uk 

Thrive Online is the title of new, free resources from Childnet to help educators, parents and carers to support young people aged 11 and over with SEND covering topics such as health relationships, digital wellbeing and online pornography.

You can find out more and access the resources for parents and carers via this link. 

Well done to our talented  artists in 9A who have created this wonderful Artwork Puzzle entitled Cat among the Corgis to celebrate Her Majesty the Queens Platinum Jubilee. The artwork will be enlarged and displayed as part of the St Albans Platinum Party between 3pm-10pm on Thursday 2nd June in St Peter’s Street St Albans. Well done to the artists for their fabulous collaborative work and I do hope you get the opportunity to visit and enjoy it as part of the upcoming celebrations.

Four former students who form the band APEX, are battling for a change to appear at this years Y Not Festival. They have all worked really hard on the band as well as all working in their own jobs and now need your votes for the chance to before alongside bands such as the Kooks, The Courteeners, Blossoms and Stereophonics this July. We are always keen to support our current and ex students in their ventures so, if you would like to, please use the QR code above or the link below to vote for them. Good luck APEX! 

https://ynotfestival.typeform.com/to/eWYSs3YS

We have had a wonderful time this week creating clay corgis during two pottery drop in classes this week to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. Our students have really enjoyed the sessions and created some beautiful corgis which are currently drying for display after half term. We do hope all of our artists enjoy the celebrations and enjoy a restful half term break.

Hepworth continue to dominate the House point chart with Austen second. In other house news, on Tuesday we unveiled our new House Captains for 2022/23. Well done to those who have been appointed!

Austen: Sara R, Kobi I, Tom N, Lily T, Rhea J, Yasmin H, Kieran B, Tahlia H

Elgar: Leah M, Jack L, Francesco C, Olivia W, Maisy B, Tom A

Fawcett: Barbara B, Olivia G, Lola S

Hepworth: Zach L, Ellen W, Mona A, David G

Johnson: Zara M, Isabel C, Cian F, Abi F, Isabella B

Newton: Sami C, Angus H

Shakespeare: Amy P, Kira H, Jean E, Christy S

Turing: Amy B, Bella P, Natasa C, Anneline P, Damola B, Carys MacIntyre

As part of refuge week, the author Onjali Rauf will be at St Albans Museum on Sunday 26th June, 11.00am-12.30pm, to talk about her experiences, about the book 'The Boy at the Back of the Class' and to answer questions.  If you have a copy of the book, she will be happy to sign it for you. There are 120 spaces in the assembly room at St Albans Museum and you can sign up to this free event here  

In addition, the museum are looking to display any beautiful art pieces or thought-provoking writing that students may have done about refugees. So if you are interested in submitting work to them, please do so here. 

We are currently looking for a Data Manager, Teaching Assistant, Teacher of Physics and Theatre Technical Manager. You can find out more about joining our fantastic team of staff here

A message from Andrew Farrugia, Headteacher, Garden Fields JMI School

"We are currently looking for two co-opted governors to join our friendly and dedicated Local Governing Body.  This is an exciting time to join us as we further forge our work as part of the Alban Academies Trust.

Co-opted governors are people in the community who are interested in supporting schools to develop their organisations to ensure the best outcomes for their children. They often bring areas of expertise from outside of education, although some may work in education as well.  We have quite a range of expertise covered on our board currently and so we are open to all offers. We are about to lose governors with legal expertise so this would be an area of expertise that we would be interested in, but not exclusively so. To arrange an informal conversation and/or visit please contact me via the following email address admin@gardenfields.herts.sch.uk"

A number of Year 9 students have been competing in the MFL Translation Bee in recent months.  The Translation Bee is a national knock-out competition, in which participants compete to see how many short phrases they can translate into French, German or Spanish in 1 minute.   Round 1 starts off with present tense phrases, round 2 is phrases in the present and future tenses, and round 3 is present, future and past tenses phrases all together. 

In round 1 we did brilliantly, with Tabitha D, Jack S, Jessica R, Poppy R and Oscar F all translating 15 or 16 sentences correctly in a minute – a very difficult thing to do!  Scores were equally high in rounds 2 and 3 despite the translations being harder, but sadly not high enough, on this occasion, to make it through to the national final at Cambridge University in July.  Particular congratulations go to our Round 2 and 3 competitors for all their hard work.

Well done to all participants:

Round 1: Saharsh L, Mae B, Evie R, Poppy G, Chloe G, Max H, Izzy H, Harrison S, Noah Z, Jessica T, Dominic H, Zach E, Honey S, Katie M, Harrison H, Erin T, Lottie J, Freya W, Emily W, Farhan A, Maddie L, Maddy W, Alya G, Aiden O’B, Vivian C, Azima M, Oscar F, Eda P, Joe F, Poppy R, Arhan B, Millie W, Jessica R, Mircea M, Bea M, Jess K, Hannah G, Liam CR, Sara C, John-Paul S, Joe B, Mimi G, Martha C, Tabitha D, Angelina K, Nia V, Matis W, Jack S, Thyra S, Soraya E

Round 2: Tabitha D, Jack S, Jessica R, Poppy R, Oscar F

Round 3: Jessica R, Poppy R, Tabitha D, Oscar F

Last month over 200 students in Years 7 and 8 took part in the Junior Mathematical Challenge run by the UK Mathematics Trust.  The aim of the UK Mathematics Trust is to advance the education of young people in Mathematics. The Junior Mathematical Challenge is a 60-minute, multiple-choice competition aimed at students across the UK. It is open to all students in years 8 and below.  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 Junior Challenge are designed to make students think. Most are accessible, yet still challenge those with more experience. 

Students that perform well are awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze certificates, with the best performing students being invited to take an additional challenge. 

Overall the school was awarded 28 Gold, 49 Silver and 64 Bronze winners.  Special mention goes to Peter F (8A) for best in Year 8 and Finn N (7J) and Oliver S (7J) for joint best in school.

Congratulations to all those that took part. 

It’s great to see that so many of our students are reading our Whole School Read! Congratulations to Oliver L, Phoebe D and Sasha G (Yr 7), Aatiqa (Yr 8) and Saharsh (Yr 9) who have recently read ‘I am Malala’ and submitted their review.  All students who read ‘I am Malala’ and submit a review will be awarded the Whole School Read Achievement Award on epraise, so please encourage your child to participate. If you haven’t started reading yet, there are copies available in the LRC, including a ‘short read’ edition and a ‘teen’ edition of the text. PDFcopies are also available on the Sandringham Reads Google Classroom (Class code: 5ukzdug), where students can also submit their short review of the book to receive the Whole School Read Achievement Award. Congratulations also to Ethan K (Yr 10) who has read and reviewed five ‘Sandringham Reads’ texts and has been awarded with his Sandringham Reads Achievement Award.

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine- libérer

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche- freilassen

SPANISH- La palabra de la semana- liberar

Thinking Questions

• The English, French and Spanish translations are all very similar – why might the German be different?
• How do languages evolve over time?

L is for… liberate [verb]

Definition: To set free from imprisonment,  control or discrimination.

Example: On 28 June 1970, the Gay Liberation Front organised the world’s first Pride.

Synonyms: Detach, Emancipate, Free

Antonyms: Incarcerate, Detain, Imprison

Etymology: From Latin ‘liberatus’ LIBERARE meaning to set free.

As mentioned in the Newsletter last week, there is still time to enter the World Class Schools Talk Off Competition. Full guidance can be found here or you can speak to Mrs Beaton/ Mr Whorrod for more details. The competition closes on 17th June- good luck!

Well done to every student who has competed this week in our two athletics matches. On Monday we hosted our 4th County league match at Westminster Lodge. Both our Y7/8 boys and girls’ teams took the win in comfortable fashion to see them remain in the hunt for a County League Final place, whilst our Y9/10 boys and girls’ teams were second which should keep them in with a chance of the Plate final. Well done to every student who tried so hard. On Tuesday our Y7/9 teams were also in action in their District friendly match. The teams performed exceptionally well and are looking good. We also received great news that 3 out of the 4 teams who entered the Track and Field Cup have reached the regional final with some exceptional scoring from the two junior teams. Well done to all.

Well done to Lauren W , Cleo R & Katie, who attended a SCI Sports under 12s Netball tour to Bognor Regis at the weekend with their Netball club Herts Dynamos. Lauren’s team came 2nd and Katie and Cleo’s team came 5th in a tight completion of southern Uk clubs . 

Katie and Lauren also attended the S&S National finals the other week and they came 4th in the country for under 12s. Well done girls! What a great achievement

On Thursday our Y7/8 boys tennis team kept their unbeaten run in tact as they took an away win in a tight shoot out versus Dame Alice Owens school, whilst our girls also earned a victory away at Royal Masonic school for both the Y8 and 10 teams in their respective County league groups. Well done to all the students who played. On Wednesday our Y10B team played Marlborough and although there was some good tennis from us, and a spirited performance, we eventually lost the tie to a good host team.

A tough away game for the u13 basketball team saw them exit the Jr NBA at the conference semi final stage, losing 38-30 to a well drilled Copleston High School. A season to be very proud of nonetheless.

Chuckl. In association with The Sandpit Theatre bring you the very best in live stand-up comedy.

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

The line-up includes Jo Caufield (Have I Got News For You, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow) / Sarah Keyworth (Live at the Apollo, Comedy Central's Roast Battles) / Martin Westgate ("...hope he gives up soon before he starts costing me work." - Gary Delaney) / Nelson Gombakomba (Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year Finalist).

Tickets £12.50

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!

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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

This amazing documentary follows artist Preston Zeller, who feels compelled to take on a year-long creative project after the sudden death of his 35-year-old brother. Preston decides to create an intuitive abstract painting every day for 365 days as a way to process his grief and he shares the ups and downs of this momentous challenge in the film.

Following the screening there will be a Q & A with filmmaker and artist, Preston Zeller and clinical director of the Art Therapy Project, Lindsay Lederman

This film is presented by Zellerhaus Art and The Art of Grieving as part of The Art of Grieving Festival 2022 in St Albans.  All proceeds from the screening will go to Rennie Grove Hospice Care

Tickets £10

Sandringham Dance present their annual summer dance show. An evening of student choreography, exam work

and pieces from the resident companies; SYCD, Tuxedo HipHop Company and TripleEdge.

Tickets on sale from Monday 23rd May.

Tickets £7/£5

The Sandpit Theatre present their Premiere Professional Pantomime!

A fun-filled, sugar-fuelled, family-friendly pantomime adventure that reminds us ALL not to take candy from strangers (even if they wow you with a fabulous song and dance number!)

Join ‘Hansel and Gretel’ in a new take on an old favourite; with tasty tunes, magical mayhem and colourful characters (including a 7 foot yeti!) it’s simply not to be missed!