Please see below article from Henry T, one of our Year 13 students, regarding his scholarship with the Dresden Trust. We hope that it inspire other students learning German and shows what opporunities that learning an additional language can offer. 

"I absolutely loved the Dresden scholarship and i can say without any doubt that it was the best month of my life. The people, the surroundings and above all the vibrant, stunning city of Dresden were unforgettable and helped to make my stay such an incredible experience. I loved my stay with the family and going to school with Georg, everyone was so welcoming and took me in as one of their own. I really felt at home in Dresden and built up a deep affinity with the beautiful city and its whole vibe - the architecture, the people and historical buildings such as the Frauenkirche or the Semperoper, both of which I was lucky enough to visit. I have made so many memories and lifelong friendships in the past month; we all got on like a house on fire and did so many awesome activities together. From hiking in the sächsische Schweiz to day trips to Leipzig and Görlitz, we enjoyed lots of time together learning about each other and about the culture of Dresden. I am indescribably grateful to the Dresden Trust for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which really has changed my life and truly inspired me. Dresden is the best city I've ever been in and I will return as soon as I possibly can."

Our latest display in the LRC contains a selection of ‘banned books’. Launched in the US in 1982, Banned Books Week is held during the last week in September and highlights the value of free and open access to information and the freedom to seek and to express ideas. Students have been surprised to see that some very familiar titles have been the subject of censorship and heated debate over the years and this has led to their own discussions and conversations around freedom of expression. Please pop along to see our friendly librarians in the LRC to find out more. 

We promote engineering design process in our STEM education which emphasises open-ended problem solving and encourages students to learn from failure. The photo shows one of the regular meetings of student-led sixth form Engineering Clubs led by chairladies Emily D and Freya H about sustainable energy in the UK. Our students have high aspirations in engineering and will participate in further events such as tomorrow’s engineers week, STEM SMART by University of Cambridge, STEM Potential programme by Imperial College London and various other exploration events in top universities.

It has been an exciting few weeks in Dance with clubs and lessons in full swing. We have also introduced a new feature called Dancer of the Week and we are delighted to let you know the first two winners! Last week we celebrated Evie W for our Club winner and Destiny C for excellent work in lessons and this week the award went to Isabella L for club and Josh B for lessons. Well done everyone and keep dancing!

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?

Fo$S will be holding a secondhand uniform sale on Saturday 14th October from 11am until 12.30pm (or until stock has gone.) This will be held under the canopy by Main Reception/A Block at Sandringham School. Along with uniform there are also revision guides available. 

If you have any uniform you would like to donate, please drop at 15 Skyswood Road in the bike store. (They don't need white shirts or boys trousers, but would be grateful for any sports kit or blazers.) 

A reminder that Austen and Elgar house will be 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. 

This week’s whole school theme recognises Black History Month. October is Black History Month in the UK and this year's theme is “Saluting our Sisters” to recognise and celebrate the work of black women throughout history. The students had an excellent whole school assembly from Director of Learning for History, Ms Constable, which asked them to reflect on how history can be re-envisioned as we re-evaluate the evidence we have about the past. She also told the stories of some prominent black women who have positively impacted British history. During October there are many events to celebrate Black History Month, across the country special classes and celebrations are arranged within schools and African and Caribbean societies at universities put on special events and lectures. Museums and art galleries have special themed exhibits, and there are also many special themed shows about Black History Month on the TV and Radio. We encourage everyone in the school community to get involved with as many events as possible.

Thank you to all of the parents/carers who attending the Year 10 information evening on Wednesday. A link to the presentation can be found here 

Important dates for the upcoming year are as follows:

• 22/11/23 - 23/11/23 Pastoral Review Days
• 13/03/24 YR 10 Parent Information Evening (Dr Van Der Spoel)
• 20/03/24 Parent Teacher Consultations
• 16/04/24 - 26/04/24 YR 10 Exams
• 11/05/24 - 12/05/24 Bronze DofE Practice Expedition
• 07/06/24 - 08/06/24 Bronze DofE Expedition
• 17/06/24 - 21/06/24 Work Experience
• 18/07/24 YR 10 Prize giving Assembly
• 19/07/24 Last Day of YR 10

Congratulations to Hina B-S in 9S who took her Grade 4 piano exam recently and gained a Distinction. She worked hard practising every day and the hard work certainly paid off. Well done Hina! 

If you would like to nominate someone for the student spotlight, you can do so by emailing holianm@sandringham.aat.school with a few details and/or photographs. 

What a week in Drama! Year 11 tech masterclass, Year 12's have been geeking out on theatre company 1927 and on Wednesday we had our first Act 1 run through for the Little Shop of Horrors! Have you got your tickets for the show yet? You can buy them here.

Support Staff Vacancies

We have the following open vacancies:

• Exam Invigilators
• Cleaner

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

We would like to highlight two excellent services which parents and students can access for support with their mental health and well-being.

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 Sandbox by Mindler is also an excellent free, NHS funded service to support children and young people in Herts with their mental health and well being. It offers access to internet enabled Cognitive Behavioural therapy, one to one support from professional therapist by texts, phone, online chat or video calls. Signing up is easy and doesn’t require a referral from a professional. You can visit The Sandbox website or click here to find out more details.

Springpod offer virtual work experiences via their website, which take place outside of school hours.  These are from a wide variety of fields and are usually suitable for Year 10s and above.  If this sounds like something that you may be interested in, you can take a look here:

Students may have seen on ePraise that they have received awards for the Summer 2023 Roll of Honour. Certificates will be give out to students in the coming weeks. For those new to the school, the Roll of Honour is part of our Rewards system and Directors of Learning choose a student from each year, in each term, to congratulate them for their amazing progress or achievement in their subject. They also decide a Star Student, someone who has gone above and beyond in each subject that term. Students are then awarded the certificates by their Head of Year and boards created around the school featuring these students. We hope that those who have won for last term feel hugely proud of their achievements and that it inspires other students, including our new Year 7s, to try and aim to get on the Roll of Honour for Autumn Term 2023.

February, 1941. After months of bombing raids in London, twelve-year-old Olive Bradshaw and her little brother Cliff are evacuated to the Devon coast. The only person with two spare beds is Mr Ephraim, the local lighthouse keeper. But he's not used to company and he certainly doesn't want any evacuees.Desperate to be helpful, Olive becomes his post-girl, carrying secret messages (as she likes to think of the letters) to the villagers. But Olive has a secret of her own. Her older sister Sukie went missing in an air raid, and she's desperate to discover what happened to her. And then she finds a strange coded note which seems to link Sukie to Devon, and to something dark and impossibly dangerous.Siena K 7N who has recently read the book says ‘I liked how there was a lot of mystery in the book. It was very intriguing!’ 

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine: érudit

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche: gelehrt

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana: erudito/a

Thinking Question:

• Adjectives in French, German and Spanish have to ‘agree’ with the gender of the noun. Why do you think some languages have gendered nouns and some don’t?

E is for… erudite [adjective] 

Definition: Having or containing a lot of knowledge that is known by very few people.

Example: She is a scholarly and erudite person.

Synonyms: Learned, Scholarly, Knowledgeable

Antonyms: Ignorant, Non intellectual

Etymology: Derives from Latin ‘eruditus’, past participle of ‘erudire’  meaning instruct or train.

It has been a very busy week for netball with matches and tournaments galore.

We were super proud of our amazing squads who took part in the Anne Miles County Tournament this week. The U16s finished shield runners up - 6th in the county! Extremely proud to coach such talented, hard working and supportive young people. Fantastic performances from Mia O & Hannah G but POT goes to Millie W for outstanding defending! Our U19 finished Cup runners up - 2nd in the county! They won the hearts of the tournament with their semi-final performance demonstrating belief, determination and outstanding teamwork. They move on to represent Sandringham at regionals - POT - Maddie B. And the U14 PS were named winners of the shield competition - after some incredible play and interceptions at crucial points throughout the day. Coach’s POT - Ella CL

And we were very proud of the U14B Team who came 2nd in their District Tournament, having to play against many other A Teams! Well done girls! (full report on this under NETBALL NEWS 2) And a runners' up prize for the U14 Netball team in the District Tournament! POT - Katie J

In individual matches- we saw a win for the U19 Netball Performance squad in round 1 of the county cup 39-27. POM - Alice W. And a second win of the week for our U16 girls as they took on a strong St Michaels side. Goals from Becca S & Hannah G. A huge well done to the U14 PS with a win in their county league game vs RMS! OP - Lexi K, CP - Aoife C

Well done to the Year 8 A team who had a convincing 9-0 win against Chancellors in first round of the County Cup this week. Good luck for the next round.

Year 8 Rugby: The U13’s started their rugby season today facing a strong Samuel Ryder side. Both teams fought very well until the end, with Sandringham taking a 6-2 victory! 

Yr 7 rugby: A superb start for our youngest side as they beat Samuel Ryder. Rugby debuts for over half the team today with Harrison W picking up the MOM award.

And finally, a superb afternoon of rugby yesterday saw our 1st XV beat Beaumont in the 2nd round of the National Vase to progress to round 3. Well done everyone

A combined age group team played against Alice Owen in hockey in an exciting game. There was superb teamwork with the ball passed around the pitch at good pace using the whole pitch. Despite Sandringham having some good attacking plays, Dame Alice were the stronger team and the eventual winners. The girls played extremely well and gelled quickly as a team. There were some excellent tackling and play in the centre happening by Natalie, Sophie and Alice. Thank you to Lauren for her support and for coaching.

The under 14B netball team played in a thrilling tournament on Tuesday. As runners up in their pool they reached the semi-final against Stags. At full time the scores were level and so the game went to two minutes extra each way. With the scores still tied at the end of extra time the match went to a golden goal. Calm accurate shooting by Hattie saw the team through to the final. In the final they played a strong STAHS team. It was three all at half time but in the second half they pulled away for Sandringham to finish as runners up in the district netball tournament. The whole team played extremely well, with superb shooting throughout by Hattie and Ava, excellent defence by the GK and GD and linking play by the wings and centre. The squad should be very proud of their performance.

Well done to our amazing cross country squads who ran in the first round of the @SchoolAthletics Cross Country Cup on Monday in treacherous conditions. Provisional results are in and it looks like all 6 teams will be at the regional finals to be ran in Verulamium Park on Sat 11th November. Well done everyone.

Please see above for upcoming fixtures. You can follow all of the sports news @SandringhamPE

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.

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 are on sale here and cost £10-£12.50