Rothampstead Research visited a Year 7 science lesson last week, in a collaboration with Furtherfield, looking at what the future could become if we don’t start looking after our environment.  Students were transported into 2050 and took on the roles of different plants and animals and how they could be impacted if we don’t start working towards a more sustainable future.  This is part of a bigger project being run by Rothampstead that we hope to be a part of in the Autumn. It was a fantastic day and thank you to all of the students who took part.

As you may be aware, our Open Evening will be taking place on Monday 10th July from 5.45pm onwards. Some of your children may be involved in the event itself, but we also look forward to welcoming siblings to come and look around, or prospective new parents. If you would like to share the information with anyone who may be interested, all of the details can be found here. Our prebooked tickets for the Headmaster speech are unfortunately already sold out online but you are welcome to come along on the evening and request tickets. You do not need tickets to attend the evening itself- just the speeches. We look forward to seeing everyone at what is set to be another fantastic Sandringham event.

Just a reminder to students and families that we are really pleased to be hosting a book launch and Q&A with our author Librarian Emily Critchley on July 12th from 3.30pm in the LRC. She has just published her next novel, one Puzzling Afternoon, to rave reviews and it has been identified as Indie Book of the Month. At the event Emily will not only be talking about the book but also the process of being a writer and we would encourage all those in the Sandringham community interested in reading and being an author to attend. There will be a few copies available to buy and you’re encouraged to bring your own copies if you would like them signed. We will be serving refreshments. Students and staff are welcome to attend and if any parents of children at the school would like to attend, please sign up here in advance.

Summer Concert

As mentioned last week, our Summer Concert was a huge success. This sell out event featured all our ensembles and choirs and celebrated all the hard work and practise our students have put in across the year. Well done to everybody involved, we are incredibly proud of you all! Here are some more pictures of the evening.

Instrument storage

A gentle reminder that all student instruments must be taken home over the summer holidays. The department and theatre are often used by external groups over the summer break, and we cannot guarantee the safety of any property left in the department.

Last month, some students in years 7 and 8 took part in the Kangaroo Challenge run by the UK Mathematics Trust.  Entry to the challenge is by invitation only and is open to those students gaining a qualifying score from the Junior Mathematical Challenge. The Kangaroo Challenge is a 60-minute, multiple-choice competition comprising 25 more challenging questions.  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.  

Students that perform well are awarded Distinction or Merit certificates. Caleb M (7S), Oliver S (8J), Finn N (8J), Olly S (8N), all achieved a certificate of Merit.  Congratulations to all who took part.

You may remember a few months ago we mentioned that student, Grace MacM's band, The Funky Monks, had got through to the semi final of a Battle of the Bands competition. This took last last Wednesday ,28th June, and they won! The band are now through to the Final of Battle of the bands at the Horn. Well done Grace! We look forward to hearing about the final result! 

Please see our latest Careers Bulletin.

Although this is primarly aimed at our Year 12 students, a lot of the events are suitable for students aged 13+ and include virtual work experience opportunities over the summer in various industries including health, business, art & design, media and many others.  There are also suggestions of webinars and other talks that provide useful careers advice and insights. We hope that you find the information useful! 

Our Silver Qualifying expedition to the Peak District is going well! A full report on this next week but students are having a great time putting their map reading and tent assembling skills into practise!

Report by Oliver W, Year 10. 

We recently went on a Music Tour to Belgium. It was a fantastic couple of days, staying in Antwerp- a beautiful city with incredible architecture. During the trip we visited Gent, which is a nearby city and enjoyed a boat tour along the canal where we saw the old architecture and houses where people of the same profession used to gather and socialise. We also went to a sculpture park, saw some of the churches in the Old Town and enjoyed the local cuisine. As part of the tour, we performed in various locations including one of Brussell's main squares, and in Antwerp and Oostend. We performed classic jazz standards , whilst the show choir performed more well known pop songs by artists such as Olly Murs. My highlight of the trip was witnessing the Belgium people and how much they enjoyed coming to see our performances. It was great that they took time out of their busy days to support us. I am studying Music for GCSE and think the trip was very beneficial to gain experience of performing in a group- which is a great life skill to learn develop. I would really recommend to other students who currently don't do extra-curricular music clubs to think about joining as they are a great opportunity to gain confidence, make new friends and understand music and the culture of other countries. Thanks to all of the teachers who made the trip one I will never forget. 

This week’s whole school theme is End of the Year. Although we have a week and a half left before we officially break up for the school holidays, we wanted to give time to reflect on the school community's achievements for the year. We are incredibly proud of our students and the numerous academic, musical, theatrical and sporting accolades they have accrued. The students received an excellent assembly from Headteacher Alan Gray about how they can use what they have learnt this year to continue to be more successful in the future. We hope you are equally proud of our school and enjoy celebrating all the good we have achieved together this year. 

By now, if your child has won a prize at the end of year awards, you will have received an email inviting you to the event and asking you to complete a form to let us know that you will be attending. The awards are taking place in the morning on Monday 17th July (Year 7- Year 9) and Tuesday 18th July (Year 8 and Year 10)

As we are almost at the end of term please can parents or carers urge their children to check lost property for items that are missing, or if parents or carers would like to come into Student Services and check themselves they can do so between 8.15 and 3.15 Monday to Friday before the 19th July.  The Lost Property cabinet will be cleared of all items at the end of term.

Thank you to all of the Year 7 parents and carers who have filled in the form for Work Exploration Day.  Ideally the students need to shadow a parent or family friend at work for the day.  If this is not possible, they can study with set materials at home.  If you have not yet filled in the form, please fill it in here (even if the student will be at home we need the form please).  We look forward to hearing about the interesting days they have on 13th July.

The DSPL7 post-16 advice evening is taking place next week, Wednesday 12th July, 6:30 - 7:30pm. This may be of interest to parents of children in Year 10 who are looking for advice on alternative to A Levels, loca colleges and courses, apprentiships, and Open Evenings of alternative provision for post-16 education. Please see the picture above or visit www.dspl7.org.uk for more information. 

It was fantastic to see students looking so great in their costumes and ready to complete the Charity Run today. The course is around 7km in the area surrounding Sandringham School and students were encouraged to hydrate in preparation (especially those in warm looking fancy dress.) We look forward to sharing the results and the final totals raised next week but well done to all of those who took part- including Mr Gray who challenged students to beat him in the run! You will have received a letter detailing our wonderful three charities that we are supporting this year (YouthTalk, HertsforRefugees and Unicef) and can still donate here. Thank you for your coninued support.

Fit for Life Week places an emphasis on the importance of physical activity for mental and physical health and encourages students to increase their participation in sport and exercise. We hope that students have enjoyed the range of activies available including: boxing, table tennis, jazzercise, salsa, badmington, volleyball, speed stacking, rounders, JPL football training, athletics, yoga, Tchoukball, futsal, golf, football, swimming, ultimate frisbee and more. With this week we hope to encourage students to make fitness a part of their everyday lives and enjoy the benefits of doing so such as improving mental health, sleeping better, reducing stress and keeping healthy. Thank you to Mr Keenleyside and all of the staff involved who gave up their time to take sessions.  

As mentioned in the Headlines, the Year 11 prom was a huge success. Here are a few more pictures of the event. We look forward to receiving and sharing the official photographs soon. 

Our STEM students enjoyed a fantastic STEM Education Day at Williams HQ in Oxfordshire. The activities linked the curriculum to real world engineering and included a museum tour with guides explaining the links between their cars and the science curriculum. Students were also able to go on the e-sports simulators which they particularly enjoyed. Thibaut W in 9S said of the day "it was a brilliant day, we learnt so much and it has given me a real interest in engineering. The goody bag was also amazing! Thank you to all the teachers who arrange such a great trip." We hope that we inspired a further love of all things STEM! 

It was fantastic to see all of our outgoing Year 13 students at their prom last week. The evening was a chance to celebrate with friends after completing all of their A Level exams and  they really deserved the chance to relax. We wish them all the best for August when they get their results, and look forward to hearing about their final destinations/future plans in the coming months. Well done to the class of 2023! 

Hachette UK, is running a virtual Work Experience scheme this Autumn, aimed at demystifying book publishing. It is aimed at all students over 15 years old and can be completed after school, or at October half term.  If this sounds like something you would be interested in- you can find more details here here

Please see the pictures above and below for details of free workshops which may be of interest to parents. They are all online and include helping tips on topics such as tools to manage anger, understanding challenging behaviour, support with social skills, building self esteem, understanding teens with ADHD and autism and much more. We hope that you find them useful.

Newton top the board this week with 16,367 house points. Austen is not far behind with 15,875 and Fawcett are a close third on 15,794 points. Well done to Elena M (8J) with the most individual house points this week (10) and to 8S with the highest average points overall. Austen won this week’s house points with 915 and we look forward to all of the points being added up for the final end of year total. 

Upcoming Events

• House day/Cultural day

Please see below from Ms Hussain, one of our DT teachers regarding a fundraising effort in memory of Ayaan Hussain, a beloved student of Sandringham School who sadly passed away in 2020. If you would like to donate to this truly worthy cause, which aims to provide international support to vulnerable individuals affected by poverty and natural disaster, you can still do so here.

June 27th, 2023 marked the third anniversary of the loss of my beloved son, Ayaan, who was not only a former student at Sandringham but also an angel in our lives. To honour his memory, myself and four close friends decided to embark on a journey up Ben Nevis, raising funds for the Ayaan JM Trust, a non-profit organization established by our family.

On June 25th, 2023, we achieved our goal and conquered Ben Nevis. It was an extraordinary day filled with challenges and an unforgettable experience. We were overwhelmed with joy, knowing that we had just climbed the highest mountain in the UK. Our hike began with ideal weather conditions as we set off at 4:30 am. The warm climate was perfect for the hike. However, upon reaching the summit, we encountered thick fog, strong winds, and heavy rainfall. It was undoubtedly one of the most demanding hikes any of us had ever undertaken. Due to the harsh weather and slippery terrain, it took us a total of 12 hours to complete the trek. But we did it! Every ache and struggle was worth it. I am certain that my beloved Ayaan would have been immensely proud of all of us.

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who donated, wished us luck, and cheered us on. Your support means the world to all of us.

You can read more about the amazing work of the trust here: www.ayaanjm.trust.com #walkingforayaan

This week for our Student Spotlight we feature Rose McK in 7N who has had a fantastic few months with her sports, music and dance activities. Despite a very busy schedule, she has worked extremely hard and achieved a Distinction in her Grade 8 piano practical exam last week. Rose also swims competitively for her swimming club and over the weekend, was awarded the Runner Up Overall Winner of the Under 13 Girls category in the Club Championships. She also spends time with a dance school, Junior Dance Company, and recently had the amazing experience of performing at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London.What a fantastic array of achievements Rose! We are really proud of you- keep up the great work.

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

We have the following fantastic support staff vacancies available at Sandringham School:

• Trips Co-ordinator
• Resources Manager
• Resources, Reprographics and Website Manager
• Website & Social Media Manager

To find out more, please go to the vacancies section of the website here.

Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective? Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy 'detective' work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he's dating anybody yet). But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it's going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Eliza P 7J who has read the books says ‘This book has a very good plot twist. I enjoyed the new and unexpected friendships, and the characterisation.’ Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is the perfect light-hearted summer read for staff and students. 

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine: Simpliste

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche: Bedeutungslos

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana: Superficial

Thinking Question

• An interlanguage is when people speak a mixture of two languages – how do these come about? How do these affect the development of the two original languages that have become mixed?

F is for… forsake  [verb]

Definition: To abandon or leave.

Example: Romeo claimed he would never forsake Juliet.

Synonyms: disown, relinquish, renounce

Antonyms: allow, approve, continue

Etymology: From the Old English ‘forsacan’ meaning renounce or refuse.

It has been an amazing week for the Sandringham athletes as their season comes to a thrilling end. After officially opening the track on Monday morning with special guests Mia McIntosh and alumni Jake Awe, the U16 boys were clearly inspired and took part in the County Plate Final at Hemel. After a dominant display, the Year 9 and 10 boys also came away with Sandringham's first every county athletics trophy for boys.

Twenty-four hours later and it was the turn of the U14 girls, U14 boys and U16 girls to test themselves against the best in the county at the cup final. Sandringham held their own against some highly established athletics schools and should be extremely proud of their accomplishments this season. Our U16 girls finished 6th , U14 boys 3rd and the U14 girls took first place and again made history, becoming the first team from Sandringham to win the cup final. They are officially the best U14 girls' team in the county. Well done to all of our fantastic athletes on a fantastic season.

Good luck to Marelie R, who is playing the 88th world ranked Russian in first round of Junior Wimbledon qualifiers. What an amazing opportunity. We are all behind you, good luck!!