It’s been a few weeks since our last parkrun update. Many of our usual parkrunners have continued to upload their results, so it's a familiar looking table. Special mention to Imogen M (9H) who uploaded her first parkruns, helping Hepworth climb closer to the top. All students can enter their parkrun or junior parkrun results on our Google Form (remember you can go back as far as September). It’s also Verulamium junior parkrun’s 5th birthday this Sunday, feel free to run, walk and/or volunteer and enjoy some cake with them! More information here.   

As previously mentioned, the picture above includes a useful list of services students can access, should they be feeling overwhelmed. 

We would also like to highlight again 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. 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.

Sandringham are currently looking for a part time Student Services Manager to join our fantastic school. More information is available on our website here.

Please share with friends who may be interested.

The Fo$S team are delighted to announced that there will be a second hand uniform sale held on 22nd June at 11.00 at school (under the canopy between B Block and Main Reception).

They are still looking for donations of uniform- so if you do have any good quality uniform, or revision guides, please drop them to to 15 Skyswood Road (in the bike store)

Please do pass on the information to any prospective parents you know as well for new joiners in September 2024.

The team look forward to seeing you there. 
 

As mentioned in the Headlines, we were delighted to celebrate our Year 13 students at the KS5 Awards yesterday. Winners will have received a copy of the programme and their citations and photographs will be send to parents of winners next week. 

Students who had their individual photographs taken last week will also be receiving a proof of their image and instructions on how to order over the next few days. 

Well done to all of our students who have been working diligently to complete their summer exams. Our GCSE students worked incredibly hard during their examinations and our A level students also made excellent progress during their exams this week. Also well done to our Year 10 students who have been completing their trial exams. It is always very inspiring to see their dedication and the wonderful outcomes produced during their exams. We wish them the very best of luck for their summer results!

As mentioned in the Headlines, our wonderful Year 12's took to the stage to perform their devised pieces this week. They were all fabulous. Ms Hardacre and Ms Arif are SO PROUD of all your hard work, confidence and dedication. Enjoy a well earned break this weekend.

As mentioned last week, our fantastic Year 11 Performance Director and PE teacher, Mr Bailey, completed the London Marathon. Amazing work for a wonderful charity- well done Mr Bailey!

This week, we would like to give a mention to our fabulous Director of Learning for Media Studies who has recently had an article published in a popular magazine. Mr O Connor wrote about the film Memento in Media magazine, a publication that we and a lot of schools subscribe to for A level students of Film and Media. This is a fantastic achievement and we know that our students benefit greatly from Mr O Connor's knowledge of all things Media. We hope that it also inspires other budding writers!  There is a hard copy in the LRC if you would like to take a look and it is also available to view through Library links, Media magazine, on MySandstorm. Another example of our staff going above and beyond.

With so many ways of accessing literature now (audio books/ podcasts/ online articles etc) our library team would like to introduce a feature recommending some of these for our students. 

The first pick is a BBC’s "Book at Bedtime" recently selected called “The Blue Book of Nebo”, by Manon Steffan Ros. This 2023 Carnegie medal winner is a short, dystopian novel originally written in Welsh and very digestible for those who don’t love reading. A short synopsis of the book is “Dylan and his mum survived The End, back in 2018 when the electricity went off for good, and the normal 21st-century world he knew disappeared. This is the story of their life now”  and the online version can be found here.

Listening to an audio book on journeys or as you walk to school can be a great way to access writing if you are not a keen reader so why not give an audio book a try this week.

This week we feature four of our amazing Year 11 students- Max H, Niko M, Luca P and Oliver R- who were part of the victorious U16 Verulamians RFC team who became Herts County Cup Champions on Sunday 21st April, convincingly beating Fullerians 45-12 in what was expected to be a very tight match. The whole team had worked incredibly hard all season and wholeheartedly deserved this victory.

No Verulamians junior side had ever won 2 County titles let alone back to back titles (they won the County Plate final last year) which means that the team go down as the most successful Verulamians junior side of all time.What a great achievement. This was the team’s last match as juniors as they will become colts next season. Congratulations to all the boys and their coaches! 

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 to include.

We would like to take this time to thank our outgoing editor of the student magazine in Sixth Form, The Sandpost. Isabelle P in Year 13 has been a fantastic editor this year, re-imaging the design of the magazine, and working with contributors to put it all together. The publication is in great hands for the Year 12s that will take over the editing and design work going forwards.

We wish Isabelle all the best in her future – and we are sure she will be very successful, already showing great organisation, amazing work ethic and teamwork skills! Well done Isabelle

Well done to Turing who have broken the 17,000 point mark this week and maintain their lead. A great week for Johnson as well who gained the highest house points this week with an impressive 349 points. Well done to the following students for their excellent week.

1. Harriet Nettleton (7T) 18 points
2. Elszie Dunks (7T) 17 points
3. Gabby R (9T) 14 points
4. Clariden Luk (7F) 14 points
5. Alvin L (7F) 14 points

This week we feature the wonderful creative writing club, which takes place on a Wednesday lunch time in K Block and is run by our lovely Librarian and published author, Miss Critchley (you can read more about her fantastic books and buy them here.) Here is what some of our students say:

Alisa J Yr 7 Out of every club I've been to, creative writing is definitely one of my favourites. I do some of my best writing there and it has definitely helped me do better in my creative writing English assessments and just my writing skills in general. Miss Critchley is always involved and walking around asking us how our writing is going and she is always helping us. It is also just such a peaceful environment and a great place to go every week to just wind down and do some writing.

Chelsea L Yr 7 The Creative Writing Club is a place where you can set your imagination free with writing, be it a fantasy novel or a short poem. You can work with your friends to create a story or work by yourself with the help and guidance of Miss Critchley- a published author. The club is welcome to everyone from Y7-9.

Eliza P Year 8 Creative writing club is an immersive extra curricular experience which allows you to explore English outside of the subject. It allows freedom to make your own choices with your writing, while inspiring you to think outside of the box. It also inspires you to go further by listening to other people's work. It is led by Miss Critchely, who has published 4 books. It is an amazing club, and I would recommend it to anyone with a love of reading or writing.

Rachel C Yr 9 Creative writing is such an inclusive, welcoming environment which encourages writers in years 7, 8, and 9 to get involved and take part in various competitions or to have your own creative freedom. The best part about creative writing is the support from Miss Critchley and the sixth formers who constantly listen and help us improve our writing. I always look forward to coming!’

The whole school theme for this week is ‘Stephen Lawrence Day’ which takes place annually in the UK on April the 22nd. It is a day which commemorates the tragic racially motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993. It remembers the tragic death of a young man with so much promise, as well as many other people of different ethnic backgrounds and genders who lost their lives in similar circumstances. During the week students received an excellent assembly from Dr Creaby where they heard about the case, and the miscarriage of justice which surrounded it. Finally they were asked to reflect on Stephen Lawrence and how each of us has an important role in challenging racism and improving society. 

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?

DANCERS OF THE WEEK!

Well done Daisy, Liliana and Lily for their Dancer of the week award. Excellent leadership skills and resilience in practical exams. Keep up the great work!

YEAR 11 BTEC practical exam – SMASHED IT!

Huge congratulations to our Year 11 BTEC dancers who in less than 10 weeks have created an over 7 minute choreography and performance. You should be so proud of your hard work and performances on Thursday. One more written exam to go!!

The gods of the Myriad were as real as the coastlines and currents, and as merciless as the winds and whirlpools. Now the gods are dead, but their remains are stirring beneath the waves . . . On the streets of the Island of Lady's Crave live 14-year-old urchins Hark and his best friend Jelt. They are scavengers: diving for relics of the gods, desperate for anything they can sell. But there is something dangerous in the deep waters of the undersea, calling to someone brave enough to retrieve it. When the waves try to claim Jelt, Hark will do anything to save him. Even if it means compromising not just who Jelt is, but what he is . . .

Tomas K in 7N has recently finished Deeplight and felt that it was: “a very clever twisting book. All of the many plots entwined and at the end it all started to make sense”

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine: blasphème

GERMAN: Das Wort der Woche: Blasphemie

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana: blasfemia

Thinking Question:

• The words this week are all very similar - why do you think this is? 

B is for…blasphemy [adjective]

Definition: Considered offensive to God or religion.

Example: His writing has been criticised for blasphemy.

Synonyms: Profanity, Sacrilegious, Swearing

Antonyms: Reverence, Respectful

Etymology: Derived from the Greek ‘blasphēmein’ meaning, to blame literally to speak offensively of.

Well done to our teams who took place in the Herts Combined Events this week. Our junior girls WON the county competition with Erin R taking 3rd place as an individual and qualifying for the Hertfordshire team. Our junior boys finished 3rd behind some strong competition (congrats to Diego who was Sandringham’s top point scorer.) And Harry Walker & Luke C both had good days competing a year young in the inter boys competition (Luke finishes first and will represent Hertfordshire as will Erin) Well done to everyone who took part- we look forward to another successful athletics season to come! 

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

Well done to our U14 doubles pairings who took Gold and Silver in the HSLTA County Doubles Championships this week. Sam M and Sam B took the win in a well contested final vs William S and Toby R. Massive congratulations to both pairings

As mentioned, our amazing u16 girls won the County Cup this week winning 5-4 against  St Clement Danes. It was a thrilling final, full of excellent goals from two high quality teams. Player of the Match went to Eda from Sandringham. Well done girls- a fantastic achievement. 

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

Following the fantastic success of ‘Hansel and Gretel’ & ‘Rapunzel’ our creative team are back with a Brand New pantomime adventure based on the classic tale.

 Puss In Boots and the Pea Green detective agency are ready to save Pantoland from a terrible threat!

The Hickory Dickory Dock clock has been stolen and someone is messing with the pantomime timeline. The police are struggling to sniff out a suspect and things are getting stranger by the hour! Join Puss In Boots on their epic quest to bring the time thief to justice. This sword-swinging, paw-scratching, time-stopping pantomime is an action packed treat for all ages!

Tickets are on sale here and cost from £10.00

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