Assemblies this week have been focused on the 75th anniversary of Windrush. The following books are available in the LRC for those wishing to explore further:

Benjamin Zephaniah: Windrush Child (KS3 fiction): In this heart-stopping adventure, Benjamin Zephaniah shows us what it was like to be a child of the Windrush generation.

David Olusoga: Black and British: A Short Essential History (KS3 non-fiction): When did Africans first come to Britain? Who are the well-dressed black children in Georgian paintings? Why did the American Civil War disrupt the Industrial Revolution? These and many other questions are answered in this essential introduction to 1800 years of the Black British history. (Note that Black and British: A Forgotten History is also available in the LRC.)

Small Island: Angela Levy (senior fiction): Andrea Levy’s Small Island is one of the best known novels about the Windrush generation. It tells the story of post-war Caribbean migration through four narrators – Hortense and Gilbert, who migrate from Jamaica to London in 1948, and an English couple, Queenie and Bernard, in whose house in London they find lodgings.

The British Library also has a wealth of resources to read and to listen to here.

This week we launched the Year 8 into 9 modules with Year 8 students. This is an exciting time for Year 8 as, over the next two weeks, they have the opportunity to decide what they would like to study for two of their 25 hours of lessons in Year 9. We have a fantastic offer from Philosophy of Film to Forensic Science, from Personal Finance to Music Technology.  Year 8s will have a Module Fayre on Monday 12th June after school which will further support their decision making. Information about the modules can be found on our website here.

Year 7 Science Club continues to meet every Thursday, ably assisted by our new student leader Tabitha D in Year 10. This week the students went to the school garden to collect soil samples, then returned to the lab to identify some of the wide variety of invertebrates living in the soil. Many scientists regard good soil health to be the foundation of biodiversity recovery and sustainable food production. 

As we near the end of the academic year there will soon be a recognition of the excellent attendance and participation of members of Science Club throughout the year.

The powerpoint from the Year 9 PGL presentation can now be found on the website here. Please note, students MUST bring bedding to the trip (we recommend a pillow and sleeping bag.) Only 1 towel will be required as there are no water activities.

On Tuesday 27th June, we present our annual Summer Concert. This amazing show features songs from all choirs and instrumental clubs in the school, including the ever-growing show choir, the famous jazz band and sinfonia orchestra. You can buy tickets for this unmissable event here.

A lot of you may be aware that it is the annual festival next week. There are lots of events happening across the area and it is worth taking a look here.

We have signed up to run our own activity as part of the festival here at Sandringham and are going to start to improve our wild area at the back of the tennis courts to improve habitats and offer a range of opportunities for students to engage in activities associated with the environment and sustainability. We are opening up time to both staff and students to sign up at lots of times next week to come and participate in an effort to improve the area. This will include clearing some patches of ground, moving and using a polytunnel (provided by FoSS) and creating a seating area so that we can use the area as a tranquil place in the future. The pond in the area is still thriving and we will ensure that this remains as a key aquatic environment. We encourage all students in Years 7-10 to sign up on their Google Classroom for a slot next week to take part in the fun!

The meeting for the Year 8 trip to the Rhineland will be on Monday 12th June at 6.30-7.30pm

The meeting for the Year 8 trip to France will be on Tuesday 13th June at 6.30-7.30pm

Both meetings will take place in the school hall.  Parents/carers should attend with students.  Students should bring their passport ready to hand to staff at the meeting.

This week we feature Max C in Year 9 who completed the 10k Race for Life in Welwyn Garden City over half term in aid of Cancer Research. This is a very important charity to Max and his family as their grandad has a terminal brain tumour and Max ran with his dad and two brothers to raise an impressive £2000. If you'd like to support Max, you can still do so here. Well done on a fantastic achivement for such a worthwhile cause. 

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

If students would like to read a copy of the Whole School Read in French, German or Spanish, these editions are now available in the LRC. We hope that students enjoy reading this fascinating story in other languages.

Well done to Newton who start this half term in the lead with 14,809 points. Fawcett and Austen are not too far behind with 14, 524 and 14,245 points respectively. Special mention this week goes Erin A in 7J with 9 points and 8S who maintain their lead with the highest average points overall.

This half term sees a plethora of house events including:

• Fit for life week
• Sports Day
• Charity Run
• House Day

It is all to play for to see who wins the House Cup at the end of the term!

The UK-wide celebration of all teaching and support staff is back, National Thank a Teacher Day will be celebrated on Wednesday 21st June.  This year is all about gratitude and recognising the long-lasting impact that education has on individuals and throughout society. This year, a limited-edition e-card has been illustrated by much loved author and artist Charlie Mackesy which will be send directly to any teacher or member of staff that is thanked by a student/family. So if you would like to thank a special teacher, teaching assistant, librarian or other member of support staff at Sandringham, make their day and let them know how grateful you are by sending a free e-card here.

Year 10 students will soon be going on their work experience placements from 19th – 23rd June.  This is an exciting week, where students will join the teams at a variety of organisations, including local shops and pharmacies, the House of Lords, Ralph Lauren, local schools, Highfield Park, the University of Hertfordshire and too many others to mention!

We ask that all students please contact their organisations again in advance of attending and plan their route, to ensure that they are prompt on 19th June.

We look forward to hearing how they all get on.  Students have their log books to fill in and are invited to email Mrs Eady eadyc@mysandstorm.org with any feedback on their work experience and what they learnt from the week.  We would all love to hear how it went.

Thank you so much to everyone who attended the audition on Wednesday! It was so exciting to get started and you should all be very proud of yourselves for being brave and putting yourself out there! We will be running call-back’s and further auditions next week, but hope to have a cast list up by Friday. Well done!

This week’s whole school theme recognises the 75th anniversary of Windrush. It is 75 years since the HMT Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, Essex, on 22 June 1948. The ship brought 492 passengers to the UK from a number of Caribbean islands including Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, to help fill post-War labour shortages. But in 2018 it emerged that the government had not properly recorded the details of the people who had been granted permission to stay in the UK, and many were wrongly deported.The students received an excellent assembly from Assistant Headteacher, Mr Leat, about why we should remember both the contribution the Windrush generation made to our society and learn from the immigration errors that were made. We hope the students enjoyed learning about such an important and interesting part of British history.

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?

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine: Rester, Attandre

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche: Warten

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana: Quedarse

Thinking Question

• Sometimes we don’t understand every single word in a foreign text – what can we do in this situation?

Shortly after Ellingham Academy opened, its founder's wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle signed with the pseudonym 'Truly, Devious'. It became one of the great unsolved crimes in American history. True Crime enthusiast, Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham academy, and she has an ambitious plan: she will solve this cold case. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return and death revisits Ellingham Academy. Sophie D 8F who has recently read the book says 'This book kept me turning the page. I enjoyed switching between the two time frames and the unexpected ending.'

B  is for… bide  [verb]

Definition: To wait.

Example: You need to be patient and bide your time.

Synonyms: Dwell, remain

Antonyms: Depart, finish, leave

Etymology: From the Old English ‘abidan’ meaning to remain behind.

Before half term, the U15 girls had a competitive match against St Eds, playing well but unfortunately losing 10-2 (pictured above). This week however they fared better, with a narrow loss against Dame Alice Owen's and win over RMS! Well done girls.

The Boys' U15 team had a win vs Dame Alice Owen's.

Our first athletics fixture of this half term got off to a strong start. County League 5 athletes of the meet: U14B - Kasim K & PB U14G - Madison W U16B - Lee C- R U16G - Roisin C

Please see above for upcoming fixtures. You can follow all of our sport news @SandringhamPE

An evening of Fleetwood Mac and Cheese performed by Big Love UK! Featuring a 5-piece tribute to Fleetwood Mac, Plus some familiar cheesy dance floor classics! Tickets £15