Thank you to James B in 9T who wrote the following article.

For ELD on Wednesday, we had a fun day learning how to market a new drink. One group were in charge of filming and other groups in charge of designing their own logo. We had to make decisions on price points using data about the cost of ingredients and also come up with a name for our drink. Our drink was called "GoldenBerry" and there were a mixture of flavours available. We had great fun tasting them and choosing our favourite. The best part of the day was watching the videos from each form at the end of the day in the Sandpit Theatre. I learnt about making profits when producing items, and I enjoyed the time working with my form. 

STAHS are holding an Aerospace Careers Evening on Monday 2nd October from 16.00-18.30. This is an innovative showcase from industry professionals with presentations, and includes Q&As and interactive displays. Students from Year 10 and above interested in a career in Aerospace can register here.

A reminder that our biannual Whole School photograph will take place next Monday, 2nd October in the school field. Students will have been told their schedule for the day, but we kindly ask that all students, including the Sixth Form, arrive promptly to registration on the day (8.30am) and follow instructions as to when they are required to line up for the photograph. Details on how to order copies will be included in the Sandprint before half term.

Carmel F in 8N wrote the following article about her ELD experience.

On Wednesday for ELD, we had a day learning about Mental Health. During each session, we had a different person come in and talk to us about different things to do with Mental Health. The first session was about anxiety and ways to deal with feeling anxious. We then had a session about the difference between "banter" or "bullying" and we had the chance  make a song or play about either topic. This was one of my favourite bits as it was a chance to be creative and get some feedback. We also had a session about good mental health and bad mental health and ways to help with this. We learnt that if you have any worries it is good to talk to people. At the start of this session, we were asked to think of one good thing to happen to us recently- that way even if bad things have happened, we can focus on something positive. In our last session we learnt about apps online and how to not be on apps that are bad for their mental health or restrict our time using certain apps/ our phones in general. It was great to hear people from outside the school talking to us about new information and to spend time together as a form group. I learnt ways to improve your mental health and how to support other people who are finding things difficult. 

This week’s theme celebrates the European Day of Languages. This event is observed on the 26th of September each year and aims to encourage language learning across Europe. There is significant linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe and this event encourages us to celebrate this diversity and be more understanding of other cultures. The students received a brilliant assembly from Head of Modern Foreign Languages, Ms Baikie, which championed lifelong language learning in and out of school. We hope all in the school community will try to learn, even a small fraction of, a new language this week. Щасти!

This week we welcomed Parents of Year 11 for an information evening about the year ahead. Details of the presentation can be found here.

On Wednesday 4th October @ 6.30pm, we will have our information evening for Year 10 detailing key information about the demands of KS4 studies, what lies ahead and the support the school will put in place to help your child through their GCSE studies. We look forward to seeing parents of Year 10 there.

The National Youth Choir is a fantastic organisation that provides high quality singing experiences for confident singers. Auditions are coming up and they are welcoming applications from all voice types, but particularly young male singers. The deadline to apply for an audition if 16th October, please see the poster above for more information.

FO$S will be holding their AGM on Tuesday 17th October at 6.30pm. If you'd like to join them for the meeting please email on friendsofsandringhamschool@gmail.com. It's a great opportunity to find out what the team does raising vital money for the school and also a chance to meet new parents. 

We are aware that several of our students in Year 9 and 10 are studying additional languages out of school as native speakers and may be interested in sitting a GCSE in Summer 2024. Although the exact timeline of next summer’s exams has yet to be confirmed, we would be grateful if initial expressions of interest could be emailed to the admin email address FAO Ms Baikie stating the student name, tutor group and the language they are studying which they wish to be examined in.

The deadline for expressions of interest is Friday 6th October. After this date we will not be able to investigate entries for Summer 2023. Once we have all the requests, we will work with families to see if we can accommodate them. Thank you.

Drama Leaders 2023-24

Say hello to our fantastic new Drama Leaders from Year 12 (pictured above.) They are our new recruits who will be helping to lead and manage our KS3 Drama clubs and will be on hand to help with all things Drama throughout the year. We can't wait to get started. We will soon announce our Year 11 Drama leaders, so watch this space.

Whole School Show Tickets

Exciting news is just around the corner as we launch tickets for Little Shop of Horrors on Monday! All information can be found on the SandPit website and all ticket queries should be sent directly to the theatre. We've started to post exclusive behind the scenes 'Meet the Cast' interviews via Instagram (sand_artsteam). This will be our biggest show yet and we can't wait to see you all at one (or all!) of the shows from 16th-18th November. Just take our advice and 'don't feed the plants!'

As you can see from this week's Sandprint, we have had a number of students write articles about their experience of events in the school. If this is something your child is interested in, and would like to feature in the Newsletter, please ask them to contact Mrs Holian using their mysandstorm email with their article for submission.

On Thursday lunchtimes, a group of Year 12 and Year 13 students have fun getting together to discuss and solve some advanced mathematical problems. The problems are designed to improve the students problem solving abilities in maths and help prepare them for challenges and university admissions tests.

Last Thursday, the meeting was vibrant as they tackled problems from the Mathematical Olympiad for Girls and Senior Maths Challenges as well as problems from the Mathematical Admissions Test. Some of the students will be sitting the Mathematical Olympiad for Girls on Wednesday 27th September, and most of them will be facing the Senior Mathematics Challenge the following week.  The year 13 students were preparing for the Mathematical Admissions Test for Oxford.

The workshop is open to all Year 12 and 13 students who are interested in maths and maths related subjects at top universities.  

Turing just about hold onto their lead this week with 2485 points as of this morning. Shakespeare, Newton and  Fawcett are not far behind however. Well done to Johnson for gaining the most points overall this week with 457 . And special mention goes to Valen C in 8J with 13 points and Carmel F, Phoebe H, Emilia H and Hannah N all with 12 points. Keep up the good work! 

Upcoming Events in October

• AUSTEN & ELGAR CHARITY WEEK – 9th October – 13th October- see more under other HOUSE NEWS
• Last Choir Standing (Year 7) – Monday 9th October
• Speed Stacking (Year 7) – Tuesday 10th October

Herefordshire and NESSIE have arranged a variety of different meetings over the coming months for parents and carers. They are listed below alongside how to book on:

• The Hub ASC/ SEND Coffee Mornings with a School Family Worker- book via www.visitstalbans.org.uk
• Parent/ Carer Chat and Connect session online to provide an informal space to discuss parents/ carers supporting their children’s mental health – book via www.nessieined.com
• Online workshops covering self-harming behaviours and anxiety- book via www.nessieined.com
• A 6-week course for parents and carers of children with additional needs – book via www.supportinglinks.co.uk

Congratulations to Liberty T in Year 13 whose Photograph won a local competition to have her work exhibited in the St Albans Museum and Gallery. All of the competition entries were part of an exhibition on the them “Home” shown at The Collective Gallery in partnership with Herts Young Homeless. Her artwork entitled “Dreaming of Home” was creating by layering two of her photographs in Photoshop to create a dream like silhouette. Her photograph is currently on display in the St Albans Museum and Gallery. Please do pop along to see it and some of the other entries.

If you would like to nominate someone for the Student Spotlight this week, please email holianm@sandringham.aat.school with any details and or photos. 

Katherine K in 10F wrote the following article about her experience of the German Exchange. You can find more pictures and updates @SandringhamMFL

Last Wednesday, my exchange partner arrived from Quickborn as part of the Sandringham School German Exchange with the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Gymnasium. At the start, I was nervous like everyone would be if they were meeting someone new from another country.  However, my family and I instantly got to know Chiara (my exchange partner) and now I am so excited to see her again and meet her family on the return visit in February.

On the first day, the group from Germany was tired from waking up at 1 am after arriving in England but after the school day everyone was excited for the week ahead. On Friday, we all went to Oxford and had a tour around the city and visited Trinity College. The next day, my family and I went to London where we saw some famous sites such as the London Eye and Buckingham Palace. Chiara and I also went shopping. It was great to see Chiara so happy in London as she had always wanted to visit the Capital. On Sunday we went to the Food Market in town and met up with other exchange students. On Monday, the exchange students went to Harry Potter World and on Tuesday they visited St Albans Cathedral. We all ended the day with pizza which everyone enjoyed.  On the last day, our exchange students joined in some ELD activities before we all said our farewells.

I can’t wait to go to Quickborn for the return visit and experience school life in another country with my friends.  Chiara and I got on really well and have even been planning to meet again when the exchange is over. I would definitely recommend an exchange to anyone who wants to travel, meet people and experience new cultures.

We are pleased to say that individual photograph orders placed for Year 7 and 12 will be arriving at school next week. There is still time to order, but the cut of date for free delivery to the school is today, Friday 29th September. You can still order them to be sent to your home address after this date at an additional postage cost. 

Year 8-11 individual photographs, and any Year 7 and 12 students missed in September, will be taken on Monday 6th November. 

For those new to the school, the Puzzle of the Week is a Mathematics challenge run weekly. This week's puzzle is shown above. For every entry you will receive 1 house point, if you answer correctly you will win 2 house points 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 provide a wide range of STEM exploratory options around the campus in both lunch time and after school to equip students with vital skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and logical-mathematical skills. The photos show students enjoying challenging themselves with different types of online assessment and hands-on activities about logic and mathematical models, at the Pi club at lunch time led by Miss Juleff in the Mathematics department. Students are encouraged to spend time thinking logically in order to solve the problems and also consider how to represent the information given in the best way. Great life skills being learnt! 

The above workshops may be of interest to young people & parents/carers of children and young people who are interested in additional support with issues such as emotional wellbeing, self esteem etc. 

All workshops are currently being delivered online via Microsoft Teams. For more information about what each workshop covers and to book a place onto a workshop, visit the Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner Eventbrite page here.

We have the following open Support Staff Vacancies:

• Exam Invigilators (many of our current invigilators are parents of past/current students)
• Cleaner

Please share with friends who may be interested. More information is available on our website https://sandringham.herts.sch.uk/vacancies/

With the introduction of charity weeks starting this academic year, Austen and Elgar house will be kicking things off by raising both money and awareness throughout the week commencing 9th October. There will be cake sales, a raffle and a movie night in order to support the schools three chosen charities. Information regarding the movie night has been sent to families of Year 7-10 and tickets are now on sale. 

The pictures below also show other events coming up. Please come along to support. 

When Carl visits the Peak District with his parents to try and recover from the fallout of a horrific accident, he becomes caught up in the mysterious tale of the Lost Lad. Are the hills actually haunted or is Carl being chased by his own demons? As past and present collide, Carl must learn to come to terms with the loss of his best friend, Jack and find a way to move on.

We have chosen a book to tie in with the Year 7 trip to the Peak District this week. Berlie Doherty was born in Liverpool, but now lives in the Peak District and has spent much of writing career focusing on this beautiful part of the world. This novel, which centres on grief and friendship uses the haunted landscape around Buxton as a backdrop to the story.

If you are feeling especially inspired, why not try Alison Uttley’s ‘A Traveller in Time’ set in the Derbyshire countryside in Dethick or Alan Garner’s ‘The Weirdstone of Brisingamen’ set in the Cheshire Peak District near Alderley Edge.

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine: divin

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche: göttlich

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana: divino/a

Thinking Question:

• This week the French and Spanish translations are very similar - why might French and Spanish have many similarities?

D is for… divine [verb]

Definition: Connected with god, or like a god

Example: Some fans seem to regard the players as divine beings.

Synonyms: Awesome, Transcendent, Celestial

Antonyms: Hellish

Etymology: The word originates from the old Latin ‘deiuos’, and later Latin ‘divinus’ meaning of a deity, superhuman, supernatural.

This week started the U13 ‘B’ team’s English schools cup journey with a 4-0 win vs Monk's Walk. All the boys put in a fantastic effort, with special mention to MOM Bertie H for a great performance!

The Year 9 team didn't fare as well unfortunately, bowing out of the CC at the hands of Queens school, losing 3-1. MOM Will A with the goal and a great captain's performance.

Well done to our cross-country teams who took on some challenging courses in some very difficult weather this week! 

There were some impressive placings  for the Sandringham runners as they took on the Nicholas Breakspear course towards the end of the week. Special mentions: Toby R - 5th JB Freddie R- 6th JB Luke C - 2nd IB Lewis D - 7th IB Daniel B - 2nd SB Sam M - 4th SB Oliver B- 5th SB

Lots of exciting netball news this week with a plethora of matches.

The U14 & U16 Netball Performance squads had a great day of tournament preparation and the  U16 Netball Performance Squad also had a great win in round one of the SNS National Cup over Maltings Academy! POM - Pearl M

For the U19s- there was a narrow win vs SAS in the county league. POM - Bryony C And a district tournament win POT - Ruby H. And a tough match for the performance squad against Berkhamsted in the SIS National Cup where a loss saw them into the plate. POM - Marelie R

And finally the U16 Netball team performed brilliantly in the District Tournament yesterday! A 10-11 loss in the final to STAHS saw them finish runners up. POT - Emily W

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

A good performance from all 3 boys teams in this week's East & South East Swimming champs, putting us 4th overall Herts school. Some good individual and team performances.

Sandringham School's Drama Faculty present their take on the deviously delicious Broadway and Hollywood sci-fi smash musical, Little Shop Of Horrors.

The meek floral assistant Seymour Krelborn stumbles across a new breed of plant he names "Audrey II" - after his coworker crush. This foul-mouthed, R&B-singing carnivore promises unending fame and fortune to the down and out Krelborn as long as he keeps feeding it BLOOD. Over time though Seymour discovers Audrey II's out of this world origins and intent towards global domination!

Tickets go on sale here from Monday 2nd October at 9am and cost £10-£12.50

The critically acclaimed creative team that brought you ‘Hansel & Gretel’ are back with more fun-fuelled pantomime madness; a joyful new twist on another old story, it’s not to be missed. Rapunzel saves the day (and herself!) in this action packed, magical musical pantomime adventure. Let down your hair with a cast of kooky characters as they dance and sing through this unusual, tangled tale; where people live in giant old boots and tall towers, where frog boys rap about enchanted ponds and girls with long hair battle more than split ends! Tickets cost £10-£17.50 and you can buy them here.