F PC in the F Block is named after David Hockney, an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer famous for his important contribution to the Pop Art movement and whose artwork including Portrait of an Artist has sold for up to £70million.

Born in Yorkshire in 1937, Hockney went on to study at the Royal College of Art as a teeanger. In 1964 he moved to LA, where he was inspired to make a series of paintings of swimming pools such as A Bigger Splash using vibrant colours in the comparatively new medium of acrylic. From an early age, Hockney was a conscientious objector – refusing to complete his National Service in the army (he spent two years as an orderly at St Luke’s Hospital in Bradford instead) and also refusing to complete an essay for his degree as he preferred his artwork to be considered instead. 

Not content with just artwork, Hockney also designed the stage for his first opera production: Stravinsky’s A Rake’s Progress for Glyndebourne Festival Opera and he also experimented with printmaking during his career with his most famous work in that field being a 1970 collection of etchings inspired by the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm

In 1990, he turned down a knighthood, on grounds that' prizes of any sort are a bit suspect’ and in 2005, after more than half a century away, Hockney returned to live in Yorkshire where he painted a number of landscapes including his largest ever painting, Biggest Trees Near Warter measuring 40ft by 15ft. His recent gallery at the Tate received nearly half a  million visitors, making it the most popular exhibition ever held at the gallery. And Hockney is still painting today embracing new technology by painting hundreds of portraits, still life pictures and landscapes using the Brushes app designed by Apple. 

This week for the whole school theme, we celebrate Pride Month which begins next week at the start of June. This refers to the month where LGBTQ+ people come together to celebrate their history and often to campaign for more rights to be enshrined in law across the world. Pride month is celebrated in June to remember the 1969 Stonewall riots that took place in response to the actions of the New York Police department who wanted to check the sex of customers at the Stonewall Inn. The students received a fantastic assembly from Misha Ankar, our theatre technician, who encouraged the students to celebrate the advancements that have been made for the LGBTQ+ community and campaign for continued equality in sexual orientation and gender identity. Happy Pride Month! 

A reminder that the new dates for the Peaks District Trip are: 28th - 30th June for A half and 30th June - 2nd July for B half . 

The deadline for payment is the 2nd June so please sign up as soon as possible to secure your child's place.

The Black British Book Festival is designed to celebrate black authors across all genres​ of literature. This year the festival is being held on Saturday 26th June 11am-6pm at the Legacy Centre of Excellence in Birmingham. Tickets are £2 for children under 16 / £10 for adults for what is sure to be an interesting and inspiring event.

FRENCH: Le mot de la semaine : préserver/conserver

GERMAN: Die Wort der Woche : einsparen

SPANISH: La palabra de la semana : ahorrar/conservar

Thinking questions :

• In English infinitive verbs always start with to, for example to play/to conserve… whereas in French/German/Spanish they have particular endings. Why might this be? Does it have any impact on understanding?
• Sometimes we have multiple translations for one word – why might this be? How do we know which word to use?

We would like to remind everyone about the importance of regularly testing for COVID using the Lateral Flow tests provided to all students, testing should ideally be done every Sunday and Wednesday.  It is important to highlight these tests are for people with NO symptoms, and cannot replace a PCR test.  If a student has a positive result from a lateral flow test you should inform the school via the absence@sandringham.herts.sch.uk email address and take the child for a PCR test as soon as possible. 

When to Book a PCR Test

If a student is showing symptoms such as:

• a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, or a loss or change to their sense of smell or taste

They must get a PCR test as soon as possible, you can book via https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test   Please do not use a Lateral Flow Test as a replacement for a PCR test if someone is displaying any COVID symptoms.  

Please let the school know when the result of this test is received by using the email address above, title your email  COVID Notification. When emailing us to report a PCR positive test result, please include the following information in your email as this will help us expedite the track and trace process. 

1: Name of student and tutor group 2. Date of onset of symptoms (and type of symptoms) 3. Date of positive test & isolation dates 4. When the student was last in school 5. Mode of transport when last in school 6. Any specific issues or concerns     

Full guidance can be found here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/what-your-test-result-means/

The Bronze Award was launched with Year 9 last week and we have already had a large number of students signing up to participate. FINAL DEADLINE for enrolment is Monday 7th June 2021. The enrolment form should be paid on Parent Pay. Once the enrolment fee has been received, your child will be emailed a link to a Google form which needs to be completed. They will also receive a link to join the DofE Bronze 2021-22 Google classroom. If you have not yet seen it, the presentation about the Award can be viewed here

The enrolments will be processed in the w/c 7th June and your child will then receive an email to their MySandstorm email address with their log in details for eDofE which is the DofE database. They MUST complete the enrolment process by logging into their eDofE account and completing their registration. Their Bronze packs will then be posted to them centrally by the Award main office.

Should you have any further questions about the enrolment process please contact Mrs Cuneen on dofe@sandringham.herts.sch.uk

We have vacancies for a Music Technology specialist and a Science Technician at Sandringham. For more details please go to https://sandringham.herts.sch.uk/vacancies/

DSPL7 are running a free six week course to help support parents/carers with skills to improve the health and wellbeing of young people who are accessing CAMHS, Step 2 or Counselling Service. Through it, you can learn more about young people’s mental health, effective communication skills and problem-solving.

The course is held online over Zoom 7pm - 9pm on Wednesday the 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th of June and Wednesday the 7th and 14th July. To book your place, please click here. 

We are pleased to announce that we were recently awarded a Bronze level Modeshift STARS accreditation for our sustainable travel initiatives. The STARS Education scheme recognises educational establishments that have shown excellence in supporting cycling, walking and other forms of sustainable and active travel so we are pleased to be recognised for our efforts in this area.

Owing to the half day INSET on Monday 7th June, the canteen will not be serving food at lunch time on this day. Instead the canteen will be providing a more extensive food offer at break time where we would encourage students in receipt of free school meals to use their allowance.  The break service will include a variety of hot and cold food options which would normally be served during lunch service.

June marks Pride Month, a great time for us to celebrate and reflect on LGBTQ lives and experiences. Reading fiction featuring LGBTQ characters in an essential and enjoyable way for us to connect, learn and grow. This week in the LRC we’re providing a spotlight on three brilliant books.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning modern classic follows the story of Celie, a poor, uneducated fourteen year-old girl living in the American South in the 1900s. Celie and her sister, Nettie, share an unbreakable bond despite leading very different lives. Celie and Shug’s relationship is full of passion, love and tenderness.

Maurice by E.M. Forster

Maurice was written in 1913 but not published until after Forster’s death in 1971. Forster believed the novel was unpublishable due to public and legal attitudes to same sex relationships at the time he was writing. The novel follows Maurice through his school days and university, and his relationship with fellow student Clive Durham.

The Deepest Breath by Meg Grehan

For younger readers, The Deepest Breath is a sensitive portrayal of a young girl beginning to consider her sexuality. Eleven-year-old Stevie gets a ‘fizzy feeling’ around a friend at school. With the help of a librarian, Stevie finds stories of girls loving girls, and builds up her courage to share the truth with her mum.

We are incredibly proud of all Year 10 GCSE Drama students for completing their devised examination this week. There was an array of fantastic productions and we know how hard you've all worked on them. Now to relax! Well done to everyone

Barracudas Holiday Club are running, fun online sessions for young people aged 4 – 14 over the May term break.  There are a number of resources on offer to do at home, from crafts to science experiments! They also have live sports activity sessions led by camp staff on Facebook and Youtube.

You can find out more here: https://www.barracudas.co.uk/activities/virtual-half-term/

This week we have added points from: planners, total reward points, attendance, extracurricular participation (Every club = 1 house point), house maths and the house quiz. In doing so, there has been a big shakeup in this week’s league table with Johnson remaining at the top, but the gaps lower down closing.

2nd Fawcett- 15038, 3rd Newton- 14964, 4th Austen- 14925, 5th Elgar- 14030, 6th Hepworth- 13941, 7th Shakespeare- 13601, 8th Turing- 13436

There is still so much more to play for next half term so keep gathering those points!

Rohith and Jacob in Year 9 recently cooked some delicious vegetarian meals for the neighbourhood to raise money for vital Covid-19 equipment in India. Watching the suffering of a country who cannot afford enough oxygen and PPE to help infected patients, the young men decided it was time to take action and do something to help. Rohith is passionate about cooking and together with Jacob, they made lots of fantastic meals which they then delivered to their local community. So far they have raised almost £300 through their GoFundMe page and this will all help those in need in India. Both boys are grateful for the support being shown and if you would like to also support the wider cause, you can do so here https://gofund.me/4370287f 

It is fantastic to see our students having an awareness of global issues and using their skills to help others. 

Every week the Mathematics Faculty publish a puzzle for you to try.  For every entry you will receive 1 housepoint, if you answer correctly you will win 2 housepoints and if you are the fastest person to answer the puzzle correctly then you will win 5 housepoints!  To enter, simply scan the QR code and fill out the google form.  Good luck!

We really enjoyed celebrating the Year 13 Last Day on Thursday. Students made a great effort with their outfits and had great fun looking at school photos since their time in Year 7 and receiving some special awards! The year group have been amazing throughout the turbulent times that they have faced and we know that they will go onto great success in the future! Thanks to all of them for their hard work, enthusiasm and optimism. We look forward to further celebrations at The Prom in July.

Huge congratulations to Lauren P in Year 9 who recently completed a sponsored swim raising an impressive £752 for Rennie Grove. She also won the 400m race finishing nearly 2 and a half minutes quicker than the next competitor! This enabled her to successfully complete the Saracens Positive Action Award which she took part in over a period of 6 weeks. Fantastic work Lauren- showing great determination, commitment and perseverance, all whilst helping others in need. 

If you would like your son/daughter to feature in the Student Spotlight, please contact melissa.holian@sandringham.herts.sch.uk with any details and/or photographs. 
 

The Kite Runner was published in 2003, and was the first novel to be written by Afgan-American writer, Khalid Hosseini. Set in Afghanistan in 1975, twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption. Suitable for students in Year 11+, ‘The Kite Runner’ is a novel about relationships, and how the complex relationships in our lives overlap and connect to make us the people we are. Read more from the author here.

We are now in the middle of the St Albans Sustainability Festival, with some great activities continuing next week. You can take a look at what is on offer here. For students in Year 9 and above there is an event planned just for them, which our Head Girl, Jess Simmons, is organising. It is a Zoom event to connect local young people (aged 14-27) to the politicians that represent them and will give them a platform to talk directly about their concerns around the climate crisis and more. It is being held during half term on Weds 2nd June , 19:00-20:30pm and you can register here

We will be taking part in our own focus for the Sustainability Festival in the week after half term, with the whole school theme being ‘World Environment Day’ and we will be asking students to try and take on some small actions which could make a different to reducing their carbon footprint, including:

1.Eat less meat and dairy (especially imported) 2.Eat everything that you buy 3.Avoid airfreighted food 4.Try to reduce packaging 5.Reduce car journeys 6.Switch off appliances and lights 7.Avoid ‘fast fashion’ 8.Repair and recycle things

If you work in an area of sustainability, one of our Year 12 students would like to organise some work experience in this area during the week 5th-9th July, so please contact me using the email below if you think you would be able to help. We are also looking to make some large planting containers to place around the site out of palettes or other recycled wood. So if you have any that you would like to donate, we would love to hear from you. kate.mouncey@sandringham.herts.sch.uk

C is for… conserve [verb]

Definition: To keep (something) safe or from being damaged or destroyed.

Example: The organisation works to conserve our national forests.

Synonyms: Preserve, Safeguard, Sustain

Antonyms: Ignore, Neglect, Destroy

Etymology: From the Latin ‘conservare’ meaning to preserve. From ‘con’ meaning together and ‘servare’ meaning to keep.

As previously mentioned, WCSQM have partnered with LinkedIn and some of the largest companies who recruit new employees through this online platform. They are offering students in Years 11-13 sessions to support them in building a successful online profile that would appeal to companies and support students to craft their journey in becoming more employable. The sessions are:

Year 11 – 16th June 4pm-5pm,

Years 12 and 13 – 17th June 4pm – 5pm

The link to all information, including registration etc is here 

The World Class Schools Quality Mark Virtual Symposium is being held on 1st July. They will be partnering with World Class lead schools, careers advisory networks, top international employers, the UK’s lead recruitment organisation, professional networking platform LinkedIn, to deliver presentations, open up debates, run competitions, answer questions and provide invaluable tips and advice from the experts. This is a free, online event for the school leaders, staff and students of their accredited World Class primary and secondary schools.

The winners of the Essay Competition, Talk Off Competion will be announced (further details of how you can enter are in other articles) as well as 

• World Class School of the Year 2020
• World Class Individual Student of the Year Awards for each of our six framework areas
• Alumni Association competition winners

Make sure to save to date for what is sure to be a great event.

A little reminder that the WCS are running two competitions at the moment that you can enter: 

 "Better Yourself By...."  where participants are asked to write and record a short speech (no more than 500 words) about a subject of your choice. Some of the suggested topics are self improvement, greater pride, celebrating others, being more community focused, or coming out of your comfort zone. You can submit them to worldclass@mysandstorm.org by Friday 18th June at 4pm. 

Essay Competition for Year 9 students where participants are invited to write a short essay (no more than 500 words) expressing how they are a World Class person,  how they would make themselves and Sandringham more 'World Class' and how they feel the wider community could change to have a 'World Class impact'. This competition closes on Monday 28th June at 3pm and again you can send entries to worldclass@mysandstorm.org or to Mrs Finlay/ Ms Baikie. 

Entries will be reviewed and sent off to the World Class Schools Quality Mark for prize draw . Good luck! 

On Thursday the Y8 boys were in action on both the tennis courts and the cricket pitch. Our Cricket team played Watford Grammar in a very tough 2nd round match. The opposition put us in to bat and showed us their strength with the ball, bowling us out for under 50. We gave it a good go to retaliate, however their dominance was asserted and they took out the total with several overs to spare.

Later today, our Year 7 Cricket team also take on Sir John Lawes in the District Cup in what is some of these students first opportunity to represent the school at sport. Good luck everyone

For more news, fixtures, team sheets and results don’t forget to follow us @SandringhamPE on Twitter and at www.sandringhamsport.co.uk

Fri 27th May 

Senior Boys B Tennis V Brentwood (H)

Y7 Cricket V Sir John Lawes (A)

Mon 7th June

Y7/9 Athletics Friendly at Westminster Lodge

Tues 8th June  

Y10 A/B Boys Tennis V Bishops Stortford College (A)

Y10 Girls Tennis V Haileybury College (H)

Weds 9th June

Y7 Cricket V Beaumont (A)

Y8/10 Girls Tennis V Queenswood (A)

Thurs 10th June

Y8/10 County League Athletics Match 3 at Westminster Lodge

On Thursday, our Year 8 tennis team were both home and away, with our A team travelling to St. Albans boys for a Division 1 County league match. The team of Meesam A, Harrison H, Rory L and Sean S were excellent getting the win 12-0 to get ourselves back into contention to make the semi-finals. The B team were playing at home in a triangular match V Watford Grammar and St. Columba’s College. The team played Watford first and after a strong start eventually lost 12-0, with some very close matches. This gave the team some confidence in their first outing for the school and then promptly dispatched of Columba’s 8-4 to get their first win in Division 2. Well played boys.

Tonight, our Senior Boys B Tennis team are playing Brentwood in the Regional Semi-final for a place in the final to hopefully join the A team in the Glanville Cup National final. Good luck to everyone!

Wednesday saw us host our second County League Athletics match of the season down at Westminster Lodge. It was great to see slightly less rain and a little blue sky for a Summer sport. We were lucky enough to have a number of non PE staff in attendance to help support the match and what a display we put on for them. All four teams won their respective competitions with our Y8 and 10 boys dominating the track, whilst the girls did just the same in the field. The two highlights were Luke C jumping up an age group for the Y8 boys leaping 4.56m twice before almost recording a mark over 4.80m if it wasn’t for a marginal foul and taking the win as a result. The second performance of the night was Beckie C in the 1500m front running her way to a superb win. Well done to both of you and everyone else that competed, it was an excellent evening of athletics for everyone.

The new 25th Anniversary show catapults Riverdance into the 21st century and will completely immerse you in the extraordinary and elemental power of its music and dance.  25 years ago, 7 minutes changed the face of Irish dancing forever.  The Eurovision interval act performance gave millions of people a new and exciting glimpse of the future of Irish dance.  Now 25 years later, composer Bill Whelan has re-recorded his mesmerising soundtrack while producer Moya Doherty and director John McColgan have completely reimagined the ground-breaking show with innovative and spectacular lighting, projection, stage and costume designs.  This powerful and stirring reinvention of the beloved family favourite is celebrated the world over for its Grammy Award-winning music and the thrilling energy of its Irish and international dance.  Filmed live at the 3Arena Dublin, the exact spot where it all began, the 25th Anniversary Gala Performance will bring Riverdance to the big screen for the very first time! Tickets £13.50/£10

Following its record-breaking, sell-out run in London’s West End and national tour, the critically acclaimed musical Funny Girl comes to a cinema near you, featuring Sheridan Smith in “an unforgettable star turn” (The Times). Funny Girl is semi-biographical, based on the life and career of Broadway star, film actress and comedienne Fanny Brice (a role made famous by Barbara Streisand on Broadway and in the 1968 film adaptation), and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein.

Praised by critics as having “irresistible charm, wit and warmth” (Metro), and hailing Sheridan Smith as “the greatest star by far” (The Daily Telegraph), Funny Girl features a host of iconic and timeless musical numbers including “People,” “I’m the Greatest Star,” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” Tickets £13.50/£10

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet is a passionate and contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic story of love and conflict is set in the not-too-distant future in the ‘Verona Institute’. Here ‘difficult’ young people are mysteriously confined by a society that seeks to divide and crush their youthful spirit. Our two young lovers must follow their hearts as they risk everything to be together. Tickets £13.50/£10

Hailed as a masterpiece of 21st century dance, Akram Khan’s Giselle comes to cinemas for the first time, giving ballet fans the opportunity to see this award-winning production on the big screen.  One of the greatest romantic ballets, Giselle has been re-imagined by celebrated choreographer Akram Khan and English National Ballet. Tickets £13.50/£10

Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers are among his most famous works and are some of the most iconic paintings in the world. In an extraordinary exhibition, the Van Gogh Museum took a new revealing look at the five publicly owned versions of sunflowers in a vase. And once again, the Van Gogh Museum opened its doors exclusively to Exhibition on Screen.

Tickets £7/5

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake comes to cinemas with a fresh look for the 21st century and is as bold and beautiful as ever. This thrilling, audacious and witty production is perhaps still best known for replacing the female corps-de-ballet with a menacing male ensemble, which shattered convention, turned tradition upside down and took the dance world by stor Tickets £13.50/£10

We are open! We look forward to welcoming you back through our doors and remember we are a socially distant venue so seats will disappear very quickly so do not miss out and get your tickets now! 

Following Government guidelines, you must wear a face covering while attending The SandPit Theatre unless you are exempt as stated in these guidelines. If you do not wear a mask you will be refused entry and your ticket will be forfeited. Our café will be open during these screenings for drinks and snacks but please note we will only be accepting card payments. Alcohol is available for sale 30 minutes before the shows begin. The box office is open from 11.30am – 3.30pm Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can call us on 01727 799565 or visit www.sandpittheatre.co.uk

We now also sell and accept Theatre Tokens. You can use these tokens to purchase tickets for any of our shows or buy them as gifts to be used at over 260 venues nationwide and in the West End all while supporting theatres including us!