We are collecting any coins and notes you no longer use - From foreign currency to anything that is no longer in circulation, old £1 coins for example. Your notes and coins will be converted into £££’s and will be sent to our chosen charities. Thank you so much for helping to support them.

Well done to Turing who maintain the overall lead with 15,935 points. A fantastic week for Hepworth however, with an impressive 708 points received.

Congratulations to the following students who all gained 12 points or more this week.

1. Finn J (8T) 14 points
2. Lois B (8T) 13 points
3. Megan C (8T) 12 points
4. Clariden L (7F) 12 points
5. Albie W (8E) 12 points
6. Alvin L (7F) 12 points

And to these students who have the highest in the school! Alvin L (7F) 321, Dave T (7T) 259, Fanya P (7T) 217, Rayan J (7F) 216, Diego D (9T) 205, Clariden L (7F) 202

Well done to our AMAZING GCSE drama students who put on some brilliant performances this week. Every single performance was fantastic and testament to the hard work you've put in over the course of the two years. You were SPECTACULAR!

Year 12 had a visit from local artist, Lia Hattersley this week. Lia showed her work and talked about her art career and her influences. The Year 12 watched her demonstrate how she works outside creating a landscape in one session, working quickly in acrylic to capture the composition and tonal ranges.

Lia Hattersley is an award winning local professional artist who exhibits locally and in The Bakery Gallery in London. She is a figurative landscape and still life painter who works mainly in oil and acrylic paints and enjoys exploring themes of domestic intimism and abstract beauty in the everyday. Lia’s lifelong interest in art and childhood skill at drawing led her to study Architecture at the University of Manchester. We are very grateful to Lia who gave up her time to inspire our painters.

On Tuesday 12th March, our year 12 Physics cohort took part in a virtual Particle Physics Masterclass, run by the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. It was a fantastic opportunity for our budding physicists to experience what a career in Particle Physics could consist of. Read on for a summary of the day from some of the students who took part.

All of the year 12 Physicists had a masterclass last Tuesday, where we spent the whole day learning the ins and outs of particle physics. We began by learning about particles and the standard particle model. We also explored the model's limitations (that it doesn't explain gravity and dark matter) and revisited our understanding of physics basics, which reinforced the foundations taught by our A-level curriculum. Next, we participated in a data workshop where we used Python to analyse real data from the Large Hadron Collider. We created graphs and histograms to determine the mass of a Z boson. Following that, we had an informal discussion with someone who had been working at the Large Hadron Collider for over 20 years. They explained how they find particles that cannot be directly detected, and the process behind how a particle accelerator works. Afterwards, we attended a talk from Diamond Light Source that focused on various applications of using a particle accelerator to observe samples. These applications included: absorption, which allowed scientists to examine a prehistoric human skull and the neurons it contains to understand the neurology of our human ancestors; fluorescence, which allows scientists to identify the location and type of element in a sample, which was used to analyse proteins within a virus, including COVID-19; and diffraction and scattering, which provide atomic-level information about a sample's structure, from which they were able to digitally unwrap and read a scroll found preserved in Herculaneum.

Our wonderful GCSE Dance students performed their trio exam this week and were utterly brilliant. One practical left to go. You are all amazing! 

Last week, our Newton house captains visited YouthTalk, one of our chosen charities. It was great for them to learn about the amazing ways that YouthTalk are helping people in the community- so THANK YOU for all your help supporting them and all of our school charities.

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?

The whole school theme this week celebrates British Science week to signpost all of the events running in school next week as part of Sandringham’s STEM week. British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths that is celebrated from 8th March to 17th March. The students received an excellent assembly from the Director of Learning for Science, Dr Archer-Jones, that encouraged them to sign up for events that are running next week such as, the Chemistry show, an Online seminar with Sciences working on the Hadron Collider or the STEM quiz. We hope the students enjoy all of the additional activities. 

On Wednesday 13th March, four of our Year 10 mathematicians competed against other schools in a maths problem-solving afternoon run by the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme at Barnwell School in Stevenage.

After the 4 rounds and competing against 16 other teams from schools in the Hertfordshire area, the Sandringham team came first overall! Well done to Ariella, Henry, Peter and Theo who worked exceptionally well together, securing places in the top 3 teams in 3 of the 4 rounds;  Round 1 (problem-solving on theme of TV quizzes), Round 2 (the calculator cross-word) and Round 4 (building cubes and rhombic dodecahedra). We are very proud of you.

This week’s whole school theme recognises the International Day of Happiness. This day was enshrined when, in 2012, the United Nations, proclaimed 20 March the International Day of Happiness. The day aimed to recognise the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world, and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives. It also recognized the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples. During the week students received an excellent assembly from Mrs Beaton about how we can recognise what makes us happy and support our community around us to be happier. Take time this weekend to do something that makes you happy!

Parents of Year 10 students will have received a letter inviting them to an "Effective Learning and Revision Information Evening" on Monday 25th March 2024 at 6:30pm in the Main Hall.

With their first formal set of Key Stage 4 Trial Exams appearing on the horizon in April, we are delighted to have been able to engage the services of a guest speaker talking about supporting effective learning.  Dr. Martijn van der Spoel is a chartered psychologist, who specialises in using the mind as an effective tool for learning. He will talk about how to support students learning to balance focus, motivation and study behaviour and ways in which parents can guide and support this through creative and constructive guidance. 

As students will have spent the day working with Dr. van der Spoel, they are not required to attend in the evening and, as such, the evening is for parents and carers only. We will also take the opportunity to briefly update you on the timelines of key forthcoming events such as Work Experience and Year 10 Trial Exams. We do hope you will be able to join us.

There is an exciting opportunity for young artists aged 4-19 to take part in the Young Artists' Summer Show, exhibiting their work online and at the Royal Academy of Arts. You can submit work here until the 27th March or speak to Mrs Gidden if you would like further information.

A fantastic write up from Rachel K 10J on her experience of the French Exchange. We hope that it inspires other students to take part in this beneficial and enjoyable programme.

In November, we visited the Jean Monnet Collège, in Saint Jorioz by Lake Annecy where we met our exchange partners for the first time. Fast forward to March, and it is their turn to visit England. Our partners arrived last Thursday, where they were greeted by Mr. Gray and Mr. Nicholls in the LRC. Mrs Thomas organized a Harry Potter quiz in preparation for the Harry Potter Studio visit the following day. On the weekend, many families went to London to see famous sights and attractions such as the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben. The French students enjoyed this as, for many, it was their first-time visiting England. On Monday, the exchange students began the week with a guided tour of the St Albans Cathedral and then free time in town. They used the free time to buy presents for their families back home. Then, on Tuesday, we all went to Oxford, for an informative tour of an Oxford college. This was interesting and engaging as it gave the students an insight into Oxford University and what it would be like to study in one of the colleges.  

We would like to thank the MFL Department and Mme Schenk for organizing the exchange. It was an incredible experience which has benefited us all in many ways.

Sandringham are currently looking for a Music Technician, Director of Initial Teacher Training for Alban Teaching School Hub, an Assistant Caretaker and a Teaching Assistant (Visual Impairment Support) to join our fantastic school. More information is available on our website here.

Verulam are also looking for a Sixth Form Administrator to join their lovely team. You can find out more details here.

Please share with friends who may be interested.

This week, we feature ALL of our Sandringham students who helped to showcase our amazing school to the Ofsted inspectors last month. Quotes from the report regarding our students included:

• In collaboration with their peers, pupils live up to the very high expectations set by the school.
• Pupils take up opportunities with the determination to succeed at the highest levels.
• They work hard and thrive in the positive learning environment , demonstrating the school’s values of kindness and humility
• Equipped with well developed social and academic skills pupils willingly and capably help each other
• Pupils enjoy learning alongside their peers.
• They take their studies seriously and approach learning with enthusiasm
• They have learnt to value different points of view

Well done everyone for being such brilliant ambassadors for Sandringham School. If you would like to nominate someone for the Student Spotlight next week, please contact holianm@sandringham.aat.school with any details and/or photographs.

FO$S would like thank everyone who came to the quiz last Friday. It was a fun night and we raised £1,800 for the school. These vital funds will be spent on enhancing the experience of our students in the school. 

Also a special thanks goes to Nick Grubb who put the quiz together and hosted the evening! Look out for future Fo$$ events and any donations of uniform are still welcome for their upcoming Second Hand Uniform Sale. 

The world of Colony is in ruins. No one knows what caused society to begin tearing itself apart - but the secret may lie with Cora, a girl living on the mountainside far away from others. Cora possesses an extraordinary gift: the power to see back in time, from an event back to its causes. Even more incredibly, sometimes she can change events. But the present is looking for Cora, and she is forced on the run - and must decide who she is, what she can do ... and how to fix the future.

Aarav S in 7E has recently read the book and states “I liked the backstory and world building, learning about what kind of world the book is set in is really fun. The author  is amazing.”

W is for… wanderlust [noun]

Definition: The wish to travel far away and to many different places.

Example: Her wanderlust led her to visit many different places around the world.

Synonyms: Excursion, Wandering

Antonyms: Homesick

Etymology: Wanderlust originates from the German word ‘wandern’ meaning to hike and ‘lust’ meaning desire.

Please see above for upcoming fixtures. Good luck to all of our teams.

Last weekend, our Year 8’s played against Roundwood Park with both sides fielding some debutants. The match ended with a 3-1 victory for Sandringham. Well done!

Our Year 9 boys also put in a solid performance on Tuesday, winning 3-1 against Nicholas Breakspear in the district cup. Will A (2) & Daniel N with the goals

Lovely to see our students bumping in to each other competing at a very high standard in their individual sports outside of school. Luke C bumped into Kristian H who were at Athletics and Judo competitions respectively. Luke completed his his first multi event and Kristian finished in the top 10. Well done boys!

A fantastic write up of the Year 9 football from Freddie B this week.

Sandringham 1 - 3 Roundwood. A tough loss today as we fought very well. Despite many good chances for both teams Roundwood took first blood due to a miscommunication at the back leading to a one on one which the striker slotted away. However we did not drop our heads and we came back more physical. Although we played some nice passes a counter attack from Roundwood led to a one on one. Ian’s first save was excellent but the second man was waiting to pounce and put it into the corner for a 2 goal lead. We went into half time at a two goal deficit but after some good substitutions and a motivational team talk we certainly came back out the better team. We were more composed on the ball in the second half and our through balls were brilliant. Lewis and Callum worked hard up top and created lots of chances for themselves with some exquisite dribbling. Never the less some good saves and last ditch tackled left us frustrated. After a fast run down the side of the pitch Roundwood’s striker found himself staring into an open goal but miraculously our substitute goalkeeper Fred managed to run back and get himself in the way. Unfortunately it fell to the feet of their winger who passed it into the net for 3-0. But yet again we did not drop our heads. Eventually a kick up the pitch from Freddie found Lewis and with some explosive acceleration he made himself a one on one. A cool finish into the bottom saw us get a reward for our hard work just before the final whistle. Overall, we definitely improved over the course of the game and had some good periods of play. Our defenders led by Sam made some brilliant tackles and our attackers and midfielders made some great through balls and dribbles. However, a couple of fast counter attacks and some miscommunication left us disappointed after a hardly fought game.

As mentioned last week, Marlelie was playing in the doubles final of the J100 Loughborough last week. After a close match, she lost in the 3rd 10-8 after leading 7-4. Very proud as always!

Our U14 girls had a busy week! Their first match against Beaumont had a slow start but some great defensive play to eventually secure us the the win. And our brilliant U14Bs put in a great performance in their penultimate game of the season against KWS. Solid team effort meant that Anna, Bethan & Ava all received player of the match!

Well done to the U19 Netballers for their win against St Colomba's as well this week. Some great netball played by both sides. OPM Ellie T

And last but by no means least....a great performance from the Y7A team in the district tournament - coming 3rd but only losing two of the games by 1 goal!! POT - Flo R with some great interceptions, attacking play and shooting

Our 23/24 season draws to a close with a 51-50 victory against a very strong Roundwood team. A fantastic match all round ended dramatically with Harry R scoring from the free throw line with 7 seconds to go. MVP went to Sam W. Well done boys

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly.  I don't know why she swallowed a fly...

But the People's Theatre Company do!

And now you can too as they bring the world's best loved nursery rhyme to life just in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pam Adams' best-selling book!

With a captivating combination of live action, animation and puppetry, this magical re-telling of There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly is sure to surprise and delight children and nostalgic adults in equal measure.

Tickets can be purchased here and cost £12.50

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 are on sale here and cost £20