We are delighted to launch our HomeRun App Network. This app will be a huge step towards us becoming a greener school, reducing our Carbon footprint and delivering to our parent’s and pupil’s transport requirements. We would love every parent to sign up to HomeRun App in order for this service to be as effective as possible. Please follow the link here to sign up to our private network:

Our HomeRun App network will allow you to:

• Access school travel information in one convenient place.
• Find and arrange carpools, travel buddies, walking & cycling groups, and other available travel options to and from school.
• Message parents from school securely and without the need to share contact details for car share.
• Receive updates from the school about travel updates.
• Help create safer streets and cleaner air for your children.

In addition, the App will enable us to keep a record about how students are travelling to school and will enable us to work with the County Council to make improvements according to the data. Several other local schools are also involved in the project and can offer powerful data between us. Thank you for your support in trying to make our school even more sustainable.

As mentioned last week, it is not long until our fantastic STEM week (starting on Monday 13th March.) There are a huge range of activities on offer for all year groups including science events with Wheatfields, a talk from Chris Joly on Climate Change, a symposium on the applications of AI, forensics sessions, plastic melting and making, the KS3 House Quiz, a titration competition, build a Brooklands glider,  prizes for the winners of the week-long competitions (in Mathematics, Sustainability, Photography and Filming) and of course the highly anticipated annual Chemistry Show. Tickets for the show can be bought here and students can sign up for the other activities via Socs. We look forward to what is set to be a fun and informative week.

We have a number of professionals coming into Sandringham during lunchtimes over the next few months to share their industry experience with students as part of our 2023 Careers Talks. Already, we have had a barrister, a music engineer from The Royal Academy of Music and a human resources apprentice from Investec.  They have shared their insights and given advice to students about how to build a career.  Still to come are a designer, a journalist, an engineer, a data scientist and many more speakers. Year 11-13 students need to:

• Look out for the career talk's advert on their Year's Google Classroom Stream
• Sign up for the talk on a Google Form
• Go to the room on the day (on time)
• Bring along their lunch

The whole school theme this week recognises LGBT History Month. LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson. The students received an excellent assembly from Drama teacher, Ms Arif, about the importance of remembering LGBT history in the UK and around the world to prevent the oppression of people in the future. We encourage everyone in the school community to improve their knowledge of inspirational LGBT figures from throughout history to be more informed and tolerant about the experiences of different people.

This week we feature Grace, Ben and Ryan in Year 12 who are part of a four person indie/rock n roll/funk band called Funky Monks who started playing together in October 2022. The band includes Grace on bass, Ben S on vocals and guitar, Ryan on drums and Ben R on guitar.  Their inspiration includes Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Radiohead, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles and Nirvana (amongst lots of others!).  Earlier this year, the band won the Battle of the Bands Senior Section at school and on Tuesday, they won their quarter final heat at 'The Horn' pub with an impressive turnout of Sandringham supporters. Grace says "we’re really looking forward to seeing as many people as possible there in June for the semi final. A huge thanks also to the music department who have allowed us to practice (obnoxiously loudly and initially quite shoddily) in the music rooms after school and use their equipment - we are very grateful!" Best of luck in June and if you'd like to support the band you can do so @funkymonks_band.

If you would like to nominate someone for the Student Spotlight, please contact melissa.holian@sandringham.herts.sch.uk with some brief details and/or photographs to include.

Well done to all our Year 11 Dance students and their dancers for a fabulous performance evening on Tuesday. Further congratulations to Y11 GCSE students for completing their second practical exam. One more to go! Our A Level students also put on another amazing evening on Thursday as they performed their practical work ready for their practical exam. All students are in a good position ahead of their final practical exams at the end of this term. Many thanks to everyone who came to support the dance students this week. 

Well done to everyone who entered previously 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?

A reminder that our next Key Stage 4 Parent/Carers information evening is taking place on Tuesday 14th March starting at 6:30pm in the Main Hall.

During the evening, we will be delivering key information about your child’s final few months studying in Year 11. In addition, we will provide an opportunity to hear the insights of some current Year 12 and their experiences last year when they were in the same position as your child. We are confident that there will be useful takeaways for all parents/carers.

We do hope that you will be able to join us for this event where Mr Smith and I look forward to seeing you again.

This week in the LRC we've been celebrating LGBTQ+ history month with our fantastic display created by Mrs Blandford. The display features pioneering figures from history, some of whom stood up for their rights and beliefs at a time when they were not always accepted. The LRC has a wide range of books written by writers who identify as LGBTQ+, and books (suitable for different year groups) that feature LGBTQ+ characters. Our librarians are always available to help with enquiries. 

As mentioned in previous newsletters, 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. This is an excellent service for those experiencing difficulties, so if you would like to find out more, please visit the website or speak to Mrs Coyne in the SLA.

The German exchange group arrived safely in Hamburg last night. More updates on this in Sandprint next week but we are sure the students will have a fantastic time with the exchange host families and a big thank you to Ms Kincaid and the MFL team for all their work arranging the trip.

On Tuesday, Sandringham entered two teams of four students from Year 7 into Heat 1 of the Year 7 Mathematics Challenge. The Year 7 Maths Challenges are designed as informal, friendly inter-school competitions, designed to challenge young mathematicians.  They require excellent communication, problem-solving and team-working skills, as well as mathematical skill and insight.

Each challenge is divided into four equally-weighted rounds:

• Round 1: General Maths questions
• Round 2: Memory round
• Round 3: Estimation round
• Round 4: More general Maths questions

As these titles will suggest, success in the challenges relies on much more than mere mathematical calculation.  Many of the problems and activities are accessible to most Year 7 students, not just higher attainers. The students faced opposition from 25 other teams from schools around Hertfordshire and I am delighted to report that the students performed exceptionally well.  The two teams finished 1st and 2nd in their heat and both teams qualify for the final round in April.

Congratulations and well done to Phoebe H (7N), Mati M (7H), Rebecca T (7A), Tim C (7H), Caleb M (7S), Harrison M (7F), Filip S (7S), and Connor L (7F).

If you are interested in becoming a teacher in Hertfordshire through the School Direct route, you can join the Online Information Event on Wednesday 15th March from 5.30pm -6.30pm. You can register here or call (01727) 799560 x 4217 or email  afgtpenquiries@sandringham.herts.sch.uk for more details. 
 

We currently have several staff and support staff vacancies available here at our fantastic school including Exam invigilators, Sixth Form Learning Mentor and D&T Technician

 Please check our website here for more details.

On Thursday evening, we hosted our annual Presentation evening for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. This is the first time we have been able to hold this event since February 2020 and it was amazing to come together to celebrate the achievements of our students. Over the past 12 months, students at Sandringham have achieved a record-breaking (for us) number of Awards- 143 Bronze Awards, 27 Silver Awards and 25 Gold Awards- a staggering 195 Awards in total. Many of the students were able to join us to receive their certificates and badges, with the Golds receiving a Sandringham Gold achiever certificate to tide them over until they go to either St James’ Palace or Buckingham Palace to receive their official certificate and badge. We were delighted to have Marion Brown, Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Hertfordshire as our guest to present the Awards. She spoke about the importance of community and volunteering and congratulated our students on the hours of volunteering they have put into the wider community through their Award. A massive thank you to all the staff who have helped our young people achieve- we are very lucky at Sandringham to have teaching and support staff who give their time and expertise to provide opportunities for our students to complete their volunteering, physical and skill activities as well as supervising on expeditions.  Well done to everyone who  have achieved an Award in the past 12 months.

Nearly half of the tables for the Fo$S quiz night on Friday 18th March have been sold! Click on the link here to book your table now and join us for a fun night as Nick Grubb returns with his music themed quiz. Cheese boards are available to preorder and there will be a fully stocked bar.

We look forward to seeing you there!

As mentioned last month, the Young Artists' Summer Show will take place in the summer at the Royal Academy in London. It will feature artwork from students aged 4-19. The Visual Arts Faculty would like to encourage all students to enter a piece of Art to this exhibition. There are prizes to be won and the amazing opportunity to have your artwork on show in the famous Royal Academy in London.

The entry needs to be an original piece of art and not a copy. There is no theme and students can draw, paint, print, make a model, take a photograph, make a short film or create a piece of performance art. The students can hand their work into the Art Faculty by Monday 20th March. They must also hand in a piece of paper with the title, their name, age, email address and a few sentences about the work.

Please look at the Royal Academy website for more information and examples of last year's entries. You can speak to Ms Gidden for more information and the Art Faculty look forward to receiving the student’s entries. 

Friday 17th March will be a  non-uniform day/ opportunity to engage in red related fancy dress for Comic Relief. Donations of £2 or more can be made via ParentPay. Thank you for helping to support this worthwhile cause. 

Newton take the lead this week with 11,532 points (only 20 ahead of Fawcett.) Shakespeare is not far behind on 11,241. Well done  to Rose McK‎ (7N) with the most individual house points this week (9) and to Johnson for toping the board this week with 213 points.

Today, we would like to highlight 5 students who have been working really hard over the year and gained the most house points across the whole school. A HUGE well done to Salma C (8S) with 151 house points so far Caleb M (7S) with 147,  Oliver L (8H) and Connor L-O (7F) with 143 and Hina B-S (8S) with 141 points as of yesterday. This is a huge achievement so well done.

UPCOMING EVENTS 

• House Basketball - TBC
• House Maths – Wed 8th March
• KS3 STEM Quiz - TBC
• Staff badminton – Monday 20th March

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine: Calomnier

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche: Schlechtmachen

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana: Calumniar

Thinking Question

• Sometimes words are made up of other words. How can this help us when reading in a foreign language?

Every four years, two girls are kidnapped from the village of Gavaldon. Legend has it these lost children are sent to the School for Good and Evil, the fabled institution where they become fairytale heroes or villains.

With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she'll join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White at the School for Good. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her black dresses and wicked cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil. But the two girls soon find their fortunes reversed 

"I found this book full of adventure and excitement, and I would definitely read more in the series. I really liked Agatha because she was both brave and caring." Riley K 7T

M is for… malign [verb]

Definition: Speak about (someone) in a spitefully critical manner.

Example: Don't you dare malign her in my presence.

Synonyms: disparage, insult, misrepresent

Antonyms: compliment, flatter, praise

Etymology: Based on the Latin ‘malignus’ meaning tending to evil.

The Year 11 Netballers were down by 2 at the end of the 3rd quarter in their game vs SJL this week, but had a big fight and came back to win the game. As always it was a close match and a well fought contest. OPM Martha and CPM Emma. Well done come back queens!

Another good win for the Year 8 Netball team as well recently over STAHS B - they remain undefeated in the District League! OPM - Katie J & CPM - Bea T

Well done to the U16 Netball Performance Squad this week for beating Bradfield College 38-25 to progress into the semi-final of the national plate! OPM - Emily W & CPM - Liv C

And the U19 Netball Performance Squad had a good win on Wednesday vs Queenswood. OPM - Katherine M & CPM - Bryony C

Last week the Year 7 and Year 8 hockey teams both had matches against Queenswood. The opposition were very tough, with more experience and clearly had more match experience and greater awareness of playing as a team. There were a couple of injuries to players which meant we had to change some players positions during the match. However, both teams played with great spirit, learned a great deal from the game and had an enjoyable time. Well done to all involved.

The Year 7 Basketball team travelled to Queens' School on Tuesday for a tournament. The squad of 10 boys did well, wining 2 out of 4 games in the county rally but unfortunately didn't make the semi finals. Lots of positives from the games however, with plenty to work on for future games. 

Last Saturday, six Sandringham teams had a wonderful morning of football against St Edmunds with 3 wins and 3 losses. The Year 7  ‘A’ team won 3-2, the Year 7 ‘B’ team won 4-0 and the Year 9 B team secured a 3-1 win away with a hat rick from Ross H.  The Year 8s didn't fare quite as well against a strong St Edmunds side and the Year 9 A team lost 4-2 and Year 10 team lost 5-2.

The 1st XI also had a difficult match against a strong Goffs side. A poor first half saw then 1-0 down and despite a much improved second half, they couldn’t turn the possession dominance into clear cut chances & exited the county cup at the quarter final stage. Joseph B MOM

Well done to our Year 11 boys who had to dig deep this week vs a fighting SJL team, putting in a superb semi final win to come from behind . The final school was 4-3 with goals from Noah, Jonah and a big winner from super sub Finn. A place in the @HertsSchoolsFA U16 final awaits! 

And our Year 7 girls also had a convincing win 5-0 against Samuel Ryder with some excellent play. 

Unfortunately our Year 11 girls did not fare quite as well, losing 3-2 in a tough County Cup game vs a well drilled and passionate @SJLPhysEd. Good luck to SJL in the semifinals.

And finally, well done to Year 8 who put in a brilliant performance to see them through to the semi final of the district cup. Goals from Anfield, Thomiadis, Frank & Cooper secured a 4-0 win over Verulam

This extraordinary I Spy game is nothing like the one you might remember from long car drives with your dad though.  Instead, it's a magical adventure full of fun, giggles and all your favourite sing along song including Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes, Sing a Rainbow, The Ants Go Marching and BINGO.

I Spy with My Little Eye is based on the popular children's book by author Steven Lee and was created alongside education and child development experts to be great for kids’ minds. So, it's not just wonderful entertainment for your little ones but good for them too!

After sell-out shows from as far afield as Dubai, Dublin and Derby the cast of the wonderful People's Theatre Company are bringing I Spy with My Little Eye to The SandPit Theatre!