Well done to everyone who entered last week and got the answer right!  This week's puzzle is shown above.  For every entry you will receive 1 house point, 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 house points!  To enter, simply scan the QR code and fill out the google form.  Good luck! Why not play at home and see who is the quickest to get the answer?

We are excited to announce that the Sandringham School Christmas Fair will take place on Saturday 3rd December from 11am - 3pm. It is always a great event with lots of stalls, tasty food and a bucking reindeer! Please save the date in the diary and we look forward to seeing you there. As mentioned in the parentmail earlier this week, Fo$S also need your help with the following:

Brochure Advertising

If you would like to advertise your business in the Christmas Fair brochure or you can offer a great prize for the raffle, please contact us on  friendsofsandringhamschool@gmail.com. The brochure is emailed out to all parents & carers of the school, plus sent out to the schools in the trust. On the day all adverts are displayed in the hall.

Tombola donations of drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), sweets and gifts.

This is always one of our most popular stalls, so all donations would be very gratefully received. You can either drop off your donations to Main Reception between 8.15am and 5pm during the week or ask your child to do this (please note students cannot bring alcoholic drinks in so this would have to be done by an adult.) Or, alternatively, instead of a bottle or sweets you can donate to our tombola money pool and FO$S will purchase items to go on the tombola. Link here

Volunteers Needed

We need on the day volunteers to help cook, serve food and drinks, plus help clear up afterwards. If you can spare an hour or more of your time the FO$S team would really appreciate it. You can sign up through the link below, which splits the jobs by time slots here

Thank you for all your help and support and we look forward to bringing you a fantastic Christmas Fair

Turing take the lead for house points this week with 421 but Fawcett are still top overall with 5751 points in total. This can all change however with lots of house points available at the upcoming events mentioned below. Special mention this week goes to Joe F in 10J who gained an impressive 12 house points and to 13E for the highest overall ‘house quiz’ score so far (59/70) and Elgar for winning the Maths Puzzle of the Week. (55 points) 

UPCOMING EVENTS

1. Boys house rugby (Year 7 & 8 – 14th November), (Year 9 & 10 – 28th November)
2. Girls house football – (Year 7 & 8 30th November), (Year 9 & 10 – 14th December)
3. MFL house competition – TBC
4. Photography competition – TBC

We have a couple of fantastic courses available which may be of interest:

Support for Autism and ADHD in Hertfordshire 
The Autism and ADHD transformation programme, which includes Hertfordshire County Council, NHS trusts, HPCI and local voluntary organisations, have been working hard to improve services for families and young people. A key area of work has been ensuring people know where they can go to access support in their local area. This will hopefully help people get access to support. To find out more about the support available please watch this 3-minute animation or visit the Herts Local Offer.

Support for parents and carers of children with diagnosed or suspected ASD and/or ADHD

Supporting Links’ are pleased to be offering 8 workshops in the spring term. These are open to across Hertfordshire and are funded by the Local authority. Parents and carers can self-refer and book places via Eventbrite. For more information or to book a place at a workshop please use the following link here.

Support for secondary school-aged young people who are using or on a waiting list for CAMHS Clinic, Step2, or Counselling Service. 

Dspl7 and Carers in Hertfordshire are hosting an online education programme for Parents/Carers. This free course, held over 6 weeks, will provide parents/carers with skills and support to help children and improve their health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, this course is not appropriate for parents/carers of young people with autism. To find out more about the programme or to book please contact: admin@dspl7.org.uk
Location: Online over Zoom  Date: 15/11/22     22/11/22      29/11/22      6/12/22       13/12/22 Time: 7:30 pm to 9 pm.

If you, or someone you know are motivated to change lives and inspire the next generation then our School Direct teacher training programme may be just the path for you. Alban Federation has a virtual information evening on Friday 6th January 2023 where you can find out more about a September 2023 start in teacher training. 

Please see the image above for more information and if you are interested you can book a ticket here or visit their website http://www.albanfederation.com. You can also contact them via afgtpenquiries@sandringham.herts.sch.uk. Please do get in touch to find out more.

All Year 9 students attended our Futures Day on Tuesday 8th November, as part of the Extended Learning Day.  Four excellent representatives from Herts Services for Young People gave a talk on career options and the different pathways available.  There were also four fantastic Student Ambassadors from the University of Hertfordshire who kindly gave talks on life at university.  Another highlight of the day were the careers talks from employees.  Students were treated to presentations by representatives of Google, Portland Design, Computacenter, Moody’s, Capcom, Vodafone, GSK, Amber Mountain Marketing, Bear and Urban Fruit, the Met Police, Amazon Web Services, Stephanie Belton Photography and a fantastic former journalist.  We are extremely grateful for the time these representatives, some of whom are parents of students at this school, put into their presentations. 

The Year 9s also spent time with some of our own helpful Sixth Formers here at Sandringham and spent time documenting their thoughts on the day. A huge thank you to everyone involved.

Students who attend Creative Writing club have been busy writing poems for the Young Writers' Power of Poetry competition. We are delighted that all of our students who submitted poems have been chosen to be published in the Power of Poetry anthology. Each student received a certificate for excellence in writing and a bookmark. Students were asked to write a poem either expressing their feelings or about something that mattered to them; something that made them happy, frustrated, or something they wanted to change. Well done all! 

On Wednesday 9th November, we were delighted to perform to a sold-out audience in the Sandpit Theatre. This was our first large concert of the year and all of our large choirs and ensembles were featured. The music was really varied and featured a film score by John Williams, a Hungarian dance by Brahms, Elton John’s Saturday Night’s Alright for fighting, jazz classics including Birdland, some musical theatre hits and some traditional celtic folk music. It was great to feature some smaller bands including the Year 12 A Level musicians, GCSE musicians and Year 8 band ‘Different Shades’. This was a real celebration of music at Sandringham! Our next event is the Carol Service on 12th December at St Saviours Church – more details to follow soon.

As mentioned last week, First Steps (who work closely with CAMHS, ED and NHS links to support young people who are struggling with eating difficulties, disorders, low self-esteem and poor body image) provide an excellent variety of resources. They have recently received funding for the Hertfordshire area and can offer free support to any students who may have struggles around their eating or low self-esteem. Young people can either self-refer or can be referred by someone else through their website www.firststepsed.co.uk. If you would like to find out more, please visit the website or speak to Mrs Coyne in the SLA.

This week’s whole school theme is Remembrance. Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. The students received a thought-provoking assembly from Assistant Headteacher Tom Leat, getting them to reflect on the sacrifices that some people make on the behalf of others. The whole school stood in silence on Friday at 11am to listen to the last post and pay their respects to the fallen. Thank you to the whole school community for participating in such a powerful and moving service.

Financial Reporting Council:

There is a Work Experience Opportunity for 16-19 year olds at February half term (13-17 February) at the Financial Reporting Council.  Please contact hr@frc.org.uk for more information and an application form, which needs to be in by 16 December 2022.

More work experience planning:

Springpod has information on more work experience opportunities, which might be of particular interest over February half term. There are introductions to a variety of careers, including engineering, technology, banking and lots more. (Most are aimed at age 13+) You can find out more here: Springpod Website

Next Friday (18th November) is Children In Need and as per previous years, Sandringham will be holding a non uniform day. ParentPay is now open here where you are invited to make a donation of £2 donation (or £1 if you are wearing something spotty.) If you feel able to donate more, there is also the option to do that as well. All money goes towards Children In Need, a charity who work closely with a whole range of organisations to help young people in the UK who need support the most. Thank you for your support.

Often the term “online safety” has been discussed in a manner more akin to prevention rather than empowerment when it comes to mental health and wellbeing of young people.

Recently, Internet Matters have released another great report, this time it is about the importance of young people feeling in control of their online lives. It draws on research supported by TikTok, which explores the views of teens and parents from the UK and Europe on having agency and its role in managing screen time. This report is an interesting read and one that allows us to reframe young people’s interaction with the digital world more positively. The full report can be accessed by the link here

On Tuesday, students enjoyed their second ELD of the year. Year 7 experienced a day of poetry (see more under YEAR 7 NEWS), Year 8 were split in half with some taking a walking tour around St Albans looking at urban development and the other half visiting the Science Museum. Year 9 had a fantastic Careers day explore a wide range of careers and pathways and raising aspirations (more under YEAR 9 NEWS.) Year 10 spent the day looking at Big Questions posed by Science and Religion- encouraging students to broaden horizons and challenge preconceptions. And finally, Year 11 had a day aimed at Equality, Inclusion and Diversity.  We are sure that students took a lot from their respective days. The next ELD is on January 19th.

Thank you so much to all the families who collected HDPE bottle tops over the last half term. We have been so impressed with the number collected and are excited to have the raw materials to be able to do some exciting projects using HDPE in the D&T department and in the D&T Sustainability club. We have collected a whopping 12,484 bottle tops all together. The winning house was Turning who at the very last minute over took Austin to take first place (see table below) A special mention must go to Erin R in 8A who collected over 800 bottle tops herself! She has won 50 housepoints for Austin for the most individually collected bottle tops!

In the D&T Sustainability Club we have started to use the bottle tops to make recycled poppies which will go on sale next week on behalf of the Royal British Legion. We then plan to make some Christmas decorations to sell at the Christmas Fayre. 

Written by Zita S and Fern I

On the 3rd November, the Year 12 Chemistry classes went on an exciting trip to London to attend the ‘A-level Science Live’ Chemistry conference. We listened to five talks by professional Chemists and also listened to useful exam tips from a separate speaker. The first talk was held by Professor Andrea Sella, an inorganic chemist at University College London. He talked about nerve agents and how dangerous some substances are. This talk was followed by Professor Lucy Carpenter, a Professor and Head of Physical and Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of York. In this interesting talk, she outlined the major challenges of atmospheric chemistry, and the relationship chemistry has with the climate.

After a short interval, we listened to a few important revision and exam techniques to implement when revising for exams. After this we were given a talk by Serena Cussen who is involved in creating a more sustainable and cost-effective future for batteries. She focused on how batteries are made from finite resources and placed emphasis on the urgency of creating more material efficient batteries. Following this we were then introduced to Doctor Peter Wothers who gave us a very interesting walkthrough as to how the periodic table has evolved over time and about how chemists were able to discover unknown elements. Our final talk of the day was by Doctor Tim Gabriel who is involved in the uses of nanotechnology. We learnt about how nanoparticles can be used to create waterproof surfaces for shirts etc and how this idea was inspired by the surface of lotus petals. This was very intriguing as it showed how inspiring nature is when it comes to designing surfaces with special features.

Written by Lucas H, 7F

"On Tuesday, Year 7 had their first Extended Learning Day in school. This was a chance for us to spend time as a form group and explore poetry. During the day we went to different classrooms to take part in activities such as writing a poem in 6 minutes, thinking of as many synonyms as possible for words and listening to guest speaker Harry Baker talk about his experience as a published poet and read out some of his poems including one in German about Falafels. My favourite part of the day was when we went to the Sandpit to watch a group from each house perform a poem they had written. There were poems about food, football, saving the planet, emotions and colours in all sorts of rhyme schemes and rhythms. I was impressed with some of the ideas and confidence shown by people in my year. The eventual winner (voted for by Harry Baker, Miss Batten and Miss Nicholls) was Austen with Toby, Elijah and Johnny putting on a rousing performance of their poem about food. It was really funny and used lots of clever plays on words. It was nice to have a whole day off our normal timetable. We met some new teachers, enjoyed a bit of competition as a form and it made me think poetry isn’t as boring as I thought it was. It’s still not as fun as football though! I look forward to our next ELD."

We Played with Fire by Catherine Barter. 

Maggie has witnessed impossible things but no one believes her, and now her family has taken her away to spend the winter in a remote, freezing farmhouse. Bored and angry, Maggie and her younger sister start to play tricks; rapping on floorboards and telling tales about noises in the night. Then the house starts to make sounds of its own. Isla C in 7N, who recently finished the book, says: 'This is a brilliant book. If you enjoy twists and turns then this is the book for you. This book can get very spooky at times so only pick this one if you enjoy a spooky book!' 

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine: véridique

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche: wahr 

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana: verídico/a

Thinking Questions

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

V is for … veracious  [adjective]

Definition: Speaking or representing the truth.

Example: The student gave a veracious account.

Synonyms: accurate, credible, dependable

Antonyms: false, untrue

Etymology: From the Latin ‘verax’, coming from ‘verus’ meaning true.

Please see above for our upcoming fixtures. Good luck to all of the teams involved. You can follow @SandringhamPE for all of the results

Last Saturday saw three of our teams take on Beaumont School in some wet and windy conditions. The year 9 rugby team put in an excellent performance beating Beaumont 20-12 in what was a superb game of rugby from both sides. The Year 8’s put in a strong effort but were beaten by a strong Beaumont side and the Year 7's showed a brilliant comeback to see them beat Beaumont 6-5 in a thrilling match (MOM Alfie W & Sam B-R.) Well done to all involved- some great play.

Well played U12B team - a great match vs SJL with lots of improvements made. Well done to all involved. OPM Riley and CPM Mahathi

The U16 Netball Performance Squad also had a great game on Tuesday beating Berkhamsted 33-20 in the county league! OPM - Maddy W & CPM - Sophia P

And the U15 Netball team had a good win against STAHS B 39-6 in the District Cup! OPM - Emily W & CPM - Mimi G

The Year 8 Sandringham boys scored a last minute winner on Thursday night to beat SJL in the national cup. Will A  & Tiago F scored the goald and Samuel B was MOM for his brilliant performance at the back.

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

Sandringham School Presents A Christmas Carol

A Ridiculous but surprisingly faithful rendition of the Dickens classic in which Ebenezer Scrooge is haunted by the ghosts of his late partner, Jacob Marley, Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come.  Faced with his own mortality, and the evil results of his misanthropic, miserly ways, Scrooge is redeemed, reconciled with his nephew and his neighbours, and becomes a second father to his assistant's son, Tiny Tim.  Ludlam finds the humour as well as the pathos in this Victorian melodrama, creating the most Dickensian and stage worthy adaptation yet.

Tickets £12/£10

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!

“Absolutely Incredible” – BBC Three Counties Radio

“Hilarious, Modern… an absolute delight” - Bedford Today

Tickets £12.50-£15

Tickets are available now at www.hanselandgretel.co.uk