Pictured above is some of the fantastic work of our D&T students this year. We look forward to seeing what else they can create in the next academic year! 

This week’s whole school theme recognises Prizegiving. Each year, we celebrate the achievements of our students with formal prize giving assemblies. Awards are given for fantastic effort and progress throughout the year in a range of subjects and extra-curricular activities. We encourage students to reflect on the achievements they have gained and set goals for the next academic year. Ambition is hugely important in order to be successful and we know that all Sandringham students aim to achieve as highly as possible. Consequently, it is a fantastic achievement to win an award at prizegiving - congratulations to everyone who will win an award next week - we are very proud of you. 

This week we feature several students who have been doing amazing things on the sporting and music field. Firstly we mention Caleb M in 7S who gained the Merit Certificate for his Grade 8 ABRSM Tuba Exam. He has learnt playing the tuba since he was 6 years old and to be grade 8 at the age of 12 is an amazing achievement. Congratulations Caleb! 

The last LRC display for this year has a summery focus. Many students and staff have been visiting the LRC this week to look at and borrow some fabulous books for their summer reading. After the recent large delivery of new books, there are still many wonderful books ready to be borrowed before the end of term.  Students and staff can reserve books via Access-it and receive email notification when the book is ready for collection. The LRC staff are happy to have make book recommendations, and wish you all a lovely summer.

Secondly we mention Beatriz S (7E) who won the Costa Blanca Futsal Tournament (under 14 girls) in Spain with Bloomsbury Futsal Club (scoring a goal in the final match). This is an amazing achievement for her and the club and we are really impressed with all of the hard work she has been putting in to juggle her sport on top of her school work. Well done Beatriz! 

On Monday, we were pleased to welcome Year 5 students and families to our Open Evening. The event was a huge success and comments from prospective parents included "I was impressed with the effort the staff made to excite students touring their classrooms" , "our tour guide Josh from Year 7 was excellent" and "a very impressive school where the curent students seem really happy." The chemistry show where Mr Reynolds and Ms Malone set themselves on fire was a particular hit. Thank you to all of the brilliant students who represented the school so professionally and to the staff for their hard work in preparing for and hosting the event. If you would like to find out further information about the application process, or dates of Open Morning Tours, you can do so here.

Recently, our fantastic SAS Club (Sandringham Actor’s Society) put on a great show! Particular thanks go to Olivia C in Year 12 and Soraya E in Year 10 for leading the Year 8’s in preparation for their final show. Well done everyone. Next stop the Whole School Show! 

Last week, 3 groups of Gold DofE students completed their Gold assessed expedition in the Lake District. This requires students to spend a minimum of 8 hours per day for 4 days journeying through wild country. The consensus from students is that it is the hardest thing they have ever done! The expedition requires excellent navigation, fitness, teamwork, campcraft and mental toughness, as well as the determination to complete the other 4 sections of the Gold Award. 

After an evening at Elterwater hostel, going over routes, checking kit and final preparations, the following morning, two groups set off from the Glenridding area. With thunder storms, forecast the decision was made for the groups to use their alternative lower level route beginning along the shores of Ullswater rather than head over the Dodds to Threlkeld which is high and exposed. The other groups were on their less exposed planned route, from Braithwaite to Buttermere. All 3 groups had a successful first day and were relieved to reach their campsites as the day ended with torrential rain as they arrived and dramatic thunder storms which continued throughout the night.

The second day was much brighter and the each of the groups had excellent views which maintained their morale. With one group heading from Buttermere to Borrowdale which they described as “5 hours of walking uphill” as they climbed up to Windy Gap and down Aaron Slack the other two groups had a very boggy but enjoyable walk up over High Tove onto Watendlath heading south to the Borrowdale valley.

Day 3, the routes took the groups up to Dale Head and down to Buttermere with wonderful views, north over Bleaberry Fell to Threlkeld or to Angle Tarn and round to Sprinkling Tarn. The weather remained mixed throughout the expedition with heavy downpours and bright sunshine. Each group had to navigate in low cloud on part of their expedition, challenging their navigation skills whether on day 3 heading up from Angle Tarn, day 4 at Coledale Hause or heading up over the Dodds to Glenridding on Day 4.

In addition to developing their navigation and campcraft skills, each of the groups demonstrated excellent teamwork and determination, despite some of the worst weather, heavy, wet tents and a few wet sleeping bags. There were the usual blisters, sore ankles, sore knees and a range of highs and lows for each individual. As is often the case walking in the hills, walkers often stop and speak to passing hikers and it was a pleasure to hear how polite our students are from a passing hiker who had paused to speak to a group.

The staff supervising the expedition were very impressed and proud of the teamwork and leadership shown by every student as they supported team members and dealt with difficult terrain, navigation and weather. Their assessment included navigation, camp craft and completing an aim for their expedition and is finished with a debrief with their assessor, followed by an evening meal together at Rydal Bunkhouse.  The students have worked extremely hard preparing for their expedition and have been a pleasure to work with. They have also been dedicated to completing various other sections of their Gold D of E and should complete the award in the coming months. Thank you to Mr Tattersall, Mr Swann and Ms Headland for supervising the expedition. You can follow all DofE News and see more photos here.

The teams were:

• Sophie L, Sophie, Hollie, Henry, Daniel G, Oscar and Arthur,
• Alice, Verity, Jessie, Amber, Katy and Daniel
• Emily, Disha, Morgan, Maddie, Cami, Emma and Emanuela

Parent/Carer of Year 13 students

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Last week, a group of Year 10 students spent the day at the Maths Enrichment day held by the Advanced Maths Support Programme and the University of Hertfordshire.  The students were thrilled at spending the day in talks and workshops designed to showcase the fun and usefulness of maths beyond GCSE. The day aimed at offering students a taste of maths beyond GCSE, exploring potential careers supported by maths qualifications, providing information about maths courses available after GCSE and having fun working on unusual maths problems and learning about new areas of maths.

During the day, the students investigated many new mathematical concepts including discovering that numbers are 2-dimensional and exploring shapes in 4-dimensions.  In addition, the students had the opportunity to collaborate with students from other schools in Hertfordshire in solving increasingly complex mathematical problems.  Overall, the students were enthralled and inspired by the day’s events.

“I found the day enriching for my maths skills as I developed different subcategories from maths, like algebra and geometry, in a social context with other nice people from Hertfordshire. It was a very positive experience with a competitive element that was pretty fun- a massive thank you to the maths department for that opportunity.” Ben L (10S)

Our Year 12 Biologists recently took part in the Intermediate Biology Olympiad, a competition open to students in the first year of post-16 education anywhere in the world.

The competition consists of a one-hour multiple choice paper to be taken online. Questions are set on topics students are likely to have covered at GCSE and in their first year of A level, with some additional ideas introduced requiring their problem solving skills and understanding of core principals of Biology.

Only a small percentage of students who take part in the Olympiad achieve Gold, Silver or Bronze certificates and so we are incredibly proud of our biologists for their results this year! Morgan H achieved gold and so was in the top 5% of students taking part in the competition, well done Morgan! Katy S achieved silver (top 10% of entrants) with Jamie L, Emanuela K, Sin Ching C, Fern I and Jack P all achieving Bronze (top 15%). We also had many students receiving commended and participation awards and are incredibly proud of them all. What an amazing set of results, well done Year 12!

Year 7 students took part in Work Exploration Day on Thursday, with many of them going to work with parents or friends.  We are very grateful to the people and organisations that hosted them, including Rubrik, Lumon, Royal Mail, Heartwood Shutters and many more.  Some students also worked hard at home on careers related tasks.  We hope that they all enjoyed a taster of working life. Quotes from students about their days are as follows

Will: " It was great to experience what it is like to commute into London and see what a proper workplace looks like in action. I enjoyed meeting interesting people and learning about asset management."

Bea "I enjoyed helping the children and assisting Miss Smith and Mrs Ross" 

Abby: "I enjoyed my day learning about graphic design. There was lots to do. It was fun but tiring!"

Freddie: "I particularly enjoyed going to a meeting in the Walkie Talkie and learning about what makes a building more likely to be damaged and how insurers try to set premiums for higher risk buildings." 

Sam "I spent the day work shadowing at Triducive. My day included: attending some online meetings, shredding important documents and completing some interpersonal skills training. I found the day very interesting." 

Lucas "On work shadowing day, I went to a meeting about rate comparisons and also learnt about how to convince customers that Lumon rates are better! We then went into Farringdon market and I had a Lebanese kebab which was the best part of the day." 

From previous newsletters, you will be aware that one of our librarian’s, Miss Critchley, has had an novel published a couple of months ago. This is her fourth published novel, her first novel for adults! We were really pleased to host a book launch for the novel on Wednesday this week. Mrs Mouncey interviewed Miss Critchley about her ideas for the novel, the plot and research, as well as her process of writing and editing. We also explored Miss Critchley’s journey to becoming a published author and her advice for any of us who may be aspiring writers. Around 50 students, teachers and parents attended and it was fascinating to hear more about the story behind the book and the details behind the scene in becoming an author. Thank you to Miss Critchley for agreeing to take part in the event, and for our other librarians for their support in organising the event, Mrs Thomas and Mrs Blandford. The book, ‘One Puzzling Afternoon’ is available in all bookshops and online. It is a brilliant read! We hope to host some more book talks next year, do let us know if you have a link to a particular author.

Please see the picture above for details of a new cello group that will be running at Sandringham School next year. This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who plays and is interested in developing their music and being part of a larger group. 

Thirdly, we feature Katie J, Bea T and Roisin C, who were part of the St Albans Colmcilles Gaelic Football Team who won the U14 All Britain Gaelic Club Championship in Ruislip on Sunday. This is Britain's biggest Gaelic football tournament, playing against clubs from all over the UK so is a huge achievement. We are really proud of you all. Well done! 

Finally, well done to Jacob E (9S), Toby P and Charlie Archer who were part of St Albans Hockey Club U14 side at the TEEH international hockey tournament in Matadepera, Barcelona. The boys had some tough games against teams from Spain and Germany and were sadly knocked out at the group stage. However, their coach said, "The boys, as they have been all year, were superb in Barcelona."

The tour lead said, "I can write reams, with multiple examples, about their friendliness, generosity, fantastic senses of humour, energy, enthusiasm, resilience, engagement, hockey skill, dedication, punctuality (had to get that in) and general positive demeanour.  I think, however, it just comes down the fact that all 36 juniors who joined us to Barcelona are simply just fantastic children. We were very, very proud of them wherever we went." Well done boys on such glowing feedback! 

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine: Malchanceux, Malchanceuse

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche: Unglücklich

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana: Desafortunado

Thinking Question

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

Fifteen-year-old Morgan has a secret: She can't wait to escape the perfect little island where she lives. She's desperate to finish high school and escape her group of friends who don't understand Morgan at all. Because really, Morgan's biggest secret is that she has a lot of secrets, including the one about her feelings for another girl. 

Morgana T 7J ‘I really like graphic novels and this one was very nice. It had fantasy and drama. I enjoyed it. 

H is for…hapless  [adjective]

Definition: (Especially of a person) unfortunate.

Example: The hapless victims of the disaster were left without homes.

Synonyms: unlucky, woeful

Antonyms: happy, fortuitous, fortunate

Etymology: From the Late Middle English ‘hap’ in the early sense meaning good fortune and ‘less’.

As mentioned in the Headlines, on Wednesday night, we held our annual Sports Awards.This is a fantastic event to celebrate the sporting success of our students. A huge congratulations to not only everyone who won an award, but to all of the people who have competed for the school this year. There have been 420 fixtures across 12 sports with a total of 573 students representing the school. This is a phenomenal amount of participation (nearly a third of the whole school playing sport for Sandringham)  and it is great to see students being so active and enjoying the benefits that come from team sports. There have been huge successes this year, ranging from County Champions to National Finalists, Junior Wimbledon participants, professional boxers, European weightlifters and everything in between. Cups have been won and records have been broken and we are now ranked in the top 150 schools in the UK for sport, including private schools- a great achievement and testament to the hard work of all of our staff and students. You can see more photographs of the evening and follow future sporting events here. Well done everyone and we look forward to continuing participation and success in the 2023-24 season.