As per previous years, a reminder that the last day of term will be our annual Cultural Day. Students are encouraged to come into school in cultural dress (or non school uniform) where they will experience a day of dance, music, languages, activities and food from cultures around the world. You can donate towards our charities for this via Parentpay and there will also be several food vans on the day where students can pay for items using their own bank cards. The school day will finish at 12.10pm. We know that it will be another fantastic day and we hope that students enjoy experiencing the vast range of different cultures that we celebrate here at Sandringham School.

Our finance team have set up an account with “easy2name.com”, an online company which provides name labels for clothes and equipment, which will allow us to raise some money through their fund raising scheme. When a parent places an order through www.easy2name.com and selects our unique school code, FR-SAND-85, at checkout, Sandringham will earn 20% of the order value and the parent will receive free delivery.

Summer holidays are almost upon us and this year the Olympic Games will take centre stage in Paris. Our current display, by the brilliant Ms Blandford, inspires students to get active over the summer break by either learning a new sport, or by discovering more about their sporting heroes. Plenty of choice for fiction fans too with books covering everything from fencing to roller skating so do pop along to see our friendly librarians and find out more.

As always, our wonderful D&T department have been giving students the opportunity to get creative in the workshop. During E Week, Mr Neville's class  made Minecraft characters and then designed accessories to 3D print. Ms Hussain's class also made some beautiful door signs and painted rocks to be placed around school. One of our students commented "What a lovely day, filled with vibrant colours, creativity, and fun! We painted beautiful rocks for the Sandringham well-being garden, each one a unique masterpiece. We also crafted personalised name planks, adding a special touch to our creations!" 

If you feel like you need help over the holiday, please go to the following website  where you will find low-cost activities and community meals available to you and your family during the school holidays running from the week beginning Saturday 20 July - Monday 2 September. The page focuses specifically on provisions for school-aged children in St Albans City and District and Hertsmere.

Everything listed will cost no more than £5 per person. Also included are events that teenagers can attend without an adult, if the cost for the adult is greater than £5.

For our first student spotlight this week, we feature Isobel R in 9F, who was part of the Hertfordshire U17 girls basketball team who won the East Region Inter-County tournament on Sunday. Isobel was also on the U15 girls Hertfordshire team who were runners up in their inter-county tournament last month.  It’s been a hugely successful year for Isobel having also won the Most Improved Player award at Oaklands Wolves U14 girls. Well done Isobel- fantastic achievements and we look forward to hearing more about your ongoing success on the basketball court. 
 

As mentioned in the Headlines, on Wednesday we had a wonderful evening celebrating all the success of our athletes this year. Everyone who has taken part representing Sandringham this year has been amazing but these worthy winners have been particularly superb in their application, dedication and commitment to Sandringham sport. Congratulations to all the winners and we hope that you all enjoyed the evening. 

Year 7 students enjoyed their Work Exploration Day on Thursday 11th July.  Students attended a vast range of organisations with friends or family members, including the Mayor’s Chambers, Microsoft, the School of Fashion and Textiles, Stevenage Football Club and so many more.

Students were also able to work on careers related projects from home and we look forward to hearing about the research they have done.

Pictured above is Claire at Crest Nicholson in St Albans learning about the development and marketing of properties.  Thank you to all of the parents, family and friends who supported Year 7 students with Work Exploration Day.

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?

Well done also to Eilidh W, who we feature as our second Student Spotlight this week. Last Saturday, Eilidh took part in the British Octopush Association ‘Junior Nationals’ in Plymouth. Eilidh started playing Octopush (underwater hockey) in September last year and this was only her third competition.  She joined an Under 14 squad with mainly St Albans club players (plus three players from another team) as part of a team consisting of male and female players whose ages ranged from 12 years up to 14 years.  It was a long competition, but after 6 hours of matches against players from all over the country, her team were delighted to receive bronze medals for third place in their category. This is the highest placing the St Albans junior team have ever achieved at this annual competition.  

It was a great way to end the competitive season for Eilidh; who, also swam for Verulam Swim Club last weekend.  There, her swim team also recorded a notable 4th place overall in the 2024 Peanuts competition run by Hertfordshire Swimming League.  

Well done Eilidh for all your hard work in training and the great attitude you bring to all your competitions and efforts! 

If you would like to nominate someone for the final Student Spotlight of this academic year, please contact holianm@sandringham.aat.school with a few details and/or photographs. We would love to hear from you.

The final adventure of Year 11 for 56 of our students was to compete their Silver Qualifying expedition to the Peak District. We set off early on Thursday morning to travel to Baslow near Chatsworth House to start their 3 day venture.  Groups travelled through this beautiful part of the Peaks on their first day in warm sunny conditions. The sight of Chatsworth House and its grounds were impressive. We were based at Barn Farm near Birchover for the two nights camping. The resident peacocks brought a new meaning to the term “dawn chorus”. Consequently groups were up and preparing for their second and longest day at the crack of dawn. Breakfast was cooked and tents packed away before groups embarked on a circular route leading them back to their starting point. Groups were set off in alternative clockwise/anti-clockwise directions which meant that they were guaranteed to see familiar faces at some point in their day. Staff were also out on the routes, popping up to say hello and check in. This was the most challenging day for the groups but they all arrived back at the camp in good time. Night 2 saw the first rain of the expedition and day 3 started off a little soggy. The final push saw groups travelling south towards Middleton Top , traversing lots of different terrain including limestone paths, forests, deep valleys (and steep slopes) and lots of fields! We are incredibly proud of how well our participants conducted themselves and they were a credit to the school and the Award. Thank you to all the staff who supported them on this expedition.

This week, some students from Year 10 attended a maths enrichment day at the University of Hertfordfshire run by the AMSP.

During the day, the students were tasked with constructing the largest cube they could from a piece of paper to understanding the maths behind braiding pieces of wool.  The students thoroughly enjoyed the session on maths relating to video games and how the games would work on different  surfaces. They also represented the school brilliantly.

We couldn’t let this academic year pass without proudly displaying a photo of our Library House Reading Challenge. It has been a bumper year of reading for our Year 7 students who have embraced reading in all its forms. We have enjoyed discussing each and every book that has been read as part of the competition.

Well done to all year seven students and we have made a mental note to order a bigger board next year!

We will be open next week for any student who wishes to come and borrow some books for their summer holidays – we encourage multiple loans as there’s little point in the books staying on the shelves over the summer holidays.

Last week, 3 groups of Gold DofE students completed their Gold assessed expedition in the Lake District. This requires students to spend a minimum of 8 hours per day for 4 days journeying through wild country. The expedition requires excellent navigation, fitness, teamwork, campcraft and mental toughness to deal with the long days, near freezing temperatures and tough climbs and terrain, as well as the determination to complete the other 4 sections of the Gold Award.

After an evening at Elterwater hostel, going over routes, checking kit and final preparations, the following morning, the groups set off from the Glenridding area, beginning with a steep climb up Sticks Pass, below Helvellyn. All 3 groups had an enjoyable and successful first with amazing views all along the ridge from the Dodds.

Day 2 entailed a long hike up over Bleaberry Fell, High Tove onto Watendlath heading south to the Borrowdale valley. They crossed very boggy terrain with excellent views which maintained their morale. The groups inevitably meet members of the public on their journey and it was a pleasure to hear from a passing hiker who had chatted with one of our groups how exemplary the students attitude and appreciation of their environment had been.

Day 3, the routes took the groups up over High Spy with a steep descent down through a quarry en route to their campsites with their final night camping with lots of midges. Their final day entailed hiking in low cloud and heavy rain from the Borrowdale Valley to the Langdale Valley before finally reaching the Hostel back at Elterwater and the prospect of sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

In addition to developing their navigation and campcraft skills, each of the groups demonstrated excellent teamwork and determination, despite some of the worst weather, heavy, wet tents and a few wet sleeping bags. There were the usual blisters, sore ankles, sore knees and a range of highs and lows for each individual.

The staff supervising the expedition were very impressed and proud of the teamwork and leadership shown by every student as they supported team members and dealt with difficult terrain, navigation and weather. Their assessment included navigation, camp craft and completing an aim for their expedition and is finished with a debrief with their assessor, followed by an evening meal together at Elterwater Hostel.

The students have worked extremely hard preparing for their expedition and have been a pleasure to work with. They have also been dedicated to completing various other sections of their Gold D of E and should complete the award in the coming months. Thank you to Mr Nieddu, Mr Hartnell, Mr Foy and Ms Headland for supervising the expedition.

The teams were:

• Daniel M, Ethan S, Gabriel D, Robbie L, Freddie B, Noah L and Mario A
• Bryn J, Ethan K, Johnny P, Archie B, Will B-S and Daniel N
• Ethan S, Josh B, Cyrus B, Yasmin B, Josie L, Roslin M and Beckie C

Thank you to Chiara B, our work experience student from Germany for this lovely article about her time here.

Dear Sandringham Students and Teachers. My name is Chiara.You may have met me because I spent the last week doing some work experience here. I am from Germany and took part in the exchange last year. I enjoyed it very much and was more than happy to be invited by Katherine K (my exchange partner) to come back. I landed on Friday the 5th of July and firstly spent a wonderful weekend with my host family. My school week then started with a magnificent tour of the school by my guide Ella N. That’s how I got to know the school a lot better. Afterwards I made some experiences in teaching and working in a few other parts of the school. I helped out at the German classes every day, which I enjoyed very much. I talked to some of you in an one-on-one conversation where we were able to practise your speaking or writing. Furthermore I spent some time in the Sandpit Theatre and watched Miles do his very complicated and impressive work which includes designing backgrounds with AI and creating lots of effects like music and lights. Since I love Drama as a subject it was very interesting to see all the work that’s combined with staging a play. Apart from that I also got an impression of the work that’s done in the Resources and student services which again was very delightful. All in all I want to say thank you to all the Sandringham Students, teachers and other staff members for having me here and making this week such a memorable week.

It's an ordinary Thursday lunchtime for Arthur Dent until his house gets demolished. The Earth follows shortly afterwards to make way for a new hyperspace express route, and his best friend has just announced that he's an alien. At this moment, they're hurtling through space with nothing but their towels and an innocuous-looking book inscribed, in large friendly letters, with the words: DON'T PANIC. The weekend has only just begun . . .

Jessica P in 7A has recently reviewed the book for us: ‘The Hitch-hikers guide to the galaxy has got to be one of the best books of all time. From the hilarious jokes scattered all throughout the book to the more interesting, heartfelt moments, it has something for everyone to enjoy. Each part of this book is filled to the brim with wonderful, descriptive writing that feels as if you are on this fantastic journey with the well-written characters such as Arthur Dent, Ford Perfect and many others. My personal favourite character has to be Zaphod Beeblebrox as he is one of the funniest characters in the entire story and I thoroughly enjoyed his development throughout the book.Overall, I feel as if this book should be read by everyone and is one of the modern classics of our time.’

Our u13 cricket team put on an excellent display this week with strong batting performances from Nell McK & Selina E.

Limitless Academy specialise in outstanding quality and high production shows.

After the incredible success with The Addams Family (2022) and Grease (2023), the team are back in St Albans with another hilarious family favourite.

A deviously delicious Broadway and Hollywood science-fiction smash musical, Little Shop of Horrors has devoured the hearts of theatre goers for over 30 years.  Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (Disney's The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, and Aladdin) are the creative geniuses behind what has become one of the most popular shows in the world.

Tickets are on sale here and cost from £10.00

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